New wind energy legislation poses questions for local planners
As Island towns refine and strengthen their regulatory authority over local wind turbine projects, the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC), as the Island's comprehensive land use planning agency, is considering the extent of its role in the process.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's 112-foot wind turbine. Photo by Tim Johnson
MVC executive director Mark London said this week that the commission is closely watching two key pieces of state legislation that will influence development of wind power on land and sea.
On July 1, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary Ian Bowles released a draft comprehensive ocean management plan for public comment and review. The draft plan would allow for small wind farms of 10 or fewer turbines off the immediate Vineyard coast and larger wind farms to be developed south and west of Nomans Land and west of Cuttyhunk. The plan also will extend the regulatory authority of the MVC to certain projects alongshore.
Mr. London said that in looking at the plan, he understands that in addition to the multi-use, "community wind" areas for small wind farms, there will be two large commercial areas.
"The community wind would have to be endorsed by the local board of selectmen, and it's up to the regional planning agency to allocate where those 10 turbines would be and who gets the allocation of the turbines," Mr. London said. "So, that would preserve a fair degree of local control over these community projects."
For the commercial areas, however, although subject to town and MVC review, the ultimate deciding authority will be the state's Energy Facilities Siting Board.
"My understanding is they could override any decision, like any conditions or any denials, by either the town board or the MVC," Mr. London said. "I'm going to read the plan to make sure I understand all of it, as we all should."
One of his questions is whether a small commercial project, meaning 10 or fewer turbines, would be allowed in a commercial area.
"If the Ocean Management Plan gets adopted as it is, we could anticipate that there would be two commercial projects, and we could anticipate that there could be several community projects, and so it would seem advantageous to have the towns and MVC work together on coordinating on how we will deal with those," Mr. London said.
The MVC plans to provide comment on the draft ocean management plan for public hearings that will take place after Labor Day, Mr. London said. "We'll probably be discussing with other regional planning agencies and Island entities about whether to prepare a joint response or individual ones.
Ashore, Mr. London said the Wind Energy Facility Siting Reform Act is the basis for some concern, for several reasons. "One is the impact of utility-scale turbines - this is for wind facilities - which could be about three turbines of perhaps 300 to 350 feet in height," Mr. London said. "So if someone owned a property and wanted to put up three utility-scale turbines, they could apply to the town, but if the town denied their project, the developer could appeal to the Energy Facilities Siting Board, which could allow the project to go ahead even if it didn't meet the zoning and even if it didn't get approved by any local boards."
A 132-foot wind turbine near the Yoga Barn on South Road in Chilmark. Photo by Tim Johnson
Mr. London said that means it could potentially override town boards for potentially a lot more projects and much smaller projects. And secondly, he said, because they are on land, the projects could have greater impact. "You could have the equivalent of a 30- or 40-story building a few hundred feet away," he said. "They're coming up with standards that are going to allow fast-tracking of projects."
However, Mr. London said that a study of permitting for wind turbine projects showed that the main delays have been at the state permitting level and in court, not so much at the local permitting level. "It could lead one to question the need for these measures that would override home rule," he said.
The latest version of the act does provide that if a regional planning agency adopts a wind facility siting plan for the region, the Energy Facilities Siting Board would no longer be able to trump the decision of the regional planning agency, Mr. London said. But those regional planning agency siting standards have to be approved by the Department of Energy Resources.
"It comes down a lot to local control," Mr. London said. "If the people of Aquinnah vote to put up a large-scale turbine, and it's got to be owned by the people of Aquinnah, and the people of Aquinnah are going to get the benefit from it, that's one thing.
However, he added, "If it's a private developer that comes in and makes a deal with one property owner to put in a project that the people of the town get the detriments but don't get the benefit, I think there's a lot of sentiment that those two kinds of projects should be treated differently."
In the next few weeks, Mr. London says the MVC plans to prepare comments on the proposed Wind Energy Siting Reform Act. Towns might want to add their comments as well, he suggested.
Putting legislative concerns aside, Mr. London said the MVC definitely is going to move ahead on preparing an Island-wide wind energy facility siting plan and standards. LUPC chairman Christina Brown will appoint a committee of staff and commissioners to outline the process and produce a plan.
Mr. London said the MVC anticipates that it will review some wind turbine projects, based on height or location, or perhaps a combination of both. Smaller turbine projects may not fall under review, unless on a site in a particularly sensitive area, he said.
The MVC has a checklist of criteria for determining whether a project will require review by the commission as a development of regional impact (DRI). Right now, wind turbines are not on it.
After many months of work, the MVC recently submitted its revised DRI checklist to the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs for approval. Although the list included two items related to wind turbines, after discussion at a meeting on June 22, the MVC's Land Use Planning Committee (LUPC) voted to remove them.
Rather than possibly delay approval of the revised DRI checklist, the LUPC agreed it would be better to drop the items for now, in order to prepare more comprehensive wind facility siting standards.
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