New York Implements Revised Rules for Major Electric Transmission Infrastructure Permitting

New rules for the siting, permitting, construction and operation of major renewable generation and major electric transmission facilities in New York go into effect March 9, 2026.  The rules—adopted pursuant to the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment Act (“RAPID Act”)[1]—are set forth in 16 NYCRR Parts 1100 (General Procedures), 1101 (Major Renewable Energy Facility Siting) and 1102 (Major Electric Transmission Facility [“METF”] Siting).

The RAPID Act’s primary purpose was to consolidate and expedite the environmental review and permitting of renewable energy and electric transmission projects necessary to support the State’s goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“CLCPA”).[2]  The RAPID Act repealed former Executive Law § 94-c, which had governed the siting of major renewable energy generation facilities, and replaced it with a new Public Service Law (PSL) § 3-c and a new PSL article VIII (“Article VIII”) to accelerate the siting of both major renewable energy facilities and METF.

The new Article VIII regulations significantly affect the permitting requirements for METF. This advisory provides an overview of some of the significant changes.

Pre-Application Procedures

Unlike the prior Article VII regulations, which imposed very few pre-filing requirements on applicants, the Article VIII regulations, as outlined further below, require applicants to complete several steps prior to filing an application. This change will force applicants to engage with stakeholders and prepare materials in support of the application well in advance of filing, significantly “front loading” the permitting process.

Six Months Prior to Application Filing

At least six (6) months prior to filing an application for an METF, an applicant must:  (i) consult with the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (“ORES”) to review proposed and alternative routes to be analyzed in the application,[3] (ii) perform a wetland and surface waterbody screening and submit same to ORES and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”),[4] (iii) complete alternative route scoping (except for projects substantially within existing transmission right-of-way [“ROW”])[5] which includes (a) offering to meet with municipalities to identify reasonable alternative routes to study, (b) hold at least one meeting with community members to discuss the preferred and alternative routes, planned filing date, and the availability of local agency account funds, and (c) publish a notice of intent to file the application, which must be served on ORES, attendees of pre-application meetings and identified stakeholders.[6]

Within sixty-five (65) days of an applicant filing the above-referenced notice of intent, any municipality, person or potential party may file a reasonable route for analysis.[7] The applicant and other stakeholders may respond to such proposal within fifteen (15) days, and then thirty (30) days thereafter ORES must issue a final scope of alternatives to be analyzed in the application.[8]    

Ninety Days Prior to Application Filing

At least ninety (90) days prior to filing, applicants must provide notice to indigenous nations with information regarding the project, application filing date and instructions on requesting party status.[9] At least three (3) months prior to filing, applicants must provide wetland and surface water body preliminary and detailed screenings for alternative routes identified by ORES during the alternatives scoping process.[10]

Sixty Days Prior to Application Filing

At least sixty (60) days prior to filing, applicants must offer to meet with local municipal officials to, among other things, provide a description of the project, attempt to resolve any local law disputes and provide the planned application filing date.[11] Applicants must also (i) meet with community members to educate the public regarding the project,[12] (ii) hold at least one in-person meeting in any Disadvantaged Community if such a community is within the vicinity of the project,[13] (iii) consult with local historical preservation groups and indigenous nations to identify cultural resources of concern,[14] (iv) serve on certain landowners notice of the application including a project description, designated contact person, filing date, and information regarding the availability of local agency account funding,[15] and (v) publish and send to ORES and municipalities a notice of intent to file the application.[16]

During this pre-filing time period, applicants must also complete a Phase IA cultural resource study and submit same to the State Historic Preservation Office (“SHPO”) and within sixty (60) days of submission, ORES must consult with SHPO as to whether a Phase IB field study will be required.[17]  An application may not be filed until the earlier of (i) sixty (60) days following ORES’ Phase IB need determination or (ii) any time after SHPO’s impact determination.[18] 

Applicants must also consult with SHPO to establish a one- to three-mile zone of visual impact and complete a viewshed analysis.[19] An application may not be submitted until sixty (60) days following ORES’ determination, in consultation with SHPO, whether State/National Register of Historic Places may be impacted.[20] 

Three Days Prior to Filing Application

Three (3) days prior to filing an application, applicants must publish in newspapers and serve a notice of application on ORES, landowners and abutters, and state legislative members.[21]

Pre-Application Studies

In addition to the above requirements, applicants must complete certain studies, which must be included in the application.  For example, applicants must complete a wildlife site characterization, summarizing existing public information on bird, bat, and other species that includes an assessment of threatened, endangered and species of special concern within 1,200 feet of the proposed right of way.[22]  This information must be provided to ORES and DEC followed by a meeting with the agencies within four (4) weeks after delivery of that assessment.[23]

Application Content

Applications under the new Article VIII rules must include twenty-nine (29) exhibits.  While many of the exhibits correspond to subject matter previously covered in Article VII certificate applications, in many instances the regulations include far more specificity with respect to exhibit content compared to Article VII.  Additionally, certain new subject matter is covered, such as real property (Exhibit 4), public health, safety and security (Exhibit 8), and in-water facilities (Exhibit 17).  As discussed further below, applications for projects to be located substantially within existing electric transmission ROW may be relieved of certain application requirements.

ORES Application Processing

Once an application is filed, the Article VIII regulations attempt to streamline the regulatory process, prescribing certain timeframes for ORES to complete processing permit applications, including the following:

• ORES must make an application completeness determination within one-hundred-twenty (120) days following application filing.[24] An application will be deemed complete if ORES fails to make such determination within that timeframe.[25] If determined to be incomplete, applicants have ninety (90) days to supplement the application.[26]
• Within sixty (60) days following its completeness determination, ORES must publish draft siting permit conditions and notice of draft permit, public comment period, public comment hearing, and issues conference.[27] A public comment hearing must be held not less than sixty (60) days after issuance of the above combined notice.[28]
• The draft siting permit is subject to sixty (60) day public comment period. Twenty-one (21) days following expiration of public comment period, ORES staff may respond to party status requests, statement of issues, statement of compliance with local laws, and landowners challenging project need.[29]
• Within thirty (30) days following submissions required for the issues conference, the ALJ shall: (i) determine adjudicable issues, (ii) determine party status, (iii) rule on legal issues, (iv) rule on pending motions, and (v) summarize comments on the application and draft permit conditions.[30]
• ORES must issue a final decision on a siting permit within one (1) year from its completeness determination.[31] The permit will be deemed granted if the one (1) year deadline is not met.[32] However, a permit is not deemed granted if: (i) the applicant does not hold property rights to the proposed ROW, and (ii) ORES has not made a public need determination for the proposed project.

Uniform Standards and Conditions

Part 1102 of the Article VIII regulations includes METF Uniform Standards and Conditions (“Uniform Conditions”) that would apply to all METF Article VIII siting permits.[33] The application of Uniform Conditions differs from the prior Article VII Certification process in which certificate conditions for each project were separately negotiated by the parties during the settlement process.  The use of Uniform Conditions is intended to significantly reduce the amount of time currently required for applicants to progress through the Article VII settlement process.  Additionally, ORES may apply site-specific standards to address project-specific impacts that are not addressed by the Uniform Conditions.[34]

Amendment Applications

Unlike the prior Article VII regulations, the Article VIII rules provide specific requirements for applications to amend previously issued certificates/permits.

Amendment applications must include (i) a description of the requested change, (ii) a statement of no violations, and (iii) a statement of whether the applicant holds all right-of-way agreements required for the amendment. ORES may request additional information from the applicant to determine whether the amendment is minor or major.[35]

Except where real property rights are needed, ORES must make its determination of whether the application is for a minor or major amendment within sixty (60) days and, if determined to be minor, the amendment must be issued within sixty (60) days of such determination.

Where property rights are needed for the amendment project, ORES must set a sixty (60) day public comment period to allow landowners to challenge public need for the project.  Within thirty (30) days following expiration of the public comment period, ORES must determine if the project constitutes a minor or major amendment.[36] A major amendment is one that results in (i) a material increase in an identified adverse environmental, public health or safety  impact, (ii) a significant adverse impact not previously addressed by uniform or site-specific conditions, or (iii) a substantial change to a permit or certificate standard or condition.  If an amendment project requires potential local law waivers, it will be deemed major.[37]

Major amendments must be noticed, filed and served in the same manner as an application[38] and are subject to the completeness determination procedures used for a new application.[39]

Modifications to Uncertified Lines Located Substantially within Existing ROW

The Article VIII rules relax the application requirements for projects related to uncertified transmission lines and new work proposed substantially within existing electric transmission ROWs. For example, the rules provide that such applications need not include alternative scoping or Exhibits 8 (Public Health, Safety and Security), 12 (Geology, Seismology, and Soils), 17 (In-Water Facilities) or 22 (Socioeconomic Effects).[40]  Additionally, applicants may request that certain exhibits and pre-application studies be waived by ORES for these types of projects. [41] Moreover, the applicant’s initial consultation with ORES may be performed sixty (60) days prior to filing of an application, rather than six (6) months.[42]  Similar to minor amendment applications, if ORES determines that the application will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts that are not addressed by the standard conditions, then ORES must issue the permit within sixty (60) days of determining same.[43] 

Conclusion

The new Article VIII regulations significantly alter the permitting requirements for METF.  If  you have any questions regarding the new rules, please contact Cullen and Dykman’s energy facility siting practice group: Brendan Mooney at BMooney@CullenLLP.com, David Metcalfe at DMetcalfe@CullenLLP.com, Angela Cascione at ACascione@CullenLLP.com or Michael Lloyd at MLloyd@CullenLLP.com.

Please note that this is a general overview of developments in the law and does not constitute legal advice. Nothing herein creates an attorney-client relationship between the sender and recipient.

Footnotes

[1] L. 2024, Ch. 58 § 11 (Part O). Among other things, the RAPID Act authorizes ORES, in consultation with the Department of Public Service (“DPS”) and subject to approval by the Public Service Commission (“Commission”), to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the siting permit program established by the RAPID Act.  The Commission approved the new regulations on February 12, 2026.   ORES issued a Notice of Adoption of Regulations pursuant to the RAPID Act for the siting, design, construction and operation of major renewable generation and major electric transmission facilities on February 20, 2026.

[2] The CLCPA includes a target for New York to deliver seventy percent (70%) of its electric grid generation from renewable energy sources by 2030, with a longer-term target to reach zero-emissions electricity by 2040.

[3] 16 NYCRR § 1100-1.3(g).

[4] Id. at § 1102-1.1(a)(3).

[5] Id. at § 1102 -1.1(f).

[6] Id. at § 1102-1.1(f)(iii).

[7] Id. at § 1102-1.1(f)(vi).

[8] Id. at § 1102-1.1(f)(vii), (viii).

[9] Id. at § 1100-1.3(c)(1).

[10] Id. at § 1102-1.1(a)(4).

[11] Id. at § 1100-1.3(a).

[12] Id. at § 1100-1.3(b).

[13] Id. at § 1100-1.3(b)(1).

[14] Id. at § 1102-1.1(c).

[15]  Id. at § 1100-1.3(d).

[16] Id. at § 1100-1.3(f).

[17] Id. at § 1102-1.1(c)(3)(ii).

[18] Id. at § 1102-1.1(c)(3)(ii)(a).

[19] Id. at § 1102-1.1(c)(4).

[20] Id. at § 1102-1.1(c)(4)(iv)(a).

[21] Id. at § 1100-1.6(c).

[22] Id. at § 1102-1.1(b).

[23] Id. at § 1102-1.1(b)(2).

[24] Id. at § 1100-4.1(c).

[25] Id. at § 1100-4.1(i)).

[26] Id. at § 1100-4.1(e).

[27] Id. at § 1100-8.1(a)-(b).

[28] Id. at § 1100-8.3(a)(1).

[29] Id. at § 1100-8.3(b)(2)(iii)(a).

[30] Id. at § 1100-8.3(c)(1).

[31] Id. at § 1100-9.1(a)(3).

[32] Id. at § 1100-9.1(e).

[33] Id. at § 1102-3.

[34] Id. at § 1100-9.1(a).

[35] Id. at § 1100-11.2(b)(1)-(4).

[36] Id. at § 1100-11.2(c), (d).

[37] Id. at § 1100-1.1(ay).

[38] Id. at § 1100-11.2(e)(1).

[39] Id. at § 1100-11.2(e)(4).

[40] Id. at § 1100-11.6(c)(2)(i)-(v).

[41] Id. at § 1100-11.6(c)(3).

[42] Id. at § 1100-11.6(b)(4).

[43] Id. at § 1100-11.6(e).