74042 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 30, 2010 / Notices 

1On October 4, 1999, DOE’s Assistant Secretary 

for Environmental, Safety and Health delegated to 

Western’s Administrator the authority to approve 

EISs for integrating transmission facilities with 

Western’s transmission grid. 

agencies and tribal governments; 

involvement with affected landowners; 

distribution of and public review and 

comment on the Draft EIS; a formal 

public hearing or hearings on the Draft 

EIS; distribution of a published Final 

EIS; and publication of Western’s 

Record of Decision in the Federal 

Register. 

Dated: November 19, 2010. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30068 Filed 11–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

[DOE/EIS–0462] 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement and To Conduct 

Scoping Meetings: Interconnection of 

the Proposed Crowned Ridge Wind 

Energy Center Project, South Dakota 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and To 

Conduct Scoping Meetings; Notice of 

Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement. 

SUMMARY: NextEra Energy Resources 

(NextEra) applied to interconnect its 

proposed 150-megawatt (MW) Crowned 

Ridge Wind Energy Center Project 

(Project) with the Western Area Power 

Administration’s (Western) existing 

Watertown Substation in Codington 

County, South Dakota. The proposed 

Project would be located in Codington 

and Grant counties, South Dakota. 

Western will prepare an environmental 

impact statement (EIS) on the proposal 

to interconnect the Project in 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE) NEPA Implementing Procedures, 

and the Council on Environmental 

Quality (CEQ) regulations for 

implementing NEPA. 

Western’s need for agency action is 

precipitated by NextEra’s application to 

interconnect with Western’s power 

transmission system. Western needs to 

consider NextEra’s interconnection 

request under its Open Access 

Transmission Service Tariff (Tariff). 

This EIS will address Western’s Federal 

action of interconnecting the proposed 

Project to Western’s transmission 

system, making changes within 

Western’s existing Watertown 

Substation to physically connect 

NextEra’s proposed Project, and making 

any necessary system modifications to 

accommodate the interconnection. By 

taking these actions, power generated by 

NextEra’s proposed Project would use 

Western’s transmission system to reach 

the market. 

Portions of NextEra’s proposed Project 

may affect floodplains and wetlands, so 

this Notice of Intent (NOI) also serves as 

a notice of proposed floodplain or 

wetland action in accordance with DOE 

floodplain and wetland environmental 

review requirements. 

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be 

held on December 15, 2011, from 5 p.m. 

to 8 p.m. in Watertown, South Dakota. 

The public scoping period starts with 

the publication of this notice and ends 

on January 14, 2011. Western will 

consider all comments on the scope of 

the EIS received or postmarked by that 

date. The public is invited to submit 

comments on the proposed Project at 

any time during the EIS process. 

ADDRESSES: Western will host public 

scoping meetings at the Watertown 

Public Library Community Room, 160 

6th Street North, Watertown, South 

Dakota, to provide information on the 

Project and gather comments on the 

proposal. Oral or written comments may 

be provided at the public scoping 

meetings or mailed or e-mailed to Matt 

Marsh, Upper Great Plains Regional 

Office, Western Area Power 

Administration, P.O. Box 35800, 

Billings, MT 59107–5800, e-mail 

MMarsh@wapa.gov, telephone (800) 

358–3415. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information on the proposed 

Project, the EIS process, or to receive a 

copy of the Draft EIS when it is 

published, contact Matt Marsh at the 

addresses above. For general 

information on the DOE’s NEPA review 

process, contact Carol M. Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance, GC–54, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0119, 

telephone (202) 586–4600 or (800) 472– 

2756, facsimile (202) 586–7031. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western is 

a Federal power marketing agency 

within the DOE that markets and 

delivers Federal wholesale electric 

power (principally hydroelectric power) 

to municipalities, rural electric 

cooperatives, public utilities, irrigation 

districts, Federal and State agencies, 

and Native American tribes in 15 

western and central States. NextEra’s 

proposed Project would be located 

within Western’s Upper Great Plains 

Region, which operates in North and 

South Dakota, most of Montana, and 

portions of Iowa, Minnesota, and 

Nebraska. NextEra applied to 

interconnect their proposed 150–MW 

Project with Western’s existing 

Watertown Substation in Codington 

County, South Dakota. The proposed 

wind farm Project would be located 

entirely on private lands; no State- or 

Federal-managed land would be 

affected. There are no designated 

cooperating agencies at this time, but 

cooperating agencies could be identified 

at a later date. 

Western will prepare an EIS on the 

interconnection of the proposed Project 

in accordance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 

4321–4347); DOE NEPA Implementing 

Procedures (10 CFR part 1021), and the 

CEQ regulations for implementing 

NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500–1508).1

Purpose and Need for Agency Action 

Western’s need for agency action is 

precipitated by NextEra’s application to 

interconnect with Western’s power 

transmission system. Western needs to 

consider NextEra’s interconnection 

request under Western’s Tariff, which 

provides for open access to its 

transmission system through an 

interconnection if there is available 

capacity in the transmission system. 

This EIS will address Western’s Federal 

action of interconnecting NextEra’s 

proposed Project with Watertown 

Substation, making changes within the 

substation to physically accomplish the 

interconnection, and making any 

necessary system modifications to 

accommodate the interconnection. 

Preliminary studies indicate that the 

power system can accommodate the 

proposed interconnection without 

negatively affecting system reliability or 

power deliveries to existing customers. 

The transmission system may require 

network and/or transmission system 

upgrades as determined in the final 

studies. Any such upgrades would be 

funded by NextEra as a condition of the 

interconnection. 

Proposed Action 

In compliance with the provisions of 

the Tariff, and considering the 

environmental impacts of NextEra’s 

proposed Project as identified by the EIS 

process, Western will consider 

NextEra’s interconnection request. If 

approved the necessary changes within 

Watertown Substation would be made 

to accomplish the interconnection, and 

power generated by the proposed 

Project would use Western’s 

transmission system to reach the 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 30, 2010 / Notices 74043 

market. Western will consult with the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under 

section 7 of the Endangered Species Act 

and with the South Dakota State 

Historic Preservation Office under 

section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act. 

Alternatives 

Western must respond to NextEra’s 

proposed Project as it is described in the 

interconnection application, and make a 

decision on interconnection based on 

that application. However, Western will 

use the information in NextEra’s 

interconnection request to evaluate 

possible options for transmission line 

approaches to Watertown Substation. 

The location of the interconnection bay 

within the substation, other 

transmission lines, and any future 

development plans will all be 

considered in siting the approach. 

Under the no action alternative, Western 

would not approve the interconnection 

request, nor construct the 

interconnection facility. 

Applicant’s Proposed Project 

NextEra’s proposed Project would 

consist of up to 100 wind turbine 

generators with a combined total 

generating capacity of 150 MW, located 

within an approximately 20,000-acre 

site in Codington and Grant counties, 

northeast of Watertown and east of 

Interstate 29. The turbines would be 

located in short east-west or southwestnortheast oriented strings, with the 

strings widely scattered over an area of 

roughly 6 by 11 miles in size. Each 

turbine would be approximately 389 

feet tall from tip of blade to base, and 

262 feet tall from the ground to the hub. 

In addition to the turbines, other 

proposed Project facilities would 

include all-weather access roads to each 

turbine location; underground power 

collection lines linking turbines to the 

Project collector substation; the Project 

collector substation; an approximately 

15-mile-long high-voltage transmission 

line linking the collector substation to 

Western’s Watertown Substation; 

operation and maintenance facilities 

and yard; Supervisory Control and Data 

Acquisition equipment and metering 

equipment; and two or three permanent 

meteorological towers. 

While Western’s Federal action is to 

consider the interconnection request 

and the physical interconnection to 

Western’s existing substation, the EIS 

will also identify and review the 

environmental impacts of NextEra’s 

proposed Project. NextEra will be 

responsible for completing necessary 

coordination with State and local 

agencies to permit their proposed 

Project. 

NextEra intends to provide renewable 

energy to local utilities in response to 

South Dakota’s Renewable Energy 

Portfolio Standards, passed in 2008, 

which mandate that 10 percent of all 

electricity consumed in the State be 

produced from renewable sources by 

2015. 

Floodplain or Wetland Involvement 

Floodplains and wetlands are 

common in this part of South Dakota. 

Since the proposed Project may involve 

action in floodplains or wetlands, this 

NOI also serves as a notice of proposed 

floodplain or wetland action. The EIS 

will include a floodplain/wetland 

assessment and floodplain/wetland 

statement of findings following DOE 

regulations for compliance with 

floodplain and wetlands environmental 

review (10 CFR part 1022). 

Environmental Issues 

The location of the proposed Project 

is in a relatively sparsely populated 

portion of eastern South Dakota. The 

area is characterized by extensive 

agriculture and pasture with scattered 

farmsteads on section line roads. 

NextEra has secured leases with willing 

landowners for its wind generation 

turbines and related facilities. Available 

overview information indicates this area 

has a relatively low probability of 

substantial natural resources conflicts. 

NextEra’s siting process for the wind 

turbine strings and associated facilities 

considered sensitive resources, and the 

proposed Project was designed to avoid 

these areas. The EIS will evaluate the 

level of impact the interconnection and 

NextEra’s proposed Project would have 

on environmental resources within the 

20,000-acre site, which may lead to 

minor modifications in the proposed 

Project to further avoid or minimize 

resource impacts. While no substantive 

resource conflicts have been identified 

thus far, the EIS will analyze the 

potential impacts on potentially affected 

environmental resources. Wind farm 

projects are generally known to have 

visual and noise effects, and may affect 

birds and bats. 

Public Participation 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in the scoping process to 

help define the scope, significant 

resources, and issues to be analyzed in 

depth, and to eliminate from detailed 

study issues that are not pertinent. The 

scoping process will involve all 

interested agencies (Federal, State, 

county, and local), Native American 

tribes, public interest groups, 

businesses, affected landowners, and 

individual members of the public. 

Western will consult with potentially 

affected or interested tribes to jointly 

evaluate and address the potential 

effects on cultural resources, traditional 

cultural properties, or other resources 

important to the tribes. These nation-tonation consultations will be conducted 

in accordance with Executive Order 

13175, Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 

67249), the President’s memorandum of 

April 29, 1994, Government-toGovernment Relations with Native 

American Tribal Governments (59 FR 

22951), DOE-specific guidance on tribal 

interactions, and applicable natural and 

cultural resources laws and regulations. 

A public scoping meeting will be held 

as described under DATES and 

ADDRESSES above. The meeting will be 

informal, and attendees will be able to 

speak directly with Western and 

NextEra representatives about the 

proposed Project. The public is 

encouraged to provide information and 

comments on issues it believes Western 

should address in the EIS. Comments 

may be broad in nature or restricted to 

specific areas of concern. After 

gathering comments on the scope of the 

EIS, Western will address those issues 

raised in the EIS. Comments on 

Western’s proposed action and 

NextEra’s proposed Project will be 

accepted at any time during the EIS 

process, and may be directed to Western 

as described under ADDRESSES above. 

Western’s EIS process will include the 

public scoping meetings; consultation 

and coordination with appropriate 

Federal, State, county, and local 

agencies and tribal governments; 

involvement with affected landowners; 

distribution of and public review and 

comment on the Draft EIS; a formal 

public hearing or hearings on the Draft 

EIS; distribution of a published Final 

EIS; and publication of Western’s 

Record of Decision in the Federal 

Register. 

Dated: November 19, 2010. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30067 Filed 11–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES