Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 15, 2009 / Notices 47245 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Interconnection of the Hualapai Valley 

Solar Project, Mohave County, AZ 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Conduct Scoping Meetings; Notice of 

Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement. 

SUMMARY: The Western Area Power 

Administration (Western), an agency of 

the DOE, intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

on the proposed interconnection of the 

Hualapai Valley Solar Project (Project) 

in Mohave County, near Kingman, 

Arizona. Hualapai Valley Solar, LLC 

(HVS) has applied to Western to 

interconnect the proposed Project to 

Western’s power transmission system. 

Western is issuing this notice to inform 

the public and interested parties about 

Western’s intent to prepare an EIS, 

conduct a public scoping process, and 

invite the public to comment on the 

scope, proposed action, alternatives, 

and other issues to be addressed in the 

EIS. 

This EIS will address Western’s 

Federal action of interconnecting the 

proposed Project to Western’s 

transmission system and making any 

necessary modification to Western 

facilities to accommodate the 

interconnection. The EIS will also 

review the potential environmental 

impacts of HVS constructing, operating, 

and maintaining a 340 megawatt (MW) 

solar-powered generating facility, 

consisting of a solar field, power block, 

thermal energy storage system, 

substation site, transmission line, 

temporary laydown areas, and other 

ancillary facilities. 

DATES: The public scoping period begins 

with the publication of this notice and 

closes on October 23, 2009. A public 

scoping meeting will be held on October 

1, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: A public scoping meeting 

will be held at the Kingman High 

School Auditorium, 4182 Bank Street, 

Kingman, AZ 86409. Written comments 

on the scope of the EIS should be 

addressed to Ms. Mary Barger, National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

Document Manager, Western Area 

Power Administration, Desert 

Southwest Region, P.O. Box 6457, 615 

S. 43rd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85005 or 

HVSolarEIS@wapa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Mary Barger, NEPA Document Manager, 

Western Area Power Administration, 

Desert Southwest Region, P.O. Box 

6457, 615 S. 43rd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 

85005, telephone (602) 605–2524, fax 

(602) 605–2630, or e-mail 

HVSolarEIS@wapa.gov. For general 

information on DOE’s NEPA review 

procedures or status of a NEPA review, 

contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, 

Director of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance, GC–20, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone 

(202) 586–4600 or (800) 472–2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western, 

an agency within DOE, markets Federal 

hydroelectric power to preference 

customers, as specified by law. These 

customers include municipalities, 

cooperatives, irrigation districts, Federal 

and State agencies, and Native 

American tribes. Western’s service 

territory covers 15 western states, 

including Arizona. Western owns and 

operates more than 17,000 miles of 

high-voltage transmission lines. 

HVS, a wholly owned subsidiary of 

Mohave Sun Power LLC, has applied to 

Western to interconnect the proposed 

Project to Western’s transmission 

system. The interconnection would be 

facilitated with a new substation, built, 

owned, and operated by Western, 

located at one of two alternative 

locations: (1) The Mead-Phoenix 

Transmission Line; or (2) the LibertyMead Transmission Line. The MeadPhoenix Transmission Line is owned by 

14 participants, including Western. The 

Liberty-Mead Transmission Line is 

owned by Western. Western offers 

capacity to deliver electricity on its 

transmission system, when such 

capacity is available, under Western’s 

Open Access Transmission Service 

Tariff. 

HVS also has applied to the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) for rights-ofway to build, operate, and maintain a 

portion of the proposed transmission 

line and access roads on public lands 

managed by the BLM, Kingman Field 

Office. In order for Western to build 

interconnection facilities on BLM lands, 

Western must apply to the BLM to 

amend its right-of-way. 

Additionally, the proposed Project is 

subject to State and local approvals 

prior to Project construction. These 

approvals include the following: A 

Certificate of Environmental 

Compatibility from the Arizona 

Corporate Commission, an Air Quality 

Permit for the Arizona Department of 

Environmental Quality, an Aquifer 

Protection Permit from the Arizona 

Department of Environmental Quality, 

and a General Plan amendment from 

Mohave County. 

Project Description and Alternatives 

HVS proposes to construct a 340– 

MW, solar-powered electrical generation 

facility in Mohave County, Arizona. The 

solar power facility would occupy about 

4,160 acres. The proposed Project would 

be located about 27 miles north of 

Kingman, and 20 miles east of U.S. 

Highway 93. It would be constructed on 

BLM and private lands within the 

Semidesert Grassland vegetative 

community of the Mohave Desert. 

The proposed Project would use 

concentrating solar power trough 

technology to capture the sun’s heat to 

make steam, which would power a 

traditional steam turbine generator. The 

proposed Project would require about 

2,400 acre feet of water per year. HVS 

expects the primary source of water 

would be the aquifer under the project 

site. HVS is also exploring an alternative 

water source from the new Kingman 

Hilltop wastewater treatment plant, 

which could supply up to about 1,800 

acre feet of effluent and would require 

about 25–35 miles of underground water 

pipeline, depending on routing. The 

solar power facility would contain the 

power block, solar fields, thermal 

energy storage system, administrative, 

control, warehouse, and workshop 

buildings, storm water system, water 

supply and treatment systems, a 

wastewater system, and other 

supporting facilities. 

Other Project components would 

include an electrical substation, a 

transmission line, and two access roads. 

To support delivery of the power 

generated by the proposed Project, HVS 

proposes to build a new 500-kilovolt 

(kV) transmission line to a new 

substation. The new substation would 

be built, owned, and operated by 

Western. Two locations are being 

considered for the substation. The 

applicant’s preferred substation location 

would be about 2 miles from the solar 

field, adjacent to the 500-kV MeadPhoenix Transmission Line. The 

alternative location is about 6 miles 

further north at the intersection of the 

Mead-Phoenix, Liberty-Mead, and 

Moenkopi-Eldorado transmission lines, 

with interconnection to the LibertyMead 345-kV Transmission Line. The 

substation would occupy about 10 to 12 

acres. The length of the transmission 

line to the preferred substation location 

at the Mead-Phoenix Transmission Line 

location would be about 4.1 miles. The 

length of the transmission line to the 

alternative substation location at the 

Liberty-Mead Transmission Line 

location would be about 9.6 miles. The 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
47246 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 15, 2009 / 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. 

transmission line right-of-way would be 

200 feet wide. 

Two access roads would be required 

for the proposed Project. One of the 

access roads would originate from 

Stockton Hill Road and extend 

approximately 3.7 miles east to the solar 

power facility. The other road would 

originate from Antares Road and extend 

approximately 2 miles to the preferred 

substation or 1 mile to the alternative 

substation. 

Two off-site temporary laydown areas 

would be used during the construction 

phase of the Project. The laydown areas 

would total about 640 acres and would 

be used for storage and assembly of 

proposed Project components. 

Agencies Proposed Actions and 

Alternatives 

Western’s proposed actions are to 

build a new substation and interconnect 

the proposed Project to Western’s 

transmission system at one of the 

substation locations described above. 

BLM’s proposed actions are to grant 

rights-of-way to HVS for the 

transmission line and associated access 

roads and any other Project components 

crossing Federal lands and to amend 

one of Western’s existing rights-of-way 

to build a substation at one of the 

substation locations described above. 

Western and BLM will also consider 

the no-action alternative in the EIS. 

Under the no-action alternative, 

Western would neither build a new 

substation nor interconnect the 

proposed Project and/or the BLM would 

not grant or amend rights-of-way. 

Agency Responsibilities 

Because interconnection of the 

proposed Project would incorporate a 

major new generation resource into 

Western’s power transmission system, 

Western has determined that an EIS is 

required under DOE NEPA 

implementing procedures, 10 CFR part 

1021, Subpart D, Appendix D, class of 

action D6.1 Western would be the lead 

Federal agency for preparing the EIS, as 

defined at 40 CFR 1501.5. The proposed 

Project includes construction of 

facilities on lands managed by the BLM; 

therefore, the BLM has agreed to be a 

cooperating agency for preparation of 

the EIS. Western invites other Federal, 

State, local, and tribal agencies with 

jurisdiction by law or special expertise 

with respect to environmental issues to 

be cooperating agencies on the EIS, as 

defined at 40 CFR 1501.6. Such agencies 

may also make a request to Western to 

be a cooperating agency by contacting 

Ms. Barger at the address listed above in 

the ADDRESSES section. 

The proposed Project may affect 

floodplains or wetlands. This notice 

also serves as notice of proposed 

floodplain or wetland action, in 

accordance with 10 CFR part 1022. 

Environmental Issues 

This notice is to inform agencies and 

the public of Western’s intent to prepare 

an EIS and solicit comments and 

suggestions for consideration in the EIS. 

To help the public frame its comments, 

the following list contains potential 

environmental issues preliminarily 

identified for analysis in the EIS: 

1. Impacts on protected, threatened, 

endangered, or sensitive species of 

animals or plants; 

2. impacts on migratory birds; 

3. impacts from noxious weeds, 

invasive and non-native species; 

4. impacts on recreation and 

transportation; 

5. impacts on land use, wilderness, 

farmlands, and Areas of Critical 

Environmental Concern; 

6. impacts on cultural or historic 

resources and tribal values; 

7. impacts on human health and 

safety; 

8. impacts on air, soil, and water 

resources (including air quality and 

surface water impacts); 

9. visual impacts; 

10. socio-economic impacts and 

disproportionately high and adverse 

impacts to minority and low-income 

populations. 

This list is not intended to be allinclusive or to imply any 

predetermination of impacts. Western 

invites interested parties to suggest 

specific issues within these general 

categories, or other issues not included 

above, to be considered in the EIS. 

Public Participation 

The EIS process includes a public 

scoping period; public review and 

hearings on the draft EIS; publication of 

a final EIS; and publication of a record 

of decision (ROD). The public scoping 

period begins with publication of this 

notice and closes October 23, 2009. At 

the conclusion of the NEPA process, 

Western and the BLM would each 

prepare a ROD. Persons interested in 

receiving future notices, Project 

information, copies of the EIS, and other 

information on the NEPA review 

process should contact Ms. Barger at the 

address listed above in the ADDRESSES

section. 

Western will hold a public scoping 

meeting on October 1, 2009, at the 

Kingman High School Auditorium, 4182 

Bank Street, Kingman, AZ 86409. The 

meeting is scheduled for 6–8 p.m. with 

a short presentation followed by an 

open-house meeting, during which 

attendees are invited to speak one-onone with agency and Project 

representatives. Attendees are welcome 

to come and go at their convenience 

throughout the meeting. 

The purpose of the scoping meeting is 

to provide information about the 

proposed Project, review Project maps, 

answer questions, and take written 

comments from interested parties. All 

meeting locations are handicappedaccessible. Anyone needing special 

accommodations should contact Ms. 

Barger to make arrangements. 

The public will have the opportunity 

to provide written comments at the 

public scoping meetings. Written 

comments may also be sent to Ms. 

Barger by fax, U.S. Postal Service mail, 

or e-mail. To help define the scope of 

the EIS, comments should be received 

by Western no later than October 23, 

2009. Before including your address, 

phone number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, be advised that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold from public review your 

personal identifying information, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: September 9, 2009. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–22201 Filed 9–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. PR09–32–000] 

DCP Raptor Pipeline, LLC; Notice of 

Petition for Rate Approval 

September 4, 2009. 

Take notice that on September 1, 

2009, DCP Raptor Pipeline, LLC (Raptor) 

filed a petition for rate approval for 

NGPA Section 311 maximum 

transportation rates, pursuant to section 

284.123(b)(2) of the Commission’s 

regulations. Raptor requests that the 

Commission approve a maximum firm 

reservation charge of $2.342 per MMBtu 

per month, firm commodity charge of 

$0.0000 per MMBtu, maximum 

interruptible transportation charge of 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES