How Can I Participate in the Article 10 Process?
Under Article 10 of the New York Public Service Law, all major electric generating facilities of 25 megawatts in size or more must be reviewed and approved by a multi-agency State body called the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment - aka the Siting Board. The Article 10 process is broken into several phases – each phase has multiple opportunities for stakeholder and public involvement.
Throughout the process, you can participate by:
Joining the Party or Service List on the Siting Board’s project docket site, and/or monitoring the filings and announcements posted to that site. You will need the project case number to access these materials; Flint Mine’s is 18-F-0087.
Contacting the Applicant to request additional information, or to receive notices. Flint Mine’s project team can be contacted at info@hudsonenergydev.com, or by calling 1-866-218-0658.
Filing comments on the “Public Comments” tab on the project docket site.
Visiting http://www.hudsonenergydev.com/flint-mine-solar.html
Attending local Open House events, conferences, public statement hearings, or municipal meetings where Project representatives provide additional information.
Pre-Application Phase
Early in project development, a prospective Article 10 Applicant must identify and engage with stakeholders with potential interests in the proposed Facility, as well as propose environmental and community studies that will look at the potential impacts of construction and operation of the Facility. This process begins with the Public Involvement Program (PIP) Plan and ends when an Article 10 Application is filed.
Public Involvement Program Plan Stage
In the PIP, an Applicant will identify stakeholders and outline its proposed strategies for stakeholder involvement. You can find additional information on the Applicant’s plans in the PIP, such as the “local document repositories” where important project documents will be made available, the online resources where project detail will be provided, the newspapers where the Applicant will publish notices, and the kinds of outreach you can expect to see in your community.
Preliminary Scoping Statement Stage
At least 5 months after the PIP is filed, the Applicant will file a PSS outlining the studies and information it proposes to provide in its Application. This starts a 21-day public comment period on the proposed studies and PSS. The Applicant then must respond to public comments within another 21 days.
At least 3 days before the PSS is filed, notices will be published in local newspapers and on the project website, and will be served on individuals or groups identified in the regulations.
You can request to be served with these notices by joining the Party or Service Lists on the Siting Board’s project docket site, or by contacting the Applicant.
The PSS is distributed to the Party and Service Lists, placed in repositories, posted to project website and Siting Board docket site.
Instructions for submitting comments on the PSS will be included in the notices.
After the PSS is filed, and before an Application is submitted, Flint Mine plans to hold another public meeting or open house.
Preliminary Conference and Pre-Application Intervenor Funding
Within 2 months of the PSS filing, a Preliminary Conference will be scheduled in the area where the Facility is proposed. This public session is used to review requests for intervenor funding and to start a settlement negotiations process called “stipulations.”
Municipalities and qualified local groups can seek intervenor funding to assist them in reviewing and commenting on the PSS, and in participate in stipulations.
Instructions for requesting intervenor funding, and qualification information, can be found on the Siting Board’s website.
Stipulations
Parties may decide to negotiate stipulations, or agreements, about what the Applicant will study and how it will study issues of concern—the scope and methodology of studies—before the Application is filed. This process can help limit issues in dispute amongst the parties, and avoid costly litigation on topics not of concern. The stipulations process is confidential, but stipulations cannot be signed by the parties until they are released for public review and comment.
If parties agree to stipulations, the Applicant will publish and circulate a notice at least three days before the stipulations are released, to alert interested persons.
When the stipulations are filed, the public generally has 21-30 days to review and comment on the proposed stipulations.
Application and Hearings Phase
Once the Application is filed, another phase of review, intervenor funding, stakeholder participation and engagement begins. This stage of review may involve adjudicatory hearings, legal briefs and other formal proceedings. This Phase concludes with a Recommended Decision from the Examiners assigned to hear the case, and with legal briefs from parties about that recommendation.
Application Submission and Completeness
The Applicant will file its Application, which will span many volumes, and which will be available online on the project website, Siting Board docket, and by electronic notification to the Party and Service Lists, as well as in paper form at local document repositories and certain agencies. State regulators review the Application and determine whether all necessary information is included, and if it can be considered “complete” and ready for review. A completeness determination starts a 12-month clock on review and decision on the Application by the Siting Board.
At least 3 days before the Application is filed, legal notices will be published in the newspaper and on websites, and circulated to parties and interested persons.
You will have the opportunity to review the Application, continue to submit Public Comments, and monitor the proceeding.
Pre-Hearing Conference(s) and Intervenor Funding
The Application Phase includes a second round of Intervenor Funding, and another conference to address intervenor funding requests, as well as consideration of formal “Party Status” for hearings. That conference, or other conferences, may include an identification of party disagreements or “issues” which must be addressed in litigation.
Additional Intervenor Funding is available to qualified entities and groups to facilitate participation in the Application Phase.
Notices of hearings and important deadlines will be posted to the Siting Board docket site, and circulated to the Party and Service Lists.
Public Statement Hearings
Soon after a complete Application is received, the Siting Board will schedule a Public Statement Hearing in a host community where the Facility is proposed. The purpose of that hearing is to take public comments on the Facility. Notice of that hearing will be published and posted online.
Adjudicatory Hearings and Legal Briefing
If there are issues that require litigation, adjudicatory hearings and legal briefing periods will be held. A Facility’s host municipalities are automatically considered a Party to this phase, and at least 50% of the intervenor funding made available for the Application and Hearings Phases is reserved for municipal parties, to defray the costs of that participation. This phase ends with a Recommended Decision, made by the Hearing Examiners based on the record of the proceedings, and submitted to the Siting Board for review.
Members of the public can monitor the progress of the case through this period, and can request updates from their local municipal officials.
Certification Phase
After the Recommended Decision is issued, the decision is in the hands of the Siting Board. Members of the Siting Board, including two local ad hoc members of the Board nominated by the host municipalities in the Pre-Application Phase and appointed by the Senate and Assembly. When the Siting Board is ready to decide, it will schedule a public session to announce its decision.
Compliance Phase
If a Facility is issued an Article 10 certificate, there will generally be items and tasks which must be addressed prior to Facility construction, before the Facility begins operating, or at certain milestones after operations begin. You will be able to find information on these requirements in the Siting Board’s decision, and proof of the Applicant’s compliance with those requirements will be submitted to the Siting Board’s docket page, the Party and Service Lists, and other repositories for important Facility information, such as the project website.
Construction and Operation Phase
Most Facility Applications will need to include a Compliant Resolution Plan, construction-related plans, and other information for the public, communities and stakeholders should any issues arise while the Applicant is building or operating the Facility. In those plans, you will be able to find Applicant contact numbers, see proposed plans for dealing with construction-related traffic and machinery, review emergency response and impact mitigation plans, and understand how the Applicant plans to interact with the community over the life of the project.