You are asked to sign a petition in support of resolution calling for the immediate cessation (temporary moratorium) of Transmission Line clear cutting within New York State by utilities such as Con Edison. Furthermore, the resolution requests the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) to undertake an open, public re-evaluation of its existing guidelines.

A copy of the resolution can be read here: Transmission Line Clearing Moratorium Legislation

While recognizing the need to clear potentially dangerous vegetation (mainly tall-growing mature or dead trees) from the wire zone of our regional transmission lines, the current vegetation management policy encouraged by the PSC to clear cut all vegetation across the entire width of the right-of-way (ROW) results in significant environmental and property value impacts. Such a policy results in the loss of the transmission line border zone as an effective visual and physical buffer. Affected communities to date include: Yonkers, Scarsdale, Greenburgh, Pleasantville, Cortlandt, Elmsford and Yorktown Heights.  

The impacts of this clear cutting, widely reported in local media this winter, include:

Direct loss of property value, loss of noise abatement and privacy screening, loss of wildlife habitat, increased risk of stormwater flooding and related damage, increased air pollution and risk of invasive plant spread along the disturbed corridors, as well as risk of increase in white-tail deer population that pose a hazard to motorists and threatens our landscapes. 

Furthermore, while Con Edison asserts that this clear cutting policy is the most cost effective approach to maintaining the lines, in actuality, the true costs of this policy fall onto private citizens and local municipalities due to the inevitable mitigation and restoration efforts required after-the-fact. 

Note that this clear cut policy established by the PSC in 2005 has had no public comment, review or input, and the policy has never been updated to reflect newer national standards promulgated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) under the auspices of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). These newer standards (FAC 003-1 2007 & FAC 003-2 draft 2009)  require the transmission line utility to explicitly account for environmental impacts of vegetation line clearing  and demonstrate a “tiered” management approach wherein the farther off the “centerline” of the transmission lines, the taller the tree that may safely remain standing. 

The results of this petition will be forwarded to municipalities within Westchester County as well as to the County Board of Legislators and regional state politicians. With united action by Westchester’s municipalities and officials, we believe that an immediate work moratorium can be successfully achieved and proper public oversight of PSC regulations can be undertaken.

Once our trees are protected from immediate loss, we as a community can work with Con Edison and the PSC to find solutions to the line clearing issues that provide system reliability while achieving the environmental quality and global warming goals supported by Westchester’s communities. 

While the focus of this resolution is Westchester County, the goal is to support PSC policy changes throughout the state.