MILITARY TO HAVE INPUT ON TALL WIND TURBINES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Legislation intended to keep tall wind turbines away from low-level military flight paths was signed into law by the governor.

Senate Bill 1989, authored by Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, requires local planning agencies in Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties to notify military officials when they receive applications for small wind energy turbines in areas where they could interfere with military flights. Any comments made by military officials would have to be considered by the local planning body before a permit could be issued.

``Wind turbines pose a great danger to pilots because of their height, especially when they spring up without officials at Edwards' knowledge of their location,'' said Knight, a retired Air Force test pilot and Vietnam War veteran. ``The last thing we need is for a pilot to find out the hard way that someone put up a wind turbine.''

Knight's bill is in response to a state law passed last year requiring local agencies to approve applications for wind turbines provided they met certain conditions. Under the law, property owners with five or more acres can erect wind turbines standing 80 feet tall.

Knight said that with blade heights reaching 150 feet, they pose a danger when constructed along the same path as low-flying, supersonic aircraft.

This potential hazard could impede Edwards' ability to conduct safe missions and expose it to unwarranted scrutiny under future base-closure rounds, he said.

The bill is aimed at protecting a restricted military airspace known as the R-2508 complex, which covers one-sixth of California, mainly in the Mojave Desert. The R-2508 complex encompasses Edwards and is frequently used for low-level test flights and training.

The Knight bill was opposed by the Bergey Windpower Corp. and the Small Turbine Committee of the American Wind Energy Association.

``The cities and counties within restricted military airspace have a full range of local ordinances to govern the construction of buildings and other structures,'' they said in a letter to legislators.

``They are co-existing quite adequately with their military neighbors within these restricted airspaces. These local governments and the military communicate with each other using long-established processes to make sure that each is aware of activities that might affect the other. We can see no reason why those processes would not be adequate in this case as well.''