What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to local government
- Referred to local government
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S3784
Title of bill
An act to amend the town law and the village law, in relation to requiring local building and planning regulations to accommodate the use of renewable and alternative energy sources
Purpose
This legislation would encourage towns and all renewable energy resources in the development of regulations.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of this bill would amend the Town Law in relation to zoning and planning. The bill would require that regulations be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan and designed to accommodate renewable energy resources as defined in Subdivision 12 of Section 1-103 of the New York State Energy Law.
Section 2 of the bill would amend the Village Law to include similar provisions as provided for in Section 1 of the bill.
Existing law
Present law requires towns and villages to develop zoning and Planning regulations to accommodate solar energy systems and equipment and associated access to sunlight.
Since 1976, Subdivision 12 of Section 1-103 of the Energy Law has included the definition of renewable energy resources as follows: "Renewable energy resources shall include sources which are capable of being continuously restored by natural or other means or are so large as to be useable for centuries without significant depletion and include but are not limited to solar, wind, plant and forest products, wastes, tidal, hydro, geothermal, deuterium, and hydrogen."
Justification
This legislation provides municipalities with the necessary flexibility to help accomplish the State's renewable energy goals, by ensuring that all renewable energy resources are eligible for consideration in the formation of zoning and planning regulations.
New York State's energy policy is to obtain and maintain safe, reliable, and diverse energy supplies, accelerate the development and use of renewable energy resources, and increase its energy independence, in order to promote the State's economic growth, to maintain the security of its energy supplies, and to protect its environmental values New York's existing generating resources are powered by a mix of fuels. As an extension of that fuel diversity policy, the State has committed to increasing renewable energy supplies.
A diverse energy fuel portfolio protects the reliability of New York's energy system and provides benefits to consumers. In general, the electric system is less reliable, if it becomes too dependent on any one fuel source. Given the benefits of its existing fuel-diverse sources of supply, the State has committed to expanding that mix further.
An Executive Order encourages localities to increase their use of renewable energy resources. Also, among other provisions, Article 9 of
the Energy Law allows municipalities to enter into energy performance contracts for purposes such as developing alternate sources of energy.
Allowing municipalities to consider all renewable energy resources, while developing zoning and planning regulations, supports existing energy supplies and also sends the message to potential investors that the State recognizes the importance of including a variety of resources in its energy mix.
Legislative history
This legislation is new.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediate.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.