Advancing Community-Scale Wood Energy in Plumas County
2 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2020030341
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Advancing Community-Scale Wood Energy in Plumas County
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/10/2020
Document Description
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy would provide $937,075 in funding for the purchase and installation of equipment to support the utilization of wood chips for generating heat at the Quincy Junior Senior High School. Specific activities would include the replacement of an existing oil-fired boiler at the Quincy Junior Senior High School with a new biomass heating system rated at 1,365 MBH, which would utilize approximately 240 tons of wood chips per year. The new biomass heating system would be located at the same site as the existing oil-fired boiler and it would serve the same purpose and provide approximately the same heating capacity as the existing boiler. The project would also involve the purchase and installation of permanent covered storage sheds to store wood chips at the existing Crescent Mills Wood Utilization Campus, which is owned by the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment and zoned for heavy industrial use. These sheds would be accessory to existing uses at campus and would be a total of approximately 50 feet by 200 feet in size. It also involves the purchase of a small portable wood chip truck dumper for use at the existing Crescent Mills Wood Utilization Campus and other appropriate locations. The wood chip truck dumper would also be accessory to the existing uses and would be portable such that it would not require permanent installation at the site.
Contact Information
Name
Jamie Sammut
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Agency Name
Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Location
Cities
Crescent Mills, Quincy
Counties
Plumas
Other Location Info
Quincy Junior Senior High School in Quincy, CA; and Crescent Mills approximately 3.5 miles southeast of Greenville, CA
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
15302, 15303
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15302, Replacement or Reconstruction, and Section 15303, New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures. The replacement of the oil-fired boiler with a biomass heating system qualifies for the Section 15302 exemption because it involves the replacement of an existing utility system with a new system that would be located on the same site and have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the existing system. The installation of covered wood chip storage sheds at the Crescent Miils Wood Utilization Campus and the purchase of the small portable wood chip truck dumper qualifies for the Section 15303 exemption because it involves the installation or placement of a limited number of small accessory structures that are appurtenant to the existing structures and uses at the site. None of the exceptions described in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply to these activities. The biomass heating system, storage sheds, and portable wood chip truck dumper would be placed on existing developed sites that do not contain sensitive or historical resources. No significant environmental or cumulative effects would occur as the result of the project.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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