[GeneseeBirds-L] Fw: Urgent Conservation Concern

[Bird observations from western New York]

I am forwarding this on behalf of Amy Kahn, Conservation Chair of the Rochester Birding Association.  I think it will be of interest to all New York birders.  Feel free to forward to others.

Jay Greenberg

Rochester, NY

Begin forwarded message:

The message is from the POWER coalition of which RBA is a member.

Hi everyone.  We've put together a document focusing on impacts relating to birds should Gov. Cuomo's 30-day budget amendment goes through.  Please share the attached document with your membership ASAP.  The only way to make an impact is to get this information out and start making calls to your elected officials.  Contact your family members who live in other parts of New York State and ask them to call their elected officials as well.  We want to see this budget amendment pulled before the budget is voted on.  This means that any action we take has to be completed by March 20.  (The budget vote is April 1st.)

Call your New York State Senator and Assembly Member and tell them to remove the governor’s 30-day budget amendment from the budget.  There is very little time.  Please act today!  Call family and friends across the state and ask them to do the same.  If you’re not certain of your representatives or how to contact them, here are links for the NYS Senate and Assembly.
https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/
https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator

This new amendment removes public participation and local input on all energy projects.  The only environmental review will be by the DEC and will likely be based on office databases not on the ground review.  Any impacts to threatened and endangered species will by 'compensated' by putting money in a fund. There will not be any checks and balances.

Improving efficiency is important but this takes matters to an extreme.  There is nothing to prevent projects located in sensitive areas.

THERE IS A VERY SHORT WINDOW OF TIME TO ACT! 

We want to see this budget amendment pulled before the budget is voted on.  This means that any action we take has to be completed by March 20.  (The budget vote is April 1^st.)

Concerns for People who Care about Birds

What happened:  On Feb. 21, 2020, Governor Cuomo announced a 30-day budget amendment "to dramatically speed up the permitting and construction of renewable energy projects, combat climate change and grow the state's green economy".  Should this bill by passed with the budget by April 1^st, Article 10 would be replaced with a new method of siting, effectively removing any input from municipalities or citizens or local environmental groups. 

Summary: The new process would include almost no opportunity to bring in locally sourced data or regional experts to present evidence regarding specific siting issues, and there is mandated approval after 12 months if no decision has been made by the new “office” with no option for exception, extension or review. 

Immediate Action Needed:  Call your New York State Senator and Assembly Member and tell them to remove the governor’s 30-day budget amendment from the budget.  There is very little time.  Please act today!  Call family and friends across the state and ask them to do the same. 

Urgency:  Without swift action all projects will be sited rapidly and will impact migratory and resident birds along the shore of Lake Ontario as well as in crucial wildlife habitat across the state.  Here are our primary concerns with the new siting law as described in the governor’s 30-day budget amendment:

·        No early stakeholder input:  There will be no public comment or input prior to the application so, unlike Article 10, there would be no Public Involvement Plan and no Preliminary Scoping Statement.  There will be no way for the public or environmental groups to impact the development of the application or to point out problems early in the process.  The governor’s amendment completely removes the crucial first part of the siting process.

·        Input reduced to comments:  There is no role at all for environmental or citizen groups outside of commenting on the draft project proposal.

·        Automatic acceptance and approval without exception: Once an application is submitted, the new Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) has 60 days to review and determine if it is “complete".  If the decision is not made in that time, the application is automatically deemed complete!  Once the application is determined to be complete the ORES Office must approve the project within 12 months or it is automatically considered approved!   There is no process for extending this time limit.  Multiple year studies could not be considered. 

• No automatic hearing:  There is no mandated hearing as part of this new siting process so there is no method for submitting expert testimony.
• New vague requirement that would trigger a narrowly defined hearing: There is the possibility of a hearing but the standard is vague in terms of the conditions under which a hearing would be held.

·        No public vetting of developer study protocol or data:  There is no ability to cross examine or to question the developers’ studies, results, or methods.

• Consultation only with state agencies:  Anyone who is not a state agency has the ability only to "comment" during a 60-day comment period once the ORES Office releases the draft proposal and draft conditions.
• No public access to developer plans at all stages of the siting process:  The public only has access to information upon release of the draft project proposal by the ORES Office, unlike the current process that has all documents publicly available on the Dept. of Public Service project-specific websites.  The siting process will all take place primarily behind the doors of the Siting Office, between state agencies and the developer.

[Jay Greenberg]

[Gerald Smith]

All birders should oppose this draconian plan by the governor. It would eliminate many of the safeguards that protect areas of natural significance in a hysterical rush to judgement and a misguided approach to climate change. This proposal is truly regulatory tyranny in the name of of speeding up deployment of renewable energy. Bad public policy is not a substitute for thoughtful placement of renewable technologies that work. At the risk of offending some deployment of the new generation of small modular nuclear plants needs to be part of any renewables plan. Covering the countryside with poorly sited wind and solar while damaging declining wildlife and other natural resources is a bad idea. The governors dictatorial article 23 proposal is likely to do just that. To quote Ben Franklin “ The man(or woman !) who would trade liberty for security will have neither”

Gerry Smith vice chair conservation Onondaga Audubon 

Birds rise above it all

On Mar 8, 2020, at 12:55, Jay Greenberg <thegree...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am forwarding this on behalf of Amy Kahn, Conservation Chair of the Rochester Birding Association.  I think it will be of interest to all New York birders.  Feel free to forward to others.

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[Bird observations from western New York]

Birds rise above it all

Begin forwarded message:

From: Gerald Smith <gos...@gisco.net>
Date: March 8, 2020 at 16:09:53 EDT
To: Jay Greenberg <thegree...@gmail.com>
Cc: GENESEEBIRDS-L <genesee...@geneseo.edu>, Geneseebirds <geneseebirds...@geneseo.edu>
Subject: Re:  [geneseebirds-googlegroup] Fw: Urgent Conservation Concern

All birders should oppose this draconian plan by the governor. It would eliminate many of the safeguards that protect areas of natural significance in a hysterical rush to judgement and a misguided approach to climate change. This proposal is truly regulatory tyranny in the name of of speeding up deployment of renewable energy. Bad public policy is not a substitute for thoughtful placement of renewable technologies that work. At the risk of offending some deployment of the new generation of small modular nuclear plants needs to be part of any renewables plan. Covering the countryside with poorly sited wind and solar while damaging declining wildlife and other natural resources is a bad idea. The governors dictatorial article 23 proposal is likely to do just that. To quote Ben Franklin “ The man(or woman !) who would trade liberty for security will have neither”

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/geneseo.edu/d/msgid/geneseebirds-googlegroup/8C23C90E-FBCD-440E-A464-2C045D85640D%40gisco.net.