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RI Coastal Resources Management Council

...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders

In accordance with notice to members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) subcommittee, a meeting of the subcommittee was held on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 4 p.m. at the University of Rhode Island (URI) Coastal Institute large conference room in Narragansett, R.I.

MEMBERS PRESENT
Paul Lemont
Don Gomez

STAFF PRESENT
Grover Fugate, CRMC Executive Director
Laura Ricketson-Dwyer, CRMC Public Educator and Information Coordinator
Brian Goldman, CRMC Legal Counsel

Others present
Sam De Bow, URI GSO
Wendy Waller, Save The Bay

 

Call to order. P. Lemont called the meeting to order at 4:14 p.m.

Item 1. Approval of previous meeting minutes: The previous meeting minutes were approved as written.

Item 2. Updates: G. Fugate told the subcommittee that the SAMP is on-time and on- budget. There was a recent Section 106 meeting, G. Fugate said. Those in attendance included MMS, the Narragansett Tribe, RIHPHC, DWW and the purpose of the meeting was to review the work plan. Right now the groups are focusing on simulations looking at different viewpoints from Block Island for the Section 106 issue. According to G. Fugate, the SAMP team has to take into account a 30-mile radius around the proposed site, so it involves New York and Massachusetts. Within two weeks the SAMP team should have the revised work plan, he said. The National Park Service will then come in to consult on the Southeast light because it’s on the National Register. The Tribe will also work with the Army Corps for their ceremonial sites, G. Fugate said. The paleo-reconstruction issue is just about resolved, and shouldn’t be a problem, he said.

P. Lemont said that the CRMC doesn’t want to get involved with the wind power companies, but it seems that all of the publicity has been negative thus far when they talk about the price of energy. How are the companies handling it, he asked. G. Fugate said that they’re not pleased with the negative press but consider the situation – they need to get permits but design standards haven’t been completed; they haven’t made the energy purchase because they haven’t gotten the wind turbine permits, and they don’t know what the cables will cost because they don’t know where the routes will go and they have to build all of this uncertainty into the price as well, he said. G. Fugate said that the Block Island project cost is distributed over eight turbines, versus the federal one, the cost of which will be split over approximately 150 turbines. The PUC has to review it and make a ruling on it, he said. B. Goldman said that the rate agreement between National Grid and DWW is at stake there.

G. Fugate said that the ecology, renewable energy and global climate change chapters are out for informal public review right now. The SAMP team expects the fisheries and future uses chapters to be released on March 26 for informal review, and in April the other component of the fisheries chapter will be released, G. Fugate said. The SAMP is on-target to be done at end of June so the team can get it out to stakeholders and TACs, vet all the chapters and get it out to the public in July. B. Goldman expressed confusion over the timeline. G. Fugate reviewed the timeline; he added that all of the chapters would be accepted by council by July 13, and then the final public comment period starts. G. Fugate said that nothing in the timeline has changed, and that the SAMP team was sticking with the same timeline on chapter production and adoption. At the April 15 subcommittee meeting, G. Fugate said, the ecology, fisheries and existing policies chapters will be review for approval by the subcommittee. B. Goldman said that the existing policies chapter would not be ready, and that he would explain further. G. Fugate said that if the subcommittee would prefer, there would be a June 3 subcommittee meeting so all of the remaining chapters could be approved and forwarded to the full Council the following Tuesday to begin rulemaking.

Item 3. Chapter presentation – Existing Statutes, Regulation and Policies: B. Goldman said that the existing statutes chapter was ready but that last week he had received extensive comments from DEM, sent to J. McCann. B. Goldman said that DEM has asked that he meet with their legal staff to address their concerns. B. Goldman said that, subject to the subcommittee’s approval, he’d be willing as long as it doesn’t slow things up for more than a few weeks. B. Goldman said he had received comments from MMS and USACE, RWU and Susan Farady and NUWC and Save The Bay. DEM wants to work on statutes based on fisheries management, he said. B. Goldman added that he would like to add a further disclaimer that the chapter is not an interpretation of any of the rules and regulations and that it is a general description and picture of existing statutes, regulations and policies, and in no way an exhaustive review. Ames Colt wanted to add something about the Coordination Team, B. Goldman said, and its jurisdiction out to the three-mile limit. B. Goldman said he told them yes but that he needed to present it at the first April meeting.

P. Lemont said that he did not see a problem with this plan.

Item 4. Legal Updates: B. Goldman said that J. McCann is up-to-date on the existing policies chapter and that he had sent her a version for internal use only. B. Goldman suggested the first April meeting be coordinated with the completion of changes made to the chapter; the subcommittee agreed that the April 15 meeting would include the three chapters discussed earlier.

D. Gomez made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by P. Lemont. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Laura Ricketson-Dwyer

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