Micron chipmaking project is set to take a critical step forward this week

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Micron Technology’s plan to build a massive chipmaking complex in Clay is expected to clear another major hurdle this week.

The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency is scheduled to meet Friday to accept the final environmental impact report for the project.

The agency’s acceptance of the report, 20,000 pages long and three years in the making, would mark the most consequential step of the project so far. It will clear the way for government agencies to issue the permits Micron will need before it can start cutting trees and leveling the site.

Micron says it plans to start cutting trees and hauling in fill by the end of December.

Micron can’t do any clearing or construction until the impact report, known as a final environmental impact statement, is jointly accepted by OCIDA and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

After release of the final report, there’s a 10-day waiting period before the agencies can issue their final ruling on the project, called the record of decision. Once the agencies issue that record of decision, a series of regulatory approvals are expected to fall like dominoes so Micron can start work.

For the first phase of the project, clearing hundreds of acres of trees and hauling in enough stone to fill the JMA Wireless Dome several times, Micron will need approvals from:

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cut down the trees, which Micron confirmed provide homes for endangered bats and their offspring.
• The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill in about 200 acres of wetlands on the 1,400-acre site. To offset the loss, Micron has proposed creating or saving more than 400 acres of wetlands in nearby Oswego County.
• DEC and the town of Clay to move soil and change the path of stormwater that falls on the site.
• DEC to disturb 624 acres of habitat used by two raptors, the northern harrier and the short-eared owl, that are protected under state law.
• The State Department of Transportation to build temporary access roads for construction employees and equipment.

Dozens of permits will be needed eventually to build the complex and supply it with utilities, but Micron can start site-clearing work before those are issued.

The report detailed the impacts the project could have on everything from air quality to housing to wetlands to wildlife. Micron also had to suggest actions to help reduce the impacts, such as setting aside land for bats and birds displaced by the project.

Micron announced in October 2022 that it would spend up to $100 billion to build four fabrication plants, or fabs, in Clay. The company says it would employ up to 9,000 people and create 40,000 jobs from the growth that would spring up with the chip complex.

Micron could receive up to $25 billion in taxpayer subsidies, enough to pay for half of the first two fabs.

The draft environmental report was released June 25, and the sole public hearing was held July 24. About 1,300 comments were submitted. OCIDA and Commerce had to review those comments and respond to any considered “substantive.” Those comments and responses will be part of the final report to be released on Friday.

OCIDA will meet at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the Onondaga County Legislative Chambers, room 407 of the courthouse at 401 Montgomery St.

On Thursday night, OCIDA will hold a separate public hearing on whether to grant Micron about $2 billion in sales and property tax breaks on the first two chipmaking plants. That meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Clay Town Hall, 4401 Route 31.