BILL NUMBER: S8109

SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public service law, in relation to
excluding garbage incinerators from the types of facilities eligible to
use an expedited power plant siting process

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would exclude major electric generating facilities which
generate electricity from the combustion or pyrolysis of solid waste or
fuel derived from solid waste from an expedited power siting process.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 4 of section 162 of the
public service law are amended to exclude major electric generating
facilities which generate electricity from the combustion or pyrolysis
of solid waste or fuel derived from solid waste from an expedited power
siting process.

              

Section 2. Sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Construction of the largest trash incinerator in New York State is
proposed for the Finger Lakes region, under an expedited permitting
process for siting electricity generating facilities. This proposed
plant has been blocked by local zoning regulation and failed to receive
local permits, but the state siting law could preempt municipal law and
allow the plant to be constructed, if approved by the Public Service
Commission.

Fundamentally, trash incinerators are not effective mechanisms for elec-
tricity generation, often producing less electricity than is expended to
bum waste materials, and at a higher cost. They also produce toxic ash
from burning a range of solid wastes which can vary widely in chemical
output, making compliance with emissions and toxic waste limits diffi-
cult. These facilities are effectively solid waste landfills which
contravene New York's goals to increase recycling rates, and should not
be a part of the state's streamlined power plant siting process.

Siting a trash incinerator in the Finger Lakes region, with the associ-
ated impacts of air and ash pollution, will damage the local tourism,
winery and agriculture industries. This legislation eliminates trash
incinerators from the expedited state siting process and ensures that
municipalities will have authority to decide, based on their own zoning
laws, if a trash incinerator project moves forward, or if it would cause
undue environmental and economic degradation following environmental
review. Critically, a full environmental review would be required under
the State Environmental Quality Review Act for any generation facility
that is not expedited.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New legislation.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8109A

SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to create a prohibition against alternative waste to energy
facilities that apply for approvals but that do not demonstrate a
compelling public purpose and that would have a significant and adverse
environmental impact that cannot be mitigated

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would create a special act prohibiting a waste to energy
facility from receiving a certificate of compatibility and public need
or a negative declaration under the New York State Environmental Quality
Review Act (SEQRA) if certain criteria are met.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Prohibits a waste to energy facility from receiving a certif-
icate of compatibility and public need or a negative declaration under
              

the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) if the
following criteria are met: it poses a risk to the public health and
safety of a community within an environmentally sensitive area of the
state; and it is within 10 miles of a priority waterbody as designated
by the state as a critical source of drinking water and tourism driver
and as having vulnerabilities to harmful algal blooms; and is within a
thriving agriculture-tourism region serving as an economic engine with
over $1 billion of investment in the region and has created over 25,000
jobs; and there are existing state approved landfills or other solid
waste management facilities operating within a 50 mile radius of the
proposed site; and there is significant impact to the access roads
surrounding the proposed site; and it does not demonstrate a compelling
public purpose and the project can be located on an alternative site
that does not pose an environmental or economic threat to the region.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Fundamentally, trash incinerators are not effective mechanisms for elec-
tricity generation, often producing less electricity than is expended to
burn waste materials, and at a higher cost. They also produce toxic ash
from burning a range of solid wastes which can vary widely in chemical
output, making compliance with emissions and toxic waste limits diffi-
cult. These facilities are effectively solid waste management facilities
which contravene New York's goals to increase recycling rates. These
types of facilities are different from other energy generating facili-
ties in that, through truck traffic, there is the importation of waste
on a daily basis.

Construction of the largest trash incinerator in New York State is
proposed for the Finger Lakes region, under an expedited permitting
process for siting electricity generating facilities. Siting a trash
incinerator in the Finger Lakes region, with the associated impacts of
air and ash pollution, will significantly damage the local tourism,
winery and agriculture industries as well as the lakes and farmland
throughout the area. In an area where three of the largest landfills in
NYS are located, this is an unacceptable area for a project of this
nature. Over 3 million tons of trash per year are located in this area
and the cumulative impact of adding more imported waste would have an
extremely negative effect on the public health and safety of the commu-
nity, the local businesses and the lakes.

This legislation would prohibit a waste to energy facility from receiv-
ing a certificate of compatibility and public need or a negative decla-
ration under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)
if the criteria listed above are met.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been
in full force and effect on and after February 1, 2018.