Enacts "the planned offshore wind transmission act"; requires the New York state energy and research development authority to establish a plan for improved transmission planning and coordinating systems for an offshore grid; requires the authority 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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6218--A
Cal. No. 668
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first
and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
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:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 "the planned offshore wind transmission act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. In 2019, the Climate Leadership and Community
4 Protection Act was signed into law, requiring that New York reduce econ-
5 omy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030
6 and by no less than 85 percent by 2050. In addition, the law requires
7 9,000 megawatt (MW) of offshore wind development by 2035. In antic-
8 ipation that the state's mandated offshore wind goal will increase,
9 improved planning and coordination is needed to reduce costs and mini-
10 mize community and environmental impacts of offshore wind expansion in
11 New York state. In addition, a more cohesive approach is needed now to
12 build on the momentum of the Inflation Reduction Act and other once-in-
13 a-generation measures to start the build-out of a lower-cost, lower-im-
14 pact offshore wind transmission system.
15 Independent, shared transmission will minimize seabed cabling and
16 shore crossings, reduce overall costs and impacts to ratepayers, and
17 build an ocean grid that complements the resiliency of the onshore grid.
18 This planned approach is already happening in Europe, and it is imper-
19 ative that New York follows suit. Standards must be established to
20 ensure that offshore wind transmission systems can connect with each
21 other to operate in a network.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09754-05-3
S. 6218--A 2
1 Furthermore, the legislature finds and declares that the state's
2 planned offshore wind projects are essential to meeting its goal of
3 reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990
4 levels by 2030 and by no less than 85 percent by 2050, and producing
5 nine thousand megawatts of offshore wind development by the year 2035.
6 Certain land use and alienation actions are necessary procedural compo-
7 nents of effectuating and permitting various projects' landfall by
8 enabling transmission of energy from the offshore wind turbines and
9 connection to transmission facilities on land. These land use actions
10 and infrastructure development must be effectuated in a timely manner;
11 if they are not, various state and federal permitting processes could be
12 jeopardized, causing potential project delays and even materially
13 increasing the projects' risks of failure, either of which would nega-
14 tively impact the state's ability to meet its climate and renewable
15 energy goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,
16 negatively impact workforce and economic development associated with
17 offshore wind energy development and interconnection, and risk further
18 adverse climate impacts to communities across the state. As such, the
19 legislature finds and declares that the provisions of this legislation
20 are a matter of substantial state concern.
21 § 3. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section
22 1885 to read as follows:
23 § 1885. The planned offshore wind transmission act. 1. The authority,
24 in consultation with the New York independent system operator, the
25 department of public service, and other relevant state agencies and
26 authorities, shall, upon the expansion of the state's offshore wind
27 megawatt (MW) goal above the current nine thousand MW, establish a plan
28 for improved transmission planning and coordination systems for an
29 offshore grid.
30 2. The authority shall oversee procurements for independent trans-
31 mission systems to integrate the next round of offshore wind projects
32 and include recommendations in the plan, established pursuant to subdi-
33 vision one of this section, to the extent reasonable and feasible:
34 a. consider community protection both onshore and offshore;
35 b. balance impacts on the environment;
36 c. balance impacts on local municipalities; and
37 d. streamline the process for the planned transmission process.
38 3. The authority, in consultation with other relevant state agencies
39 and authorities, shall conduct a benefit-cost-analysis and ratepayer
40 impact study to determine the overall costs of implementing planned
41 transmission and coordinated systems for an offshore grid.
42 § 4. Subject to the provisions of this section and sections five
43 through nine of this act, the city of Long Beach is hereby authorized,
44 acting by and through its governing body, and upon such terms and condi-
45 tions as determined by, and in the sole discretion of, such governing
46 body, to: (a) temporarily discontinue the use of the parklands described
47 in section six of this act; and (b) to discontinue the use as parkland
48 and alienate the lands described in section seven of this act, and to
49 convey property interests in such lands to EW Offshore Wind Transport
50 Corporation for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating a
51 subterranean conduit and electrical distribution cable system, together
52 with subterranean transition joint bays and link boxes, and appurtenanc-
53 es thereto, under city of Long Beach parkland located at Ocean Beach
54 Park (also known as Long Beach), designated on the city of Long Beach
55 Tax Map as Section 59, Block A, Lot 2 (or Lots 1 - 6).
S. 6218--A 3
1 § 5. The authorization contained in section four of this act shall
2 only be effective on the condition that the city of Long Beach dedicate
3 an amount equal to or greater than fair market value of the parklands
4 being alienated pursuant to section four of this act towards the acqui-
5 sition of new parklands and/or capital improvements to existing park and
6 recreational facilities.
7 § 6. The parklands authorized by section four of this act to be tempo-
8 rarily discontinued as parkland for construction are described as
9 follows:
10 DESCRIPTION OF A PROPOSED LIMITED USE AREA ACROSS A PORTION OF TAX LOT
11 2, BLOCK A, CITY OF LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK.
12 BEGINNING AT A POINT IN THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A
13 AND THE SOUTHERLY TERMINUS OF RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD (100' WIDE R.O.W.),
14 SAID POINT BEING DISTANT SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES 59 SECONDS EAST,
15 8.57 FEET FROM WHERE THE SAME IS INTERSECTED BY TAX LOT 203 BLOCK 272,
16 AND RUNS THENCE
17 1. ALONG SAID DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A AND THE SOUTHER-
18 LY TERMINUS OF SAID RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES 59
19 SECONDS EAST 84.49 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
20 2. ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, SOUTH 01 DEGREES 31 MINUTES 22 SECONDS
21 EAST, 488.93 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
22 3. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, ALONG THE MEAN HIGH-WATER LINE OF
23 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, 157.1+/- FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
24 4. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, NORTH 00 DEGREES 23 MINUTES 41
25 SECONDS WEST, 424.50 FEET TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING.
26 CONTAINING 43,990 SQUARE FEET OR 1.0099 ACRES OF LAND.
27 BEING SHOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PLAN ENTITLED "LIMITED USE AREA
28 EXHIBIT, PORTION OF TAX LOT 2, BLOCK A, BEACH AT LONG BEACH, CITY OF
29 LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK "PREPARED BY DPK LAND SURVEYING,
30 LLC, DATED FEBRUARY 17, 2023.
31 The foregoing metes and bounds description include the surface and
32 subsurface of the temporarily discontinued parkland for construction.
33 § 7. The subsurface portion of land authorized by section four of this
34 act to be permanently discontinued as parkland is described as follows:
35 DESCRIPTION OF A PROPOSED LIMITED USE AREA ACROSS A PORTION OF TAX LOT
36 2, BLOCK A, CITY OF LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK.
37 BEGINNING AT A POINT IN THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A
38 AND THE SOUTHERLY TERMINUS OF RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD (100' WIDE R.O.W.),
39 SAID POINT BEING DISTANT SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES 59 SECONDS EAST,
40 8.57 FEET FROM WHERE THE SAME IS INTERSECTED BY TAX LOT 203 BLOCK 272,
41 AND RUNS THENCE
42 1. ALONG SAID DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A AND THE SOUTHER-
43 LY TERMINUS OF SAID RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, SOUTH 86 DEGREES 49 MINUTES 59
44 SECONDS EAST 84.49 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
45 2. ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, SOUTH 01 DEGREES 31 MINUTES 22 SECONDS
46 EAST, 488.93 FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
47 3. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, ALONG THE MEAN HIGH-WATER LINE OF
48 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, 157.1+/- FEET TO A POINT, THENCE
49 4. STILL ACROSS TAX LOT 2 BLOCK A, NORTH 00 DEGREES 23 MINUTES 41
50 SECONDS WEST, 424.50 FEET TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING.
51 CONTAINING 43,990 SQUARE FEET OR 1.0099 ACRES OF LAND.
52 BEING SHOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PLAN ENTITLED "LIMITED USE AREA
53 EXHIBIT, PORTION OF TAX LOT 2, BLOCK A, BEACH AT LONG BEACH, CITY OF
54 LONG BEACH, NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK "PREPARED BY DPK LAND SURVEYING,
55 LLC, DATED FEBRUARY 17, 2023.
S. 6218--A 4
1 The portion of the property subject to the permanently discontinued
2 parkland will be below the surface of the Earth, with the vertical
3 extents no higher than elevation -30 (Feet, North American Vertical
4 Datum of 1988); the intent being that the proposed cable route will not
5 interfere with or affect the existing boardwalk, boardwalk piles, or
6 jetty on the subject property.
7 § 8. Upon completion of construction, EW Offshore Wind Transport
8 Corporation, as authorized by this act in agreement and in consultation
9 with the New York State Historic Preservation Office, shall restore the
10 surface of the lands more particularly described in section six of this
11 act and such lands shall continue to be used for park purposes.
12 § 9. In the event that the city of Long Beach received any funding
13 support or assistance from the federal government for the purchase,
14 maintenance, or improvement of the parklands set forth in sections six
15 and seven of this act, the discontinuance and alienation of such park-
16 lands authorized by the provisions of this act shall not occur until the
17 city of Long Beach has complied with any federal requirements pertaining
18 to the alienation or conversion of parklands, including satisfying the
19 secretary of the interior that the alienation or conversion complies
20 with all conditions which the secretary of the interior deems necessary
21 to assure the substitution of other lands shall be equivalent in fair
22 market value and usefulness to the lands being alienated or converted.
23 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.
