
A few months ago, CRC shared a milestone update on the 12-years-and-counting hydropower relicensing process for 5 facilities on the Connecticut River – the Vernon, Wilder, and Bellows Falls dams in VT/NH, and the Turners Falls dam and Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station in MA.
Since then, our focus has turned to the next phase in the process, which are the 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQC’s).
401 Water Quality Certification refers to the Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in which a federal agency (in this case the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - FERC) may not issue a license to hydro facilities unless the state or authorized tribe issues a Section 401 water quality certification verifying that the discharge and hydro operations will comply with existing water quality standards.
States can deny, waive, or issue a 401 Water Quality Certification with or without required conditions. Anything the states require as a condition in this certificate will automatically be included in the final FERC license.
Great River Hydro applied for their 401 Water Quality Certifications in April 2024. The State of VT (Department of Environmental Conservation) held public information sessions on:
The VT DEC requested any additional data, sharing concerns, and submitting informal comments on the application for the state of Vermont be submitted to them by October 1st to consider as they draft the Water Quality Certification. You can read CRC's comments here.
Below is a summary of our concerns about the application.
Through outright lack of data as well as vague and contradictory statements, Great River Hydro has failed to demonstrate how their project proposals meet Vermont WQC's in the following critical ways:
1. Improve shoreline undercutting and erosion; monitor for impacts of peak flows under new flex operations; and manage sediment transport, including the protection of aquatic habitat and limiting the release of legacy nutrients;
2. Protect rare, threatened, endangered or otherwise protected species of concern such as
shortnose sturgeon, dwarf wedge mussels, tiger beetles, Fowler's toad, and protected plants under proposed operational changes;
3. Protect water quality, aquatic habitats and species in the face of increased flooding and
subsequent drawdowns;
4. Provide for appropriate and equitable access to the river for designated recreational uses;
5. Reduce impacts to water quality and aquatic habitat by managing aquatic invasive species;
6. Protect and monitor historical and archaeological resources;
7. Timely install fish passage upgrades;
8. Provide financial assurances regarding the funding of eventual decommissioning;
9. Provide real time data on flows for recreational access, improve education about and access to fish passage, communicate about recreational access areas, and provide periodic reports regarding ecological concerns; and
10. Address numerous local concerns regarding erosion, access, aesthetics, habitat, and aquatic invasive species.
Because the applications are woefully incomplete as well as vague and contradictory, GRH
provides no assurance that the projects will comply with Vermont’s water quality standards.
What’s Next?
CRC will submit similar comments to the NH Department of Services staff in the coming month to share our concerns.
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will each issue draft 401 Water Quality Certifications sometime between November 2024 and February 2025. In each case there will be a formal public hearing and opportunity to comment.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will issue a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) covering all five hydro projects in December of 2024, will hold a public meeting in January of 2025, with a formal comment period on the EIS in February of 2025.
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