Monday, 29 March 2010 18:00

Buena Vista Biomass Power SEIR Scoping Wednesday

slide5-buena_vista_biomass_power_seir_scoping_wednesday.pngAmador County – Amador County Planning Department hosts a scoping meeting Wednesday for a Subsequent Environmental Impact Report on a possible use permit change for the former Cogen plant on Coal Mine Road near Ione. Earlier this month, the county Technical Advisory Committee found that a Subsequent EIR would be required for Buena Vista Biomass Power in its efforts to change operations at the former wax plant, to convert it to a power plant, burning only woody “biomass” fuel. Planner Nathan Lishman issued a notice of preparation of the Subsequent EIR, with a “public scoping meeting” to be held 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (March 31st) at the Amador Board of Supervisors’ Chambers in Jackson. The notice, made March 16th, was to provide “responsible agencies, organizations and interested parties” with “sufficient information describing the project and its potential environmental effects.” Amador County Planning is lead agency in the SEIR. Buena Vista Biomass seeks a facility use permit amendment for the facility. The project has a “conditional use permit” issued in 1983, but the applicant “has proposed project modifications requiring an amendment to that permit.” A county EIR was done in 1983, and an Amador Air District Supplemental EIR was done in 1997, for the cogeneration facility located at the project site. Lishman said Amador County and Buena Vista Biomass “have mutually determined” that under California Environmental Quality Act law, a Subsequent EIR is the “appropriate environmental document” to review the project. Lishman said “the existing facility has experienced a lapse in operations.” Also, its “project-specific and cumulative traffic impacts may have changed from those analyzed in previous EIRs, and previous EIRs did not evaluate the project’s greenhouse gas emissions,” now required under CEQA. An Initial Study identifies the potential environmental effects of the project. Written comments must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. April 15. The Notice of Preparation and Initial Study are available for public review at the county administration building and at Amador County Library branches in Jackson and Ione. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.