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[Federal Register: September 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 180)]
[Notices]               
[Page 57005-57006]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17se10-64]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. PP-334]

 
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Public Hearings for the Proposed Energia Sierra Juarez U.S. 
Transmission Project (ESJ-U.S.)

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Energia Sierra 
Juarez U.S. Transmission Line Project'' (DOE/EIS-0414) for public 
comment. DOE also announces three public hearings to receive comments 
on the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of 
DOE's proposed Federal action of issuing a Presidential permit to 
Energia Sierra Juarez U.S. Transmission, LLC (ESJ-U.S.), for the 
construction, operation, maintenance, and connection of either a 
double-circuit 230-kilovolt (kV) or a single-circuit 500-kV electric 
transmission line that would cross the U.S.-Mexico border in the 
vicinity of Jacumba, California.

DATES: DOE invites interested members of Congress, State and local 
governments, other Federal agencies, American Indian tribal 
governments, organizations, and members of the public to provide 
comments on the Draft EIS during the 45-day public comment period. The 
public comment period starts on September 17, 2010, with the 
publication in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency of its Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS, and 
will continue until November 1, 2010. Written and oral comments will be 
given equal weight and all comments received or postmarked by that date 
will be considered by DOE in preparing the Final EIS. Comments received 
or postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent 
practicable.
    Requests to speak at a specific public hearing should be received 
by Dr. Jerry Pell as indicated in the ADDRESSES section below on or 
before September 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the public hearings should be addressed 
to: Dr. Jerry Pell, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability (OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; Jerry.Pell@hq.doe.gov (preferred); 
or by facsimile to 202-318-7761. Requests to speak may also be made at 
the time of registration for the hearing(s). However, persons who have 
submitted advance requests to speak will be given priority if time 
should be limited during the hearing.
    Written comments on the Draft EIS may be provided on the project 
EIS website at http://esjprojecteis.org (preferred) or addressed to Dr. 
Pell as indicated.
    The locations, dates, and times of the public hearings appear in 
the Table below:

[[Page 57006]]

                                                                Draft EIS Public Hearings
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                Location                          Day, date, time                                            Directions
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Jacumba Highland Center, 44681 Old        Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 7-9    From the West, take I-8 East and take Exit 73 toward Jacumba. Turn right
 Highway 80, Jacumba, California 91934.    p.m.                             (South) onto Carrizo Gorge Road and drive South 1.1 miles. Turn right at Old
                                                                            Highway 80. Jacumba Highland Center will be on the left hand side.
                                                                           From the East, take I-8 West and take Exit 73 toward Jacumba. Turn left
                                                                            (South) onto Carrizo Gorge Road and drive South 1.1 miles. Turn right at Old
                                                                            Highway 80. Jacumba Highland Center will be on the left hand side.
Boulevard Volunteer Fire Department,      Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 7-9  From the West, take I-8 East and take the CA-94 Exit (Exit 65), toward Campo/
 39919 Highway 94, Boulevard, California   p.m.                             Boulevard. Turn right (South) onto CA-94/Ribbonwood Road and drive South 0.5
 91905.                                                                     miles. Boulevard Volunteer Fire Station will be on the left-hand side.
                                                                           From the East, take I-8 West and take the CA-94 Exit toward Boulevard/
                                                                            Manzanita. Turn left (South) onto CA-94/Ribbonwood Road and drive South 0.6
                                                                            miles. Boulevard Volunteer Fire Station will be on the left-hand side.
County of San Diego Department of         Thursday, October 7, 2010, 5-7   From Downtown, take Highway 163 North and take Exit 7B towards CA-274/Balboa
 Planning and Land Use Planning            p.m.                             Boulevard East. Turn left on Kearny Villa Road and take the 1st right on
 Commission Hearing Room, 5201 Ruffin                                       Balboa Boulevard. Drive East 1.0 mile and turn left on Ruffin Road.
 Road, Suite B, San Diego, CA 92123.                                       From the East, take I-8 East to I-15 North. Take Exit 10, Clairemont Mesa
                                                                            Boulevard. Drive 0.5 miles, turn left on Ruffin Road.
                                                                           From the North, take Highway 805 South, and take Exit 23 for CA-52. Take Exit
                                                                            7 for Kearny Villa Road. Turn right on Kearny Villa Road, drive 400 feet,
                                                                            and continue onto Ruffin Road.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have any questions about the 
EIS or Presidential permit process, please contact Dr. Jerry Pell at 
the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE-20), U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585; Jerry.Pell@hq.doe.gov (preferred); telephone to 202-586-3362, or 
facsimile to 202-318-7761.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA 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, telephone: 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 800-472-2756; 
facsimile: 202-586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In order to ensure that all interested 
parties can be heard in the time available, speakers are asked to limit 
their presentation to three minutes; however, there is no limit on the 
amount of written material that can be submitted either at the hearings 
or otherwise before the close of the comment period.
    The public hearings will consist of the formal taking of comments 
with transcription by a court stenographer. The hearings will provide 
interested parties the opportunity to view proposed project exhibits 
and make comments for consideration in the course of preparing the 
Final EIS. In advance of commencing the hearings, representatives from 
the applicant, DOE, and the County of San Diego as the cooperating 
agency will be available to informally (off the record) answer 
questions and provide additional information to attendees to the extent 
that additional information is available.

Availability of the Draft EIS

    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. Printed copies of the document may be obtained by 
contacting Dr. Pell at the above address. Copies of the Draft EIS and 
supporting documents are also available for inspection at the Jacumba 
Branch Library, 44605 Old Highway 80, Jacumba, CA 91934 and the Campo-
Morena Village Branch Library, 31466 Highway 94, Campo, CA 91906. The 
Draft EIS is also available on the EIS Web site at http://esjprojecteis.org and on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://nepa.energy.gov/draft_environmental_impact_statements.htm.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2010.
Anthony J. Como,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2010-23244 Filed 9-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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