Update August 5, 2017
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
•Thomas Young, Deputy Press Secretary, Sierra Club, thomas.young@sierraclub.org, (719) 393-2354
•Catalina Tresky, Communications Associate, Defenders of Wildlife, ctresky@defenders.org, (202) 772-0253
•Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Advocate@scvas.org, (650) 868-2114
•Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 654-9937
•Christine Nevin, Director, Business & Media Relations, Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, nevinc@conedsolutions.com, (914) 286-7094
Settlement Agreement Signed for Panoche Valley Solar Project
Agreement Resolves Long-Running Disputes, Advances Renewable Energy Goals,Creates Jobs, and Preserves more than 26,000 Acres for Endangered Wildlife
HOLLISTER, CA–July 21, 2017:--The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (collectively the “Environmental Groups”), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Panoche Valley Solar LLC (a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Development, Inc.), have entered into a settlement agreement concerning the size and location of a solar project currently under development in California’s Panoche Valley. The agreement will help advance renewable energy in the state, create local jobs, and protect the environment. Once final, the settlement will permanently conserve more than 26,000 acres for wildlife habitat.
Initially, 247 MW of solar generation was planned for development in the Panoche Valley, but now approximately 100 MW is instead proposed for development at a site in Imperial County, California. Development at the Imperial County site will have less impact on threatened and endangered species and their habitat. The relocation of that portion of the project is subject to approval by Southern California Edison (SCE) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The settlement will also resolve several legal challenges commenced against the project by the Environmental Groups.
The Panoche Valley Solar Project was first proposed in 2009 and as planned would have directly impacted nearly 5,000 acres of high quality and uniquely important habitat. This settlement will reduce the size of the project in the Panoche Valley to slightly more than 1,300 acres and permanently conserve approximately 26,418 acres in and around the Panoche Valley.
The Environmental Groups assert that the Panoche Valley has the last intact, but unprotected, grasslands in the San Joaquin Valley and is home to many rare and endangered species including the giant kangaroo rat, the San Joaquin kit fox, and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard. The valley is also designated an Important Bird Area of Global Significance by the National Audubon Society and Birdlife International because the grasslands provide essential habitat for myriad resident and migratory bird species. All of these species have been under threat from the expansion of housing developments, agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and drought.
Sarah Friedman, Sierra Club's Senior Campaign Representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign, said:
"As we work toward lowering carbon pollution, it's critical that new clean energy development is not done at the expense of endangered animals and their habitat. The Panoche Valley is critical habitat for three highly endangered species, and the development throughout the valley as originally planned would have been devastating. This settlement agreement came about after years of work to preserve the endangered wildlife and delicate habitat in this valley."
Kim Delfino, Defenders of Wildlife’s California Program Director, said:
“The Panoche Valley is a globally important landscape and is the only remaining intact habitat for endangered upland San Joaquin Valley species like the giant kangaroo rat, San Joaquin kit fox and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard. The new agreement recognizes the significant conservation value of the Panoche Valley, reduces the size of the project in this unique valley and moves half of the project to a better site outside of the valley. When projects are planned ‘smart from the start’ it ensures that we will not sacrifice California's natural heritage to meet our clean energy goals.”
Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, said:
“Birds and bird-enthusiasts should applaud this outcome. Our agreement helps achieve California’s goals of energy independence, and at the same time preserves critical grassland habitat that is home to 130 bird species, including species that are suffering steep population decline such as the burrowing owl, the mountain plover, and tricolored blackbirds.”
Charlton H. Bonham, Director of CDFW, said:
“ConEdison Development’s leadership and the environmental groups deserve a lot of credit for opening a dialogue with the Department and asking whether it was better to negotiate and collaborate than litigate. Now these lands will be conserved in perpetuity for some of California’s rarest animals without a loss of one megawatt. This settlement shows that it is possible to balance the environment and the economy to achieve ambitious renewable energy goals.”
Mark Noyes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panoche Valley Solar LLC, said:
“This settlement with the CDFW and the Environmental Groups to lessen the impact of the PVS solar project on Panoche Valley is reflective of Con Edison Development’s corporate value of concern for the environment and commitment to continue the development of clean energy generation in a responsible manner. We will work diligently with the other parties to obtain the remaining approval of SCE and the CPUC so that the conditions of the settlement can be fully implemented for the benefit of the Panoche Valleyecosystem and the citizens of California.”
CALIFORNIA ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, CLIMATE CHANGE, CONSERVATION EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, HABITAT CONSERVATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, PUBLIC SAFETY, REGULATIONS
Settlement Agreement Signed for Panoche Valley Solar Project
JULY 21, 2017
Agreement Resolves Long-Running Disputes, Advances Renewable Energy Goals, Creates Jobs, and Preserves more than 26,000 Acres for Endangered Wildlife
The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (collectively the “Environmental Groups”), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Panoche Valley Solar LLC (a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Development, Inc.), have entered into a settlement agreement concerning the size and location of a solar project currently under development in California’s Panoche Valley. The agreement will help advance renewable energy in the state, create local jobs, and protect the environment. Once final, the settlement will permanently conserve more than 26,000 acres for wildlife habitat.
Initially, 247 MW of solar generation was planned for development in the Panoche Valley, but now approximately 100 MW is instead proposed for development at a site in Imperial County, California. Development at the Imperial County site will have less impact on threatened and endangered species and their habitat. The relocation of that portion of the project is subject to approval by Southern California Edison (SCE) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The settlement will also resolve several legal challenges commenced against the project by the Environmental Groups.
The Panoche Valley Solar Project was first proposed in 2009 and as planned would have directly impacted nearly 5,000 acres of high quality and uniquely important habitat. This settlement will reduce the size of the project in the Panoche Valley to slightly more than 1,300 acres and permanently conserve approximately 26,418 acres in and around the Panoche Valley.
The Environmental Groups assert that the Panoche Valley has the last intact, but unprotected, grasslands in the San Joaquin Valley and is home to many rare and endangered species including the giant kangaroo rat, the San Joaquin kit fox, and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard.
The valley is also designated an Important Bird Area of Global Significance by the National Audubon Society and Birdlife International because the grasslands provide essential habitat for myriad resident and migratory bird species. All of these species have been under threat from the expansion of housing developments, agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and drought.
Sarah Friedman, Sierra Club’s Senior Campaign Representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign, said:
“As we work toward lowering carbon pollution, it’s critical that new clean energy development is not done at the expense of endangered animals and their habitat. The Panoche Valley is critical habitat for three highly endangered species, and the development throughout the valley as originally planned would have been devastating. This settlement agreement came about after years of work to preserve the endangered wildlife and delicate habitat in this valley.”
Kim Delfino, Defenders of Wildlife’s California Program Director, said:
“The Panoche Valley is a globally important landscape and is the only remaining intact habitat for endangered upland San Joaquin Valley species like the giant kangaroo rat, San Joaquin kit fox and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard. The new agreement recognizes the significant conservation value of the Panoche Valley, reduces the size of the project in this unique valley and moves half of the project to a better site outside of the valley. When projects are planned ‘smart from the start’ it ensures that we will not sacrifice California’s natural heritage to meet our clean energy goals.”
Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, said:
“Birds and bird-enthusiasts should applaud this outcome. Our agreement helps achieve California’s goals of energy independence, and at the same time preserves critical grassland habitat that is home to 130 bird species, including species that are suffering steep population decline such as the burrowing owl, the mountain plover, and tricolored blackbirds.”
Charlton H. Bonham, Director of CDFW, said:
“Con Edison Development’s leadership and the environmental groups deserve a lot of credit for opening a dialogue with the Department and asking whether it was better to negotiate and collaborate than litigate. Now these lands will be conserved in perpetuity for some of California’s rarest animals without a loss of one megawatt. This settlement shows that it is possible to balance the environment and the economy to achieve ambitious renewable energy goals.”
Mark Noyes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Panoche Valley Solar LLC, said:
“This settlement with the CDFW and the Environmental Groups to lessen the impact of the PVS solar project on Panoche Valley is reflective of Con Edison Development’s corporate value of concern for the environment and commitment to continue the development of clean energy generation in a responsible manner. We will work diligently with the other parties to obtain the
remaining approval of SCE and the CPUC so that the conditions of the settlement can be fully implemented for the benefit of the Panoche Valley ecosystem and the citizens of California.”
Media Contacts:
Thomas Young, Deputy Press Secretary, Sierra Club, young@sierraclub.org, (719) 393-2354
Catalina Tresky, Communications Associate, Defenders of Wildlife, ctresky@defenders.org, (202) 772-0253
Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Advocate@scvas.org, (650) 868-2114
Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 654-9937
Christine Nevin, Director, Business & Media Relations, Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, nevinc@conedsolutions.com, (914) 286-7094
Update June 8th, 2016. Trapping and relocation of endangered Kargaroo rats have already started in the remote Panoche Valley in preparation for the construction of a solar farm on this critically important endangered species habitat. A remnant of the vast ecosystems of the Central Valley, Panoche is place of unique ecological value, critical to protecting California's natural legacy. Development here will jeopardize the region's ecology and several species already teetering on the edge of extinction. Your Loma Prieta Chapter is engaged in legal actions, with the latest efforts to stop the capture and relocation of reproductive females getting underway just recently.
Preserving Endangered Species Habitat In Panoche Valley
In 2010 a solar development was proposed to be built in the Panoche Valley. This was a time when solar power was gaining a lot of newfound attention, and solar projects were all the rage. At first, the Loma Prieta Chapter was pleased to hear of this development within the Chapter’s boundaries, but upon closer inspection it was discovered that the site was one of the few remaining key refuge areas for the San Joaquin Kit Fox, the Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard, and the Giant Kangaroo Rat. It was also habitat for a number of bird species, including several endangered ones.
So the Chapter put a stake in the ground and said no, in spite of a lot of pressure to give in to solar advocates. Based on Chapter input, the national Sierra Club Board of Directors concurred with the Chapter’s concern about solar developments that negatively impact endangered species, and provided legal assistance to the Chapter through their Environmental Law Program when all other efforts to halt the development failed.
There have been a number of legal actions since, a number of other organizations have joined the fray, and the war is still ongoing with the latest battle getting underway just recently. To provide a more complete explanation of the issues involved, a copy of the press release issued by the Sierra Club announcing the latest legal action is copied below.
Environmental and Wildlife Groups Take Action to Save Panoche Valley from Ecologically Devastating Development:
LOS ANGELES -- Defenders of Wildlife, The Sierra Club and Sata Clara Valley Audubon Society brought a lawsuit in California state superior court on Monday to set aside the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)’s Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for the Panoche Valley Solar Project. The Panoche Valley Solar Project is owned by Renewable Energy Trust and ConEdison Development Company, an unregulated subsidiary of the New York utility, Consolidated Edison. The case concerns a massive development project in an irreplaceable area of significant ecological importance critical to the survival and recovery of highly endangered species, including the blunt-nosed leopard lizard and the giant kangaroo rat. The conservation partners are asking the court to set aside the permit, because CDFW violated both California’s Endangered Species Act and the state’s fully protected species laws when it issued a permit for a project that would harm blunt-nosed leopard lizards as well as harm almost 1,000 giant kangaroo rats, a species that has declined drastically over the last few years.
"Take from this project will jeopardize the existence of blunt-nosed leopard lizard in this region,” said Barry Sinervo PHD, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the leading expert on blunt-nosed leopard lizard. “This area has been identified as a key refuge for blunt-nosed leopard lizard as their habitat shrinks and shifts because of climate change. Eliminating this last refuge would put the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, as well as many other species, closer to extinction, and would result in irreversible negative consequences on the ecosystem.”
“The Panoche Valley is a place of unique ecological value, critical to protecting California’s natural legacy,” said Sarah Friedman, Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club. “If this land is developed, it will be a blow to the region’s ecology and several species already teetering on the edge of extinction. While we need more solar in California, we don’t need to choose between energy and wildlife.”
“With this lawsuit, Defenders is working to protect some of California's most endangered wildlife and ensure that the Panoche Solar Project never drives a single solar panel into this unique valley floor,” said Kim Delfino,California Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Renewable energy projects should be built on degraded lands, like the former agricultural lands in the Westlands Water District, and not on the last remaining intact habitat of critically endangered species. We don't have to sacrifice California's natural heritage to meet our clean energy goals.”
“In addition to the endangered species, the valley provides a home for at least a dozen protected birds, causing the Audubon Society to designate it as an Important Bird Area of Global Priority,” said Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.
Local ranchers currently maintain the majority of the valley floor as grassland, with small pockets of vegetable, fruit and livestock farming in between. This sustainable approach protects space for wildlife, conserves water and protects the valley from desertification.
“The project would cover half of the valley floor, decimating an irreplaceable landscape of great value to our community, and the groundwater impacts will hurt our ranching and the delicate ecosystem of the Valley,” said Kim Williams, a Panoche Valley rancher. “That’s why our community is fighting back against the misguided and ecologically destructive Panoche Valley project.”
Background:
Ecologically Delicate Area is Site of Proposed Solar Project
· The Panoche Valley, located south of San Jose in San Benito County, is one of only three ‘core recovery areas’ designated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service over twenty years ago as necessary for the survival and recovery of endangered species native to Central California’s dwindling grasslands, including the giant kangaroo rat, the San Joaquin kit fox and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard. The Panoche Valley is the last of these three areas to be undisturbed. Developing the precious habitat found on the valley floor will preclude recovery of the endangered species, throwing away more than twenty years of protection efforts by federal and state wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and scientists as well as millions of California’s taxpayers’ dollars spent on conservation efforts.
· The blunt-nosed leopard lizard is a fully protected species under California law and a federally-listed endangered species. Native to California, the blunt nosed leopard lizard has been in sharp decline, due to habitat fragmentation caused by conversion of native grasslands to other uses. Today, there are no more than a few scattered habitat patches remaining and likely less than 1,000 in total population. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are the biggest threats.
· Studies have found that the endangered giant kangaroo rat has declined by 95 percent since 2010. Specifically, data shows an incredibly steep decline in the Panoche Valley population of the giant kangaroo rat. Giant kangaroo rat is a keystone species which many animals, including the endangered San Joaquin Kit Fox, depend, and further damage to the species could cause impacts throughout the ecosystem.
We Can Achieve Economic Development and Renewable Energy Goals without Jeopardizing Delicate Ecosystems
· The Panoche Valley Solar Project is not necessary to meet California’s climate or renewable energy goals. The Nature Conservancy identified hundreds of thousands of acres of land with low agricultural and biodiversity value in the Western San Joaquin Valley. For example, lands controlled by the Westlands Water District in nearby Kings and Fresno Counties has broad support from farming and environmentalists, who are working together with state and local governments and the solar industry to find a way to develop this amazing solar resource and provide a win for the environment.
· According to the California Energy Commission, there are 55 large-scale solar projects already under development in nearby Monterey, Fresno, Merced and Kings counties that are either approved or seeking permits. These projects, if completed, would produce a total of 1929 MW of clean energy and between 11,000 and 15,000 job-years according to estimates by California’s Clean Energy Future.