The Rachel sent this along about how the state basically gives water away - for free - no permit, no nothing - for up to 100,000 gallons a day - per user. Coming from where I do, why anybody would give water away simply baffles me. The enabling legislation was passed unanimously after the Major Environmental NGOs said giving water away was an inspired idea. For private golf courses, power plants, frackers, hog factories, and other Corporate Personages. Who donate to political campaigns. And Major Environmental NGOs.
100,000 gallons x 10 applicants (tank truck owners) = 1 million gallons a day. For fracking free. Even I could figure that one out. And I only took one course at Texas A&M.
http://www.nofrackingway.us/2013/07/15/free-fracking-water/
http://www.nofrackingway.us/2012/11/22/free-frack-water/
Contact The Rachel about contesting these giveaways :
http://www.nofrackingway.us/2013/07/22/radioactive-frackwaste-call-rachel/
Here is a rough draft of some talking points on the implementation of New York’s new water withdrawal permitting law. Your comments and suggestions welcome.
1. New legislation requiring permitting for users withdrawing more than 100,000 gpd was passed unanimously by the NY legislature in 2011.
2. The legislation was supported by many environmental organizations and touted as necessary to protect our state’s water resources.
3. The legislation was also touted as necessary to bring New York into compliance with its obligations to adopt more comprehensive water withdrawal protections under the Great Lakes Compact.
4. Although many expected the DEC to improve upon the protections set forth in the legislation when they prepared new regulations to implement the legislation, that has not happened.
5. It fact, it appears that the DEC has weakened the legislation.
6. This is apparent in the DEC’s decision to create a special class of permits-“initial permits,” to which the overall protections provided in the legislation do not apply.
7. “Initial” permits are all that is required of existing water users who filed water registration statements with the DEC before Feb. 2012. Thus “initial” permits are distinguished from “new” permits to be granted under the regulations to first time water users.
8. Under the DEC’s new regulations, “initial” permits will be issued to existing users for their maximum reported water usage with no further requirements applied. The Department is apparently claiming that it has no discretion to deny water withdrawal permits to existing users.
9. This apparently means that out of New York’s 8 billion gallons of freshwater usage per day, the DEC is planning to issue permits for 111% of that usage automatically to 12 NY Power Plants that are among our state’s largest water users based upon their maximum reported usage, even though though several of these plants are not currently in operation or operated infrequently. See http://nywaterlaw.com/blog/
10. There are no permit application fees or water usage fees being charged by the DEC
11. This is a give-away of our state’s water resources.
12. The first application for an “initial” permit was noticed in the DEC’s Environmental Notice Bulletin (ENB) on Aug. 7, 2013, for the Ravenswood Power Plant in NYC for 1.5 billion gallons per day, http://www.dec.ny.gov/enb/
13. The first application for a “new” permit was noticed in the DEC’s ENB on Aug. 14, 2013, for the Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, for the addition of two new wells to their current irrigation water system to lower the Club’s reliance on municipal water with a total max. withdrawal of under 600,000 gpd, http://www.dec.ny.gov/enb/
14. The DEC is claiming that no environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is reviewed for either of these permit applications. The notice for each applications states that “Project is not subject to SEQR because it is a Type II action.”
15. DEC stated in response to a FOIL request that “The Department has determined that the issuance of ‘initial permits’ under ECL section 15-1501.9 as implemented by 6 NYCRR 601.7 is a ministerial action and therefore subject to the Type II exemption set out in 6 NYCRR 617.5(c)(19).”
16. The DEC has made this determination despite the fact that the SEQRA regulations provide in 6 NYCRR 617.4(b)(6) (ii) that “a project or action that would use ground or surface water in excess of 2,000,000 gallons per day;” is a Type I action requiring SEQRA review.
Lots of comments are needed to urge the DEC to conduct SEQRA reviews in connection with the issuance of water withdrawal permits and to protest the disgracefully expedited process being used for issuing “initial” water withdrawal permits.
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