Horse Creek Wind Farm

Community Review

Workshop #1: Introductory MeetingApril 21, 2011—6:30pm at the Paynter Center

Welcome• Introduction of all Planning Board

members, Secretary, Consultants, Iberdrola Representatives and others

• Review of Rules and Procedures to be followed during each workshop

Intent of Workshops• These workshops are intended as a tool for the Planning Board to

gain a better understanding of the DEIS and the issues that must or should be addressed in connection therewith. Although the public is invited to the workshops (as they must be under the open meetings law), the workshops are not intended to provide the public with a forum to address the DEIS, and there is no right to public participation at a workshop. Nevertheless, it is the Board’s intent in the interest of both openness and thoroughness to offer the public an opportunity at the workshops to make comments and pose questions. The Board may engage in dialogue with the public during the workshops. The sole purposes is to benefit the Board in its understanding of the issues as it reviews and deliberates on the DEIS. However, the workshops are not intended to be and will not be part of the official record of the Board’s review of the DEIS under SEQRA. Comments by the public during the workshop and comments made by board members or discussions between board members themselves or with the public during the workshops will not be considered part of the official record. The written comment period on the DEIS is now open and the public is free to submit such comments outside of the workshops and such written comments will be part of the official record. In addition, there will be a public hearing scheduled following the completion of the workshops at which the public will be given ample opportunity to make comments on the DEIS for the record.

Workshop Rules & ProceduresThe Workshops to be hosted by the Town of Clayton Planning Board will

have the following rules and procedures:• 1.  Meetings will be held at the Paynter Senior Center, Strawberry

Lane, Clayton, NY unless otherwise notified.  The meetings will begin promptly at 6:30pm and will end by 8:30pm at the latest.

• 2.  All guests will sign in (print or write so that information is legible).  You must give your name and place of residence.

• 3.  Comments will be taken during the last half-hour of the workshop.  Spoken comments will be limited to two minutes.  Written comments and questions may also be submitted at the end of the workshop, turned in at the Town of Clayton offices–located at 405 Riverside Drive, downtown Clayton, NY, or submitted online through the “Contact Us” link.  All submitted comments must contain a name and a place of residence.

• 4.  Comments and questions should be focused on the topics that are on the agenda for that particular meeting.

• 5.  It is requested that any documents or comments submitted be as concise and to the point as possible.

• 6.  It is expected that all those in attendance will act respectfully to the Board and to each other during the workshops.

• 7.  Please remember to address all spoken comments and/or questions to the Planning Board, not to the others in attendance.

Disclosure by Board Members

• Planning Board members will disclose any interests in the proposed project, if they exist.

Explanation of SEQR• State Environmental Quality

Review Act• Authority: Statute; Environmental

Conservation law Article 8; DEC Administrative Regulations, 6 NYCRR Part 617

• SEQR “Establishes a process to systematically consider environmental factors early in the planning stages of actions that are directly undertaken, funded or approved by local, regional and state agencies.”

Classification of Action• Type I—actions that experience

has shown are more likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts

• Type II—actions that have been determined not to have a significant adverse environmental impacts

• Unlisted—actions that are not Type I or Type II.

Next Steps after Classification

• “If an action is determined to be a Type I or Unlisted action, the next step is to systematically consider environmental factors involved with the action to make a reasoned determination regarding the likelihood that the action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment”

• The EAF Form is the initial SEQR tool used for this determination

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

• If a significant adverse impact is likely to occur, an EIS is prepared to explore ways to avoid/reduce adverse environmental impacts or to identify a potentially less damaging alternative.

• If it is determined that there will be no significant impacts on the environment, a Negative Declaration is prepared at this point and ends the SEQR process.

Positive Declaration• When the lead agency determines

that there may be one or more significant adverse environmental impacts from a proposed project a positive declaration is declared.

• This means that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared and made available for public review.

Public Participation• There are opportunities for

outreach and public participation throughout the EIS process. These include:

• Coordination with involved/interested agencies for Type 1 actions;

• Public input to scoping for the Draft DEIS, if chosen by the lead agency;

• The required 30 day public comment period on the DEIS;

• Public hearings.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

• The DEIS should impartially analyze the significant adverse environmental impacts of a proposed action and examine how impacts can be avoided or minimized.

• Public review of a draft EIS is important and a minimum 30-day public review and comment period is required.

Public Hearing• A public hearing may be held, at

the discretion of the lead agency, during the draft EIS public review period.

• All interested parties are invited to the hearing or they may file written comments instead. All substantive comments become part of the official record and must be responded to by the lead agency in the final EIS.

Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final

EIS)• This typically consists of the draft EIS plus supplemental information; substantive public comments and the lead agency’s responses to those comments.

• The lead agency files a public notice of the completion and then must wait 10 days before taking next steps. Public comments can be submitted during the 10-day period and become part of the official record and must be considered when the lead and involved agencies make written findings prior to issuing a final decision. No agency response to these comments is required.

EDR Presentation• Presentation on the proposed

Horse Creek Wind Farm Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

Website Overview• The Horse Creek Community

Review website can be found on the Town of Clayton homepage: (www.townofclayton.com).

• The Committee Review has an abundance of information related to the workshops and the proposed project.

Posts• On the main page of the

Community Review website, you will find “posts” or news updates on the workshops and the review process.

• Community Review homepage

Pages• There are also several pages that provide

specific information on the review. They include:

• Purpose Statement• Workshop Rules & Procedures• Planning Board information• Proposed Project summary• Topics & Agendas: lists upcoming topics and

provides links to the workshop agendas• Documentation: provides links to related

documents, including the DEIS and received public comments

• Contact Us: form that allows public comments to be submitted electronically to the Planning Board

Questions on the Website• Please feel free to call 315-686-

3512, ext. 20 and ask for Alicia

How & Where to Access the DEIS

• There are several ways that you can access the DEIS.

• You can go to the Town Clerk’s Office at 405 Riverside Drive, Clayton, NY and sign a request to receive a CD with the DEIS; or

• You can access the DEIS on the Community Review website by going online to www.townofclayton.com and clicking on the Horse Creek Wind Farm Community Review link on the homepage.

• You can also view hard copies of the DEIS at the Town of Clayton Town Clerk’s Office, and the Hawn Memorial and Depauville Libraries.

Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

• The FOIL provides the public with the right to access certain government records. The DEIS (in CD format) does not need to be FOIL requested, but other related documents may need to be.

• FOIL request forms must be filed. These can be picked up at the Town Clerk’s office or downloaded at the Town of Clayton’s website from the Town Clerk’s page [www.townofclayton.com/townclerksoffice.htm]

• Once received, the Clerk has 5 days to respond to your request.

Topics for Next Workshop• Workshop date: May 12, 2011• Topic ideas?

Question & Comment Period

• Open comments/questions from the public

• **Remember, the comment/question period will last for a maximum of 30 minutes and workshops will end promptly at 8:30pm at the latest**

Other• Other discussion

Adjournment• Next Workshop: May 12, 2011,

6:30pm at the Paynter Center