2019 New York Laws
PBS - Public Service
Article 8* - Siting of Major Steam Electric Generating Facilities
146*2 - The Decision.

* § 146. The  decision.  1. The board shall make the final decision on
an application  under  this  article  for  a  certificate  or  amendment
thereof,  upon  the  record  made  before  the presiding examiner, after
receiving briefs and exceptions to  the  recommended  decision  of  such
examiner  and to the report of the associate examiner, and after hearing
such oral argument as the board shall determine. Petitions for rehearing
shall also be considered and decided by the board.
  2. The board shall render a decision upon the record either  to  grant
or  deny the application as filed or to certify the facility at any site
considered at the hearings upon such terms, conditions,  limitations  or
modifications  of  the  construction or operation of the facility as the
board may deem appropriate. The board shall issue, with its decision, an
opinion stating in full its reasons for its decision.  The  board  shall
issue an order upon the decision and the opinion embodying the terms and
conditions  thereof  in  full. The board may not grant a certificate for
the construction or operation  of  a  major  steam  electric  generating
facility,  either  as  proposed  or  as modified by the board, unless it
shall find and determine:
  (a) the public need for the facility and the basis thereof;
  (b) the nature of  the  probable  environmental  impact,  including  a
specification   of   the   predictable  adverse  effect  on  the  normal
environment and ecology, public health and safety,  aesthetics,  scenic,
historic  and  recreational  value,  forest  and  parks,  air  and water
quality, fish and other marine life, and wildlife;
  (c) that the facility (i) represents the minimum adverse environmental
impact, considering the state of available technology,  the  nature  and
economics  of  the various alternatives, the interests of the state with
respect to aesthetics, preservation of historic sites, forest and parks,
fish  and  wildlife,  and  other  pertinent  considerations,   (ii)   is
compatible  with  the  public  health  and  safety;  and  (iii) will not
discharge any effluent that will be in contravention  of  the  standards
adopted  by  the department of environmental conservation or, in case no
classification has been made of the receiving waters associated with the
facility, will not discharge any effluent that will be unduly  injurious
to  the  propagation and protection of fish and wildlife, the industrial
development of the state, and public health and public enjoyment of  the
receiving waters.
  (d)  that  the  facility  is  designed  to  operate in compliance with
applicable state  and  local  laws  and  regulations  issued  thereunder
concerning,  among  other  matters,  the  environment, public health and
safety, all of which shall be binding upon the  applicant,  except  that
the  board  may  refuse to apply any local ordinance, law, resolution or
other action or any regulation issued thereunder or any  local  standard
or  requirement  which would be otherwise applicable if it finds that as
applied to the proposed facility such  is  unreasonably  restrictive  in
view  of  the  existing technology or the needs of or costs to consumers
whether located inside or outside of such municipality. The board  shall
provide  the  municipality an opportunity to present evidence in support
of such ordinance, law, resolution, regulation, or  other  local  action
issued thereunder. For the purposes of this article an agreement between
the applicant and a municipality in which the proposed facility is to be
located,   entered  into  on  or  before  May  first,  nineteen  hundred
seventy-one,  relating  to  the  location  of  facilities   within   the
municipality  shall  be  deemed to be and have the force and effect of a
local law;
  (e)  that  the  facility  is  consistent  with   long-range   planning
objectives for electric power supply in the state, including an economic
and reliable electric system, and for protection of the environment.
  (f) that the facility will serve the public interest, convenience, and
necessity,  provided,  however,  that a determination of necessity for a
facility made by the power authority of the state of New  York  pursuant
to  section  ten  hundred  five  of  the public authorities law shall be
conclusive on the board; and
  (g)  that  the  facility  is  in  the public interest, considering the
environmental impact of the facility, the total cost  to  society  as  a
whole,  the  possible alternative sites or alternative available methods
of power generation, or alternative available sources of energy  as  the
case  may be, both within the state and elsewhere, and the immediacy and
totality of the needs of the people of the state for the facility within
the context of the need for public utility services and  for  protection
of the environment.
  3.  A  copy  of the decision and opinion shall be served on each party
personally or by mail.
  * NB Expired January 1, 1979
  * NB Operative with regard to applications filed on or before December
         31, 1978
  * NB There are 2 § 146's