Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices 83833 

3027 form or letter must be submitted to 

USDA by: 

(1) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410; or 

(2) Fax: (833) 256–1665 or (202) 690– 

7442; or 

(3) Email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender. 

Kathryn E. Dirksen Londrigan, 

Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, USDA Rural Development. 

[FR Doc. 2024–20344 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

[Docket #: RUS–23–ELECTRIC–0017] 

Central Electric Power Cooperative, 

Inc.; Notice of Availability of a Final 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has 

prepared a Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for Central Electric 

Power Cooperative’s (the Applicant/ 

Central Electric) proposed 

McClellanville 115-kilovolt (kV) 

Transmission Project (Project) in South 

Carolina, to meet RUS’s responsibilities 

under National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) and their implementing 

regulations related to providing 

financial assistance to Central Electric 

for its share in constructing the 

proposed transmission line and 

associated infrastructure. The U.S. 

Forest Service, Francis Marion National 

Forest, and the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers are cooperating agencies in 

the preparation of the EIS. The Final EIS 

analyzes the environmental impacts of 

constructing, operating, and 

maintaining a new 23.3-mile, 115-kV 

transmission line along the Jamestown 

corridor (Proposed Action), and two 

other alternatives, that includes the 

Jamestown Alternative (a variation of 

the Proposed Action) and the Charity 

Alternative. It also addresses comments 

received during the comment period for 

the Supplemental Draft EIS, which was 

prepared in 2019. As part of its broad 

environmental review process, RUS 

must consider the effect of the Project 

on historic properties in accordance 

with the National Historic Preservation 

Act (section 106) and its implementing 

regulation, ‘‘Protection of Historic 

Properties’’. This Notice of Availability 

also serves as a notice of proposed 

wetland and floodplain actions. 

DATES: Written comments on this Final 

EIS will be accepted for 45 days 

following publication of the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

environmental impact statement notice 

of receipt in the Federal Register. 

Notices of Availability of the Final EIS 

will also be published in local 

newspapers. After a 45-day comment 

period on the Final EIS, RUS may 

prepare a Record of Decision. The 

environmental compliance and 

permitting process is expected to 

conclude in 2025. 

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and other 

Project-related information are available 

at the following RUS website: https://

www.rd.usda.gov/resources/ 

environmental-studies/impactstatement/mcclellanville-115kvtransmission-line-berkeley-charlestonand-georgetown-counties-sc. Comments 

can be submitted by email at: 

mcclellanvilleeis@usda.gov or by mail 

to: WSP USA, Subject: McClellanville 

Transmission Line Project, 1308 Patton 

Ave., Asheville, NC 28806, during the 

comment period. 

All comments submitted during the 

comment period will become part of the 

public record. Comments submitted 

after the comment period will not be 

considered by the agency. Before 

including your address, telephone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

All comments will be reviewed and 

included in the Record of Decision. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

download electronic copies of the Final 

EIS or previous NEPA analyses and 

documents, go to: https://

www.rd.usda.gov/resources/ 

environmental-studies/impactstatement/mcclellanville-115kvtransmission-line-berkeley-charlestonand-georgetown-counties-sc. 

For information specific to this notice 

contact Suzanne Kopich, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Rural Utilities 

Service, Rural Development, telephone 

202–961–8514. Electronic comments 

may be submitted at mcclellanvilleeis@

usda.gov during the open comment 

period. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RUS is 

serving as the lead federal agency for the 

preparation of this EIS. The United 

States Forest Service (USFS) and U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 

Charleston District, are cooperating 

agencies. Because the proposed 

transmission line would cross the 

Francis Marion National Forest (FMNF), 

USFS has responsibility to decide 

whether to issue a Special Use Permit 

(SUP) to Central Electric for 

authorization of the Project on National 

Forest System lands. USACE has 

primary responsibility to issue permits 

for work in, over, or otherwise affecting 

navigable waters of the United States 

and to authorize the discharge of 

dredged or fill material into 

jurisdictional wetlands. 

The purpose of the proposed Project 

is to address system capacity, system 

reliability, human safety, and power 

quality issues resulting from the current 

use of the aging distribution line 

supplying electricity to Berkeley 

Electric, supplying the McClellanville 

area. Central Electric is a not-for-profit 

electric generation and transmission 

cooperative made up of twenty (20) 

retail electric cooperatives in South 

Carolina that provide wholesale power 

to its member-owners, including 

Berkeley Electric Incorporated. 

Organized in 1948, Central Electric 

designs and builds transmission lines 

that connect the state’s bulk 

transmission system (the coordinated 

and integrated Central Electric/South 

Carolina Public Service Authority 

[Santee Cooper] system) and the 

member-cooperative system substations. 

The 20 electric cooperatives own 

Central Electric and are self-regulated 

for rates and follow state and federal 

construction standards. South Carolina 

Code of State Regulations, chapter 103– 

304, Public Service Commission, 

Territory and Certificates, states in part, 

that no electrical utility supplying 

electric service to the public shall 

hereafter begin the construction or 

operation of any electric facilities, or of 

any extension thereof, without first 

obtaining from the commission a 

certificate that public convenience and 

necessity requires or will require such 

construction or operation. The 

regulation further states that the 

regulation shall not be construed to 

require any such electrical utility to 

secure a certificate for any extension 

within a municipality or district within 

which it has heretofore lawfully 

commenced operations, or for an 

extension within or to territory already 

served by it, necessary in the ordinary 

course of its business, or for an 

extension into territory contiguous to 

that already occupied by it and not 

receiving similar service from another 

electrical utility. This proposed project 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
83834 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices 

is considered an extension of service 

within an area Central Electric currently 

serves. Additionally, certificates of 

Environmental Compatibility and Public 

Convenience and Necessity are issued 

by the commission for transmission 

projects that are 125 kV or more. Central 

Electric’s proposed transmission line is 

115 kV, and therefore, no certificate is 

required from the commission for 

construction of the proposed 

transmission line. 

The Board of Trustees, made up of 

members from each of the 20 electric 

cooperatives, identified the need to 

address system capacity, system 

reliability, and power quality issues 

resulting from the current use of the 

aging distribution line supplying 

electricity to Berkeley Electric. 

Currently, around 1,000 residents in the 

McClellanville area rely on an existing 

40-mile-long distribution circuit that 

suffers from poor reliability and power 

quality, and limitations from: 

(1) a Winter Weather Operating 

Agreement that forces Berkeley Electric 

to switch operations to comply with 

system amperage limits, while putting 

residents at an elevated risk for outages 

and interrupted service; and 

(2) an outdated distribution network 

rather than higher efficiency, more 

reliable transmission line service. 

Berkeley Electric and Dominion (two 

of the 20 electric cooperatives) entered 

into a Winter Weather Operating 

Agreement in 2017 to provide reliable 

electric service to Berkeley Electric 

customers in the McClellanville area 

during periods of peak demand and to 

prevent system overload. The Winter 

Weather Operating Agreement indicated 

that Berkeley Electric load had grown to 

the point that in order to protect 

overload of Dominion facilities, 

Dominion must switch their feed from 

Berkeley Electric, forcing Berkeley 

Electric to source an alternate resource 

in real time to maintain service. When 

temperatures are forecast to fall below 

23 degrees Fahrenheit north of the 

Mount Pleasant and McClellanville 

areas, or if electrical demand is 

expected to exceed 175 amps per phase, 

Berkeley Electric will be dispatched to 

switch load off the metering point and 

over to the Berkeley Electric 

Commonwealth substation. It is during 

these critical periods that the Berkeley 

Electric customers in the McClellanville 

area are most vulnerable and at the 

greatest risk of failure to receive service. 

Although the Winter Weather Operating 

Agreement was developed to secure the 

greatest amount of reliable electrical 

service during periods of the greatest 

demand, it subjects the Berkeley Electric 

customers in the McClellanville area to 

the greatest risk for outages and 

interrupted services during critical 

periods. 

These factors result in substandard 

electric service in the McClellanville 

area that cannot accommodate existing 

load demand or future load growth. To 

improve the inadequate service to this 

area, Central Electric has been pursuing 

a new transmission service point in 

McClellanville since 1999. 

A Draft EIS for the Project was 

prepared in 2014 and made available for 

public review and comment. The 2014 

Draft EIS evaluated six (6) potential 

transmission corridors to the proposed 

McClellanville substation, all of which 

originated from the Belle Isle Substation 

in Georgetown, SC, and followed 

roughly along U.S. Highway 17 and 

crossed the Santee River near the 

highway bridge. In 2017, an 

independent engineering study was 

completed to assess the merit of the 

proposed alternatives based on need, 

impact, and cost, which supplemented 

previous corridor-siting studies that 

included an Alternatives Evaluation 

Study and a Macro-Corridor Study. 

These and other project documents can 

be found on the RUS project website at 

https://www.rd.usda.gov/resources/ 

environmental-studies/impactstatement/mcclellanville-115kvtransmission-line-berkeley-charlestonand-georgetown-counties-sc. 

Independent studies of system 

reliability indicate that a new, 115-kV 

transmission line and associated 

substation is the best solution to serve 

the long-term needs of the 

McClellanville area. RUS has performed 

a two-stage alternatives development 

and screening process for the proposed 

Project. Stage 1 considered alternative 

technologies; Stage 2 considered 

alternative locations for the Project. 

RUS, in coordination with the 

Applicant, analyzed a range of 

technological alternatives to determine 

if they would be appropriate to meet the 

Project purpose and need. The analyzed 

alternatives included: 

(1) installing onsite generation at the 

proposed McClellanville Substation and 

energy storage; 

(2) rebuilding the existing distribution 

line system; 

(3) promoting and improving energy 

efficiency and conservation, and 

distributed renewables generation; and 

(4) providing battery storage in 

McClellanville. 

The evaluated alternatives were 

discussed within the documents listed 

below, which are located at https://

www.rd.usda.gov/resources/ 

environmental-studies/impactstatement/mcclellanville-115kvtransmission-line-berkeley-charlestonand-georgetown-counties-sc. These 

evaluated alternatives were not 

considered as reasonable alternatives for 

meeting the purpose and need for the 

Project and were not carried forward for 

detailed analysis. 

• Revised Macro-Corridor Study 

Report, 2010; 

• McClellanville Power Supply 

Alternatives Evaluation Study, 2005; 

• Independent Engineering Study, 

2017; 

• McClellanville Battery Energy 

Storage Study, 2020; and 

• Supplemental Analysis on Private 

Lands, 2024 

RUS prepared a Supplemental Draft 

EIS in 2019, largely based on public 

comments opposed to the transmission 

line crossing the Santee River, and to 

comply with updates to RUS’ 

environmental policies and procedures. 

The Supplemental Draft EIS (SDEIS) 

evaluated two (2) new alternative 

corridors (Jamestown and Charity) and 

two of the originally proposed Belle Isle 

corridors (Options B and C); it also 

evaluated the No Action alternative. 

Public comments received during the 

public review and comment period on 

the SDEIS strongly opposed the Belle 

Isle corridors due to the presence of 

sensitive ecological and cultural 

resources, therefore the two Belle Isle 

corridors are presented early in the 

Final EIS but are eliminated as 

alternatives further considered in the 

analysis. The Jamestown corridor 

(Proposed Action), Jamestown 

alternative and Charity alternative have 

been carried through in the Final EIS 

and the Jamestown corridor was 

identified as the preferred corridor 

because of its combination of overall 

length, the amount that parallels 

existing Right of Ways (ROW) and the 

ability to minimize effects on 

residences, sensitive habitats, 

conservation lands, and cultural and 

historic resources. Approximately fiftyeight percent of the 23.3-mile 

Jamestown corridor would cross 

National Forest System lands on the 

FMNF and the 31 mile Charity corridor 

would cross roughly seventy-two 

percent of those lands. A preliminary 

75-foot ROW within the 600-foot 

corridor was identified and analyzed for 

this EIS. The 75-foot ROW is the 

maximum ROW width for Project 

construction and operations and 

maintenance (O&M). However, the final 

ROW width could be less in places 

where it overlaps existing road and 

utility ROWs. The final ROW would be 

located based on site-specific 

engineering, and environmental and 

cultural resource surveys. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices 83835 

RUS has carefully studied public 

health and safety, environmental 

impacts, and engineering aspects of the 

proposed project. RUS used input 

provided by government agencies, 

private organizations, and the public in 

the preparation of the Final EIS. RUS 

has considered all comments received 

on the Draft EIS and revised the Final 

EIS accordingly. Following the 45-day 

comment period for the Final EIS, RUS 

may prepare a Record of Decision 

(ROD). A Notice announcing the 

availability of the ROD will be 

published in the Federal Register and in 

local newspapers. Additionally, letters 

and emails will be sent to stakeholders. 

The Final EIS serves as a detailed 

written record of the environmental 

analysis completed for the proposed 

Project and is intended to provide 

Agency officials with sufficient 

information to make a decision 

regarding the significance of the 

environmental impacts of its potential 

federal action. The proposed Project is 

subject to the jurisdiction of the USFS, 

and the FMNF Forest Supervisor will 

use the Final EIS to make decisions 

related to requirements for issuing a 

SUP to Central Electric. Publication of 

this Final EIS is not a decision on the 

Applicant’s loan application and 

therefore not an approval of the 

expenditure of federal funds. Based on 

the analysis disclosed in this Final EIS, 

the RUS decision-maker will determine 

whether to provide financing assistance 

for the Project and, if issued, any 

Project-specific conditions established 

as part of the loan. 

This Notice of Availability also serves 

as a notice of proposed wetland and 

floodplain actions. The proposed Project 

would involve unavoidable impacts to 

wetlands and floodplains. The proposed 

Project was planned to avoid and 

minimize impacts to wetlands and 

waterways to the extent practicable 

during the site selection and design 

phase of the Project. Appropriate 

sediment and erosion controls and best 

management practices would be 

implemented at all wetland/upland and 

streambank boundaries. Impacts to 

wetlands would be permitted in 

accordance with USACE and state 

requirements. The timing of 

construction would integrate time of 

year restrictions and protections for 

sensitive resources and follow permit 

conditions (e.g., time-of-year restrictions 

for T&E species). 

In accordance with section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act and 

its implementing regulation, ‘‘Protection 

of Historic Properties’’ (36 CFR part 800) 

and as part of its broad environmental 

review process, RUS must take into 

account the effect of the proposed 

project on historic properties. In 

coordinating section 106 compliance, 

the RUS is preparing a project specific 

Programmatic Agreement (PA) to govern 

the remaining section 106 process. The 

cultural resource analysis is a resource 

that the public may be interested in 

commenting on during this comment 

period. The draft PA is an appendix to 

the Final EIS. Any final action by RUS 

related to the proposed project will be 

subject to, and contingent upon, 

compliance with all relevant Federal, 

State and local environmental laws and 

regulations, and completion of the 

environmental review requirements as 

prescribed in the RUS Environmental 

Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 

1970). 

Andrew Berke, 

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23821 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

National Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public virtual meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Census Bureau is giving 

notice of a virtual meeting of the 

National Advisory Committee on Racial, 

Ethnic and Other Populations (NAC). 

The Committee will address policy, 

research, and technical issues relating to 

a full range of Census Bureau programs 

and activities, including the decennial 

census, demographic and economic 

statistical programs, field operations, 

and information technology. Last 

minute changes to the schedule are 

possible, which could prevent giving 

advance public notice of schedule 

adjustments. 

DATES: The virtual meeting will be held 

on: 

• Thursday, November 7, 2024, from 

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. 

• Friday, November 8, 2024 from 8:30 

a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. 

ADDRESSES: Please visit the Census 

Advisory Committee website at https:// 

www.census.gov/about/cac/nac/ 

meetings/2024-11-meeting.html, for the 

NAC meeting information, including the 

agenda, and how to view the meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shana Banks, Advisory Committee 

Branch Chief, Office of Program, 

Performance and Stakeholder 

Integration (PPSI), shana.j.banks@

census.gov, Department of Commerce, 

Census Bureau, telephone 301–763– 

3815. For TTY callers, please use the 

Federal Relay Service at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NAC 

provides technical expertise to address 

Census Bureau program needs and 

objectives. The members of the NAC are 

appointed by the Director of the Census 

Bureau. The NAC has been established 

in accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 1001 

et seq.). 

All meetings are open to the public. 

Public comments will be accepted in 

written form via email to 

shana.j.banks@census.gov, (subject line 

‘‘2024 NAC Fall Virtual Meeting Public 

Comment’’). A brief period will be set 

aside during the virtual meeting to read 

public comments received by noon ET, 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024. All 

public comments received will be 

posted to the website listed in the 

ADDRESSES section. 

Robert L. Santos, Director, Census 

Bureau, approved the publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register. 

Dated: October 11, 2024. 

Shannon Wink, 

Program Analyst, Policy Coordination Office, 

U.S. Census Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24127 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[B–54–2024] 

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 143, 

Notification of Proposed Production 

Activity; Robert Bosch Semiconductor 

LLC; (Silicon Carbide Wafers); 

Roseville, California 

The Sacramento-Yolo Port District, 

grantee of FTZ 143, submitted a 

notification of proposed production 

activity to the FTZ Board (the Board) on 

behalf of Robert Bosch Semiconductor 

LLC (Bosch) for Bosch’s facility in 

Roseville, California within FTZ 143. 

The notification conforming to the 

requirements of the Board’s regulations 

(15 CFR 400.22) was received on 

September 30, 2024. 

Pursuant to 15 CFR 400.14(b), FTZ 

production activity would be limited to 

the specific foreign-status material(s)/ 

component(s) and specific finished 

product(s) described in the submitted 

notification (summarized below) and 

subsequently authorized by the Board. 

The benefits that may stem from 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES