DUXBURY — In accordance with new state regulations of siting and permitting clean energy infrastructure, the town is changing the way it reviews permit applications.
The state has created a consolidated application process for the construction of clean energy generation infrastructure under 25 megawatts, clean energy storage under 100 megawatt hours and certain other projects in an effort to streamline and accelerate “the development of locally produced clean energy.” Planning Director Matthew Heins said that includes solar and wind power generators and battery storage.
To comply with the mandate, the town will have to appoint a local representative in charge of processing applications and examine its zoning and permitting bylaws for inconsistencies with the new regulations, which were created by the Department of Energy Resources.
“The new process requires municipal governments to issue a single, consolidated permit decision, and to do so within 12 months of a determination of an application’s completeness,” the Massachusetts Municipal Association announced in a press release.
“It's a way to smooth out and speed up the process for somebody who wants to apply so they don't have to go to each and every board,” Planning Board Chair Kristin Rappe said.
Duxbury must begin processing applications in compliance with the new regulations by Oct. 1. Rappe asked the select board to choose and announce a date to begin accepting permits under the new regulations.
But before the town can begin accepting consolidated applications, the select board has to appoint a local government representative who will handle communication between the town and applicants, coordinate application review between town boards and committees and issue final decisions. Rappe said that the state did not provide guidance on which local official should take on those responsibilities, but Town Manager René Read said that two other towns have designated planning department officials for the task.
While Heins said that the new regulations do not in theory require towns to change their zoning or general bylaws, Rappe recommended that the town look for descriptions of the permitting process in the bylaws that may contradict the new mandate.
“We have to decide whether or not we need to tweak any of the bylaws, because some of the bylaws do spell out, ‘you need to do this, this, and this before you can actually apply,’” Rappe said. “We will just add that to the growing list of bylaw amendments that we are working on.”
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