Amador County – The Amador County Air District Board of Directors adopted the environmental findings of county supervisors and planning commissioners Wednesday, in approving the use permit for the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant.
The Air Board, acting as “responsible agency,” approved a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report, as well a “statement of overriding considerations, and mitigation monitoring program” for the plant, which were approved last November by the Amador County Planning Commission, and upheld on appeal in January by the Amador County Board of Supervisors.
Air District Director Mike Boitano recommended the board review and consider the environmental affects and the project alternatives identified in the Supplemental EIR, and he also recommended they find that the documents meet the California Environmental Quality Act.
Air District counsel, Greg Gillott, detailed the background of the Buena Vista Biomass Power plant, saying its developers applied in 2009 to take over the former Co-Gen plant’s permit to operate, and also applied to convert the plant’s fuel permit from lignite coal and wood to a strictly woody biomass fuel.
Amador County, as lead agency, did a Supplemental EIR on the plant, and “essentially looked at the project as if it was a new project,” Gillott said, even though most of the infrastructure for the operation was already at the site. He said the one impact that “remained significant and unavoidable” after mitigation plans was the “accumulative affect of greenhouse gas emissions,” for which supervisors adopted a “statement of overriding considerations.”
Supervisor Richard Forster asked if “two active legal actions against the county affect the air board’s ability to move forward.” Gillott said the suit would not require construction to stop at the Buena Vista Plant, and the board must assume that the CEQA documentation was done properly. He said only a court stay or injunction would stop work at the plant, and if that were done, “the Board would issue a conditional approval or denial.”
During a public hearing, Jim Conklin, executive director of the 25-member Amador County Business Council, said the group supported the Buena Vista Biomass. He said he believed it will burn cleaner than the old plant, and the planning commission and county have “done their due diligence on this.”
Conklin said the county already faces budget questions for sheriff’s hours, furloughs and layoffs, which go with the economy. He said the state as a whole will be affected by whether the state budget is approved in March, or if it goes to the ballot, and it may also affect the county. He said Buena Vista Biomass Power won’t solve all of the county’s economic problems, but it will help, especially in the need for more local jobs.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
