April 7, 2013SEQRA Review Required of NY Water Withdrawal Permit ApplicationsSurprisingly, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (the DEC), the state agency charged with administering the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), did not conduct an environmental impact review pursuant to SEQRA of its new water withdrawal permitting regulations, which became effective on April 1, 2013. So the environmental impacts of the new program have not yet been assessed. (The new water withdrawal regulations, amending 6 NYCRR Parts 601 and 621, are posted on the DEC website here and here.) But environmental impact assessments are required under SEQRA before the DEC processes the individual permit applications it receives under the new program. Under the water withdrawal regulations, applications for systems withdrawing 100 million gallons per day (MGD) or more are due June 1, 2013. See 6 NYCRR 601.7(2). Under the SEQRA regulations, 6 NYCRR 617.4(6)(ii), any project or action that would use ground or surface water in excess of two MGD is a Type I action, requiring an environmental impact review under SEQRA. A water withdrawal application for 100 MGD or more is without a doubt a Type I action. The names and locations of the water users subject to water permitting requirements this year may be estimated from the list of large water users in the state I obtained from the DEC pursuant to a Freedom of Information Law request several weeks ago. According to this list, only 20 users in the state have a maximum daily usage of 100 MGD or more. Eighteen of these users are power plants. Two are large municipal water systems—New York City and Monroe County. A power plant is exempt from water withdrawal permitting under Section Section 601.9 of the water regulations if it is a facility "operating under a valid Federal Energy Regulating Commission license." I am currently researching which, if any, of the power plants on the list below do not operate under FERC licenses. Residents and water users in the communities where non-exempt projects are located should begin researching their options now and preparing to get involved in the SEQRA reviews of the water withdrawal permit applications by those projects. Table 1. Water Users with Maximum Usage over 100 MGD
Source: Response to FOIL request to DEC, received March 27, 2013.As noted in my overview of the new water withdrawal permitting requirements, the implementation of the requirements by DEC on a staggered schedule over a five-year period, with the largest users being issued permits first is manifestly unfair to smaller users. While a review of the water usage requirements of smaller users is not mandated under the water regulations prior to the issuance of a permit to a larger water user, it is mandated by the SEQRA regulations and needs to be addressed in the upcoming SEQRA reviews of each water withdrawal permit application. Table 2. Dates by which Application for Initial Permit Must Be Completed
Source: 6 NYCRR 601.7(2) lists the dates by which a complete application for an initial permit must be submitted.Posted by Rachel Treichler at 04/07/13 2:00 PM
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