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he Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council
(EFSEC or Council) provides a "one-stop" siting process for major energy
facilities in Washington. Applicants for energy facility siting receive all of their
necessary state and local environmental permits and other licensing terms and conditions
from the Council. Once a facility is sited, the Council has a continuing responsibility to
monitor the construction and operation of the facility. EFSEC also ensures that effective
and coordinated emergency response plans are in place and satisfactorily tested for the
WNP-2 nuclear plant.
EFSEC is a Washington State agency comprised of a citizen chair appointed by the Governor and representatives from nine state agencies including: the Military Department, Departments of Natural Resources, Community Trade and Economic Development, Transportation, Fish and Wildlife, Health, Ecology, Agriculture, and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. When an application to site a facility is submitted to the Council, it is augmented by representatives from particular counties, cities, or port districts potentially affected by the project. Administrative and staff support for EFSEC is provided by the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development.
The Council's responsibilities derive from the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Chapter 80.50.
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FSEC activities are organized under three goals:
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he Council centralizes the evaluation and
oversight of large energy facilities in a single location within state government. The
Council considers a number of factors in determining whether a facility should be
approved, approved with modifications, or denied. As part of the evaluation and review
process, protection of environmental quality, safety of energy facilities, and concern for
energy availability are all taken into account by the Council. If a project is approved,
EFSEC specifies the conditions of construction and operation; issue permits in lieu of any
other individual state or local agency authority; and manages an environmental and safety
oversight program of project operations to ensure compliance with certification
conditions.
The environmental review process coordinated by the Council provides opportunities for public and governmental agency participation through hearings and the review of the application and environmental documents.
One-stop siting provides certainty to applicants that all siting requirements will be managed through a coordinated process. State and federal environmental review processes can be managed cooperatively to include the development of joint environmental impact statements and conducting combined hearings.
By providing a comprehensive environmental review process for major energy facilities, EFSEC helps ensure that new energy facilities necessary to maintain the reliability of the state and regional energy systems are sited with a minimal effect on the environment. The reliability of these energy systems is critical to the economic future of the state.
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FSEC serves potential applicants seeking
certification of large energy facilities within Washington. The Council's process provides
applicants a fair and timely review of energy facility proposals.
The Council also serves state and local agencies and tribal interests. These groups customary concerns and responsibilities are addressed during reviews and public hearings under the "one-stop shopping" provision of EFSEC's statute. During recent application reviews, representatives from 10 counties, five cities, and three port districts have become members of the Council to review applications to site three combustion turbine projects and one intrastate oil pipeline.
In addition, EFSEC interacts with numerous federal agencies regarding facility siting, licensing, compliance monitoring, and nuclear emergency planning.
EFSEC also serves members of the public and organizations that may be especially interested in energy facility decisions. The concerns raised by these groups and individuals must be considered during EFSEC's site evaluation process.
Throughout the siting process there are opportunities — via a rigorous schedule of public hearings and environmental study — for interested parties, including governmental agencies, to participate in the review and provide written or oral information on a proposed project.
Current site certification agreements are in force for the five nuclear plants owned and operated by the Washington Public Power Supply System (Supply System) — WNP-2 in operation; WNP-1 and -3 in termination status; and WNP-4 and -5 in stages of decommissioning. In addition, active site certification agreements are currently in place for three combustion turbine projects that have not yet been constructed. Council activity will continue to focus on ensuring compliance with certification conditions at WNP-2 to include: 1) protection of state and federal environmental and public health and safety standards; and 2) maintaining a capability for offsite agencies to respond in the event of a radiological accident. The Council administers contracts with state and local agencies totaling approximately $2.7 million to meet its goals for environmental and nuclear safety oversight at WNP-2 and the other Supply System project sites.
The Council also maintains oversight authority for site restoration activities at the four Supply System projects that have been terminated. For the Satsop nuclear project site, legislation adopted in 1996 provides for the transfer of portions of the site to local governments for economic development purposes. The Council will work with the county agencies and the Supply System to ensure an orderly transfer of responsibilities to local government.
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he Council has recently completed processing of
applications filed for three combustion turbine natural gas-fired projects: the 838
Megawatt (MW) Northwest Regional Power Facility (NRPF) in Creston; the 438 MW Satsop
Combustion Turbine (CT) Project near Elma; and the 450 MW Chehalis Generation Facility in
Chehalis. On May 21, 1996, Gov. Lowry approved the Satsop CT Project by executing a Site
Certification Agreement between the state and the sponsor, the Supply System, setting
forth the terms and conditions for constructing and operating the project. On Sept. 19,
1996, Gov. Lowry signed the site certification agreement for the NRPF project. The site
certification agreement for the Chehalis Generation Facility was recently remanded to the
Council for additional deliberations regarding the use of water by the facility and the
discharge of waste water from the plant.
In February 1996, the Council received an application for a major cross-state pipeline project, Olympic Pipe Line Company's 227-mile petroleum products pipeline from Woodinville in King County to Pasco in Franklin County. Initial processing activities have included the selecting of an independent consultant to review the application and prepare a joint state/federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); securing the participation of 13 new local government members from counties, cities, and port districts directly affected by the proposed project; initiating the review of the project for consistency with local land use plans and zoning ordinances; and establishing the procedures and determining who will participate in the hearing phase of the review.
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he primary siting challenge currently facing the
Council is the processing of the Olympic Cross Cascade Pipeline Project application. The
Council anticipates extensive work on this project during Fiscal Year 1997 and into the
next biennium, with completion of the siting process probably occurring in Fiscal Year
1998. The Council will work to complete the state's siting process, in addition to
coordinating the preparation of a joint EIS involving a number of federal agencies.
The Council's regulatory interests will continue to be directed at ensuring that the WNP-2 nuclear plant is operated safely to ensure protection of the environment and the public health and safety. At the same time, the Council will actively work with the Supply System and local governments to see that restoration and/or transfer requirements are met.
Finally, rapid changes in the electric industry discussed in Section 2 may require revisiting the scope of EFSEC's jurisdiction. The legislation was enacted in an era where regulated utilities were the sole purchasers of power and were subject to significant regulatory and public oversight on cost control, need for power, reliability standards, etc. As this structure unravels, some argue that there is no longer adequate accountability over decisions to build new transmission or power plants. EFSEC currently has no, or very limited, jurisdiction over the following types of facilities:
Whether this implies a need for changes to EFSEC's jurisdiction is a matter that may be
up for debate before the Legislature in the next two years. Another concern that has been
expressed about the Council's statute is that the preamble language inappropriately
establishes that there is "a pressing need for increased energy facilities" in
Washington. It has been the Council's experience that the presumption of need language has
led to some unnecessary complications in the siting process that could be avoided by more
neutral language. 
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Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council
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The print version of the 1997 Biennial Energy Report is available free of charge. To order, contact Julie Palakovich at (360) 956-2098, or send e-mail to wepg@ep.cted.wa.gov.