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Who's really steering wind project?
By Anne Adams • Staff Writer
MONTEREY - Highland New Wind Development is making some progress in meeting permit conditions to build Virginia's first wind energy utility, but according to state officials, there's no state coordination for the process under one agency.
In the last couple of months, Highland supervisor David Blanchard has pressed HNWD owner H.T. "Mac" McBride for more information on exactly what conditions it must meet, and with which agencies. McBride, thus far, has not provided those details to the county board.
There are a number of permits the company needs, plus several other steps HNWD must take to meet requirements set forth by Highland County and the State Corporation Commission. Those include getting approvals for things as recommended by the state Department of Environmental Quality.
McBride told the board several weeks ago he had not received anything on permits, and his son, Tal, said it was up to the DEQ to determine which permits would be required.
The DEQ, however, says it's not up to its office.
DEQ's environmental division director Michael Murphy told The Recorder this week that his agency no longer has much involvement with the project, in spite of indications otherwise from HNWD, the SCC, and county officials.
"I disagree," he said Wednesday. "I think you have some misinformation … The DEQ no longer has a coordinating role, and the SCC's order does not specify that."
The responsibility for meeting conditions, he said, rests with HNWD. "Of the items in the order from our report, it's up to (HNWD) to meet those, to be in compliance, and I think they've already begun. I'm aware there's been some correspondence with (the Department of Historic Resources) about a view shed study."
HNWD, Murphy said, "is obliged to make sure they won't need other permits," other than those already outlined.
Murphy said the only thing HNWD has asked of his agency lately is for DEQ to distribute a site plan of the project to the rest of the reviewing agencies, something he said DEQ agreed to do for the developer.
County attorney Melissa Dowd has said it was ultimately up to the State Corporation Commission to say which permits were needed. But the SCC disagreed with her on that point.
SCC attorney William Chambliss told the Recorder a few weeks ago that it's up to HNWD to put together the permit list and meet other requirements. DEQ's practice, he said, has been to "look at each plant in isolation from other planned or announced plants. There was a time when Virginia was seeing lots of activity in independent generation and these project developers were nervous that the commission might reject an application because there was too much pollution potential in the commonwealth, and had this provision written into these sections of the law. So now, these matters are left primarily to the (state) agencies (and) DEQ and to local bodies like the Highland supervisors, who consider issues like traffic, construction, lighting, etc., in issuing local building permits. If there is a matter that could potentially adversely affect the environment that no other agency takes charge of or issues permits about, the SCC could theoretically impose certificateconditions relating to this matter based on evidence produced in its record. However, the (SCC) staff does not consider itself expert on such matters and does not offer testimony on items such as impact on historical assets or view sheds. Other parties may produce this information."
SCC's division of information director Ken Schrad had agreed the responsibility lies with the developer. "I believe the burden falls on the applicant to be sure it obtains all necessary permits," he said a few weeks ago. "While a number of potentially needed permits was referenced in the case record by DEQ, which, by law - and an agreement with the SCC - coordinates such an analysis regarding the environmental, cultural and/ or historical impact of an electric generation or transmission facility, I do not believe there was ever a finding of the specific permits that are required," he said. "The certificateto operate and construct granted by the commission in its final order, of course, included a condition that the developer will obtain all required permits.
Based on the SCC's conclusions and the conditions attached to state and local permits, HNWD will be required to get some permits, though it is not yet clear what other approvals will be required, or in what order.
A list of necessary permits was compiled by HNWD and submitted to the SCC on Feb. 28; it included:
• Both state and county permits;
• A joint permit application for water quality;
• Entrance permits from the Virginia Department of Transportation;
• An erosion and sediment plan, and one for stormwater management;
• A permit from the Federal Aviation Administration; and
• A building permit from the county.
In addition, HNWD intends to get an open burning permit if that becomes necessary.
The company has already obtained a county conditional use permit and a state certificate.Both are effective for two years. The county permit became effective in September last year following the conclusion of legal challenges at the Supreme Court. The state's permit became effective last December. According to the way both permits were written, HNWD will not only be required to get other permits, but must also get certain "approvals" as outlined by the county and the state.
The county's permit contains a list of conditions as to lighting, buildings, setbacks, and other construction details. It also requires HNWD get all required state and federal approvals. One condition is that HNWD submit a final site plan, something also required by the state. According to the county permit, HNWD's site plan cannot be approved until all the conditions of the permit are met. And it cannot get a building permit until the site plan is approved.
The state permit requires HNWD to meet state approvals and local requirements. Since local requirements include state and federal "approvals," not just "permits," HNWD may be required to meet all or most of the recommended approvals as outlined by the DEQ in its final report to the SCC.
But according to Murphy, DEQ is not playing a role in HNWD's project at this point, other than its water permitting office."Our role really stops once our report is submitted (to the SCC)," he said. Although, he added, DEQ may be asked to do other things "because this project still has a lot of pieces and stuff undone … this is the first (wind energy project) ever in Virginia, and people want to get it right."
Murphy says HNWD must now work independently with each of the reviewing agencies, a process he believes is under way. Those include the Department of Historic Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, among others.
"There's a lot of follow up work," Murphy said.
However, if any of the agencies believe some of the conditions are not being met, they can contact DEQ for some assistance with the SCC. They don't have to, though. Each agency can contact the SCC directly if there are concerns about whether HNWD is meeting conditions.
This is also true for citizens who have similar concerns, Murphy said.
DEQ's report to the SCC referred to approvals and/or permits needed from several state and federal agencies. One of those was the Army Corps of Engineers, which had determined no permit was needed yet, but that it would need to get involved should something change that would require a federal permit. It's review is not yet complete until a site plan is provided.
A site plan for the project is required by the county and the state. Murphy says while DEQ has agreed to send the final site plan to reviewing agencies, he has not seen one yet, and does not know when it will be ready.
HNWD must provide a detailed plan with maps showing the location of towers and all other components including but not limited to the location of the three stream crossings, location of wetlands along the three stream channels, and location where the drilling beneath the stream channels will occur. A site plan is one of the conditions HNWD must meet as attached to its local county permit, and Highland was specific as to what the site plan must include. HNWD cannot get a building permit without an approved site plan, and the site plan cannot be approved until the county permit conditions are met.
After a final site plan is approved by Highland's technical review committee and the conditions of HNWD's local and state permits have been met, HNWD can get a building permit to begin construction.
In whatever order things occur, however, it seems there is no one department coordinating all the reviews left to complete by state and federal agencies. HNWD will coordinate with each of those individually, and it will be up to county officials and citizens to determine whether the company is complying with the permitting conditions as things progress. If they have concerns about compliance and the review process, they can consult the SCC or the reviewing agencies directly.
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