Last August, when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Power New York Act of 20111 into law, he highlighted2 provisions of the act that, he expected, would encourage new investments in electric generating facilities across the state and create new “green” jobs.3 One portion of the act that was not extensively discussed at the time was the re-establishment of Article 10 of the Public Service Law (PSL), which had expired Jan. 1, 2003.
As a general matter, the Legislature indicated that it intended that the new Article 10 would streamline the siting process for approving major power plants in the state. The Legislature also enacted Article 10 in an effort to improve public participation in power plant siting decisions. Toward that end, the new Article 10 requires that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) promulgate regulations for the analysis of “environmental justice” issues in connection with the siting of these power plants. Now, the DEC has issued “Environmental Justice Proposed Regulations” to do just that.4
