Stakeholders Select Facilitator for Niagara Relicensing Process

Contact
Joanne M. Willmott
716-286-6651
joanne.willmott@nypa.gov

October 24, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NIAGARA FALLS – Stakeholder groups participating in the upcoming relicensing of the Niagara Power Project announced Wednesday the selection of CDR Associates (www.mediate.org) of Boulder, CO as facilitator for the scoping phase of the relicensing process.

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) license to operate the Niagara Project expires in 2007. Earlier this year, NYPA notified the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it would seek a new license to continue operating the project.

CDR Associates, founded in 1978, provides decision-making, facilitation, public participation and conflict management assistance to both the public and private sectors. The company’s areas of specialization include FERC relicensing and the firm cites successful efforts to assist in relicensing hydroelectric projects in Montana, Colorado and Missouri.

In addition to the Power Authority, stakeholder groups involved in the selection of CDR Associates are: the Western New York Relicensing Consensus Committee; the Niagara Power Coalition; Power for Economic Prosperity; the Tuscarora Nation; the U.S. Department of the Interior; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and New York Rivers United, including Friends of the Buffalo Niagara Rivers.

In July, FERC approved the Power Authority’s request to use alternative licensing procedures for the relicensing of the Niagara Project. The alternative licensing procedure combines into a single process FERC’s prefiling consultation process, the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act, and any administrative processes associated with the Clean Water Act or other statutes.  The ALP will ensure greater participation by, and improve communication among, NYPA, FERC staff, and the Stakeholders with regard to the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project.