SW6211202_Email_20220504

Farkas, Jim J
From:Farkas, Jim J
Sent:Wednesday, May 4, 2022 3:09 PM
To:[e-mail]; Mario Carreon
Cc:Lawyer, Mike; Jackie Graham; Dane Peacock
Subject:RE: SW6211202; Innovative Solar 48, LLC
Good Afternoon,

The Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR), received a complete Stormwater Management Permit
Application for the subject project on February 28, 2022. Staff review of the plans and specifications has determined
that the project, as proposed, will comply with the Stormwater Regulations set forth in Title 15A NCAC 2H.1000 - 1062
rules. We are forwarding Permit No. SW6211202, dated May 4, 2022, for the construction, operation and maintenance
of the subject project and the stormwater system. This permit shall be effective from the date of issuance and shall be
subject to the conditions and limitations as specified therein, and does not supersede any other agency permits that
may be required.

The original signed permit package and plans are being mailed to the permittee, Andrew Nourafshan, at the following
address (NOTE: An electronic version of this permit can be found in our online repository:
https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WaterResources/Browse.aspx?id=494276&dbid=0&repo=WaterResources):

Cypress Creek Renewables, LLC, Developer
Attn: Andrew Nourafshan, Managing Director, Structured Finance
5310 South Alston Avenue, Building 300
Durham, NC 27713

I will hold onto our hard copies of these projects for 30 days (in case any issues/typos with the permit are noticed and
corrections need to be made) after which point, they will be kept on file at the Fayetteville Regional Office. If you have
any questions, or need additional information concerning this matter, please contact me at [e-mail].

Thank you,

Jim Farkas
Environmental Engineer
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, & Land Resources – Stormwater Program

512 N. Salisbury Street
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

[phone]
[e-mail]

1

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.

From: Farkas, Jim J
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2022 3:42 PM
To: '[e-mail]' <[e-mail]>; 'Mario Carreon'
<[e-mail]>
Cc: Lawyer, Mike <[e-mail]>; 'Jackie Graham' <[e-mail]>; 'Dane Peacock'
<[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: SW6211202; Innovative Solar 48, LLC

Good Afternoon,
The Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources (DEMLR), received a Stormwater Management Permit Application
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for the subject project on December 16, 2021. A review of that information has determined that the application is not
complete. Attached is a letter describing the items that need to be submitted. If you have any questions, please feel free
to contact me. My contact information is listed below.
Thank you,

Jim Farkas
Environmental Engineer
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, & Land Resources – Stormwater Program

512 N. Salisbury Street
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

[phone]
[e-mail]

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
2

Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.

From: Farkas, Jim J
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2021 11:09 AM
To: [e-mail]; Mario Carreon <[e-mail]>
Cc: Lawyer, Mike <[e-mail]>; Jackie Graham <[e-mail]>; Dane Peacock
<[e-mail]>
Subject: SW6211202; Innovative Solar 48, LLC

Good Morning,

We received your post-construction stormwater permit application for the above mentioned project on 12/16/2021.
Reviews under the standard permitting process generally take 30 – 45 calendar days, but can take up to 90 calendar
days per statute (our other reviewer, Corey Anen, no longer works for the State, so this review will probably be closer to
45 days than 30). Please upload all documents that you mailed into our office through the link provided below. Be sure
to choose the Central Office as the Primary Contact office.

https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/Forms/SW-Supplemental-Upload

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please ensure that each file is uploaded under its appropriate file type. Additional file types can be
entered into the electronic form by clicking on the “Add Another Post-Construction File Upload” link directly below the
“State Stormwater Information Uploads” section of the form. Please do not upload entire plan sets through this form,
but rather upload the relevant individual sheets under the appropriate file type. Selecting the correct file type ensures
that the files are properly named in the electronic repository and it helps expedite the review process.

Please type in permit #: SW6211202

If you have any questions, please contact Jim Farkas [e-mail] 919-707-3646.

Thank you,

Jim Farkas
Environmental Engineer
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, & Land Resources – Stormwater Program

512 N. Salisbury Street
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

[phone]
[e-mail]

3

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.

From: Farkas, Jim J
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2021 11:35 AM
To: [e-mail]; Mario Carreon <[e-mail]>
Cc: Lawyer, Mike <[e-mail]>; Jackie Graham <[e-mail]>; Dane Peacock
<[e-mail]>
Subject: Innovative Solar 48, LLC; 22400 Alt Hwy 74, Maxton, Robeson County

Good Morning,

We received your application for a new post-construction stormwater permit on 11/15/2021. At this time, the
submission is not administratively complete and cannot be accepted for review in its current condition. Please provide
the following submittal items within 30 calendar days (by close of business on 12/16/2021) so that we may accept the
project and begin the review process, otherwise, the project will be returned as administratively incomplete.

- 1x original signed (in pen) & sealed hard copy of the latest version of the Supplement-EZ Form. This item is
required per Section V and Section VI, 3 of the Application and the form can be found at the following address:
https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-and-land-resources/stormwater/stormwater-
program/stormwater-design. The latest version of this form has a “low-density” option that should be used. This
form have superseded the provided Low-Density Supplement Form (which we no longer use).
- 1x original signed (in pen) & notarized hard copy of the Operation & Maintenance Agreement Form. This item is
required per Section V and Section VI, 3 of the Application and the form can be found at the following address:
https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-and-land-resources/stormwater/stormwater-
program/stormwater-design. Please ensure that all of the pages of this form are provided. This form uses
macros to generate the maintenance requirements based on the information entered into the cover page. Solar
farm projects typically use a “User Defined SCM” (instead of the “Disconnected Impervious Surface”) to account
for the solar farm specific O&M requirements (outlined in Part E-6 of the Manual). I’ve attached an example
from a different solar farm project that I have previously reviewed. NOTE: You may wish to get a second original,
signed & notarized hard copy of the O&M Agreement Form to keep with the permittee’s copy of the permit
since an original copy is required to be recorded with the Register of Deeds.
- Please provide an original (in pen) signature for each section of the Application that requires a signature (One
copy of the Application is required to have original signatures per Section VI, 1 of the Application)..
- Please list the property owner information in Section III,2 of the Application and have the property owner sign
Section IX of the Application (for multiple property owners, each property owner needs to have their
information shown in Section III and sign Section IX, you can add duplicate pages to the Application if needed).
- Please provide a copy of the property deed(s) for this project area (Section VI, 10 of the Application).
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- Please provide official documentation showing that Andrew Nourafshan has signatory authority (Section VI, 11)
for the permittee, Cypress Creek Renewables, LLC” (The Secretary of State information for Cypress Creek
Renewables does not list him).
- Please provide a general soils report for the project site. This soils report can be created at the following web
address: https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm
- Please provide a project narrative briefly describing the project, how the recommendations in Part E-6 of the
Manual are being met, and that this project has already been constructed.
- Please provide an email address for the consulting engineer (Section VIII of the Application) so that we may
reach them with regard to this permit. Requests for additional information (and other permit communications)
are handled through email.
- Please provide a wetland determination/report for the site (Section VI, 8m). Typically, this information is
included on the plans, however, a wetland report (showing the location of wetlands on-site or stating that there
are no wetlands on-site) will be accepted in this situation since the project has already been constructed.
- 2x signed & sealed hard copies of the plan sheets showing the following:
o A detail for the solar panels showing that Recommendation 6 (and possibly Recommendation 2,
although this information is shown on ALTA-1) is being met.

It was noted during the review that an existing conditions plan and grading plan are not included as part of the
submitted plan set. Since this project is already constructed, I will accept historic satellite imagery of the site (available
from Google Earth) in lieu of the existing conditions plan and on-site photographs depicting the site topography (and a
statement that no significant grading of the existing site was proposed as part of this project) in lieu of the grading plan.

NOTE: This is an administrative completeness review, not a detailed engineering review. The following items were noted
during this review, but do not need to be addressed for this submission to be administratively complete and accepted
for review (but these issues, and possibly others, will probably be brough up during the engineering review):
- If a subset of the property area is being used for the project area (Section IV, 4/7 of the Application), this subset
must be clearly shown on the plans (Per Section VI, 8i). If the entire property area is being used as the project
area, it should be reflected in Section IV, 4/7 of the Application.
- The support posts and/or foundations of the solar panels are not considered as pervious area (even if all of the
recommendations are followed) and must be accounted for in the BUA allocation for the site.
- Section IX of the Application should be signed by the Property Owner since the Applicant is not the Property
Owner (the similar statement in the previous emails sent out for this batch of projects may have been incorrect,
the Property Owner(s) should sign Section IX and the Applicant should sign Section X).

If these items are received within the stipulated timeframe, we can accept the project and begin the review process.
Once accepted, reviews under the standard permitting process generally take 30 – 45 calendar days, but can take up to
90 calendar days per statute (one of our two reviewer positions is currently vacant so this review will probably be closer
to 45 days than 30).

Hard copies should be mailed to the following address:
For FedEx/UPS:
Jim Farkas
512 N. Salisbury Street, Office 640E
Raleigh, NC 27604

For USPS:
Jim Farkas
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

If you have any questions, please contact Jim Farkas [e-mail] 919-707-3646.

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Thank you,

Jim Farkas
Environmental Engineer
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, & Land Resources – Stormwater Program

512 N. Salisbury Street
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

[phone]
[e-mail]

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.

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