Consolidated, Multimedia Environmental Review and Licensing of Electric Generating Facility Projects in Maryland

摘要

To build a power plant or transmission line in the State of Maryland, a company must obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC). As part of this licensing process, applicants must address a full range of environmental, engineering, socioeconomic, planning, need, and cost issues. The CPCN constitutes permission to construct and operate the facility, and includes issuance of the required air quality, water appropriations, and tidal wetlands permits. The Maryland Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) serves as the lead agency for the consolidated review of CPCN projects. The consolidated review is the only process within the State regulatory framework that allows a comprehensive, multimedia review of power plants. The process allows the State to evaluate a range of potential environmental, socioeconomic, and cost impacts of new power plants, while balancing those considerations with the need to ensure adequate power supply. Because interested parties (regulatory, environmental, citizens) are involved at appropriate points, the consolidated review has allowed the State to manage potential conflict, and encourage voluntary resolution of disputes among parties prior to construction. Further, the consolidated review has been proven to provide a number of environmental and other benefits to the State that might not otherwise be realized with a more fragmented approach to power plant permitting. Typically, an applicant prepares a environmental review report for the CPCN application and PPRP coordinates the assessment of that information. For smaller generating units, PPRP frequently works directly with the applicants to develop the environmental review report. The collaborative environmental review approach implemented by PPRP in two recent cases resulted in a more streamlined licensing process. This paper will describe these two recent projects, provide background on power plant licensing in Maryland, and discuss how the collaborative approach led by PPRP proved to be environmentally beneficial.