STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6317 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- 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 authorities law, in relation to establishing a do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry prohibiting solar solicitors from contacting persons who are included on such registry The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new 2 section 1885 to read as follows: 3 § 1885. Solar solicitation; establishment of do-not-solicit solar 4 development statewide registry. 1. As used in this section, the follow- 5 ing terms shall have the following meanings: 6 (a) "President" means the president of the New York state energy 7 research and development authority. 8 (b) "Solar developer" means a business that finances, installs, owns, 9 operates and/or maintains solar panels for the purposes of generating 10 electricity. 11 (c) "Solar solicitor" means any person who, for financial profit or 12 commercial purposes in connection with solar development, makes solar 13 marketing sales calls, electronic messaging, or on-premises sales 14 appeals to a customer when the customer is in this state or any person 15 who directly controls or supervises the conduct of a solar solicitor. 16 (d) "Commercial purposes" means the sale or offer for sale or lease of 17 property for the purposes of constructing major solar energy generation 18 projects. 19 (e) "Customer" means any natural person who is a resident of this 20 state and who is or may be offered payment for portions of land for the 21 purposes of the installation of solar panels for electricity generation. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10605-03-3
S. 6317 2 1 (f) "Doing business in this state" means conducting solar solicitation 2 calls: (i) from a location in this state; or (ii) from a location 3 outside of this state to consumers residing in this state. 4 (g) "Unsolicited solar development call" means any solar solicitation 5 call, electronic messaging, or on-premises appeal other than a call, 6 electronic message or on-premises appeal: 7 (i) in response to an express written or verbal request by the custom- 8 er; or 9 (ii) in connection with an established business relationship, which 10 has not been terminated by either party, unless such customer has stated 11 to the solar solicitor that such customer no longer wishes to receive 12 the solar solicitation calls of such solar solicitor. 13 (h) "Caller identification information" means information provided by 14 a caller identification service regarding the telephone number and name 15 of the person calling. 16 (i) "Caller identification service" means a service that allows a 17 telephone subscriber to have the telephone number, and, where available, 18 name of the calling party transmitted contemporaneously with the tele- 19 phone call, and displayed on a device in or connected to the subscrib- 20 er's telephone. 21 (j) "Electronic messaging" means: real-time or near real-time non- 22 voice messages in text form over communications networks, and includes 23 the transmission of writing, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds of all 24 kinds by aid of wire, cable or other like connection between the points 25 of origin and reception of such transmission; or an electronic message 26 or an executable program or computer file that contains an image of a 27 message that is transmitted between two or more computers or electronic 28 terminals. Such term shall include electronic messages that are trans- 29 mitted within or between computer networks. 30 (k) "On-premises sales appeals" means in-person communication taking 31 place at or in the vicinity of the customer's residence or the land 32 which the solar solicitor is offering to purchase or lease. 33 2. No solar solicitor shall engage in solar solicitation at any time 34 other than between 8:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. at the location of the 35 customer unless the customer has given their express consent to the call 36 at a different time. Solar solicitors shall provide, in a clear and 37 coherent manner using words with common and everyday meanings, at the 38 beginning of each solar solicitation call all of the following informa- 39 tion, provided that the information set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) 40 of this subdivision shall be given to the customer first: 41 (a) the solar solicitor's name and the person on whose behalf the 42 solicitation is being made, if other than the solar solicitor; 43 (b) the option to be automatically added to the seller's entity 44 specific do-not-solicit list, as required by subdivision three of this 45 section; 46 (c) whether the call is being recorded; and 47 (d) the purpose of the telephone call. 48 2-a. It shall be unlawful for any solar solicitor to knowingly cause 49 any caller identification service to transmit misleading, inaccurate, or 50 false caller identification information, provided that it shall not be a 51 violation of this section to substitute (for the name and phone number 52 used in, or billed for, making the call) the name or telephone number of 53 the person or seller on behalf of which a solar solicitation call is 54 placed. 55 3. The authority is authorized to establish, manage, and maintain a 56 do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry which shall contain
S. 6317 3 1 a list of customers who do not wish to receive unsolicited solar solic- 2 itation calls. The authority may contract with a private vendor to 3 establish, manage and maintain such a registry, and such contract shall 4 require the vendor to provide the no solar solicitation calls registry 5 in a printed hard copy format and in any other format as prescribed by 6 the authority. 7 4. No solar solicitor may make or cause to be made any unsolicited 8 solar development call to any customer when such customer's telephone 9 number, email address, address of the customer's residence or address of 10 the land which the solar solicitor is offering to purchase or lease has 11 been on the statewide do-not-solicit registry established by the author- 12 ity for a period of thirty-one days prior to the date the call is made. 13 4-a. It shall be unlawful for any solar solicitor doing business in 14 this state to knowingly make an unsolicited solar development call to 15 any person in a county, city, town or village under a declared local 16 state of emergency, pursuant to section twenty-four of the executive 17 law, or state declared disaster emergency, pursuant to section twenty- 18 eight of the executive law. 19 5. No solar solicitor shall initiate any solar solicitation call by 20 means of a technology that delivers a pre-recorded message, unless the 21 solar solicitor has obtained from the customer an express agreement, in 22 writing that: 23 (a) the solar solicitor obtained only after a clear and conspicuous 24 disclosure that the purpose of the agreement is to authorize the devel- 25 oper to make solar solicitation calls to such customer; 26 (b) the solar solicitor obtained without requiring, directly or indi- 27 rectly, that the agreement be executed as a condition of selling or 28 leasing portions of land for the purposes of the installation of solar 29 panels for electricity generation; 30 (c) evidences the willingness of the customer to receive solar solic- 31 itation calls by or made on behalf of a specific seller; and 32 (d) includes such customer's telephone number and signature. 33 6. In the case of any solar solicitation call made by a natural 34 person, the solar solicitor shall inform the customer that they may 35 request that their telephone number, email address, address of the 36 customer's residence or address of the land which the solar solicitor is 37 offering to purchase or lease be added to the seller's entity specific 38 do-not-solicit registry. If the customer opts to do so, the solar soli- 39 citor shall immediately end the call and shall add the number called to 40 such list or cause the number called to be added to such list. 41 7. No solar solicitor or developer shall transmit, share, or otherwise 42 make available any customer's contact information, including name, tele- 43 phone number, or email address, which has been provided to such solar 44 solicitor or developer by such customer, to any person, corporation, or 45 other entity without the express agreement of the consumer in writing or 46 in electronic format, unless otherwise required by law, or pursuant to a 47 lawful subpoena or court order. 48 8. Solar solicitors or developers shall keep records relating to its 49 solicitation activities for a period of sixty months from the date the 50 record is created. 51 9. (a) The authority shall provide notice to customers of the estab- 52 lishment of the statewide do-not-solicit registry. Any customer who 53 wishes to be included on such registry shall notify the authority in the 54 manner provided for by the authority. 55 (b) Any company that provides local telephone directories to customers 56 in this state shall inform its customers of the provisions of this
S. 6317 4 1 section by means of publishing a notice in such local telephone directo- 2 ries. 3 10. When the authority has reason to believe a solar solicitor or 4 developer has engaged in repeated unlawful acts in violation of this 5 section, or when a notice of hearing has been issued pursuant to subdi- 6 vision eleven of this section, the authority may request in writing the 7 production of relevant documents and records as part of its investi- 8 gation. If the person upon whom such request was made fails to produce 9 the documents or records within thirty days after the date of the 10 request, the authority may issue and serve subpoenas to compel the 11 production of such documents and records. If any person shall refuse to 12 comply with a subpoena issued under this section, the authority may 13 petition a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena and 14 such sanctions as the court may direct. 15 11. (a) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has 16 violated one or more provisions of this section, the president, or his 17 or her designee, may assess a fine of eleven thousand dollars for each 18 violation. 19 (b) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has, on a 20 second, separate occasion violated one or more provisions of this 21 section, the president, or their designee, may assess a fine of twenty- 22 two thousand dollars for each violation. 23 (c) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has, on a 24 third, separate occasion violated one or more provisions of this 25 section, the authority in conjunction with the office for renewable 26 energy siting, shall revoke any development permits for the solar devel- 27 oper and place their name on a public registry, created by the authori- 28 ty, of companies that have repeatedly violated the provisions of this 29 section. 30 (d) Any proceeding conducted pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdi- 31 vision shall be subject to the state administrative procedure act. 32 (e) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to restrict any 33 right which any person may have under any other law, rule or regulation. 34 12. The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations for the 35 administration of this section. 36 13. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this 37 section shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be 38 invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the 39 remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, 40 sentence, paragraph or part thereof directly involved in the controversy 41 in which such judgment shall have been rendered. 42 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 43 have become a law.