TURNERS FALLS — With the deadline for a comprehensive settlement now in the past, stakeholders in the FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. relicensing process are uncertain about what comes next for aspects that were not finalized.

FirstLight, which previously submitted its Amended Final License Application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a new 50-year license, has three facilities up for relicensing. Those facilities — the hydro-pump facility at Northfield Mountain and two hydroelectric dams in Turners Falls — have been criticized by environmental advocacy groups for their impact on fish, the Connecticut River and the surrounding environment.

One section of the comprehensive settlement that is perhaps the most controversial, the Flows and Fish Passage Settlement Agreement, was signed and submitted to FERC by the March 31 deadline. It commits $152 million toward environmental protection upgrades at FirstLight’s facilities.

Another aspect, which entails the protection of cultural resources, has not yet reached an agreement between FirstLight and Indigenous stakeholders involved in that portion. There is, however, a Memorandum of Understanding in Principle (MOUIP) signed by representatives of the Elnu Abenaki tribe, the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians and the Nolumbeka Project that has been submitted to FERC. According to FirstLight Communications Manager Claire Belanger, this filing occurred after the stakeholders notified FERC that FirstLight never signed, which Belanger attributed to an error in transmission.

“There was a bit of a mix-up with the legal representatives for the tribal stakeholders, and they submitted a letter to FERC stating that FirstLight had not acted on the signed Cultural Resources MOUIP and submitted a false status update on March 10, reporting that there were no updates on cultural issues,” Belanger clarified in an email Wednesday morning. “The reality was the signed document from the stakeholder group had not been received by FirstLight. As soon as that became clear, they sent it to us, and we immediately signed it and filed it on the 24th, as reflected in the FERC docket.”

Belanger and Nolumbeka Project Senior Advisor Joe Graveline each said the stakeholders’ legal team would be looking to clarify the situation with FERC. Graveline said he is optimistic that this happens by the end of April.

The MOUIP focusing on cultural resources introduces set requirements that include designating a tribal signatory liaison to be the primary point of contact between the tribal signatories and FirstLight; providing access to ceremonial practices from the mouth of the Deerfield River north to — and including — the Millers River; and developing interpretive signs on FirstLight property that overlaps sites of cultural significance.

“They’ve got to have something in place for cultural resources. It really is a low-hanging fruit,” Graveline said. “The flip-end of not meeting those cultural concerns is cultural erasure, and that’s been going on for hundreds of years.”

Other remaining agreements that haven’t been signed and filed involve recreation and shoreline erosion. FirstLight “intends to reengage recreation stakeholders after March 31,” but does not have a specific plan regarding shoreline erosion at this time, according to a filing from FirstLight Regulatory Compliance Manager Alan Douglass.

“FirstLight just hit a wall on that, so they just went dark,” Graveline said of previous erosion-related conversations. “They just stopped talking to us, for all intents and purposes.”

According to Montague Town Administrator Steve Ellis, some involved parties have suggested there is a possibility that FERC would accept some additional agreements after March 31. Despite the March 31 deadline, Vince Yearick, director of FERC’s Division of Hydropower Licensing, noted in a January letter to FirstLight that FERC would delay submitting its Ready for Environmental Analysis (REA) notice until May 31 to “provide time for the licensing participants to finalize the settlement agreement(s).” According to federal law, REA notices are public notices required by the Federal Power Act that are issued “when the commission has determined that the application meets the commission’s requirements” and once “deficiencies in the application have been cured and no other additional information is needed.”

Ellis said any stakeholder party that doesn’t sign onto the settlement retains a right that allows them to petition relative to the agreements during a final review process that occurs for one year following commencement of REA notification. He added he is unsure what the efficacy of this advocacy may be, but that it could vary based on the nature of the topic and strength of the arguments.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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