Falmouth TM Votes To End Wind Turbine ARRA/EPA Loan Agreement

Falmouth Town Meeting Members at a June 2009 Special Town Meeting voted to approve 3 wind turbine articles to build its second wind turbine called Wind II.

The three articles provided federal and state financing of almost 5 million to construct the wind turbine.

The Wind II loan is subject to specific provisions of ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and applicable federal regulations and guidelines ("Federal Law") in addition to the terms and conditions of the Project Regulatory Agreement ("PRA") and the Loan Agreement associated with the funding of Wind II.

Under Federal Law and the PRA and Loan Agreement brokered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection , the Town must maintain Wind II as an "energy efficiency" project, as described in EPA guidelines dated March 2, 2009, in order to benefit from the financial subsidy provided by the Trust under ARRA and the Trust's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program."

Under federal regulations governing the Trust's ARRA grant at 40 CRF Part 31.30(d)(l)

Effective April 19, 2010, the federal EPA granted the Town of Falmouth a waiver of the Buy America requirements of ARRA Section 1605 to buy the second wind turbine called Wind II a foreign-made wind turbine. In the waiver the town states they have wind turbine zoning as stated next in the submittal :

Quote "Based on information provided to the EPA, the Town of Falmouth has taken the necessary steps to obtain all required local, state, and federal approvals to move forward with the proposed project. The Town of Falmouth has adopted a local ordinance regulating large scale wind turbines. According to the submittal, Zoning Article XXXIV, Chapter 240, Section 240-166 requires a Special Permit for windmills with minimum setback from property lines."

The town had been warned in advance prior to construction by the wind turbine manufacturer the turbine generates 110 decibels of noise. The town did not file for a Special Permit 240-166 as stated in the EPA waiver.

ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds can not be used if they create: "a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety related to the implementation or use of covered funds." Each of the V-82 type 1.65 town owned megawatt wind turbines generate 110 decibels of noise each. This is twice the noise level of any domestic built wind turbine at the time of purchase.

In June of 2017 almost three years ago the Massachusetts court system through as many as eleven court cases shut down the turbines as they are a nuisance.

In January of 2019, the Falmouth Select Board voted to sell the turbines or move them to a new location.

On November 12, 2019, the Falmouth Town Meeting voted in Article 14 to spend 2.5 million to dismantle the old out of date gear-driven wind turbines and place them in storage for use at some unknown future date.

Federal and state taxpayers need to ask why in the past three years why hasn't an energy audit been completed by an independent third party not involved in the design or preparation of drawings and specifications for the development of the Falmouth wind turbines?

The Town of Falmouth still owes 3.5 million dollars on the federal energy efficiency loan on Falmouth Wind II.

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Notes

US EPA

TABLE 4. EXAMPLES OF STATES PROVIDING TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Massachusetts In the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has created a Green Communities Division that focuses on providing technical and financial assistance to local governments and school districts. Areas of particular focus include energy audits, energy information reporting, energy management systems, and energy management committee formation. Funding for the program comes from a variety of sources, including emissions allowance trading programs, utility efficiency charges, alternative compliance payments generated by the state’s renewable portfolio standard, and the state Renewable Energy Trust Fund.

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https://archive.epa.gov/epa/production/files/2015-08/documents/ee_municipal_operations.pdf

4.5 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) programs

The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides substantial funding to improve energy efficiency at federal government facilities and within vehicle fleets, as well as research into energy efficiency technologies and improvements to the nation’s energy transmission, distribution and production systems. Much of the funding provided in the legislation will be distributed through existing federal programs. For example, 20% of EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) grants will be spent on energy efficiency and other green projects. SRF grants provide low-cost financing to communities for the construction, repair, and rehabilitation of drinking water systems and wastewater collection and treatment facilities. SRF programs conduct an environmental review process with similarities to the NEPA process.