Permit Hearing Procedures

Procedures for permit hearings are set forth in Part 624 of New York State's Environmental Conservation Rules and Regulations:

6 NYCRR Part 624: Permit Hearing Procedures
DEC's Guide to Permit Hearings

Issues Conference

A pre-adjudicatory hearing issues conference began on May 25th at the Middletown-Hardenburgh Fire District and Middletown Fire Hall, Church Street, Margaretville, New York. Administrative Law Judge Richard Wissler will determine what issues, if any, require adjudication, and will define the scope of such issues. The purpose of the issues conference was to define, narrow and resolve, if possible, the issues which may be raised at an adjudicatory hearing.

To participate at the issues conference, parties were required to file written petitions requesting party status that included the facts intended for presentation pursuant to 6 NYCRR 624.4(c) and 624.5(b). In addition, the petitions identified the proposed parties and the names of the persons who will act as the parties' representatives, the parties' environmental interests, the statutory considerations relevant to the project, and the precise grounds for opposing or supporting the project.

On April 23rd, the Catskill Preservation Coalition ("CPC"), a group of environmental and grassroots organizations, filed for full party status. The CPC is comprised of the following groups: Catskill Heritage Alliance, Pine Hill Water District Coalition, Trout Unlimited, Friends of Catskill Park, Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc., Zen Environmental Studies Institute, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., New York Public Research Interest Group and Riverkeeper, Inc. The Sierra Club joins in the petition for party status.

In its petition, the CPC listed the following issues for adjudication: visual and aesthetic impacts, groundwater and surface water impacts, water supply, noise impacts, traffic impacts, aquatic habitat, impacts on the forest preserve, wildlife and habitat impacts, forestry impacts, alternatives, cumulative impacts, community character, sediment and erosion control, stormwater management plan, stormwater treatment, mining permit, and pesticides.

The City of New York also filed a petition for full party status on April 23rd. The City listed the following issues for adjudication in its petition: two State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("SPDES") applications (Wildacres and Big Indian).

Permit Applications

Below is a description of the permits Crossroads Ventures is seeking from the DEC that appears in the Notice Of Legislative Public/SEQR Hearing And Issues Conference:

Individual Water Supply permits under Title 15 of Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 15 and State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits under Titles 7 and 8 of ECL Article 17 have been requested for [the Big Indian Plateau and Wildacres Resort] developments. In addition, a Use and Protection of Waters permit under Title 5 of ECL Article 15 is required for proposed road crossings of regulated streams on the property and for the treated wastewater outfall structures to Birch Creek and the Emory Brook tributary. Also, an application for a Water Quality Certification in accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act has been submitted. A Nationwide permit has been issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for this project.

The five applications described above are in Volume 2, Appendix 2 of the DEIS. Below are links to the applications posted on the Town of Shandaken web site:

Big Indian Plateau Water Supply
Wildacres Resort Water Supply
Big Indian Plateau Wastewater SPDES
Wildacres Resort Wastewater SPDES
Belleayre Resort Stormwater Individual SPDES (1 of 2)
Belleayre Resort Stormwater Individual SPDES (2 of 2)
Stream Disturbance and 401 Water Quality Certification


Draft SPDES Permits

Wildacres Resort Draft SPDES Permit (pdf file, 268 Kb)
Wildacres Resort SPDES Permit Fact Sheet (pdf file, 136 Kb)
Big Indian Plateau Draft SPDES Permit (pdf file, 301 Kb)
Big Indian Plateau SPDES Permit Fact Sheet (pdf file, 112 Kb)

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