New York Office of Renewable Energy Siting Finalizes Regulations Implementing Section 94-c Of Executive Law
Earlier this month, the New York Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) finalized regulations implementing Section 94-c of the Executive Law. This comes almost one year after the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (AREGCBA) established both ORES and Section 94-c in an effort to speed up the approval of renewable energy generation facilities in New York.
In September of 2020, ORES published a draft of the implementing regulations and Uniform Standard Conditions (USCs). The recently finalized document includes USCs applicable to all projects approved under Section 94-c.
The LaBella team reviewed the finalized provisions and found that although they include some new requirements and clarify some terminology, they are not dramatically different from the preceding drafts. Perhaps most importantly, ORES accompanied the finalized provisions with a 174-page Assessment of Public Comments. The assessment summarizes each comment received on the drafts, presents a discussion authored by ORES, and indicates whether ORES modified the final provision in response to the comment and, if so, how.
As the 94-c process is still new, the Assessment of Public Comments offers valuable insight into how ORES views the process and its underlying requirements.
More information on the finalized regulations is available here.
The accompanying Assessment of Public Comments are available here.
At LaBella, we have tracked the 94-c regulations since inception and remain committed to providing our clients with the information they need to be successful in ongoing and future renewable energy projects.
