Requires ad hoc members to be appointed in order to constitute a quorum on the board of electric generating facilities and includes ad hoc members as part of the board.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8311
SPONSOR: Morinello (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public service law, in relation to
the need of ad hoc members to be appointed to constitute a quorum on the
board of electric generating facilities
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that the siting board for an electric generating facility
cannot meet until local ad hoc members are appointed.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 removes language in the public service law that allows a
siting board to exclude ad hoc siting board members from siting board
decisions. It also amends the public service law to define what consti-
tutes a quorum in meetings of the siting board.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current law, the siting board for a proposed electric generating
facility is composed of five executive agency heads and two local ad hoc
members from the towns where the project is proposed to be built.
The host municipalities nominate lists of possible ad hoc members. The
Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker each appoint one ad hoc
member from these lists, but must do so within 30 days of their nomi-
nation. If either chamber leader fails to make an appointment within 30
days, then their ability to make an appointment is forfeited and given
to the Governor.
If the Governor does not make an appointment within 45 days, then the
siting board may meet and conduct,business despite not having any local
members.
Ad hoc members serve the purpose of ensuring local voices are repres-
ented on siting boards. Without ad hoc members, siting decisions are
made solely by Albany bureaucrats in offices hundreds of miles from the
communities impacted by these projects.
There have been instances like Niagara County's Bear Ridge Solar
Project, where legislative leaders and the Governor all failed to make
ad hoc member appointments. Failing to make a nomination effectively
serves as a pocket veto of local representation.
This bill expresses our state's commitment to democracy and local repre-
sentation by establishing that siting boards may not conduct business
without local ad hoc members.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
