Section 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