County officials announced on Monday that the second attempt to receive public comment on the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA Checklist) portion of the process was mishandled. Planner Alan Thomson had to re-issue the SEPA Checklist for public comment in late December when he failed to notify regional tribes as required by state law.
Thomson’s latest attempt to comply with state law for SEPA review has also failed. According to Monday’s announcement from the county, the second public notice included the prior Whitman County code that regulates wind farms. The checklist review public comment notice needed to contain the proposed new rules that are being recommended by the Whitman County Planning Commission.
The third attempt for a SEPA review will begin February 5th which will kick off another 14 day comment period. The Whitman County Commissioners were set to consider the planning commission’s recommendations on new windfarm rules this coming Monday February 2nd. The latest SEPA delay will now likely force the county commissioners to push out consideration of the new regulations to March 2nd. The county commissioners were initially set to review the proposals in late December before the prior delay caused by Thomson’s failure to notify regional tribes. That came just before the county commissioners extended their moratorium on new commercial wind turbines to June 28th to provide adequate time to update the wind code.
Thomson first started having issues with transparency regarding the wind farm code revisions in early December during his first attempt at a SEPA review. The county commissioners ordered him to improve public engagement after his initial public notice included incorrect and incomplete information and wasn’t prominently posted on the county’s website.
These SEPA delays are part of the larger process to update Whitman County’s rules governing wind farms. It’s in response to a Portland company’s controversial plan to build and operate a wind farm near Kamiak Butte North of Pullman. Many local residents have formed a coalition called Save the Palouse to oppose a wind farm near the National Natural Landmark. The planning commission’s recommendations to the county commissioners call for stricter rules on wind turbines. Those include banning wind turbines within seven miles of significant Whitman County sites including Kamiak Butte.
The wind development company Steelhead Americas has stated that the planning commission’s recommendations would effectively ban green energy projects in Whitman County. The company has further threatened to take their wind farm project to the State of Washington for approval.
