Bill Text: NY S09655 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires utility companies to report on utility poles and remove unused utility poles in the public right-of-way.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S09655 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S09655-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9655

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 16, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations

        AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring utility
          companies  to  report on utility poles and remove unused utility poles
          in the public right-of-way

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
     2  119-e to read as follows:
     3    § 119-e. Utility poles. 1. The commission shall require each regulated
     4  utility company to submit a utility pole location report  that  includes
     5  each  utility  pole  owned  by  such utility that exists within a public
     6  right-of-way.  The  report  shall  specifically  designate  owned  poles
     7  currently  in use by a utility or utilities within a public right-of-way
     8  and specifically designate owned poles on such list that are  no  longer
     9  in  use  by  such utility or any other utility within a public right-of-
    10  way. Such report shall also include information relating  to  any  owned
    11  utility  poles  that  have  been removed from the public right-of-way by
    12  such utility since the previous year's utility pole location report  and
    13  any  owned utility poles that have not been removed by such utility from
    14  the public right-of-way since such previous year's report.
    15    2. Such regulated utility company shall develop a plan for the removal
    16  of any utility pole that is no longer in use by any utility  within  the
    17  public  right-of-way  and  such  pole shall be removed no later than one
    18  year from the date from which it was identified as no longer in use by a
    19  utility pole location report.  The commissioner shall be  authorized  to
    20  impose  a  fine  for the failure of a utility to remove an owned utility
    21  pole no longer in use by such utility or any other utility of up to  ten
    22  thousand  dollars  per pole per year.  A utility company may appeal such
    23  fine in a form and manner determined by the commission.
    24    3. Such reports shall be provided to the commission, the governor, the
    25  temporary president of the senate, the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  the
    26  chairperson  of  the  senate  investigations  and  government operations

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15698-01-4
        S. 9655                             2

     1  committee, the chairperson of the energy and telecommunications  commit-
     2  tee,  and  the chairperson of the assembly energy committee on or before
     3  December first of each year.
     4    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.