Eight Point Wind Energy Center Wetland Mitigation Plan

The New York State Department of Public Service has issued a Wetland Mitigation Plan for the Eight Point Wind Energy Center, a wind generating facility in Steuben County, New York. The plan aims to mitigate unavoidable impacts to wetlands and streams in accordance with the Certificate Condition 103. The project will permanently impact three USACE jurisdictional wetlands, one Class II NYSDEC-regulated wetland, and adjacent areas of NYSDEC wetlands. The proposed mitigation plan involves purchasing credits from an in-lieu fee wetland mitigation program to offset the impacts.

Key Takeaways:

• The project will permanently impact three USACE jurisdictional wetlands, totaling 0.02 acre, due to permanent fill/excavations associated with permanent access roads.
• Permanent forest conversion will affect 11 USACE jurisdictional wetlands and adjacent areas to NYSDEC wetlands, resulting in the conversion of 0.29 acre of forested USACE jurisdictional wetlands and 0.49 acre of adjacent areas to NYSDEC wetlands.
• Temporary impacts include the placement of timber matting, fill/excavations, and vegetation removal, totaling 3.46 acres in USACE jurisdictional wetlands and 0.20 acre in NYSDEC freshwater wetland RX-2.
• EPW proposes to purchase credits from an in-lieu fee wetland mitigation program to offset the impacts, with the mitigation requirement to be established through consultation with DPS, NYSDEC, and USACE.
• The proposed mitigation plan involves purchasing 0.78 acre of credits, with the option to identify a site within the vicinity of the wetland impacts for wetland mitigation if credits are not available.

Statistics:

• 0.02 acre: Permanent fill/excavations impact to three USACE jurisdictional wetlands
• 0.29 acre: Permanent forest conversion of USACE jurisdictional wetlands
• 0.49 acre: Permanent conversion of adjacent areas to NYSDEC wetlands
• 3.46 acres: Temporary impacts to USACE jurisdictional wetlands
• 0.20 acre: Temporary impacts to NYSDEC freshwater wetland RX-2
• 0.78 acre: Proposed mitigation requirement
• 12.4 acres: Minimum wetland size regulated under the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Program

Sources:

• Eight Point Wind, LLC. (2021). Eight Point Wind Energy Center September 2021 Site Engineering and Environmental Plan Appendix E Appendix F: Wetland Mitigation Plan. Prepared for Eight Point Wind, LLC.
• New York State Department of Public Service. (2021). Eight Point Wind Energy Center Wetland Mitigation Plan.