Gilberti Stinziano Heintz & Smith, P.C. .::. Our Projects

Some representative project summaries are listed below:

Acid Rain Litigation
Greenfield Power Plant Construction
County-Wide Water Supply
Research & Development Park
Wireless Emergency Network

Project Name	Acid Rain Litigation
Client	Power Station Operator
Type of Facility	Coal and Oil Fired Boilers
Principal Issues	Validity of New York State's Acid Rain Control Program and Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides Budget Emission Trading Regulations
Project Summary	Based on irregularities in the rulemaking process, the withholding of certain analytical data, and errors in NOx emission calculations supporting the regulation, DSGH&S filed an Article 78 action challenging the validity of the State Department of Environmental Conservation regulations known as the Acid Deposition Reduction Program for the control of acid rain. As a result of this challenge, the Department’s regulations establishing budget trading programs for power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were determined to be invalid. The decision turned on the Department’s failure to complete the rulemaking process in a timely manner or to properly extend the time for completion The Department estimated that the acid rain regulations would have caused a five percent increase in wholesale power rates statewide.

Project Name	Greenfield Power Plant Construction
Client	County Government
Type of Facility	1100 MW Gas Turbine Power Plant
Principal Issues	Threatened Species Water Supply Air Pollution
Project Summary	The firm represented county government as a municipal intervenor in the New York State Public Service Law Article X certification and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permitting processes for the greenfield development of a 1100 megawatt, gas turbine power plant. The plant includes four gas-fired combustion turbines, four heat recovery steam generators, four steam turbine generators, a zero liquid discharge wastewater system and a dry cooling system. The site includes the habitat of the timber rattlesnake, a State listed, threatened species, and several species of special concern. We represented the county’s interest in assuring the environmental compatibility of the plant, located within the viewshed of important visual resources, on the site of threatened species habitat, and in a region where adequacy of water supply is a critical issue. DSGH&S provided full representation of the county on air pollution, water supply, wildlife and visual impacts through the joint Article X and DEC permit adjudicatory hearing process in which the county raised cutting edge issues of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), health and environmental effects and fundamental questions concerning the delegation of federal authority to the State Department of Environmental Conservation for the issuance of federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) air permits. Issues relating to plant decommissioning were settled without litigation. The decommissioning settlement provisions were adopted by the Department of Public Service as the standard for major electric generating facilities authorized under Article X of the New York State Public Service Law.

Project Name	County-Wide Water Supply
Client	County Government
Type of Facility	Private Water Supply System
Principal Issues	Adequacy of Potable Water Supply Water Rates
Project Summary	The firm represented county government as an intervenor in the New York State Public Service Commission rate case for a private utility that supplies potable water to 90% of the county ’s 280,000 residents. Although the utility’s filing with the Public Service Commission sought to increase water rates, the firm used the rate case as a forum to address county concerns over the adequacy of water supply. The firm made the utility’s failure to build sufficient water supply facilities one of the principal issues in the rate case. Through negotiation of a rate case settlement, the firm achieved commitments from the utility to increase peak day water supply capacity and average daily water supply capacity by specified amounts within specified time periods extending out to 2015. To fulfill these commitments, the utility identified more than a dozen short and medium term supply facility projects to build. In addition, the firm negotiated a utility commitment to build a $100 million long term water supply facility on a specified construction schedule with an in-service date in 2015. The firm also negotiated a system of performance payments that will be returned to water customers if the utility fails to achieve any of its supply increase or construction milestone commitments. The settlement agreement provides for up to $750,000 per year in such performance payments. These water supply volume increase and supply facility construction commitments are unique among regulated water utilities in the State of New York. It is also the first time a regulated New York water utility will pay for failure to meet water supply or water facility construction commitments. The negotiation also resulted in an average increase in water rates seven percent less than those requested by the utility. Largely as a result of the firm’s influence in the six party settlement negotiations, the settlement provides for an increase in water rates for the county’s largest employer that is 40% less than the rates proposed by the State Department of Public Service staff.

Project Name	Research & Development Park
Client	Private Developer
Type of Facility	Mixed Use Development
Principal Issues	Environmental Review Infrastructure Relocation Condemnation Right-to-Build
Project Summary	The 325 acre research and development park was conceived as a "living laboratory" for research in logistics, security, lifestyle and technology with more than 3 million square feet of office and laboratory space. The park would also include its own wellness center and a 325 room hotel and space for ancillary services. Construction of the research and development park would require the modification of access to two heavily traveled Interstate highways and the relocation of a stream, a solid waste transfer station, a waste water pumping station, natural gas and oil pipelines and electric transmission lines, and approximately 30 existing businesses. A portion of the site is occupied by state and federally regulated wetlands. Other portions include inactive private and municipal landfill areas. The firm supervised the preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the application to the County Industrial Development Agency which acted as the lead agency for environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The DEIS includes a detailed analysis of potential impacts to surface waters including streams, wetlands and lakes; impacts to air resources associated with the use of biodiesel and biomass fueled energy sources; transportation impacts associated with 10,000 employees; and impacts on land use, community character, demography and employment including the relocation of approximately 30 existing businesses. Potential cumulative impacts associated with nearby developments are also addressed int eh DEIS. These include impacts related to the conversion of a nearby regional shopping mall to a significantle larger retail and entertainment destination and the development of an urban harbor area where a new marina, retail and restaurant uses are proposed along with a 600 room full service hotel.

Project Name	Wireless Emergency Network
Client	State Government
Type of Facility	Wireless Emergency Services Communications Network
Principal Issues	Environmental Review Visual Impacts
Project Summary	This project involves the establishment of a statewide wireless network to provide a secure, interoperable, emergency communications system for federal, state and local entities. The five-year project rolls out in two distinct, and markedly different, phases. The generic phase involves a single, expansive SEQRA review process with a wide range of issues, many of which reflect diverse regional features. The second phase involves site-specific wireless site placements and will involve a large number of specific project sites and supplemental environmental review processes. The issues pertaining to the specific proposed sites will typically be centered on the potential visual and aesthetic impact of the proposed wireless antenna and related equipment. The generic environmental review process includes 16 public meetings related to scoping for the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS). An aggressive schedule was also set for 16 hearings on the DGEIS. Critical was the development of an Impact Statement that identified the potential impacts and alternatives of the project and was also sufficiently flexible to accommodate the array of different environmental settings throughout the state. The EIS also establishes criteria to determine when the preparation of site-specific supplemental impact statements is necessary to reflect the specific geographic and environmental setting of each proposed site. Although the number of potential sites for the wireless network cannot be estimated with any reasonable degree of accuracy until the technology and equipment for the system has been selected, a line-of-sight technology could require as many as 1,200 separate antenna sites to meet the project goal of 97 percent coverage. The environmental review process is designed to address the environmental impacts, including cumulative impacts reasonably anticipated with respect to these potential sites.