Broadwater: What's Next

Now that Broadwater has filed its application with FERC, here’s what happens next, as I understand it (and when I say “as I understand it,” I mean as Adrienne Esposito of CCE explained it to me):

-- the Coast Guard will release the safety and security report, in about two months.
-- FERC includes the safety and security report in the draft environmental impact statement, which should be ready in about four months.
-- FERC opens the public comment period when the draft environmental impact statement is released. Adrienne says FERC hasn’t decided how long the public comment period will be but that CCE is pushing for 120 days.

Meanwhile, Bryan Brown reminds me that the Broadwater proposal also must be reviewed by the New York Department of State, to determine if the LNG terminal is consistent with state and local coastal zone polices. Broadwater will be filing with DOS as soon as March, and DOS has 60 days to decide whether the project is consistent with the policies or not.

This document lists and explains the 44 coastal zone polices. I think that as many as eight of them might apply to Broadwater’s proposal.

The Department of State’s coastal resources division has a good track record of deciding that inappropriate projects are inconsistent with the policies and therefore can’t be allowed. The huge housing development that was proposed for Davids Island back in the 1980s and ‘90s is one example; the natural gas pipeline that was proposed to cross from Rockland to Westchester via the Hudson is another. An unanswered question of course is whether FERC can use the new federal energy law to overrule the state or whether Broadwater can use the law to successfully sue to overturn a state decision.

Here are the policies that I think might be germane (I simply cut and pasted them from the web, hence the uppercase letters):

POLICY 7
SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITATS WILL BE PROTECTED, PRESERVED, AND WHERE PRACTICAL, RESTORED SO AS TO MAINTAIN THEIR VIABILITY AS HABITATS.

POLICY 9
EXPAND RECREATIONAL USE OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES IN COASTAL AREAS BY INCREASING ACCESS TO EXISTING RESOURCES, SUPPLEMENTING EXISTING STOCKS, AND DEVELOPING NEW RESOURCES.

POLICY 18
TO SAFEGUARD THE VITAL ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS OF THE STATE AND OF ITS CITIZENS, PROPOSED MAJOR ACTIONS IN THE COASTAL AREA MUST GIVE FULL CONSIDERATION TO THOSE INTERESTS, AND TO THE SAFEGUARDS WHICH THE STATE HAS ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT VALUABLE COASTAL RESOURCE AREAS.

POLICY 19
PROTECT, MAINTAIN, AND INCREASE THE LEVEL AND TYPES OF ACCESS TO PUBLIC WATER-RELATED RECREATION RESOURCES AND FACILITIES.

POLICY 24
PREVENT IMPAIRMENT OF SCENIC RESOURCES OF STATEWIDE SIGNIFICANCE.

POLICY 25
PROTECT, RESTORE OR ENHANCE NATURAL AND MAN-MADE RESOURCES WHICH ARE NOT IDENTIFIED AS BEING OF STATEWIDE SIGNIFICANCE, BUT WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL SCENIC QUALITY OF THE COASTAL AREA.

POLICY 27
DECISIONS ON THE SITING AND CONSTRUCTION OF MAJOR ENERGY FACILITIES IN THE COASTAL AREA WILL BE BASED ON PUBLIC ENERGY NEEDS, COMPATIBILITY OF SUCH FACILITIES WITH THE ENVIRONMENT, AND THE FACILITY'S NEED FOR A SHOREFRONT LOCATION.

POLICY 31
STATE COASTAL AREA POLICIES AND MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES OF APPROVED LOCAL WATERFRONT REVITALIZATION PROGRAMS WILL BE CONSIDERED WHILE REVIEWING COASTAL WATER CLASSIFICATIONS AND WHILE MODIFYING WATER QUALITY STANDARDS; HOWEVER, THOSE WATERS ALREADY OVERBURDENED WITH CONTAMINANTS WILL BE RECOGNIZED AS BEING A DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINT.

POLICY 36
ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE SHIPMENT AND STORAGE OF PETROLEUM AND OTHER HAZARDOUS MATERIALS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN A MANNER THAT WILL PREVENT OR AT LEAST MINIMIZE SPILLS INTO COASTAL WATERS; ALL PRACTICABLE EFFORTS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO EXPEDITE THE CLEANUP OF SUCH DISCHARGES; AND RESTITUTION FOR DAMAGES WILL BE REQUIRED WHEN THESE SPILLS OCCUR.