Amendments proposed for solar permitting process

Proposed amendments to the county’s public hearing process and utility-scale solar development regulations will give stakeholders more input in public zoning and development processes.

The amendments were introduced to the Sweetwater County Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday, through their vote was unavailable at press time. The regulation changes will be brought before the Sweetwater County commissioners next week. These amendments stem from issues that arose from both the trona industry and Wyoming Game and Fish Department when the county approved the development permits to Sweetwater Solar. A second solar site, Raven Solar, is proposed for construction near the southwest corner of the Sweetwater Solar facility.

According to county documents, the public notification amendment would require developers utilizing land in either an MD-1 or MD-2 Overlay Zone to solicit comments directly from mineral rights owners and solicitors and provide those comments at least 14 days prior to a planning and zoning commission hearing and a county commissioners’ hearing. The amendment was proposed after concerns were raised by representatives of the area’s mines about having adequate input in matters involving land they have the mineral rights to.

A second amendment specifically targeting solar development would require a developer to incorporate stipulations placed on their proposals by federal, state, and other agencies affected by the proposal. This amendment was introduced following concerns raised by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other state agencies during the Sweetwater Solar facility’s permitting process. Recently, concerns about migration corridors raised by the WGFD were realized when the migration trail used by more than 1,000 antelope was hindered by the solar facility.

Those concerns were first raised in a letter to the county’s land use office prior to the solar facility being permitted.

Specifically, solar developers have to consider the WGFD, state departments of transportation, agriculture, and environmental quality. Depending on location, federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Reclamation may also be involved. Both the planning and zoning commission and the county commissioners have the option to approve a proposal in whole or in part, approve with conditions or remand the recommendations back to a permit applicant for further consultation with a stakeholder.

 

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