* § 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