The Honorable Carolyn D.
Fitzpatrick
Chairwoman, Jefferson County
Legislature
837 Holcomb Street
Watertown, NY 13601
Re: Case 12-F-0410 - Cape
Vincent Wind Power Project
Dear Chairwoman Fitzpatrick:
The New York State Board on
Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Siting Board) is empowered to
issue Certificates of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (Certificate)
authorizing the construction and operation of major electric generating
facilities in New York State.
As Secretary to the Siting
Board, I have opened a case to track a possible future application by Cape
Vincent Wind Power, LLC for a Certificate to construct and operate a 200-285
Megawatt Wind Energy Facility in the Town of Cape Vincent, Jefferson County. If
the case proceeds, two ad hoc public members will be appointed for the special
purpose of providing a local voice in the decision on the application for a
certificate.
This is to
give you early notice that should the applicant proceed to file a Preliminary
Scoping Statement regarding the project, as the chief executive officer of
Jefferson County you will have the duty to nominate four candidates potentially
to serve as ad hoc public members of the Siting Board. The chief executive
officer of the Town of Cape Vincent will also have a duty to nominate four
candidates. Your nominations will need to be submitted to the President Pro Tem
of the Senate and the Speaker
of the Assembly within fifteen days of receipt by you of notification of the
pre-application Preliminary Scoping Statement.
While no action is required of
you at this time, you may wish to familiarize yourself with your nomination
powers pursuant to Article 10 of the Public Service Law and begin considering
candidates so that you will be prepared to act within the fifteen day time
period if and when that should become necessary.
Attached to
this letter is a fact sheet about the Siting Board and the ad hoc public
members that may be useful to you. You may also obtain more information about
the Siting Board and Case 12-F-0365 at: http://www.dps.ny.gov/SitingBoard/.
Please
contact me if I can be of any further assistance.
Sincerely,
/s/
JACLYN A. BRILLING
Secretary
1
Siting Board fact
Sheet
Q. What is Article 10?
A. "Article 10" was
enacted in 2011 to be a portion of the New York State Public Service Law. It is
a general state law that is applicable in all of New York State. Article 10
empowers the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the
Environment (Siting Board) to issue Certificates of Environmental Compatibility
and Public Need (Certificate) authorizing the construction and operation of
major electric generating facilities.
Q. What is the "Siting
Board"?
A. The Siting Board is a
governmental entity of New York State organized within the Department of Public
Service. The Siting Board was established primarily to review applications and
to issue certificates authorizing the construction and operation of major
electric generating facilities. When the Siting Board is reviewing an original
application for a certificate, it consists of five permanent members and two ad
hoc public members. The five permanent members of the Siting Board also have
additional responsibilities to promulgate regulations for the implementation of
Article 10, and they have jurisdiction with respect to the amendment,
suspension or revocation of a certificate.
Q. Who are the permanent
members of the Siting Board?
A. The five permanent members
of the Siting Board are the Chair of the Department of Public Service who
serves as chair of the Siting Board; the Commissioner of the Department of
Environmental Conservation; the Commissioner of the Department of Health; the
Chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; and the
Commissioner of Economic Development. The permanent members may designate an
alternate to serve instead of the member with respect to all proceedings
provided that such designation is in writing and filed with the chairperson.
Q. What is meant by the term
"ad hoc"?
A. "Ad
hoc" is a Latin term meaning "for this special purpose". Two ad
hoc members will be appointed for the special purpose of providing a local
voice in each proceeding conducted to consider specific individual applications
for certificates. Each facility application will have its own unique ad hoc
members and therefore its own unique Siting Board.
2
Q. Do ad hoc public members receive
any compensation for their service on the Siting Board?
A. Yes. The ad hoc appointees
shall receive the sum of two hundred dollars for each day in which they are
actually engaged in the performance of their duties plus actual and necessary
expenses incurred by them in the performance of such duties.
Q. What are the
qualifications to be an ad hoc public member?
A. To be eligible to be an ad
hoc public member, the person must:
(a) be eighteen years of age or
older,
(b) be a citizen of the United
States;
(c) be a resident of New York
State;
(d) be a resident of the
municipality in which the facility is proposed to be located (if such facility
is proposed to be located within the City of New York, the person must also be
a resident of the community district in which the facility is proposed to be
located);
(e) not hold another state or
local office; and
(f) not retain or hold any official
relation to, or any securities of an electric utility corporation operating in
the state or proposed for operation in the state, any affiliate thereof or any
other company, firm, partnership, corporation, association or joint-stock
association that may appear before the Siting Board, nor shall the person have
been a director, officer or, within the previous ten years, an employee
thereof.
Q. How are the two ad hoc
public members designated to serve on the Siting Board?
A. One is appointed by the President
Pro Tem of the New York State Senate and one is appointed by the Speaker of the
New York State Assembly from a list of candidates submitted to them. The list
of candidates is to be submitted within fifteen days of receipt of notification
of the pre-application preliminary scoping statement. In the event that the
President Pro Tem of the Senate or the Speaker of the Assembly does not appoint
one of the candidates within thirty days of receiving the list, the Governor
shall appoint the ad hoc member(s) from the list of candidates. In the event
that one or both of the ad hoc public members have not been appointed within
forty-five days, a majority of persons named to the Siting Board shall
constitute a quorum.
Q. How is the list of ad hoc
public member candidates established?
A. There is
a different procedure depending on whether the facility is proposed to be
located (a) in the City of New York; (b) in a town outside of any villages or
in a city other than the City of New York; or (c) in a village.
3
Q. How is the list of
candidates established in the City of New York?
A. If such facility is proposed
to be located in the City of New York, the chair person of the community board,
the borough president, and the mayor shall each nominate four candidates for
consideration.
Q. How is the list of
candidates established in a town outside of any villages or in a city other
than the City of New York?
A. If such facility is proposed
to be located in a town outside of any villages or in a city other than the
City of New York, the chief executive officer representing the municipality
shall nominate four candidates and the chief executive officer representing the
county shall nominate four candidates for consideration.
Q. How is the list of
candidates established in a village?
A. If such facility is proposed
to be located in a village, the chief executive officer representing the town
shall nominate four candidates, the chief executive officer representing the
county shall nominate four candidates, and the chief executive officer
representing the village shall nominate four candidates for consideration.
Q. What resources are
available to assist the Siting Board?
A. The
chairperson shall provide such personnel, hearing examiners, subordinates and
employees and such legal, technological, scientific, engineering and other
services and such meeting rooms, hearing rooms and other facilities as may be
required in proceedings under this article. The Department of Environmental
Conservation shall provide associate hearing examiners. The Secretary and the
General Counsel to the Public Service Commission serve as Secretary and the
General Counsel to the Siting Board.
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