Community Engagement Plan
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Appendix 2-A: Community Engagement Plan Community Engagement Plan Cider Solar Farm Towns of Oakfield and Elba, Genesee County, New York Updated October 2020 Prepared for: Hecate Energy Cider Solar LLC 621 West Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60661 Prepared by: Stantec Consulting Services Inc. 61 Commercial Street, Suite 100 Rochester, New York 14614-1009 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................................................................................III 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1.1 2.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW ................................................................................................2.1 2.1 COMPANY PROFILE ...................................................................................................2.1 2.2 PROJECT SITING AND LOCATION ............................................................................2.1 2.3 PROJECT SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 2.2 2.4 PROJECT BENEFITS ..................................................................................................2.2 3.0 IDENTIFICATION OF STAKEHOLDERS .....................................................................3.1 3.1 REPRESENTATIVE STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES ............................................3.2 3.2 LOCAL AGENCIES AND GOVERNMENTS ................................................................. 3.2 3.3 HOST MUNICIPALITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS ..................................................3.3 3.4 UTILITIES AND HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS ...............................................................3.3 3.5 ADDITIONAL STAKEHOLDERS AND PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS ......................... 3.4 3.6 HOST AND ADJACENT LANDOWNERS ..................................................................... 3.4 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND LANGUAGE ACCESS .........................................4.1 5.0 PROPOSED PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PROGRAM PLAN .......................................... 5.1 5.1 PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION .........................................................................5.1 5.2 DOCUMENT REPOSITORIES .....................................................................................5.1 5.3 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ................................................................. 5.1 5.4 STAKEHOLDER AND AGENCY OUTREACH AND CONSULTATION ......................... 5.2 5.5 PRE-APPLICATION ACTIVITIES .................................................................................5.2 5.6 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES ..............................................................................5.3 5.7 WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT .........................................................................................5.3 5.8 NOTIFICATIONS ..........................................................................................................5.4 5.9 ACTIVITIES TO ENCOURAGE STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION ............................. 5.4 5.10 AIRPORT/HELIPORT PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION .....................................5.5 6.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................6.1 i COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Most Prominent Non-English Languages Spoken in Genesee County, NY ................ 4.1 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Regional Project Location .........................................................................................1.2 Figure 2. Project Area ..............................................................................................................1.3 LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Attachment A Master Stakeholder List ii COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN Abbreviations CEP Community Engagement Plan DC Direct Current FAA Federal Aviation Administration GIS Geographic Information System GW Gigawatt kV Kilovolt NYCRR New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations NYPA New York Power Authority NYS New York State NYSDEC New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ORES Office of Renewable Energy Siting PV Photovoltaic USDA United States Department of Agriculture iii COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN Glossary of Terms Applicant Hecate Energy Cider Solar LLC Project Refers to the proposed Cider Solar Farm, an up to 500-megawatt utility scale solar project that will be comprised of photovoltaic panels, inverters, access driveways, electrical collection lines, point of interconnection/substation, construction staging areas, fencing and plantings, located on private land in the towns of Elba and Oakfield, Genesee County, New York. Project Area Refers to the Project Site and surrounding/adjacent land totaling approximately 7,518 acres. Project Site Refers to those privately owned parcels under option to lease, purchase, easement or other real property interests with the Applicant in which all Project components will be sited totaling approximately 4,650 acres. 94-c Permit Process The process set forth in New York State Executive Law § 94-c and the Office of Renewable Energy Siting implementing regulations found at Title 19, New York Codes Rules and Regulations Part 900 for the permitting of a Major Renewable Energy Facility, including all pre- application requirements, adjudicatory proceedings, and post-permit compliance filing described therein. iv COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN 1.0 INTRODUCTION Hecate Energy Cider Solar LLC (“Hecate” or “the Applicant”) proposes to develop the Cider Solar Farm (the Project), an approximately 500-megawatt alternating current photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generation facility in the Towns of Elba and Oakfield in Genesee County, New York (Figure 1). The project will involve the construction, operation, and maintenance of a utility scale solar project consisting of photovoltaic panels arrayed primarily in fields on tracking structures and include buried electrical collection cables, inverters, access drives, an electrical transmission line and a point of interconnection, fencing, and temporary laydown areas for equipment staging during construction. The project will interconnect to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Dysinger – New Rochester 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line to deliver power to the New York State (NYS) Grid (Figure 2). The Project is anticipated to be constructed in 2022 and 2023, with a proposed In-Service Date of August 31, 2023, and Commercial Operation in 2024. The schedule is subject to change. The Project is considered a Major Renewable Energy Facility, as defined in Title 19 of the New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR) § 900-1.2(ag) and will seek a permit for such Facility from the NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) pursuant to the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act and NYS Executive Law § 94-c. Although ORES has not yet established Uniform Permit Standards and Conditions, it is anticipated that they will be implemented before Spring 2021 (94-c Permit Process). This permitting process will replace Article 10 of the Public Service Law before the NYS Board on Electric Generating Siting and the Environment (Siting Board). Although NYS Executive Law § 94-c and the implementing regulations do not contain a specific requirement to develop a Public Involvement Plan, as was previously required under Article 10, the Applicant recognizes the importance of stakeholder and community engagement as a part of the development of the Project. This Community Engagement Plan (CEP) describes the Applicant’s public outreach and involvement activities that will be applied throughout the development phase, including this 94-c Permit Process. The intent of the CEP is to determine the interest of stakeholders and address concerns as the development of the Project advances. The CEP presents the proposed Project, and it is presently envisioned, identifies anticipated interested parties and stakeholders, outlines activities planned for stakeholder engagement, and establishes the means by which the public can participate in the process by asking questions and providing comments. 1.1 Legend Regional Project Location 0 5 10 Miles (At original document size of 11x17) 1:316,800 Notes 1. Coordinate System: NAD 1983 StatePlane New York West FIPS 3103 Feet 2. Background: USGS The National Map: National Boundaries Dataset, 3DEP Elevation Program, Geographic Names Information System, National Hydrography Dataset, National Land Cover Database, National Structures Dataset, and National Transportation Dataset; USGS Global Ecosystems; U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line data; USFS Road Data; Natural Earth Data; U.S. Department of State Humanitarian Information Unit; and NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Coastal Relief Model. Data refreshed February, 2020. Facility Area Project Location Prepared by EJE on 2020-07-30 Towns of Elba and Oakfield TR by X on 2020-07-30 Genesee County IR Review by X on 2020-07-30 Client/Project 190502038 REVA Hecate Energy Cider Solar Figure No. 1 DRAFT Title Regional Project Location DRAFT U:\190502038\03_data\gis\mxd\F1_RegionalLocation11x17.mxd Revised: 2020-07-30By: eeshenour Disclaimer: This document has been prepared based on information provided by others as cited in the Notes section. Stantec has not verified the accuracy and/or completeness of this information and shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions which may be incorporated herein as a result. Stantec assumes no responsibility for data