RESOLUTION NO. 613-11: RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE POWER OF NY ACT OF 2011

Mrs. Collier presented the following:

WHEREAS, New York State recently enacted legislation known as the Power of NY Act of 2011; and

WHEREAS, Said legislation amended the public service law by adding a new article 10, which establishes a New York State Board of Electrical Generation Siting and the Environment; and

WHEREAS, Said Board will have the authority to permit the siting of electrical generating facilities in the State which have a nameplate generating capacity of twenty-five thousand kilowatts or more; and

WHEREAS, Previously, while various state agencies had regulatory oversight for such facilities, as a home rule state, New York’s local municipalities, by virtue of decisions made by locally-elected representatives, could ultimately decide whether such development was in their residents’ best interests; and

WHEREAS, The Power of NY Act of 2011 removes said decision making from local municipalities, and puts that authority into the hands of a bureaucratic State board which will have nominal representation from affected communities, and even that representation cannot be from elected representatives of those communities; and

WHEREAS, The new Board will have the authority to ignore “any local ordinance, law…or any local standard or requirement…if it finds that…such is unreasonably burdensome…on ratepayers whether located inside or outside of such municipality”; and

WHEREAS, The new law further states that “no…municipality…may require any approval, consent, permit, certificate or other condition for the construction of operation” of such facility; and

WHEREAS, While the law provides for the set-aside of funds for pre-hearing research on behalf of the affected communities, said funds are controlled by the Board and will be allocated as it sees fit; and

WHEREAS, The large majority of the Board’s membership will have no connection to the affected communities and will not be directly affected by their decisions; and

WHEREAS, While municipalities may be a party to the siting hearings, so may any individual within 5 miles of the proposed facility’s site, and therefore the municipality itself, which purpose, by law, is to represent the residents who elect its officials, is diminished to the level of each individual within the 5 mile radius, whether or not he/she lives in the affected municipality; and

WHEREAS, Said law follows a disturbing trend in New York State to remove powers from local jurisdictions and therefore from the affected electorate and transfer such powers to a faceless bureaucracy which has no constituency; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Wayne County Board of Supervisors opposes, protests, and expresses its deep disappointment and concern over the establishment of said siting Board and of the enactment of the Power NY Act of 2011; and further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of this Board is directed to send certified copies to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Michael Nozzolio, Assemblyman Robert Oaks, and the New York State Association of Counties.

Mr. Lauderdale moved the adoption of the resolution. Seconded by Mrs. Crane. Upon roll call, adopted.

WAYNE COUNTY
Board of Supervisors
LYONS, NEW YORK

This is to Certify that I, the undersigned, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Wayne, have compared the foregoing copy of resolution with the original resolution now on file in this office and which was duly adopted by the Board of Supervisors of said County at a session held on the 18th day of October 2011 and that the same is a true copy of said original and of the whole thereof.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the official seal of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Wayne, this 18th day of October 2011.
_________________________________
Clerk of the Board