Amador County – The Amador County Air District board of directors approved the use permit and environmental documents of the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant last week, and also heard from a support group, made up of 25 members from around the county.

Amador County Business Council Executive Director Jim Conklin said his 25-member council of voting members “recognizes that governmental units throughout California are struggling with their revenue production issues.”

Conklin said: “In an era of reduced public sector revenue generation, diminished levels of service and increasing furlough days for public sector employees, we believe job creation is of critical importance to municipalities.”

He said members of the Business Council “believe the county has performed its due diligence in this matter,” and “hope the Biomass Power plant proceeds as quickly as possible to build out in order to help create the jobs that are so critically needed to help address revenue production in Amador County.”

Conklin said his Council’s membership spans a “wide range of businesses that include wineries, banking, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, retail, real estate and communications” throughout the county. He said the council is “formally and publicly supporting” supervisors and the planning commission “in their recent approvals of the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant project, and its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report.” Conklin told the Air Board that he thought the county’s evaluation of the project satisfies the California Environmental Quality Act requirements, as well as state and local permitting regulations.

The board voted 7-0 to uphold the county supervisors and planning commission approvals of the project, and use permit. The Air Board includes Amador County Supervisors, of whom in attendance were Ted Novelli, Richard Forster, Louis Boitano and Chairman John Plasse. Also members are Amador City Councilman John Swift, Ione City Councilman Lloyd Oneto, and Jackson City Councilman Pat Crew.

The approval of the use permit is an authorization for construction, during which the plant must meet the air emissions requirements it placed in its request for permits.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.