by Ellen Cardone Banks, Atlantic Chapter Conservation Chair
In 2019, New York State enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, requiring reduction in greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2050, and reduction of carbon emissions in the electric power-generating sector of 70% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
Are we on track to meet these goals? Not yet. A major obstacle to de-carbonizing the electric power sector is the backlog of renewable energy projects waiting to clear the permitting process, known as Article 10, which was devised for permitting fossil fuel plants. More than 25 utility-scale wind and solar projects are stalled in the Article 10 process, with only about five having been approved in the past ten years.
During the overnight session that ended the abbreviated legislative budget process on April 3, the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act was passed by the legislature, signed by Governor Cuomo, and included in the 2021 budget.
The act will create an Office of Renewable Energy Siting to establish uniform standards for environmental impacts. Developers will be required to present evidence of a net conservation benefit for endangered and threatened species, and to implement a species mitigation fund. The new office will standardize procedures for community input, while still allowing for modifications as needed for local conditions. Presently, many of these aspects have to be designed separately for each project and submitted to several different agencies. According to a study by the League of Conservation Voters, each of these agencies has had different priorities and communication among them has been ineffective. Some developers have abandoned plans for wind farms because of the cumbersome and unpredictable permitting process.
Contrary to some commentary from anti-renewable groups, there will be no shutdown of local community input, but just as in the previous Article 10 process, local restrictions cannot be “unduly burdensome.” Wildlife protections will be regularized, not overturned.
With vast numbers of wind and solar energy projects around the world, growing bodies of evidence show that utility-scale wind and solar energy projects are not harmful to human health or property values. Renewable energy has a substantial net benefit to birds and other wildlife, and the toxic effects of mining and burning fossil fuel far outweigh any damage from construction and operation of wind and solar power. The new act strengthens requirements for community benefits, including reduced utility rates for municipalities that host renewable energy projects. Hearings will be held around the state, dates and times to be announced, to inform the public about the act.
The state will also prepare and fast-track renewable energy sites on brownfields and abandoned industrial properties. The new law provides for improvements in the power grid so that electricity production can be more reliable and evenly distributed throughout the state. Most importantly, decisions on utility-scale wind and solar proposals will be required within one year for most applications and six months for repurposed industrial sites. Releasing the backlog of stalled energy projects and incentivizing developers to plan more of them will go a long way to meet New York’s decarbonizing goals, protect our air, water, wildlife and human health, and create good jobs in rural areas that badly need economic development.
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