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FSEC reopens Carriger Solar draft materials after Yakama Nation raises TCP and water concerns
Summary
FSEC staff updated the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council on Oct. 15 that revised draft site certification agreement language and a draft resolution have been posted for the Carriger Solar project after the Yakama Nation raised concerns about impacts to traditional cultural properties and water-resource review.
FSEC staff on Oct. 15 updated council members on ongoing review of the Carriger Solar facility application in Klickitat County after Governor Ferguson asked the council to conduct further outreach with the Yakama Nation.
The council previously voted on June 5 to recommend the project to the governor with a draft site certification agreement. On Aug. 22 the governor sent a letter requesting additional engagement with the Yakama Nation; in response, the chair sent a follow‑up letter to Yakama Nation leadership. The Yakama Nation replied on Sept. 25, asserting that staff’s June 19 memo did not reflect the depth of the tribe’s concerns about impacts to traditional and cultural properties (TCPs) and arguing that the Carriger project — even standing alone — would cause significant impacts to TCPs unless mitigated further.
In its letter the Yakama Nation raised two principal concerns: that setbacks and natural screening proposed by staff are insufficient to avoid impacts to TCPs given local topography, and that FSEC’s practice of not requiring a secured water supply until just before construction fails to meet its obligation to evaluate water sources before drafting a site certification agreement. The tribe proposed either prohibition of panels in the northern portion of the project area with conservation leases on those parcels, or withdrawal of the mitigated determination of nonsignificance and initiation of a full environmental review (an environmental impact statement) and an adjudicative process.
Staff prepared a revised draft site certification agreement and a draft resolution (Resolution 360) in response and posted those documents for public review on Oct. 6; the public comment period remains open through Oct. 19 at 11:59 p.m. FSEC staff said the draft responses and citations addressing the Yakama Nation’s concerns are in the posted materials and that more time was scheduled to allow the governor’s 60‑day request to be met. A special council meeting was scheduled for Oct. 21 at 9 a.m. for council action.
Staff told the council it believes the Carriger application received expedited processing on May 5 and that FSEC has considered Carriger’s impacts on TCPs individually and cumulatively in the SEPA documentation and the MDNS, and that staff’s revised site certification agreement includes a clearer commitment from the developer to provide grant funding for continued TCP research.
Council members asked procedural questions; staff reiterated where the revised materials are posted and confirmed the Oct. 21 special meeting notice will comply with RCW 42.30 (Open Public Meetings Act) and related notice requirements.
The public comment period and the special meeting schedule will determine the council’s next steps; staff recommended that council members review the posted materials ahead of the Oct. 21 special meeting.
