FYI: The Assembly passed its version of a power plant siting bill Wednesday, which will renew a law that expired at the end of 2002. The bill stiffens emissions standards, lowers the threshold at which state siting rules apply from 80-megawatt to 30-megawatt plants and gives local governments more power in the siting process. (The old law allowed the state to override local objections.) The bill would require the state to evaluate not only a new plant’s specific impact on the environment, but the cumulative effect of existing and planned plants as well when making siting decisions. Check out City Limits archive for Mary-Powel Thomas’s examination of the efforts to bring renewable energy to New York City. [3/21/03]