The county commissioners were set to possibly enact the new rules on commercial wind turbines during their meeting Monday morning. The clock is ticking on the issue as the board’s moratorium on new wind farms is currently set to expire on January 7th. That moratorium was first issued last January in response to a Portland company’s controversial proposal to develop a wind farm near Kamiak Butte, North of Pullman. The plan has garnered strong opposition from many residents who have formed a coalition called Save the Palouse.
The moratorium was enacted to give the Whitman County Planning Commission time to update local regulations on wind farms. The planning commissioners have completed the bulk of their recommendations and are asking for wider windmill setback buffers and a ban on wind turbines within seven miles of significant Whitman County sites, including Kamiak Butte.
Instead of considering the recommendations on Monday morning, the county commissioners pushed the issue out to February. The commissioners only mentioned generally that the reason for the delay is because the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process regarding the proposed new wind farm rules weren’t being followed properly by the county. Whitman County Prosecutor and Civil Counsel Denis Tracy tells Pullman Radio News that the county failed to follow state law regarding public notice to tribes. State law requires that the county’s “responsible official” notify affected tribes of a SEPA checklist application. Whitman County’s longtime Planner, Alan Thomson, is the “responsible official” in charge of following this state law. The public notice from Thomson regarding the SEPA checklist did not include notifying affected tribes. That led to Tracy’s legal advisement that the county restart the SEPA process to provide notice to affected tribes. County officials only realized that there was a problem a little over a week ago.
The county commissioners on Monday voted to move final consideration of the new wind farm rules to February 2nd so the SEPA process can be conducted correctly. In Thomson’s first SEPA checklist application, he issued a preliminary determination of non-significance, finding that the proposed wind farm rules “will not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment.” The reissuance of the preliminary checklist finding will restart the public comment period for the SEPA process.
The lack of proper public notice regarding the SEPA checklist isn’t the first time in recent days that Thomson has had issues with government transparency. Earlier this month the county commissioners ordered him to improve public engagement and public notice regarding the process for updating the county’s wind code. Thomson pushed back against the county commissioners, arguing that the order was “unprecedented” during his many years working as Whitman County’s planner. Thomson did eventually agree to post information about updating wind farm rules more prominently on the county’s website.
The Whitman County Commissioners are still set to take formal public comment tonight about possibly extending the moratorium. That hearing starts at 7:00 inside the Public Service Building on Main Street in Colfax. Verbal comments can also be made online over Zoom here https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7336328211
The company behind the proposed wind farm near Kamiak Butte has hinted that adopting the stricter rules would compel them to take their project to the state for approval.
