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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 242 (Wednesday, December 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75132-75134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29524]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Plains & Eastern Clean Line Transmission Project Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Plains & Eastern 
Clean Line Transmission Project (DOE/EIS-0486; Draft EIS) for a 90-day 
public comment period. DOE also announces 15 public hearings to receive 
comments on the Draft EIS. In addition, DOE invites comments on the 
National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 process and any 
potential adverse impacts to historic properties from the proposed 
Project. Major facilities associated with the proposed Project include 
converter stations in Oklahoma and Tennessee; an approximately 720-mile 
high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line; an alternating 
current (AC) collection system; and access roads. This Draft EIS 
evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Project 
and alternatives to it.

DATES: DOE invites comments on this Draft EIS and on the National 
Historic Preservation Act Section 106 process and any potential adverse 
impacts to historic properties from the proposed Project and 
alternatives during a 90-day period, which ends on March 17, 2015. 
Comments submitted after the close of the comment period will be 
considered to the extent practicable. The Department will hold 15 
public hearings at the locations, dates, and start times listed in 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Draft EIS may be provided on the EIS 
Web site at http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com (preferred) or addressed 
to: Plains & Eastern EIS, 216 16th Street, Suite 1500, Denver, Colorado 
80202; via email to comments@PlainsandEasternEIS.com; or by facsimile 
to (303) 295-2818. Please mark envelopes and email subject lines as 
Plains & Eastern Draft EIS Comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Plains & 
Eastern EIS or the Section 106 process, contact Jane Summerson, Ph.D., 
DOE NEPA Document Manager on behalf of the Office of Electricity 
Delivery and Energy Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy, NNSA, PO 
Box 391 Building 401, Kirtland Air Force Base East, Albuquerque, NM 
87185; email at Jane.Summerson01@nnsa.doe.gov; or phone (505) 845-4091.
    For general information regarding the DOE 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 phone at (202) 586-4600; voicemail at (800) 
472-2756; or email at askNEPA@hq.doe.gov. Additional information 
regarding DOE's

[[Page 75133]]

NEPA activities is available on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://energy.gov/nepa.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In June 2010, DOE, acting through the 
Southwestern Power Administration and the Western Area Power 
Administration, both power marketing administrations within DOE, issued 
Request for Proposals (RFP) for new or upgraded transmission line 
projects under Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (75 FR 
32940; June 10, 2010). In response to the RFP, Clean Line Energy 
Partners LLC of Houston, Texas, the parent company of Plains and 
Eastern Clean Line LLC and Plains and Eastern Clean Line Oklahoma LLC 
(collectively referred to as Clean Line or the Applicant) submitted a 
proposal to DOE in July 2010 for the Plains & Eastern Clean Line 
Project. In August 2011, Clean Line modified the proposal.
    The Applicant Proposed Project would include an overhead  600-kilovolt (kV) HVDC electric transmission system and 
associated facilities with the capacity to deliver approximately 3,500 
megawatts primarily from renewable energy generation facilities in the 
Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle regions to load-serving entities in the 
Mid-South and Southeast United States via an interconnection with the 
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Tennessee. Major facilities 
associated with the Applicant Proposed Project consist of converter 
stations in Oklahoma and Tennessee; an approximately 720-mile HVDC 
transmission line; an AC collection system; and access roads. Pursuant 
to NEPA, DOE has identified and analyzed potential environmental 
impacts for several alternatives in addition to the Applicant Proposed 
Project, including alternative routes for the HVDC transmission line 
and adding a converter station in Arkansas (to deliver power to the 
Arkansas electrical grid).
    DOE has prepared this Draft EIS in consultation with the following 
cooperating agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Natural Resources 
Conservation Service, TVA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency Regions 4 and 6, and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service. In the Draft EIS, DOE analyzes the potential 
environmental impacts of the Applicant Proposed Project, the range of 
reasonable alternatives, and a No Action Alternative. The potential 
environmental impacts resulting from connected actions (wind energy 
generation and substation and transmission upgrades related to the 
Project) are also analyzed in the Draft EIS.
    DOE's purpose and need for agency action is to implement Section 
1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. To that end, DOE needs to decide 
whether and under what conditions it would participate in the Applicant 
Proposed Project. DOE has not identified a preference for whether to 
participate with Clean Line in the Project in some manner as prescribed 
by Section 1222. DOE will identify its preference for whether to 
participate with Clean Line in the Applicant Proposed Project and its 
preferred alternatives for each of the Project elements (including 
route alternatives) in the Final EIS after evaluating public comments 
and agency input received on the Draft EIS.
    Public hearings. All public hearings will follow the same format. 
An open house will be held from 5:00 p.m.-5:45 p.m., during which DOE 
and its contractors will be available to answer questions in an 
informal setting. Clean Line personnel also will be available to answer 
technical questions regarding the Project. The open house will be 
followed by a presentation at 5:45 p.m. by Dr. Summerson, DOE NEPA 
Document Manager, who will describe the Draft EIS, the NEPA and Section 
106 processes, and the methods that can be used to submit comments. The 
formal public comment portion of the meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. 
During this time, interested parties may present oral comments to DOE. 
A court reporter will transcribe the comments presented at each 
hearing. Individuals wishing to speak at a hearing should register when 
they arrive. DOE will initially allot three minutes to each commenter 
to ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to 
speak. More time may be provided, as circumstances permit. Written 
comments may be submitted at the hearing or by the other methods 
described in ADDRESSES above. It is DOE's practice to make comments, 
including names and addresses of respondents, available for public 
review. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information with your comments, be advised 
that your entire comment, including your personal identifying 
information, may be made publicly available at any time. Although you 
may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection 
in their entirety. DOE will give equal consideration to oral and 
written comments in preparing the Final EIS. The locations, dates, and 
starting times of the public hearings are listed in the table below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Date and time                          Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, January 26_5:00 pm........  Woodward Convention Center, 3401
                                     Centennial Lane, Woodward, OK
                                     73801.
Tuesday, January 27_5:00 pm.......  Pickle Creek Center, 822 NE 6th
                                     Street , Guymon, OK 73942.
Wednesday, January 28_5:00 pm.....  Beaver County Fairgrounds, Pavilion
                                     Building, 1107 Douglas Avenue,
                                     Beaver, OK 73932.
Thursday, January 29_5:00 pm......  Ochiltree County Exposition Center,
                                     402 Expo Drive , Perryton, TX
                                     79070.
Monday, February 2_5:00 pm........  Muskogee Civic Center, Room D, 425
                                     Boston Street, Muskogee, OK 74401.
Tuesday, February 3_5:00 pm.......  Cushing Youth and Community Center,
                                     700 South Little, Cushing, OK
                                     74023.
Wednesday, February 4_5:00 pm.....  The Wes Watkins Center, 207 Wes
                                     Watkins Center, Exhibit Hall 111/
                                     112, (Hall of Fame and Washington),
                                     Stillwater, OK 74078.
Thursday, February 5_5:00 pm......  Enid Convention Hall, Nick Benson
                                     Memorial Ballroom, 301 South
                                     Independence, Enid, OK 73701.
Monday, February 9_5:00 pm........  Arkansas State University-Newport,
                                     Student Community Center, 7648
                                     Victory Boulevard, Newport, AR
                                     72112.
Tuesday, February 10_5:00 pm......  Carmichael Community Center
                                     Auditorium, 801 S. Elm, Searcy, AR
                                     72143.
Wednesday, February 11_5:00 pm....  Arkansas State University_Marked
                                     Tree Student Center, 33500 Highway
                                     63 E, Marked Tree, AR 72365.
Thursday, February 12_5:00 pm.....  Harvell Civic Center Auditorium,
                                     8077 Wilkinsville Rd., Millington,
                                     TN 38053.
Tuesday, February 17_5:00 pm......  Lake Point Conference Center_Event
                                     Center, 61 Lake Point Lane,
                                     Russellville, AR 72802.

[[Page 75134]]

 
Wednesday, February 18_5:00 pm....  Fort Smith Convention Center,
                                     Exhibit Hall A, 55 7th St, Fort
                                     Smith, AR 72901.
Thursday, February 19_5:00 pm.....  University of Arkansas Community
                                     College at Morrilton, Fine Arts
                                     Building Auditorium, 1537
                                     University Blvd., Morrilton, AR
                                     72110.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Availability of the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS is available on the 
EIS Web site at http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com and on the DOE NEPA 
Web site at http://nepa.energy.gov/. A printed summary and CD of the 
complete document and, if preferred, a complete printed copy of the 
Draft EIS (approximately 3,700 pages), may be requested from 
info@PlainsandEasternEIS.com. Copies of the Draft EIS have been 
distributed to appropriate members of Congress, state and local 
government officials, American Indian tribal governments, and other 
federal agencies, groups, and interested parties. Copies of the 
complete Draft EIS and supporting documents are also available for 
inspection at the following locations:

Oklahoma

 Guymon Public Library--1718 N. Oklahoma St., Guymon, OK 73942
 Beaver County Pioneer Library--201 Douglas Ave., Beaver, OK 
73932
 Woodward Public Library--1500 W. Main St., Woodward, OK 73801
 Muskogee Public Library--801 W. Okmulgee Ave., Muskogee, OK 
74401
 Enid & Garfield County Public Library--120 W. Maine St., Enid, 
OK 73701
 Buffalo Public Library--11 E. Turner St., Buffalo, OK 73834
 Fairview City Library--115 S. 6th St., Fairview, OK 73737
 Guthrie Public Library--201 N. Division St., Guthrie, OK 73044
 Stillwater Public Library--1107 S. Duck St., Stillwater, OK 
74955
 Chandler Public Library--1021 Manvel Ave., Chandler, OK 74834
 Montfort and Allie B. Jones Memorial Library--111 W. 7th Ave., 
Bristow, OK 74010
 Bartlett-Carnegie Sapulpa Public Library--27 W. Dewey Ave., 
Sapulpa, OK 74066
 Okmulgee Public Library--218 S. Okmulgee Ave., Okmulgee, OK 
74447
 Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library--101 E. Cherokee Ave., 
Sallisaw, OK 74955

Arkansas

 Van Buren Public Library--1409 Main St., Van Buren, AR 72956
 Pope County Library--116 E. 3rd St., Russellville, AR 72801
 Jackson County/W.A. Billingsley Memorial Library--213 Walnut 
St., Newport, AR 72112
 Searcy Public Library--113 E. Pleasure Ave., Searcy, AR 72143
 Marked Tree Public Library--102 Locust St., Marked Tree, AR 
72365
 Franklin County Library--120 S. 2nd St., Ozark, AR 72949
 Johnson County Library--2 Taylor Cir., Clarksville, AR 72830
 Conway County Library--101 W. Church St., Morrilton, AR 72110
 Conway Public Library--1900 W. Tyler St., Conway, AR 72034
 Mary I. Wold Cleburne County Library--1009 W. Main St., Heber 
Springs, AR 72543
 Poinsett County Library--200 N. East St., Harrisburg, AR 72432
 Blytheville Public Library--200 N. 5th St., Blytheville, AR 
72315
 Osceola Public Library--320 W. Hale Ave., Osceola, AR 72370
 Cross County Library--410 E. Merriman Ave., Wynne, AR 72396

Tennessee

 Munford Memorial Library--1476 Munford Ave., Munford, TN 38058

Texas

 Hansford County Library--122 Main St., Spearman, TX 79081

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2014.
David S. Ortiz,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2014-29524 Filed 12-16-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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