As Homer awaits the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ release of the Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment, more questions are being raised about who is in the driver’s seat for the increasingly under-the-radar permitting process for the Homer Harbor expansion. Last month, the agency announced it had submitted an application under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for certification from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that any discharge from the expansion will comply with the Act and Alaska Water Quality Standards.
The problem is that the Corps, not the City of Homer, is submitting the application. While an application for certification is typically submitted by the project proponent (in this case the City), there does not appear to be any legal authority or even precedent for a situation in which the applicant for a state permit is the same entity that is overseeing the federal permitting process, raising questions about whether the Corps has a conflict of interest.
This has caused some to speculate that, due to pressure from Sen. Dan Sullivan, who was involved in changing the process by which Alaskan harbors can be developed, allowing them to proceed without meeting the standard cost-benefit analysis, it is the federal government that is pushing on the Harbor Expansion Project despite the lack of sufficient environmental and economic analysis in the Feasibility Report/Environmental Assessment and making all the decisions. According to George Matz with the Kachemak Bay Birders Association regarding an e-mail Sullivan sent out to potential voters in Homer where he took credit for the Expansion Project:
“I am not sure where Sen. Sullivan got the authority to speak for Homer and advance the harbor project to approval. Since Homer area residents will be paying part of the construction costs of this project, the go-ahead should be our decision. Neither the Corps, HDR, nor Senator Sullivan should be preempting local decisions or state authority (e.g., the Critical Habitat Areas status). But given that the Corps has not responded to the draft comments or even made the comments available to the public, it appears that the public process has fallen apart.”
When asked about the lack of public process in the Feasibility Report, Homer City Council members have been heard to state that “that whole process is out of our Hands.” However, it seems the City is still very much in the game. In August, Mayor Rachel Lord, the City’s consultants, and other representatives of the City virtually attended a Command Validation Milestone meeting with the Corps to review the draft Feasibility Report, public comments, and the recommended plan, and to discuss the project and path forward. Similarly, the City Council recently approved funding for the second phase of the consultant contract on this project to help the City develop the financial and local service facility plans needed to move the project forward.
Maybe the Council needs to step in to ensure better accountability to the public, who were left out of the discussion. For example, the Corps has been asked repeatedly when it will release the now almost three weeks overdue Feasibility Report/Environmental Assessment to the public. The Corp’s scheduled November issuance of the Report means time for public comment on the next draft is running out fast. The Corp has also been asked under what authority it is acting like the proponent of a project by applying for the water quality certification, while serving as the regulatory agency of the same project. So far the response to both of these and other questions has been …crickets.
Maybe the City needs to step in on behalf of Homer residents and re-establish itself as the actual proponent of this project. That way we might finally get some answers. Also, due to the conflict of interest, the City should ask the Corps to rescind or withdraw the Certification permit application, which the Corps did not discuss with the City or its consultants prior to submitting. If the Corps won’t rescind, the City should ask DEC to reject the application and re-submit it as the actual project proponent while requesting adequate time for public notice and comment.
You can submit comments or request a public hearing on the request for Water Quality Certification by Oct. 26, on the DEC website at https://dec.alaska.gov/commish/public-notices/ or email to the DEC email address: DEC-401Cert@alaska.gov with the subject line referencing Public Notice Reference Number: ER-PN-26-02 v1.0.
Hal Shepherd is an environmental consultant living in Homer, who works with Alaska Native Tribes and conservation organizations on fresh water, aquatic habitat and subsistence protection and management issues. He writes frequently on these topics.
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