S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  6218--A
     Cal. No. 668
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               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:
 
   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.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09754-05-3
              

 S. 6218--A                          2
 
   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
 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).
 S. 6218--A                          3
 
   §  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-
 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.
 S. 6218--A                          4
 
   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
 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.