NEPA evaluation comprises reviews of 18 potential environmental impacts
Beacon Power has announced that the US Department of Energy has completed its formal environmental review of Beacon’s proposed 20MW frequency regulation plant in Stephentown, New York, and issued a finding of no significant impact.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has said that the plant will not have a significant effect on the human environment. This completes the environmental analysis of the project site that began in July 2008, when the Stephentown Planning Board approved the environmental aspects of the project, by issuing its own Negative Clearance and Determination of Non-Significance for the project.
Under terms of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), all federal agencies must consider the potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions. The NEPA evaluation comprises reviews of 18 potential environmental impacts, including public health and safety, air quality, wetlands, threatened or endangered species, natural resources, and geology and soil.
The DOE is in the due diligence stage for a possible loan guarantee for Beacon’s project; the finding of no significant impact (FONSI) determination means that the company’s application need not be delayed by the type of time-consuming Environmental Impact Statement that is sometimes mandated for projects being reviewed.
Bill Capp, president and CEO of Beacon Power, said: This finding by DOE as to the minimal environmental impacts of our proposed 20MW frequency regulation plant is a major step forward. As the first loan guarantee finalist to complete the NEPA assessment through the Loan Guarantee Program Office, we look forward to DOE’s completion of the remainder of the loan process in the near future.