The repowering of Danskammer is subject to approval by the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment under Article 10 of the Public Service Law.
Members of the Danskammer Energy Center stakeholder list will receive notice of important project milestones. Such project milestones include, but are not limited to, the availability of the Article 10 Preliminary Scoping Statement and Article 10 Application, as well as notices of upcoming public hearings and open houses.
Article 10 Overview
New York State has one of the most thorough approval processes for permitting new major electric generating facilities in the nation, known as Article 10. The rigorous and transparent process holds the energy industry to highest standards and provides ample opportunity for community involvement and comment. Throughout the Article 10 process, Danskammer and the PSC disseminate notices to involved parties. These notices can be found here. Danskammer welcomes the scrutiny afforded by the Article 10 process, and is committed to meeting all requirements.
What are the main elements of the Article 10 process?
Any applicant who wishes to enter the Article 10 process must submit the following:
- A Public Involvement Program (PIP) plan. Danskammer Energy’s PIP outlines their plan to inform stakeholders and encourages community participation throughout the Article 10 process.
- The submission of the Preliminary Scoping Statement provides the Siting Board and the community with as much information about the project as is available, including a description of environmental and health impacts that might result from the project.
- Danskammer Energy conducts numerous studies about the project, including wetland delineation, traffic counts and analysis, noise monitoring and modeling, cultural resource consultations, visual simulations and analysis, air emission modeling, and economic modeling.
- The formal Article 10 application will provide all details about the project, including community benefits and impacts.
- Within 60 days of submittal of the formal Article 10 application, the Siting Board determines whether the application is complete and must set the public hearing date.
Timeline
- May 2018:
- Public Involvement Program filed
- December 2018:
- Open Houses held
- February 8, 2019:
- Preliminary Scoping Statement filed
- April 19, 2019:
- Response to comments on PSS filed
- April 24, 2019:
- Intervenor Funding Process began (in progress)
- August 28, 2019
- Visual Assessment Progress Report Filed
- Summer 2019:
- Studies conducted (in progress)
- September 6, 2019
- Proposed Stipulations Filed
- December 11, 2019
- Article 10 application filed
- TBD:
- Hearings begin
- TBD:
- Siting Board decision (anticipated)
Siting Board
The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment oversees the Article 10 process and determines whether to authorize the construction or repowering of a power plant.
The Siting Board includes the chair of the Public Service Commission, the commissioner of Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the commissioner of the Department of Health (DOH), the chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, and two local community members.
Environment
Under Article 10, an application must fully evaluate the impact on the environmental and public health under all applicable laws, including applicable Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health regulations.
Hearings
The Siting Board appoints Presiding Examiners to oversee the public hearing process, which allows the applicant and intervenors to cross-examine witnesses on their expert testimony about the project. The applicant and intervenors submit post-hearing briefs and the Presiding Examiners make a recommendation to the Siting Board. The hearing process must be completed within 1 year from a determination that the application is compliant with Article 10 regulations.
Intervenors and Intervenor Funding
As part of the Article 10 process, applicants are required to provide funds to be used to defray certain expenses incurred by municipal and local parties when intervening and participating at several stages in an Article 10 proceeding. These funds are known as “intervenor funds” and are collected by fees assessed on the applicant by the Siting Board.
An intervenor is any party that joins an ongoing Article 10 proceeding as a third-party for the protection of an interest. Not all intervenors are eligible for intervenor funds; only “municipal and local parties” are eligible. Eligible “municipal parties” include any county, city, town, or village located in New York State that may be affected by the proposed major electric generating facility.
Presiding Examiners from the Department of Public Service will award funds to intervenors on an equitable basis during the pre-application and application phases. In this case, intervenor funding has already been awarded for the pre-application phase. The Presiding Examiners will issue a Notice after the Application is filed and determined complete, indicating that application phase funds are available. Requests for intervenor funding must be submitted to the Presiding Examiners no later than 30 days after such Notice is issued. If you want more information on becoming an intervenor or seeking intervenor funding, you can contact the Siting Board through its website, the Department of Public Service’s Public Information Coordinator through the Siting Board “contact us” page, or review the Department of Public Service Guide to Intervenor Funding.
More Information
Copies of the Preliminary Scoping Statement, Article 10 Application, and other major Article 10 filings are available on this website under Project Documents, on the Department of Public Service website, and at the following locations:
- Newburgh Free Library: 124 Grand Street, Newburgh, NY 12550
- Marlborough Free Library: 1251 Route 9W, Marlborough, NY 12542
- Adriance Memorial Library: 93 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
- Blodgett Memorial Library: 37 Broad Street, Fishkill, NY 12524