Section 15-1613. Procedure for gubernatorial approval pursuant to Public Law 99-662

Upon receipt of a request for approval pursuant to Public  Law  99-662
  of a proposed interbasin diversion from the Great Lakes basin:
    1.  The  department  shall  notify the person requesting such approval
  whether  sufficient  information  has  accompanied  the  request  or  is
  otherwise available to permit an evaluation of the request.
    2.  The  department  shall  notify other state agencies, including the
  departments of health, economic development,  agriculture  and  markets,
  transportation,  state  and  public  service, the power authority of the
  state of New York and the state energy office of such request and  shall
  solicit their comments thereon. Notification shall be given and comments
  solicited  from  the  International  Joint  Commission,  the Great Lakes
  Commission, and other appropriate federal agencies.
    3. The department shall publish a notice in the  environmental  notice
  bulletin containing the following information:
    a. The name of the person, their relevant affiliation, and originating
  state or province requesting approval of the diversion;
    b. A description of the proposed diversion, including the location and
  size  of  such  diversion,  and the state or province to which the water
  will be diverted; and
    c. The name and address where more information may be obtained.
  Such notice shall also provide for a public comment period of  at  least
  thirty  days.  The  commissioner shall hold a legislative hearing on the
  request.
    4. Within sixty days of the close of the public comment period or  the
  public  hearing,  whichever  is  later,  the department shall transmit a
  report to the governor or his designee, and the legislature, summarizing
  all comments received from state, federal, and interstate  agencies  and
  the  public  and making a recommendation on the request for approval and
  evaluating whether:
    a. The proposed withdrawal is consistent  with  any  applicable  state
  plans,  including  the  water  resources management strategies developed
  pursuant to title twenty-nine of this article,  for  present  or  future
  uses of the waters of the Great Lakes basin;
    b.  Both  the  current water use of the person requesting approval and
  such person's proposed plans for withdrawal, transportation, development
  and use of water resources  incorporate  maximum  economically  feasible
  conservation practices;
    c.  The  proposed  withdrawal and uses will have a significant adverse
  impact on navigation within the Great Lakes basin;
    d. The proposed withdrawal and uses are consistent with the protection
  of public health, safety and welfare in the Great Lakes basin  and  will
  not  be  detrimental  to  the public interest or the public trust in the
  waters of the Great Lakes basin;
    e. Each basin, region, state or province to which the  water  will  be
  diverted has developed and is implementing a plan to manage and conserve
  its own water quantity resources, and whether further development of its
  own  water  resources  is  economically  impracticable  or  would have a
  substantial adverse economic, social or environmental impact;
    f. The application will impair the ability of the Great Lakes basin to
  meet its own water needs;
    g. The proposed withdrawal and uses  alone,  or  in  combination  with
  other water uses, will have a significant adverse impact on lake levels,
  water use, or the environment or the ecosystem of the Great Lakes basin,
  including  the  quality  and  quantity  of the waters of the Great Lakes
  basin and its related land resources; and

    h. Whether the proposed withdrawal is consistent with  all  applicable
  federal,  regional  and  interstate  and  international  water resources
  plans.
    5. The governor or the governor's designee shall, upon receipt of such
  report,  prepare  a  statement  setting forth the governor's approval or
  disapproval of the proposed diversion and the reasons therefor, provided
  that:
    (i) proposed diversions within New York state that would originate  in
  New  York  state  are  prohibited  unless  otherwise  authorized  by the
  governor and the legislature.
    (ii) for all other proposed interbasin diversions, the governor  shall
  have exclusive power of approval or disapproval.