BARON WINDS PROJECT
Steuben County, New York
NOTICE OF SUBMISSION OF STIPULATIONS
Baron Winds LLC, (Applicant), a subsidiary of EverPower Wind
Holdings, Inc. is proposing to submit an Application to construct a wind
powered electric generating facility, under Article 10 of the Public Service
Law (Facility). This notice announces that on or about September 1, 2017, the
Applicant will file additional proposed stipulations as to the scope and
methodology of studies related to sound and vibration to be conducted in
support of its upcoming Application. The filing of the proposed stipulations
will start a 30-day public comment period whereby anyone may comment on the
Stipulations for the Boardҋs consideration. This notice pursuant to 16 NYCRR
1000.5(j)(2) is to notify the public of stipulations, serve as a summary
regarding the contents of the proposed stipulations on sound and vibration, and
provide notice of the public comment period which runs until October 1, 2017. The
proposed Facility is an up to 300 megawatt (MW) wind powered electric
generating facility, to be located within the Towns of Cohocton, Dansville,
Fremont, and Wayland, Steuben County, New York. The proposed Facility consists
of the construction and operation of a large-scale wind power project,
including the installation and operation of up to 76 wind turbines, together
with associated 34.5 kV collection lines (below grade and overhead), access
roads, permanent meteorological towers, an operation and maintenance (O&M)
building, and construction staging/laydown areas. To deliver electricity to the
New York State power grid, the Applicant proposes to construct a collection
substation which will “step-up” power to 230 kV. The collection substation will
be located adjacent to the existing Canandaigua substation, which will be the
point of interconnection (POI) substation, which will interconnect with NYSEGҋs
Hillside-Meyer 230 kV transmission line. Pursuant to the Article 10 process,
the Applicant filed a Preliminary Scoping Statement (PSS) on August 10, 2016
with the New York Board on Electric Generation, Siting, and the Environment.
Thereafter comments were submitted on the PSS and following the comment period,
the Applicant prepared a summary of the material comments and its reply to
comments, which was filed with the Board on September 30, 2016. Following a
pre-application conference with the parties, on October 5, 2016, a notice commencing
the scoping stipulations and negotiation process was filed. On July 7, 2017,
the Applicant filed comprehensive draft stipulations on all topic areas except
noise and vibration; this submission covers the final area of stipulation
surrounding Exhibit 19 of the Application on Noise and Vibration. After various
drafts of stipulations were prepared, commented on by the parties participating
in stipulations and revised by the Applicant, the parties have reached
agreement on the scope of the noise and vibration studies and information to be
included in the Article 10 Application pursuant to 16 NYCRR 1001.19, which has
been memorialized in the stipulations. The proposed stipulations include but
are not limited to: the scope, types and methodologies of sound studies to be
conducted, the content and analysis to be supplied with Exhibit 19, the data to
be collected and compared in the studies, impact avoidance and mitigation
measures, and the type and extent of agency consultations needed before
submitting the Application. The parties signing the stipulations agree that the
studies and content outlined in the stipulations constitute all the necessary
studies concerning sound and vibration, and the Applicant will not be requested
to provide additional studies, except as otherwise provided for in the
stipulations or by law. Any party that executes a pre-application stipulation
may not raise objections at the Application hearing as to the methodology or
scope of any study or program of studies performed in compliance with such
stipulation. However, any other party may timely raise objections at the
hearing as to the methodology or scope of any study or program of studies
performed.
Following the public comment period, it is anticipated that
the stipulations will be agreed to between the Applicant and the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), New York State Department of
Public Service (DPS), the New York State Department of Health (DOH), and New
York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (DAM). Other parties in this proceeding
may also join these stipulations by notifying the Applicant as set forth below.
Within 30 days after filing of the stipulations, any person, agency or
municipality may submit comments on the stipulations by serving such comments
on the Applicant, Seth Wilmore, EverPower Wind Holdings, 1251 Waterfront Place,
3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (swilmore@everpower.com)
and filing a copy with the Secretary of the Department of Public Service (Hon.
Kathleen H. Burgess at secretary@dps.ny.gov).
The Applicant intends to submit an Article 10 Application in or about September
2017. The Application in support of the Facility will include the studies
developed in conformance with the stipulations. Once an Application is filed
and determined by the Chair of the Siting Board to be compliant with the Public
Service Law, the Siting Board will schedule a public hearing on the
Application. The Siting Board will also issue a notice of availability of
application intervenor funds that are available to be used by municipal and
local parties to participate in formal review of the Application. A pre-hearing
conference will be scheduled by the Hearing Examiners to identify parties,
award intervenor funds and identify issues for the hearing. Additional hearings
regarding the application and facility impact assessments will be scheduled by
the Hearing Examiners, as needed. Article 10 requires that all proceedings on
the Application, including a final decision by the Siting Board, must be
completed within 12 months of when the Application is determined to be
complete.
All public documents filed in this proceeding, including the
proposed stipulations and a summary of the stipulations, may be accessed electronically
at the Department of Public Service website, www.dps.ny.gov. To access
documents, go to “Search,” type the case number, “15-F-0122,” and click “Search
by Case Number”. Documents may also be accessed using the direct link: (http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterCaseNo=15-f
0122&submit=Search+by+Case+Number) or by going to the Facility-specific
website maintained by the Applicant:
(https://everpower.com/baron-winds-wind-project-steuben-county-ny//).
Documents may also be examined during normal business hours at the Offices of
the DPS at 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223. Documents filed by the
Applicant may be viewed at the following public repositories: Cohocton Public
Library, 8 Maple Ave., Cohocton, NY 14826; Hornell Public Library, 64 Genesee
St., Hornell, NY 14843; Town of Howard Public Library 3607 County Route 70A,
Hornell, New York. Libraries often have free internet access.
