READ PROPOSED ACT AMENDMENT FULL TEXT
A BUDGET BILL submitted by the Governor
in accordance with Article VII of the Constitution
AN ACT to amend the public service law, the economic development
law, the real property tax law, the general municipal law,
the public authorities law, the environmental conservation
law, the New York state urban development corporation act
and the state finance law, in relation to accelerating the
growth of renewable energy facilities to meet critical
state energy policy goals (Part );…….
Cuomo wants more state control of solar, wind energy permits
LBANY – Large-scale solar and wind projects would be subject to a dramatically new permitting process controlled only by the Cuomo administration – a plan developers say would cut by years the time to it takes for large renewable energy facilities to be approved in New York.
Local government officials, however, say it will sharply reduce the role communities now play in the process for siting larger energy projects.
“What little opportunity we have to have any say in the matter is completely taken away,” said Wright Ellis, supervisor of the Town of Cambria, where a solar project on 900 acres called Bear Ridge has been a controversial fight for nearly two years.
“I’m very concerned because, traditionally, land use has been the province of the local government. … This just cancels that out completely,” Ellis said.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants his economic development agency to create a new Office of Renewable Energy Permitting to handle permitting procedures for big solar and wind projects, though there appears to be opportunities for some smaller projects, such as those known as “community solar,” to bypass local government oversight and go directly to Albany for needed approvals…….
The New York State Conference of Mayors, which represents city and village officials, added its concerns about Cuomo’s plan, saying that it would lead to “no meaningful role for local governments as representatives of their communities” in siting decisions for solar and wind projects.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. 
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