Requires the office of renewable energy siting and electric transmission to establish and/or amend rules and regulations pertaining to standards related to the siting, design, construction and operation of major renewable energy facilities; requires such rules and regulations to include information relating to farmland protection and application procedures; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8712--B
IN SENATE
January 7, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sens. HINCHEY, FAHY, GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy
and Telecommunications -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to the siting,
design, construction and operation of major renewable energy facili-
ties and to applications therefor; and providing for the repeal of
certain 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. Section 137 of the public service law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision 14 to read as follows:
3 14. "Agrivoltaics project" shall mean an agrivoltaic project as
4 defined pursuant to section nineteen hundred two of the public authori-
5 ties law.
6 § 2. Section 137 of the public service law is amended by adding two
7 new subdivisions 14 and 15 to read as follows:
8 14. "Agrivoltaics project" shall mean the simultaneous use of areas of
9 land for both solar power generation and agriculture through a ground-
10 mounted photovoltaic solar energy system constructed, installed, and
11 operated to achieve integrated and simultaneous production of both solar
12 energy and marketable agricultural products or activities by an agricul-
13 tural producer, provided that such use:
14 (a) is constructed, installed, and operated to achieve integrated and
15 simultaneous production of both solar energy and marketable agricultural
16 products or activities consistent with commercial agricultural
17 production, as soon as agronomically feasible and continuing until
18 decommissioning, on land beneath or between solar panels;
19 (b) has been intentionally planned and designed with agricultural
20 producers or experts;
21 (c) has provisions for decommissioning to protect the land's agricul-
22 tural resources and utility; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14269-05-6
S. 8712--B 2
1 (d) does not significantly displace farming activity.
2 15. "Agricultural products or activities" shall include: (a) crop
3 production; (b) animal husbandry; and (c) livestock grazing or cattle
4 grazing; provided, however, that agricultural products or activities
5 shall not include sheep grazing as the sole farming activity except
6 where the land utilized is currently utilized primarily or exclusively
7 for such purpose; and provided further, however, that agricultural
8 products or activities shall not include pollinator habitats, apiaries,
9 or both as the sole farming activities.
10 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 138 of the public service law is amended
11 by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
12 (d) In its review of applications for permits pursuant to this arti-
13 cle, ORES shall give priority to previously developed sites and existing
14 or abandoned commercial sites, including without limitation brownfields,
15 landfills, former commercial or industrial sites, dormant electric
16 generating sites, parking lots as defined in section one hundred twen-
17 ty-nine-b of the vehicle and traffic law, warehouse distribution centers
18 as defined in section seven hundred eighty of the labor law, correction-
19 al facilities as defined in article one of the correction law, retail
20 establishments of greater than twenty-five thousand square feet, road-
21 side rest areas pursuant to section twenty of the highway law, and
22 otherwise underutilized sites.
23 § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 138 of the public service law, as added
24 by section 11 of part O of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, is amended to
25 read as follows:
26 4. The uniform standards and conditions established pursuant to this
27 section shall be designed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate to the maximum
28 extent practicable, potential significant adverse impacts to land used
29 in agricultural production, with additional consideration for land with-
30 in an agricultural district [or], land that contains mineral soil groups
31 1-4, and land that contains mineral soil groups 5-7 to the extent that
32 such land is currently in commercial agricultural use. In its review of
33 an application for a permit pursuant to this article, ORES, in consulta-
34 tion with the department of agriculture and markets, shall ensure that a
35 critical mass of farmland within the designated region is not currently
36 and/or projected to be developed with photovoltaic solar generating
37 projects. The department of agriculture and markets shall determine
38 what constitutes a critical mass of farmland for a given region and
39 consider factors such as: the future security of the state and region's
40 food supply, the growth or decrease of new or existing farms or total
41 farmland in the state or region, and impacts of photovoltaic solar
42 generating projects on soil quality. Two years after the effective date
43 of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-six that amended this
44 subdivision, ORES, in conjunction with the public service commission,
45 the New York state energy research and development authority and the
46 department of agriculture and markets, shall reevaluate the efficacy of
47 this subdivision and propose recommendations to the legislature, includ-
48 ing but not limited to, the consideration of new pertinent technology
49 and/or information. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply
50 in the consideration of any permits for siting, design, construction, or
51 operation of a major renewable energy facility for which a completed
52 application has been received by the office of renewable energy siting
53 and electric transmissions prior to the adoption of amended uniform
54 standards and conditions consistent with this subdivision.
S. 8712--B 3
1 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 138 of the public service law, as added
2 by section 11 of part O of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 3. (a) ORES, in consultation with the department, shall promulgate
5 rules and regulations with respect to all necessary requirements to
6 implement the siting permit program established in this article and
7 promulgate modifications to such rules and regulations as it deems
8 necessary; provided that ORES shall promulgate regulations requiring the
9 service of applications on affected municipalities and political subdi-
10 visions simultaneously with submission of an application. Any such rules
11 and regulations, or any amendments or modifications thereto, shall be
12 subject to the approval of the public service commission before they
13 become effective.
14 (b) Such rules and regulations shall:
15 (i) ensure that a critical mass of farmland within the designated
16 region is not currently and/or projected to be developed with photovol-
17 taic solar generating projects, as determined by the department of agri-
18 culture and markets, in consultation with the New York state energy
19 research and development authority. Within two years after the effective
20 date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-six that amended
21 this subdivision, the office, in conjunction with the public service
22 commission and the department of agriculture and markets, shall reevalu-
23 ate the efficacy of this subdivision and propose recommendations to the
24 legislature, including but not limited to, the consideration of new
25 pertinent technology and/or information;
26 (ii) provide that, in the event that a photovoltaic solar generation
27 project has been previously denied a permit by ORES on two or more occa-
28 sions and resubmitted, such project shall be required to submit an affi-
29 davit of financial solvency, including financial statements to ORES in
30 the project's next application and shall be required to deliver to ORES
31 a surety bond worth twenty percent of the total cost of such project,
32 which shall be executed by a surety company authorized by the department
33 of financial services to transact business in the state. If the project
34 has been approved by ORES upon the expiration of two years following the
35 date of resubmission, the bond shall be discontinued. If the project has
36 not been approved by ORES upon the expiration of two years following the
37 date of resubmission, then ORES shall be entitled to recover the full
38 amount of the surety bond and shall remit forty percent of the full
39 amount of the surety bond to the political subdivision in which the
40 photovoltaic solar generation project was intended to be sited; and
41 (iii) require documentation for any major photovoltaic solar gener-
42 ation project specifying:
43 (1) application procedures for major photovoltaic solar generation
44 projects. Such procedures shall require that each application for such
45 permits include the submission of documentation which includes the
46 following criteria:
47 (A) categories based on solar array size, specifying the array capaci-
48 ty and how much power or electricity is expected to be generated,
49 on-site or associated electric load, including the acreage of land
50 underlying the array;
51 (B) specifying whether solar arrays will be roof-mounted and/or ground
52 mounted, and designating preferred sites for the project; and
53 (C) categories based on the solar project's design, including specify-
54 ing whether such solar project is intended to be an agrivoltaics
55 project; and
S. 8712--B 4
1 (2) for major photovoltaic solar generation projects sited on land
2 required to receive additional consideration pursuant to subdivision
3 four of this section, the submission by the applicant of draft decommis-
4 sioning plans for projects on such agricultural land and a letter of
5 intent from the applicant stating the applicant's intention to secure a
6 decommissioning bond. Final decommissioning plans shall be filed upon
7 completion of the project in a post construction compliance filing,
8 along with a record of the project securing a decommissioning bond in
9 the amount prescribed by ORES upon approval and issuance of a project's
10 construction permit.
11 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
12 have become a law; provided, however, that section one of this act shall
13 expire and be deemed repealed two years after such date, when upon such
14 date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect;
15 provided further, however, that the amendments to article 8 of the
16 public service law made by sections one, two, three, four and five of
17 this act shall not affect the repeal of such article and shall be deemed
18 repealed therewith. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
19 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
20 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
21 completed on or before such effective date.
