Special Services
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS (EIS)

Wind energy provides an important supply of clean power, lease payments to rural landowners, short-term employment during construction, and significant revenues to local communities.  Many rural New York State municipalities have discovered this important energy resource.  Although local review of wind energy projects is complex, it presents local governments with an opportunity to control wind tower development in order to optimize benefits to the community, while balancing impacts to the environment.

The completion of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process is required of both the applicant and local government agencies for all wind projects. This process is a comprehensive analysis of the direct environmental impacts and community-wide changes that may alter the essential rural character of the locality. Local implementation of SEQRA requires that full consideration of topics outside of normal local government oversight be evaluated. This requires that the applicant and town consultant develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that is comprehensive yet easily understandable to the layperson reading the document.

The LA Group has worked for both applicants and reviewing agencies to ensure that full disclosure of all relevant facts are provided. Being able to work as an effective consultant to localities puts The LA Group in the position to work equally effectively as an applicant advocate. The interdisciplinary capabilities of The LA Group bring together the resource science inventory skills along with the ability to consider the community character issues that are associated with the visual environmental changes.

Working for either applicants or local government agencies builds the skill base of The LA Group and creates capabilities that allow projects to succeed even in the most complex environment. Numerous Environmental Impact Statements and State Environmental Quality Reviews have been completed by The LA Group as a requirement for project completion.