35624 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 108 / Monday, June 5, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

Stateline Wind Project

AGENCY: Bonneville Power

Administration (BPA), Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

and notice of floodplain and wetlands

involvement.

SUMMARY: BPA and Walla Walla County,

Washington, intend to jointly prepare an

EIS on the proposed Stateline Wind

Project, located along the OregonWashington border in Walla Walla

County, Washington, and Umatilla

County, Oregon. FPL Energy Vansycle

LLC (FPL Energy) proposes to construct

and operate the 300 megawatt (MW)

wind generation facility; BPA proposes

to purchase up to 300 MW of the

electrical output from the project and to

provide transmission services. The EIS

will consider the potential site-specific

impacts of the construction and

operation of the wind project itself, as

well as any related transmission

facilities. In addition, the EIS will take

a broad programmatic look at the

surrounding Potential Wind Power

Development Area and the associated

cumulative biological impacts.

This action may involve floodplain

and wetlands located in Walla Walla

County, Washington, and/or Umatilla

County, Oregon. In accordance with

DOE regulations for compliance with

floodplain and wetlands environmental

review requirements, BPA will prepare

a floodplain and wetlands assessment

and will perform this proposed action in

a manner so as to avoid or minimize

potential harm to or within the affected

floodplain and wetlands. The

assessment and a floodplain statement

of findings will be included in the EIS

being prepared for the proposed project

in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

DATES: BPA has established a 30-day

scoping period during which affected

landowners, concerned citizens, special

interest groups, local governments, and

any other interested parties are invited

to comment on the scope of the

proposed EIS. Scoping will help BPA

ensure that a full range of issues related

to this proposal is addressed in the EIS,

and also will identify significant or

potentially significant impacts that may

result from the proposed project.

Written comments are due to the

address below no later than July 7, 2000.

Comments may also be made at the EIS

scoping meetings to be held on June 14,

15, and 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: BPA invites comments and

suggestions on the proposed scope of

the Draft EIS. Send comment letters and

requests to be placed on the project

mailing list to Communications,

Bonneville Power Administration—KC–

7, P.O. Box 12999, Portland, Oregon,

97212. The phone number of the

Communications office is 503–230–3478

in Portland; toll-free 1–800–622–4519

outside of Portland. Comments may also

be sent to the BPA Internet address:

comment@bpa.gov.

The EIS scoping meetings will be held

at Helix High School, 120 Main Street,

Helix, Oregon, on Wednesday, June 14,

2000, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at

Touchet High School, 90 Champion

Street, Touchet, Washington, on

Thursday, June 15, 2000, from 6:30 p.m.

to 9 p.m.; and at BPA, Room 470, 905

NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, on

June 22, 2000, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. At

these informal meetings, FPL Energy

will provide information, including

maps and visual simulations, about the

wind project; State and County officials

will describe their related processes.

Written information will also be

available, and BPA staff will answer

questions and accept oral and written

comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Katherine S. Pierce B KECP–4,

Bonneville Power Administration, P.O.

Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 97208–

3621, phone number 503–230–3962, fax

number 503–230–5699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restructuring in the electric utility

industry has resulted in increased

demand for energy produced by new

renewable resources. Part of this

demand is due to the increased ability

consumers have to choose their power

provider. Some of these consumers want

to encourage the development of

renewable energy resources, and want

their power provider to give them

options for doing this. Some Northwest

states (such as Oregon) have passed

laws that require utilities to offer their

customers a power rate that includes

significant new renewable energy

resources. In other cases, individual

utilities have chosen to dedicate a

portion of their wholesale power

purchases to new renewable resources

and are looking to BPA to supply them.

In addition, the Northwest Power

Planning Council’s Fourth Conservation

and Electric Power Plan recommends

that Northwest utilities offer green

power purchase opportunities as a way

to help the region integrate renewable

resources into the power system in the

future.

Purpose and Need

In the face of regional growth in

electrical loads and increasing

constraints on the existing energy

resource base, BPA needs to acquire

resources that will contribute to

diversification of the long-term power

supply prospects in the region. The

purposes of acquiring a diverse resource

portfolio include:

• Protecting BPA and its customers

against risk;

• Assuring consistency with BPA’s

responsibility under the Pacific

Northwest Electric Power Planning and

Conservation Act (Northwest Power

Act) to encourage the development of

renewable energy resources;

• Meeting customer demand for

energy from renewable energy

resources, thereby assuring consistency

with BPA’s Business Plan EIS (DOE/

EIS–0183, June 1995) and Business Plan

ROD;

• Assuring consistency with the

resource acquisition strategy of BPA’s

Resource Programs EIS (DOE/EISFebruary 1993) and ROD; and

• Meeting the objective in the January

2000 Strategic Plan of BPA’s Power

Business Line to acquire at least 150

average MW of new renewable resources

by the end of fiscal year 2006 in order

to meet customer demand for new

renewable resources.

Proposed Action

BPA proposes to execute one or more

power purchase and transmission

services agreements to acquire and

transmit up to the full electrical output

of FPL Energy’s proposed Stateline

Wind Project. FPL Energy proposes to

construct and operate this 250– to 300–

MW wind generation facility, located in

southern Walla Walla County,

Washington, and in Umatilla County,

Oregon, along the Oregon-Washington

border. This location is several miles

north and west of the existing 24.9–MW

Vansycle Ridge wind project, located in

Umatilla County, Oregon. The proposed

project site consists of ridge tops located

in an area of rolling, arid hills bisected

by canyons. Land uses within the

project site consist of non-irrigated

agriculture-winter wheat and cattle

grazing. The project will be located

entirely on private farmland, and no

project facilities will be constructed

upon lands owned by the States of

Oregon or Washington or by the United

States.

The approximately 250 to 450

turbines will be arranged in several

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 108 / Monday, June 5, 2000 / Notices 35625

‘‘strings,’’ with generally approximately

200 to 300 feet between turbines in each

string. FPL Energy is considering using

either 660-kilowatt (kW) turbines

similar to those used at the existing

Vansycle Wind Project, or larger, up to

1,300-kW (1.3 MW) turbines if needed

to meet the demand for power. If the

660-kW turbines are used, the turbines

will be about 165 feet tall at the turbine

hub, and about 245 feet tall including

the turbine blades. The diameter of the

circle covered by the rotors will be

about 154 feet. Each turbine will be

mounted on a tubular steel tower

installed on a concrete foundation

approximately 20 feet in diameter. The

pad will be buried up to 15 feet

underground. If the 1,300-kW turbines

are needed, all these dimensions will be

somewhat greater. Agricultural activities

generally can take place directly

adjacent to the turbine pads.

The turbine towers will be tubular

steel structures. The turbines will be

linked to each other using underground

electrical cables. Power from all

turbines in the project will be

transmitted by a combination of

underground and overhead cables to

similar strings and then to a proposed

substation to be located in Washington.

The fenced substation site will occupy

approximately one to two acres. From

the substation site, power from the

project will be transmitted by new

above-ground lines (likely H-frame

wood towers) to interconnect with one

or more existing transmission lines:

about eight to ten miles to a 115-kilovolt

(kV) BPA transmission line located

north of the Walla Walla River and/or a

230-kV PacifiCorp transmission line

located two miles to the west of the

project (south of the Walla Walla River).

Other facilities required as part of the

project are access roads, an operations

and maintenance (O&M) building, and a

water tank. Most of the access roads will

consist of improved, graveled, existing

farm roads, with some construction of

new graveled roads in areas where

usable farm roads do not exist. The

O&M building will probably be located

near Hatchgrade Road to provide good

visibility of the turbines.

FPL Energy proposes to begin

construction in late 2000 or early 2001.

The Stateline Wind Project is scheduled

to begin commercial operation late in

2001, and would operate for at least 25

years.

Process to Date

FPL Energy has filed an application

for a Conditional Use Permit from Walla

Walla County, Washington, Regional

Planning. Oregon Department of Energy

has received and approved FPL Energy’s

request for Expedited Review of FPL

Energy’s Application for a Site

Certificate. In addition, the Oregon

Department of Energy and the Oregon

Department of Fish and Wildlife have

suggested that the EIS address both the

Stateline Wind Project (at a site-specific

level) and a broader Potential Wind

Development Area (at a broad,

programmatic level). This Area was the

subject of a baseline avian study

conducted in the mid-1990’s. Some

environmental analyses have already

been conducted by FPL Energy for the

Stateline Wind Project. Surveys for

sensitive plant and animal species were

conducted in the spring of 1999 and

surveys for sensitive animal species and

cultural resources were conducted in

the spring of 2000. Scoping will help

identify what additional studies will be

required.

Alternatives Proposed for

Consideration

The alternatives include the proposed

action (executing a power purchase

agreement with FPL Energy for up to

300 MW of electrical energy from the

proposed Stateline Wind Project) and

the No Action alternative. In addition, at

least two transmission alternatives will

be examined in the EIS.

Identification of Environmental Issues

For other wind projects, noise, visual

impacts, cultural resources, and impacts

to sensitive plant and animal species

have been identified as potential

environmental issues. The scoping

process will help identify the range of

environmental issues that should be

addressed in this EIS. Maps and further

information are available from BPA at

the address above.

When completed, the Draft EIS will be

circulated for review and comment, and

BPA will hold public comment

meetings for the Draft EIS. BPA will

consider and respond to comments

received on the Draft EIS in the Final

EIS, expected to be published in late

2000 or early 2001. BPA’s subsequent

decision will be documented in a

Record of Decision (ROD).

The EIS will satisfy the requirements

of the NEPA and the Washington State

Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The

State of Oregon will coordinate its

Energy Facility Siting process with the

NEPA/SEPA process.

Issued in Portland, Oregon, on May 25,

2000.

Terence G. Esvelt,

Acting Administrator and Chief Executive

Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–13965 Filed 6–2–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

Coeur d’Alene Tribal Trout Production

Facility

AGENCY: Bonneville Power

Administration (BPA), Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of floodplain and

wetlands involvement.

SUMMARY: This notice announces BPA’s

proposal to fund construction of a

supplementation hatchery facility for

the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in floodplain

and wetlands located in Kootenai and

Benewah Counties, Idaho. In accordance

with DOE regulations for compliance

with floodplain and wetlands

environmental review requirements,

BPA will prepare a floodplain and

wetlands assessment. The assessment

will be included in the environmental

assessment being prepared for the

proposed project in accordance with the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act. A floodplain

statement of findings will be included

in any finding of no significant impact

that may be issued following the

completion of the environmental

assessment.

DATES: Comments are due to the address

below no later than June 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to

Communications, Bonneville Power

Administration—KC–7, P.O. Box 12999,

Portland, Oregon 97212. Internet

address: comment@bpa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric

N. Powers—KECN–4, Bonneville Power

Administration, P.O. Box 3621,

Portland, Oregon, 97208–3621, phone

number 503–230–5823, fax number

503–230–5699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

project would involve construction of a

fish hatchery and two acclimation

ponds. The hatchery would be located

within the 100-year floodplain of Rock

Creek (T47N, R4W, Section 31); the

acclimation sites would affect wetlands

associated with the tributaries of

Benewah Creek (T45N, R3W, Section

17) and Alder Creek (T45N, R3W,

Section 33).

Maps and further information are

available from BPA at the address

above.

Issued in Portland, Oregon, on May 25,

2000.

Thomas C. McKinney,

NEPA Compliance Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–13968 Filed 6–2–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–U