Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 12, 2011 / Notices 2095 

show that there are factual issues 

genuinely in dispute that are relevant 

and material to a decision and that a 

trial-type hearing is necessary for a full 

and true disclosure of the facts. 

If an additional procedure is 

scheduled, notice will be provided to all 

parties. If no party requests additional 

procedures, a final Opinion and Order 

may be issued based on the official 

record, including the application and 

responses filed by parties pursuant to 

this notice, in accordance with 10 CFR 

590.316. 

The application filed by Eni USA is 

available for inspection and copying in 

the Office of Oil and Gas Global 

Security and Supply docket room, 3E– 

042, at the address listed in ADDRESSES. 

The docket room is open between the 

hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

The application and any filed protests, 

motions to intervene or notice of 

interventions, and comments will also 

be available electronically by going to 

the following DOE/FE Web address: 

http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/

gasregulation/index.html. In addition, 

any electronic comments filed will also 

be available at: http://www.regulations.

gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 5, 

2011. 

John A. Anderson, 

Manager, Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, 

Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and 

Supply, Office of Fossil Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–481 Filed 1–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Public Scoping Meetings for 

the Hawai’i Interisland Renewable 

Energy Program: ’Wind Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/ 

EIS–0459) 

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of public scoping 

meetings and opportunity to comment. 

SUMMARY: DOE will host four public 

meetings in the Hawaiian Islands to 

receive comments on the scope of the 

Hawai‘i Interisland Renewable Energy 

Program: Wind Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(hereinafter referred to as the Hawai‘i 

Wind EIS or the EIS). The public 

scoping meetings will be conducted 

jointly with the State of Hawai‘i 

Department of Business, Economic 

Development and Tourism (DBEDT), 

which is a co-lead agency with DOE in 

the preparation of the EIS. The EIS will 

assess the foreseeable environmental 

impacts that may arise from wind 

energy development under the Hawai‘i 

Interisland Renewable Energy Program 

(HIREP) and the range of reasonable 

alternatives. 

On December 14, 2010, DOE and 

DBEDT announced in the Federal 

Register (75 FR 77859) their intention to 

prepare the EIS and opened a public 

scoping period which will close on 

March 1, 2011. 

During the scoping period, DOE and 

DBEDT invite the public to submit 

written comments by any of the means 

listed in the ADDRESSES section. Oral as 

well as written comments may also be 

provided at the public scoping meetings 

to be held as listed under 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

DATES: DOE and DBEDT invite 

comments on the proposed scope of the 

EIS from all interested parties. The 

public scoping period began on 

December 14, 2010, and will close on 

March 1, 2011. Comments on the scope 

of the EIS should be submitted by 

March 1, 2011. Comments e-mailed or 

postmarked after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

DOE and DBEDT also invite members of 

the public to participate in public 

scoping meetings. Requests to speak at 

any of the public scoping meetings 

should be submitted to Allen Kam as 

indicated in the ADDRESSES section on 

or before January 28, 2011. Requests to 

speak also may be made at the scoping 

meetings; however, requests received by 

January 28, 2011, will be given priority 

in the speaking order. For interested 

parties wishing to speak with a DOE 

representative, see the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

announcement. 

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the 

public scoping meetings and written 

comments on the proposed scope of the 

EIS may be submitted by any of the 

following means: 

• By e-mail to comments@hirepwind.com. 

• By submitting electronic comments 

on the EIS web page at http:// 

www.hirep-wind.com. 

• By facsimile (fax) to 808–586–2536, 

Attention Allen G. Kam. 

• By mail to Allen G. Kam, Esq., 

AICP, HIREP EIS Manager, State of 

Hawai’i, Department of Business, 

Economic Development and Tourism, 

Renewable Energy Branch, State Energy 

Office, P.O. Box 2359, Honolulu, HI 

96804. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on DOE’s proposed action, 

contact Anthony J. Como, DOE NEPA 

Document Manager, Office of Electricity 

Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE–20), 

U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; or at 202–586– 

5935 or anthony.como@hq.doe.gov. 

For general information about the 

DOE National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) process, contact Carol 

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 

Policy and Compliance (GC–54), U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; or at 800–472– 

2756 or askNEPA@hq.doe.gov. 

For information on the Hawai‘i 

Interisland Renewable Energy Program, 

contact Mr. Allen G. Kam, Esq., AICP, 

HIREP EIS Manager, State of Hawai’i, 

Department of Business, Economic 

Development and Tourism, Renewable 

Energy Branch, State Energy Office, P.O. 

Box 2359, Honolulu, HI 96804; or at 

808–587–9023 or 

hirep@dbedt.hawaii.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 14, 2010, DOE published a 

notice in the Federal Register (75 FR 

77859) announcing its intention to 

prepare the Hawai’i Wind EIS jointly 

with the State of Hawai’i and opening 

a scoping period that will close on 

March 1, 2011. The EIS will be prepared 

pursuant to NEPA, as amended (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4347), the Council on 

Environmental Quality NEPA 

regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), 

the DOE NEPA implementing 

procedures (10 CFR part 1021), and the 

Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act 

(Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 

343). The EIS will assess the potential 

environmental impacts from the 

development of up to 400 megawatts of 

wind generation facilities on one or 

more of the Maui County islands of 

Maui, La ̄na‘i, and/or Moloka’i, the 

transmission of wind-generated energy 

to O‘ahu via submarine transmission 

cables and the required improvements 

to the existing electric transmission 

infrastructure on O’ahu. In the 

December 14, 2010 notice, DOE and 

DBEDT also indicated that they would 

hold public scoping meetings and 

announce the dates and locations of 

them in a subsequent Federal Register 

notice. 

DOE and DBEDT now announce that 

they will jointly host the following 

public scoping meetings: 

• February 1, 2011—McKinley High 

School Cafeteria, 1039 South King 

Street, Honolulu, HI 96814, from 

5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

• February 2, 2011—Pomaika’i 

Elementary Cafeteria, 4650 South 

Kamehameha Avenue, Kahului, HI 

96732, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

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2096 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 12, 2011 / Notices 

• February 3, 2011—Mitchell Pauole 

Community Center, 90 Ainoa Street, 

Kaunakakai, Moloka’i, HI 96748, from 

5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

• February 5, 2011—La ̄na‘i High & 

Elementary School Cafeteria, 555 Fraser 

Avenue, La ̄na‘i City, HI 96763, from 

9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Each scoping meeting will be 

conducted in two parts: An informal 

‘‘workshop’’ discussion period that will 

not be recorded, and a formal 

commenting session that will be 

transcribed by a court stenographer. 

Meeting participants may also have 

their comments entered into the record 

during the informal portion of the 

meetings, on request. Those who do not 

arrange in advance to speak may register 

at a meeting (preferably at the beginning 

of the meeting) and may speak after 

previously scheduled speakers. The 

presiding officer will establish 

procedures to ensure that everyone who 

wishes to speak has an opportunity to 

do so. Depending on the number of 

speakers, the presiding officer may limit 

all speakers to a set amount of time 

initially and provide additional 

opportunities to speak as time permits. 

Speakers may also provide written 

materials to supplement their 

presentations, and such additional 

information may be submitted in 

writing by the date listed in the DATES

section. Both oral and written comments 

will be considered and given equal 

weight by DOE and DBEDT. 

The formal commenting session will 

begin with an overview of the proposed 

Wind Phase of the Hawai‘i Interisland 

Renewable Energy Program and a 

description of the State and Federal 

environmental review processes. The 

presiding officer will establish the order 

of speakers and provide any additional 

procedures necessary to conduct the 

formal commenting session. Speakers 

may be asked questions to help ensure 

that DOE and DBEDT fully understand 

all suggestions and comments. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 7, 

2011. 

Patricia A. Hoffman, 

Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity 

Delivery and Energy Reliability. 

[FR Doc. 2011–479 Filed 1–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Record of Decision for the 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Abengoa Biorefinery 

Project Near Hugoton, Stevens County, 

KS (DOE/EIS–0407) 

AGENCY: Department of Energy, Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

ACTION: Record of Decision. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE or the Department) 

prepared an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS–0407) to 

assess the potential environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action of providing Federal financial 

assistance to Abengoa Bioenergy 

Biomass of Kansas, LLC (Abengoa 

Bioenergy) to support the design, 

construction, and startup of a 

commercial-scale integrated biorefinery 

to be located near the city of Hugoton 

in Stevens County, southwestern Kansas 

(the Project). The integrated biorefinery 

would use a combination of biomass 

feedstocks, such as corn stover and 

wheat straw, to produce ethanol and to 

generate sufficient electricity to power 

the facility and supply excess electricity 

to the regional power grid. The Project 

site comprises approximately 810 acres 

of row-cropped agricultural land. The 

biorefinery facilities would be 

developed on 385 acres of the Project 

site, and the remaining 425 acres would 

remain agricultural and act as a buffer 

between the biorefinery and the city of 

Hugoton. 

After careful consideration of the 

potential environmental impacts and 

other factors such as program goals and 

objectives, DOE has decided that it will 

provide Federal funding under Section 

932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

(EPAct 2005) of up to $71 million (2009 

dollars), subject to annual 

appropriations, to Abengoa Bioenergy 

for the Project. A separate decision will 

be made regarding a potential loan 

guarantee; and if DOE decides to 

proceed to consider the loan guarantee, 

DOE would consider using the Final 

Abengoa Biorefinery EIS to comply with 

NEPA review requirements for the loan 

guarantee. If DOE determines that the 

Final Biorefinery EIS sufficiently 

addresses all activities covered by the 

loan guarantee, DOE could either issue 

a Record of Decision (ROD) deciding to 

issue a loan guarantee, or amend this 

ROD. 

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS is available 

on the DOE National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) Web site at: http:// 

nepa.energy.gov/ and on the Abengoa 

Biorefinery Project Web site at: http:// 

www.biorefineryprojecteis-abengoa.com. 

This ROD also is available on these Web 

sites. Copies of the Final EIS and this 

ROD may be obtained from Ms. Kristin 

Kerwin, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Golden Field Office, 1617 Cole 

Blvd., Golden, CO 80401; telephone: 

720–356–1564; or fax: 720–356–1650. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

obtain additional information about this 

Project, the EIS or the ROD, contact Ms. 

Kristin Kerwin by the means specified 

above under ADDRESSES. For general 

information on the DOE NEPA process, 

contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance (GC–54), U.S. Department 

of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585; telephone: 

202–586–4600; fax: 202–586–7031; or 

leave a toll-free message at: 1–800–472– 

2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE 

prepared this ROD pursuant to the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of NEPA [40 Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 

1500–1508] and the DOE NEPA 

regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). This 

ROD is based in part on DOE’s Final EIS 

for the Proposed Abengoa Biorefinery 

Project (DOE/EIS–0407, August 2010). 

Background 

Under EPAct 2005, Congress directed 

DOE to carry out a program to 

demonstrate the commercial application 

of integrated biorefineries for the 

production of biofuels, in particular 

ethanol, from lignocellulosic feedstocks. 

Federal funding for cellulosic ethanol 

production facilities is intended to 

further the government’s goal of 

rendering ethanol cost-competitive with 

gasoline by 2012, and along with 

increased automobile fuel efficiency, 

reducing gasoline consumption in the 

United States by 20 percent within 

10 years. 

To implement its responsibilities 

under EPAct 2005, DOE issued a 

funding opportunity announcement in 

February 2006 for the design, 

construction, and startup of 

commercial-scale integrated 

biorefineries. In February 2007, the 

Department selected Abengoa Bioenergy 

and five other applicants for negotiation 

of award. Abengoa Bioenergy proposed 

an innovative approach to biorefinery 

operations that would involve 

production of biofuel and energy in the 

form of steam that could be used to meet 

energy needs and displace fossil fuels, 

such as coal and natural gas. The 

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