URGENT — CONTACT THE REGULATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE

Please take action THIS WEEK — email state legislators on the Regulations Review Committee before their Sept. 24 meeting and tell them to REJECT the draft industrial wind turbine regulations for Connecticut. See below for an easy tool that lets you email the entire committee at once. Our comments last December and again in May helped get the draft regulations rejected twice, but since the regulations have not changed substantially since then, we need to ask the committee to reject them once again!

The Connecticut Siting Council has authority over the siting of industrial wind turbines and all of Connecticut will be open for industrial wind development once state regulations are passed. There are now several projects proposed in the towns of Goshen, Ashford and Union, with more likely on the way! It is essential to get the regulations right. The (2012-054C) still need significant revisions to protect public health, safety, property rights and local control.

Here’s why the regulations need changes:

*No Local Control

Town commissions — planning and zoning, inland wetlands, conservation — and public health districts have no role.

*No Decommissioning Bond

Industrial wind projects have a life span of 15-25 years and deconstruction costs are estimated at $900,000 per turbine, more than their scrap value. Towns need protection from any costs of removal.

*Grossly Inadequate Setbacks 

Setbacks of 1.5 times the height for industrial turbines are inadequate protection for health, safety and property values in neighborhoods. Large turbines standing 492 feet tall disrupt nearby residents with noise and infrasound, disrupting sleep and causing health problems. In Massachusetts, hundreds of complaints have come from neighbors within 1 mile in Falmouth, Fairhaven, Florida, Monroe, Kingston and Scituate.

*Unlimited Waiver Provisions

The Siting Council wants to give itself the power to waive even its own regulations concerning setbacks, noise and shadow flicker, and we believe this was something the legislature never contemplated, let alone intended in the original enabling legislation (P.A. 11-245). Allowing the Council to have complete waiver authority over their own regulations sets a bad precedent and essentially renders the protections in the draft regulations meaningless. In Colebrook, the Council approved turbine blades 9 feet and 14 feet from property lines, and the placement of a turbine 150 feet from preserved land that is designated a National Natural Landmark, Beckley Bog.

Email your comments to the Regulations Review Committee TODAY – tell them you oppose the industrial wind turbine regulations as currently written.

This easy tool allows you to log-in online and email the entire Regulations Review Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly with just a few quick clicks!

1.  Go to: http://www.statehouseassociates.com

2.  Click on the “Client Bill Tracking” tab at the top

3.  At the login page, please enter the username “FairWindCT” and the password “turbine”

4.  Once logged in, mouse over the “Email” tab located at the top-left of the screen.  Then click on “Committee” from the drop down menu that appears.  Then select “Regulations Review Committee” and click “Done” at the bottom.

5.  Users will then be brought right into an email form that is automatically populated with the email address of every legislator on the Regulations Review Committee.  Users can then simply fill in their information and email as appropriate, and just click send when complete!  Make sure you include your own email address in the “from” field.

6.  In addition, users can find and email their own individual State Legislators.  Once again, mouse over the “Email” tab, then click on “My Representatives”, and then enter your zip code.  An email form will be brought up that is automatically populated with the email address of your individual State Senator and State Representative.  Again, you can simply fill in your comments and email them as appropriate.  Make sure you include your own email address in the “from” field.

If you have questions, please email info@fairwindct.com or call Joyce Hemingson at 860-379-6425. Click on the links at the end of this email for text of the public act and the proposed regulations.

Thank you,
Joyce Hemingson, President
FairWindCT
www.fairwindct.com
info@fairwindct.com
PO Box 225, Colebrook CT 06021

The Council was required by PA 11-245 to develop wind regulations, and after previously being rejected twice, their revised proposed regulations  revised 09/03/2013 will once again be considered on by the State Legislature’s Regulations Review Committee on September 24th.

 

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