by Tony Gray
posted 19 August 2021

WHITEHALL, NY --- Whitehall may face a scenario such as hundreds of acres from Lane's Farm to Dresdent becoming a wind farm hosting 600-feet tall windmills, with blades the size of a football field, unless a pending law suit stops the state from overriding local laws and zoning regulations.

Almost a dozen New York municipalities and non-governnmental organizations have filed a legal proceeding against a new state agency they claim is running roughsod over local communities and ignoring environmental impacts of renewable energy projects generating at least 25 MegaWatts.

The Article 78 proceeding filed against the state's Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) and its Acting Executive Director, Houtan Moaveni, basically cries foul over the agency authority to ignore local laws and environmental impacts of large renewable energy projects in the state.

Critics contend Governor Andrew Cuomo snuck language creating ORES in the previous year's budget that allows it to fast-track large solar and wind energy projects by giving it authority to overrule local laws and zoning regulations.

The State Siting Board had reviewed such projects for more than 50 years before ORES was created but, even though the Siting Board had never denied an application for a renewable energy project, industry and state officials disliked how long the approval process took. They successfully lobbied for the ORES agency to give such projects faster approval.

"ORES hired a private consulting company, Tetra Tech, to draft its procedural regulations and its uniform standard conditions; to review and respond to public comments on the draft regulations; and to review future individual project applications submitted for approval," according to the legal action submitted to the Albany County Supreme Court. "Tetra Tech disclosed numerous material conflicts of interest based on its representation of renewable energy developers with existing projects in New York State."

People are puzzled why the New York State Energy Research and Development agency (NYSERDA) accepted Tetra Tech's response to their Request for Proposal that said, "The Contractor(s) will function as an extension of the ORES staff." Their RFP added the successul bidder(s) would, "Assist with developing rules, regulations, procedures, and a set of uniform standards and conditions for the design, construction and operation of renewable energy facilities, best practices and guidance documents, initiating and finalizing draft permits, and the timely review of applications."

Tetra Tech was paid $1 million to write the regulations for ORES, according to documents received in a Freedom of Information Law request from the non-profit group Save Ontario Shores.

It's hard to understand why NYSERDA paid six figures for help drafting energy siting rules when Tetra Tech specializes in energy consulting and advisory services to companies and institutions.

"ORES at that time had a staff consisting of one part-time person, respondent Houtan Moaveni, who worked simultaneously as ORES's Deputy Executive Director and as Director of Facility Certification & Compliance at the New York State Department of Public Service," according to the lawsuit.

Tetra Tech did not respond to a request for comment.

Once an application is determined complete, ORES has 60 days to impose conditions for granting a permit. By default, an application is considered approved if it is not denied. Critics contend that does not often allow enough time to review and discuss important issues like environmental impact and conditions that run afoul of local laws or zoning regulations.

Among other things, the lawsuit challenges the part of state law that empowers ORES to "not apply, in whole or in part, any local law or ordinance which would otherwise be applicable if it makes a finding that, as applied to the proposed major renewable energy facility, it is unreasonably burdensome in view of the CLCPA targets and the environmental benefits of the proposed major renewable energy facility."

"In Copake, you cannot put a shovel in the ground without the Planning Board demanding SEQRA review," said Copake Town Supervisor Jeanne Mettler. "To think this massive industrial installation could be allowed without strict environmental review is shocking."

Developers of reneweable energy sites are permitted by ORES to mitigate impacts on birds by making payments into a mitigation fun. "ORES never assessed the suitability of themitigation fund as a suitable means of offsetting environmental impact," according to the lawsuit.

Washington County Director of Economic Development Laura Oswald said the mitigation money is currently required to be sent to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. "The NYS Association of County Planners initiated a conversation with the state that says it might be a good idea to have Ag & Markets share that money with county planning departments, to creat agriculture use programs. The proposal for sharing the fund money with counties on the agenda with NYSAC."

Granville Town Supervisor Matthew Hicks wants the money to go to town planning boards. "The towns are the ones who have to deal with the larger solar projects," reasons Hicks. "If there are any costs involved with solar projects, it's the towns that will have to deal with it."