'Green' turbines may be given fast track

Wind turbine

A bill introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature would give the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board almost unlimited power to license renewable energy generating facilities – including the authority to override just about every objection from local governments.

The idea behind Massachusetts Senate Bill 1504 is the consolidation all of the state’s energy licensing boards into one and giving the board power to grant licenses over the opposition of local governments.

Bill sponsor Sen. Michael Morissey says a major purpose of the measure is to stabilize the approval process.

"We wanted to come up with a plan that made some sense and make the approval process operate in a more timely manner,” the senator said.

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However, Jim Wallace, the public policy analyst for Gun Owners Action League, says it's too much power for one board.

"The bill sets up a permitting system for wind energy sites that would bypass all of the standard application and permitting processes that any other industry has to follow," he said.

"Wind energy site applicants would be allowed to bypass energy law and environmental law,” Wallace explained. "In the long run, if the state decided that any of the sites could work, the local municipalities wouldn't be able to stop them from being put in."

Jennifer Ryan of the state Audubon Society said the plan limits the opportunities for appeals and "does to some extent reduce the authority of the environmental agencies."

But she said wildlife, specifically birds and bats, should be protected if there is reasonable study beforehand to pick a placement that doesn't have a large migratory bird population.

Wallace disagrees.

"The administration has targeted some 13 state forests and three or four wildlife management areas," he said.

"Sportsmen are among the first groups who championed conservation. We're the ones who put waterfowl stamps and other voluntary taxes in place so wildlife areas and refuges could be established," he explained. "The only place they’re going to be able to put these things are on some of the lands we’ve spent a century trying to protect."

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A committee in the U.S. Congress is holding hearings on renewable energy resources, and watching to see what happens in Massachusetts with the bill raising environmental standards but making the permitting process faster and simpler.