Referred to: The Economic Development, Planning, Education, Employment, Arts and Agriculture Committee (Chairman Cahill and Legislators Corcoran, Criswell, Hewitt, Litts, Maloney and Sperry)

Legislator Laura Petit and Legislators Erner, Hansut, Maloney, and Stewart offer the following:

WHEREAS, Transmission Developers, Inc (TDI) is asking for 30-year PILOTs in 13 of the 15 counties in NYS where the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission lines would be buried either underground or underwater from Canada to New York City providing no benefits to Ulster County; and

WHEREAS, according to TDI’s application, the property tax for the CHPE project in Ulster County over 30 years is projected to be $94 million dollars, and if the Ulster County IDA were to approve the PILOT request by CHPE, that amount would be reduced to $29 million over the life of the PILOT creating additional profit of $65 million dollars in Ulster County alone; and

WHEREAS, in a letter dated December 3, 2021, the Hudson River Drinking Water Intermunicipal Council (Hudson 7), led by supervisors and mayors in Dutchess and Ulster County, outlined their concerns to the UCIDA about the adverse impact of the CHPE project to the Hudson River as their primary drinking water source; and

WHEREAS, the Hudson 7, a coalition of seven municipalities that draw drinking water from the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Esopus and Lloyd for their five public water supplies serving 106,000 residents, three hospitals, three colleges, and major regional employers, providing safe water for human consumption, firefighting, and industry; and

WHEREAS, CHPE proposes to install cables by “jet plowing” through seven feet of sediment in the bottom of the Hudson River in close proximity to drinking water intakes with the proposed route being within 500 feet of the Town of Esopus’s (Ulster County) drinking water intake which will disturb toxins in the sediments, create turbidity in the water and present a risk of contaminating public drinking water supplies; and

WHEREAS, the Hudson 7 has been communicating with TDI in hopes of mitigating these impacts, but it is not yet clear whether that will be possible, given the existence of undocumented hotspots of pollution in the river bottom; and

WHEREAS, the proposed project would provide no meaningful benefit to Ulster County as the project’s sole purpose is to transmit electricity from Canada to New York City posing substantial environmental risks to the Ulster County communities of Esopus and Lloyd in Ulster County for which the towns have already been affected by being forced to address this issue, and they face the risk of contamination or shutdown if CHPE proceeds; and

WHEREAS, we in Ulster County will come to the defense of the sovereign rights asserted by our tribal neighbors to the distant north, as explained in a letter from representatives of five First Nations based in Canada, which Riverkeeper had shared especially for transmission projects which may provide an economic benefit to an extremely narrow geographical region while demanding pass-through rights, New York State ought to follow, not lead, Counties and municipalities, who better understand the local impacts that they alone may be asked to endure, including pollution and degradation of air, soil and water; and

WHEREAS, we support the health and safe drinking water of our residents over the profits of imported electric power companies, especially those that will not provide jobs or supply Ulster County with electricity; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the net negative impacts on Ulster County and municipal drinking water supplies, there is no justification for tax reductions for this project; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that TDI should be paying a Host Community Benefit to impacted communities not asking for tax pilots; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature urges the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (the “IDA”) to deny any tax incentives to Transmission Developers, Inc for their Champlain Hudson Power Express project because of its negative impacts to Ulster County,

and moves its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES:                        NOES:    

Passed Committee: Economic Development, Planning, Education, Employment, Arts and Agriculture on ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE