Establishes a moratorium on the building or placing of any permanent or semi-permanent wind turbines in certain areas within the jurisdiction and control of New York State including the waters of Lake Erie or Lake Ontario.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7713
SPONSOR: Burke TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing a moratorium on the building or placing of any permanent or
semi-permanent wind turbines in certain areas within the jurisdiction
and control of New York state; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon expiration thereof
PURPOSE:
To establish a moratorium, with a sunset clause of ten (10) years, on
the building or placing of any permanent or semi-permanent wind turbines
on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario within the jurisdiction and control of New
York State.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the environmental conservation law by adding section
13-0107 to create a moratorium on the building or placing of permanent
or semi-permanent wind turbines on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario within the
jurisdiction and control of New York State.
Section two establishes the effective date and expiration of the morato-
rium.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth,
totaling 94,250 square miles. They are also the second-largeSt group of
freshwater lakes by total volume, containing 21 percent of the world's
surface fresh water. 40 Million people in the United States and Canada
depend on the Great Lakes for clean drinking water (roughly 10% of the
US population and 30% of the Canadian population). Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario combined provide drinking water to over 18 million people.
In March of 2023, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a
national laboratory of the US Department of Energy, published the Great
Lakes Wind Energy Challenges and Opportunities Assessment. In the
report, the NREL states that further research must be conducted to
"assess how these activities may impact the continued health of the
lakes and the integrity of drinking water supplies." Additionally, the
report states "priority research needs include mitigating drinking water
impacts (including assessing sediment disturbance and mapping of known
sediment contamination), and mitigating recreational and commercial use
impacts, including for boaters and fisheries."
In December of 2022, the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) released the New York State Great Lakes Wind Energy
Feasibility Study. In this study NYSERDA recommended that "now is not
the right time to prioritize Great Lakes Wind projects in Lake Erie or
Lake Ontario." Furthermore, the study concludes that "providing a level
of financial support to render Great Lakes Wind projects commercially
feasible would be expected to be substantially more expensive for rate-
payers to support than existing options for upstate renewable energy
generation_"
This bill would impose a ten (10) year moratorium on the building or
placing of wind turbines in Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. It is apparent
that further research is required to ensure that the implementation of
wind turbines in the Great Lakes do not negatively impact our drinking
water supply, the environment and wildlife, as well as recreational and
commercial use in the region. Moreover, the comparative high costs and
relatively low energy output results from freshwater wind turbine devel-
opment, at this moment, do not make sense for New York State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect July 1st, 2024.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7713
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing a moratorium on the building or placing of any permanent
or semi-permanent wind turbines in certain areas within the jurisdic-
tion and control of New York state; and providing for the repeal of
such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
2 new section 13-0107 to read as follows:
3 § 13-0107. Moratorium on building or placing wind turbines.
4 1. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there is
5 hereby established a moratorium upon the building or placing of any
6 permanent or semi-permanent wind turbine in the waters of Lake Erie or
7 Lake Ontario located within the state and within the jurisdiction and
8 control of the state.
9 (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there is
10 hereby established a moratorium upon the building or placing of any
11 infrastructure used to support a permanent or semi-permanent wind
12 turbine located within the jurisdiction and control of the state.
13 2. This section shall be subject to any applicable provisions of the
14 state environmental quality review act, article ten of the public
15 service law, and any local zoning or permitting laws or ordinances.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024 and shall expire and be
17 deemed repealed July 1, 2034.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11705-01-3
