S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7764
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               June 7, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. MITAYNES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Energy
 
 AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to enacting "the
   planned offshore wind transmission act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 "the planned offshore wind transmission act".
   § 2. Legislative intent. In 2019, the Climate Leadership and Community
 Protection Act was signed into law, requiring that New York reduce econ-
 omy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030
 and  by  no  less than 85 percent by 2050. In addition, the law requires
 9,000 megawatt (MW) of offshore wind  development  by  2035.  In  antic-
 ipation  that  the  state's  mandated  offshore wind goal will increase,
 improved planning and coordination is needed to reduce costs  and  mini-
 mize  community  and environmental impacts of offshore wind expansion in
 New York state. In addition, a more cohesive approach is needed  now  to
 build  on the momentum of the Inflation Reduction Act and other once-in-
 a-generation measures to start the build-out of a lower-cost,  lower-im-
 pact offshore wind transmission system.
   Independent,  shared  transmission  will  minimize  seabed cabling and
 shore crossings, reduce overall costs and  impacts  to  ratepayers,  and
 build an ocean grid that complements the resiliency of the onshore grid.
 This  planned  approach is already happening in Europe, and it is imper-
 ative that New York follows  suit.  Standards  must  be  established  to
 ensure  that  offshore  wind  transmission systems can connect with each
 other to operate in a network.
   Furthermore, the legislature  finds  and  declares  that  the  state's
 planned  offshore  wind  projects  are  essential to meeting its goal of
 reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent  from  1990
 levels  by 2030 and  by  no  less than 85 percent by 2050, and producing

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09754-06-3
              

 A. 7764                             2
 
 nine thousand megawatts of offshore wind development by the  year  2035.
 Certain  land use and alienation actions are necessary procedural compo-
 nents of effectuating  and  permitting  various  projects'  landfall  by
 enabling  transmission  of  energy  from  the offshore wind turbines and
 connection to transmission facilities on land. These  land  use  actions
 and  infrastructure  development must be effectuated in a timely manner;
 if they are not, various state and federal permitting processes could be
 jeopardized,  causing  potential  project  delays  and  even  materially
 increasing  the  projects' risks of failure, either of which would nega-
 tively impact the state's ability to  meet  its  climate  and  renewable
 energy  goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,
 negatively impact workforce and  economic  development  associated  with
 offshore  wind  energy development and interconnection, and risk further
 adverse climate impacts to communities across the state.  As  such,  the
 legislature  finds  and declares that the provisions of this legislation
 are a matter of substantial state concern.
   § 3. The public authorities law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
 1885 to read as follows:
   §  1885. THE PLANNED OFFSHORE WIND TRANSMISSION ACT. 1. THE AUTHORITY,
 IN CONSULTATION WITH THE  NEW  YORK  INDEPENDENT  SYSTEM  OPERATOR,  THE
 DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE,  AND  OTHER RELEVANT STATE AGENCIES AND
 AUTHORITIES, SHALL, UPON THE EXPANSION  OF  THE  STATE'S  OFFSHORE  WIND
 MEGAWATT  (MW) GOAL ABOVE THE CURRENT NINE THOUSAND MW, ESTABLISH A PLAN
 FOR IMPROVED TRANSMISSION  PLANNING  AND  COORDINATION  SYSTEMS  FOR  AN
 OFFSHORE GRID.
   2.  THE  AUTHORITY  SHALL  OVERSEE PROCUREMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT TRANS-
 MISSION SYSTEMS TO INTEGRATE THE NEXT ROUND OF  OFFSHORE  WIND  PROJECTS
 AND  INCLUDE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE PLAN, ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SUBDI-
 VISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, TO THE EXTENT REASONABLE AND FEASIBLE:
   A. CONSIDER COMMUNITY PROTECTION BOTH ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE;
   B. BALANCE IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT;
   C. BALANCE IMPACTS ON LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES; AND
   D. STREAMLINE THE PROCESS FOR THE PLANNED TRANSMISSION PROCESS.
   3. THE AUTHORITY, IN CONSULTATION WITH OTHER RELEVANT  STATE  AGENCIES
 AND  AUTHORITIES,  SHALL  CONDUCT  A BENEFIT-COST-ANALYSIS AND RATEPAYER
 IMPACT STUDY TO DETERMINE THE  OVERALL  COSTS  OF  IMPLEMENTING  PLANNED
 TRANSMISSION AND COORDINATED SYSTEMS FOR AN OFFSHORE GRID.
   §  4.  Subject  to  the  provisions  of this section and sections five
 through nine of this act, the city of Long Beach is  hereby  authorized,
 acting by and through its governing body, and upon such terms and condi-
 tions  as  determined  by, and in the sole discretion of, such governing
 body, to: (a) temporarily discontinue the use of the parklands described
 in section six of this act; and (b) to discontinue the use  as  parkland
 and  alienate  the  lands described in section seven of this act, and to
 convey property interests in such lands to EW  Offshore  Wind  Transport
 Corporation for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating a
 subterranean  conduit and electrical distribution cable system, together
 with subterranean transition joint bays and link boxes, and appurtenanc-
 es thereto, under city of Long Beach parkland  located  at  Ocean  Beach
 Park  (also  known  as Long Beach), designated on the city of Long Beach
 Tax Map as Section 59, Block A, Lot 2 (or Lots 1 - 6).
   § 5. The authorization contained in section four  of  this  act  shall
 only  be effective on the condition that the city of Long Beach dedicate
 an amount equal to or greater than fair market value  of  the  parklands
 being  alienated pursuant to section four of this act towards the acqui-
 A. 7764                             3
 
 sition of new parklands and/or capital improvements to existing park and
 recreational facilities.
   § 6. The parklands authorized by section four of this act to be tempo-
 rarily  discontinued  as  parkland  for  construction  are  described as
 follows:
   DESCRIPTION OF A PROPOSED LIMITED USE AREA ACROSS A PORTION OF TAX LOT
 2, BLOCK A, CITY OF LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK.
   BEGINNING AT A POINT IN THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT  2  BLOCK  A
 AND  THE  SOUTHERLY  TERMINUS OF RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD (100' WIDE R.O.W.),
 SAID POINT BEING DISTANT SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES  59  SECONDS  EAST,
 8.57  FEET  FROM WHERE THE SAME IS INTERSECTED BY TAX LOT 203 BLOCK 272,
 AND RUNS THENCE
   1. ALONG SAID DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A AND THE SOUTHER-
 LY TERMINUS OF SAID RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES  59
 SECONDS EAST 84.49 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   2.  ACROSS  TAX  LOT 2 BLOCK A, SOUTH 01 DEGREES 31 MINUTES 22 SECONDS
 EAST, 488.93 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   3. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, ALONG THE MEAN HIGH-WATER  LINE  OF
 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, 157.1+/- FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   4.  STILL  ACROSS  TAX  LOT  2 BLOCK A, NORTH 00 DEGREES 23 MINUTES 41
 SECONDS WEST, 424.50 FEET TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING.
   CONTAINING 43,990 SQUARE FEET OR 1.0099 ACRES OF LAND.
   BEING SHOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH  A  PLAN  ENTITLED  "LIMITED  USE  AREA
 EXHIBIT,  PORTION  OF  TAX  LOT 2, BLOCK A, BEACH AT LONG BEACH, CITY OF
 LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK "PREPARED  BY  DPK  LAND  SURVEYING,
 LLC, DATED FEBRUARY 17, 2023.
   The  foregoing  metes  and  bounds description include the surface and
 subsurface of the temporarily discontinued parkland for construction.
   § 7. The subsurface portion of land authorized by section four of this
 act to be permanently discontinued as parkland is described as follows:
   DESCRIPTION OF A PROPOSED LIMITED USE AREA ACROSS A PORTION OF TAX LOT
 2, BLOCK A, CITY OF LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK.
   BEGINNING AT A POINT IN THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT  2  BLOCK  A
 AND  THE  SOUTHERLY  TERMINUS OF RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD (100' WIDE R.O.W.),
 SAID POINT BEING DISTANT SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES  59  SECONDS  EAST,
 8.57  FEET  FROM WHERE THE SAME IS INTERSECTED BY TAX LOT 203 BLOCK 272,
 AND RUNS THENCE
   1. ALONG SAID DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A AND THE SOUTHER-
 LY TERMINUS OF SAID RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES  59
 SECONDS EAST 84.49 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   2.  ACROSS  TAX  LOT 2 BLOCK A, SOUTH 01 DEGREES 31 MINUTES 22 SECONDS
 EAST, 488.93 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   3. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, ALONG THE MEAN HIGH-WATER  LINE  OF
 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, 157.1+/- FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
   4.  STILL  ACROSS  TAX  LOT  2 BLOCK A, NORTH 00 DEGREES 23 MINUTES 41
 SECONDS WEST, 424.50 FEET TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING.
   CONTAINING 43,990 SQUARE FEET OR 1.0099 ACRES OF LAND.
   BEING SHOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH  A  PLAN  ENTITLED  "LIMITED  USE  AREA
 EXHIBIT,  PORTION  OF  TAX  LOT 2, BLOCK A, BEACH AT LONG BEACH, CITY OF
 LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK "PREPARED  BY  DPK  LAND  SURVEYING,
 LLC, DATED FEBRUARY 17, 2023.
   The  portion  of  the property subject to the permanently discontinued
 parkland will be below the surface  of  the  Earth,  with  the  vertical
 extents  no  higher  than  elevation  -30 (Feet, North American Vertical
 Datum of 1988); the intent being that the proposed cable route will  not
 A. 7764                             4
 
 interfere  with  or  affect  the existing boardwalk, boardwalk piles, or
 jetty on the subject property.
   §  8.  Upon  completion  of  construction,  EW Offshore Wind Transport
 Corporation, as authorized by this act in agreement and in  consultation
 with  the New York State Historic Preservation Office, shall restore the
 surface of the lands more particularly described in section six of  this
 act and such lands shall continue to be used for park purposes.
   §  9.  In  the  event that the city of Long Beach received any funding
 support or assistance from the  federal  government  for  the  purchase,
 maintenance,  or  improvement of the parklands set forth in sections six
 and seven of this act, the discontinuance and alienation of  such  park-
 lands authorized by the provisions of this act shall not occur until the
 city of Long Beach has complied with any federal requirements pertaining
 to  the  alienation or conversion of parklands, including satisfying the
 secretary of the interior that the  alienation  or  conversion  complies
 with  all conditions which the secretary of the interior deems necessary
 to assure the substitution of other lands shall be  equivalent  in  fair
 market value and usefulness to the lands being alienated or converted.
   § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.