Amd §§160, 162 & 172, Pub Serv L; amd §19-0311, En Con L
Prohibits the development of any new major electric generating facilities that would be powered in whole or in part by any fossil fuel, unless the developer of such facility can demonstrate a need for such facility, and that there is no other reasonable method to satisfy such need.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5939--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 23, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. RAMOS, BAILEY, BRISPORT, BROUK, GIANARIS, HINCHEY,
JACKSON, KAVANAGH, MYRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law and the environmental conserva-
tion law, in relation to prohibiting the development of any new major
electric generating facilities that would be powered in whole or in
part by any fossil fuel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "clean futures act".
3 § 2. Section 160 of the public service law is amended by adding a new
4 subdivision 10 to read as follows:
5 10. "Fossil fuel" means coal, petroleum products, and fuel gases.
6 "Coal" shall include bituminous coal, anthracite coal, and lignite.
7 "Fuel gases" shall include but not be limited to methane, natural gas,
8 liquefied natural gas, and manufactured fuel gases. "Petroleum products"
9 shall include all products refined or rerefined from synthetic or crude
10 oil or oil extracted from other sources, including natural gas liquids.
11 Provided that nothing in this subdivision shall affect the exclusion for
12 public utility services set forth in subdivision two of this section.
13 § 3. Section 162 of the public service law is amended by adding a new
14 subdivision 6 to read as follows:
15 6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation,
16 beginning upon the effective date of this subdivision the board shall
17 not issue a certificate for any major electric generating facility that
18 would be powered in whole or in part by any fossil fuel.
19 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the board may
20 issue a certificate for a major electric generating facility powered in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10500-06-1
S. 5939--A 2
1 whole or in part by any fossil fuel if both of the following conditions
2 are met:
3 (i) The developer of such major electric generating facility shall
4 provide to the board, the commission, and the commissioner of environ-
5 mental conservation, an attestation in writing, signed by both New York
6 independent system operator and the appropriate New York transmission
7 owner or public authority, attesting to:
8 (1) the existence of a reliability need. For the purposes of this
9 subdivision, a "reliability need" means an electricity system need,
10 which if unmet would result in a violation of a North American Electric
11 Reliability Corporation mandatory standard;
12 (2) the unavailability of either local or bulk transmission system
13 upgrades that would address such reliability need; and
14 (3) such major electric generating facility would resolve such reli-
15 ability need; and
16 (ii) The developer of such major electric generating facility shall
17 demonstrate to the satisfaction of the board, the commission, and the
18 commissioner of environmental conservation that the existing reliability
19 need cannot be addressed within an appropriate time frame by any combi-
20 nation of transmission, energy storage, zero carbon electric generation,
21 demand response, and/or energy efficiency.
22 (c) Any written communication between an applicant and the board
23 concerning a proposed major electric generating facility shall be made
24 publicly available on the department's website.
25 § 4. Section 172 of the public service law is amended by adding two
26 new subdivisions 3 and 4 to read as follows:
27 3. The department of environmental conservation shall not issue any
28 permit otherwise authorized pursuant to subdivision one of this section,
29 or issued pursuant to section 19-0311 of the environmental conservation
30 law, for any major electric generating facility that would be powered in
31 whole or in part by any fossil fuel, unless the developer of such major
32 electric generating facility has satisfied the provisions of subpara-
33 graphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision six of section one
34 hundred sixty-two of this article.
35 4. Any written communication between an applicant for a permit pursu-
36 ant to subdivision one of this section and the department of environ-
37 mental conservation shall be made publicly available on the department
38 of conservation's website.
39 § 5. Section 19-0311 of the environmental conservation law is amended
40 by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
41 6. No permit shall be issued under this section that would be in
42 violation of subdivision three of section one hundred seventy-two of the
43 public service law. Any written communications between an applicant for
44 such a permit and the department shall be made publicly available on the
45 department's website.
46 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
