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SECTION 146*2
The decision
Public Service (PBS) CHAPTER 48, ARTICLE 8*
* § 146. The decision. 1. The board shall make the final decision on
an application under this article for a certificate or amendment
thereof, upon the record made before the presiding examiner, after
receiving briefs and exceptions to the recommended decision of such
examiner and to the report of the associate examiner, and after hearing
such oral argument as the board shall determine. Petitions for rehearing
shall also be considered and decided by the board.

2. The board shall render a decision upon the record either to grant
or deny the application as filed or to certify the facility at any site
considered at the hearings upon such terms, conditions, limitations or
modifications of the construction or operation of the facility as the
board may deem appropriate. The board shall issue, with its decision, an
opinion stating in full its reasons for its decision. The board shall
issue an order upon the decision and the opinion embodying the terms and
conditions thereof in full. The board may not grant a certificate for
the construction or operation of a major steam electric generating
facility, either as proposed or as modified by the board, unless it
shall find and determine:

(a) the public need for the facility and the basis thereof;

(b) the nature of the probable environmental impact, including a
specification of the predictable adverse effect on the normal
environment and ecology, public health and safety, aesthetics, scenic,
historic and recreational value, forest and parks, air and water
quality, fish and other marine life, and wildlife;

(c) that the facility (i) represents the minimum adverse environmental
impact, considering the state of available technology, the nature and
economics of the various alternatives, the interests of the state with
respect to aesthetics, preservation of historic sites, forest and parks,
fish and wildlife, and other pertinent considerations, (ii) is
compatible with the public health and safety; and (iii) will not
discharge any effluent that will be in contravention of the standards
adopted by the department of environmental conservation or, in case no
classification has been made of the receiving waters associated with the
facility, will not discharge any effluent that will be unduly injurious
to the propagation and protection of fish and wildlife, the industrial
development of the state, and public health and public enjoyment of the
receiving waters.

(d) that the facility is designed to operate in compliance with
applicable state and local laws and regulations issued thereunder
concerning, among other matters, the environment, public health and
safety, all of which shall be binding upon the applicant, except that
the board may refuse to apply any local ordinance, law, resolution or
other action or any regulation issued thereunder or any local standard
or requirement which would be otherwise applicable if it finds that as
applied to the proposed facility such is unreasonably restrictive in
view of the existing technology or the needs of or costs to consumers
whether located inside or outside of such municipality. The board shall
provide the municipality an opportunity to present evidence in support
of such ordinance, law, resolution, regulation, or other local action
issued thereunder. For the purposes of this article an agreement between
the applicant and a municipality in which the proposed facility is to be
located, entered into on or before May first, nineteen hundred
seventy-one, relating to the location of facilities within the
municipality shall be deemed to be and have the force and effect of a
local law;

(e) that the facility is consistent with long-range planning
objectives for electric power supply in the state, including an economic
and reliable electric system, and for protection of the environment.

(f) that the facility will serve the public interest, convenience, and
necessity, provided, however, that a determination of necessity for a
facility made by the power authority of the state of New York pursuant
to section ten hundred five of the public authorities law shall be
conclusive on the board; and

(g) that the facility is in the public interest, considering the
environmental impact of the facility, the total cost to society as a
whole, the possible alternative sites or alternative available methods
of power generation, or alternative available sources of energy as the
case may be, both within the state and elsewhere, and the immediacy and
totality of the needs of the people of the state for the facility within
the context of the need for public utility services and for protection
of the environment.

3. A copy of the decision and opinion shall be served on each party
personally or by mail.

* NB Expired January 1, 1979

* NB Operative with regard to applications filed on or before December

31, 1978

* NB There are 2 § 146's