[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 94-95]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32259]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service


Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to Analyze 
and Disclose the Effects of a Proposal By Tri-State Generation and 
Transmission Association, Inc.; Meeting

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 
USDA Rural Utility Services to analyze and disclose the effects of a 
proposal by Tri-State Generation & Transmission Assoc., Inc. to 
construct a transmission line in Grand County, Colorado. The project 
area includes portions of the Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest and the 
Kremmling Resource Area, Craig District, BLM.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis (issues, 
preliminary alternatives, etc.) should be received by February 20, 
1995. The public is invited to provide information concerning the 
proposed project at a meeting to be held January 20, 1995, from 4:00 
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Fraser Elementary School, Fraser, Colorado.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments, suggestions and questions to George 
Edwards, District Ranger, Sulphur Ranger District, 62429 U.S. Highway 
40, P.O. Box 10, Granby, CO 80446.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions regarding the proposed action and environmental impact 
statement should be directed to Sally Edwards, Project Facilitator, 
phone (303) 229-9602. Note: after 4/95 the phone number will be (970) 
229-9602.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Tri-State proposes to construct, operate, 
and maintain a transmission line from the existing Fraser Substation 
one mile west of Fraser, Colorado to an as yet undetermined existing 
substation within a 15-20 mile radius of Fraser Substation. The project 
is known as the Fraser Valley Loop Project and is located in Grand 
County, Colorado.
    The electric loads served from the Fraser Substation have grown to 
a level where the consequences of a line outage are too great. 
Presently, the Fraser Valley is served from a single 138-kV, 13 mile 
transmission line. An outage of this facility could well affect over 
6,000 customers in East Grand County and could last up to five days.
    The purpose for constructing the Fraser Valley Loop Project is to 
increase reliability of service to the customers served from the Fraser 
Substation and minimize the consequences of the Windy Gap-Fraser 138-kV 
line outage. A new transmission circuit will provide a second source of 
electric power for Tri-State's member system Mountain Parks Electric, 
Inc. (MPEI) and substantially increase capacity to service MPEI loads.
    Tri-State has prepared a comprehensive Alternative Evaluation 
report for the Rural Utility Services (formerly known as the Rural 
Electrification Administration) which discusses in detail the purpose 
and need [[Page 95]] and system alternatives being considered for the 
project.
    The Forest Service is serving as lead federal agency for the 
preparation of an environmental impact statement which will evaluate 
the purpose, need, and routing alternatives for the proposed project. 
The decision to be made is whether to allow the use of portions of 
Forest Service land and/or Public Land managed by the BLM for siting a 
transmission line facility. The Forest Service has invited other 
affected agencies to participate in the environmental process as 
cooperating agencies including the USDI Bureau of Land Management; and 
the USDA Rural Utility Services.
    Preliminary issues associated with this proposal include effects on 
visual resources, effects on public and private land use, coordination 
with Grand County land use planning, potential effects of electro 
magnetic fields, commitment of resources and demonstrated public safety 
needs.
    The Forest Service invites comments and suggestions on the scope of 
the analysis to be documented in the draft environmental impact 
statement. In addition, the Forest Service gives notice that it is 
beginning a full environmental analysis and decision-making process for 
this proposal so that interested or affected people may know how they 
may participate in the environmental analysis and contribute to the 
final decision. A public ``scoping'' meeting is scheduled for January 
20, 1995 in Fraser, Colorado. The purpose of this workshop is to learn 
what issues and concerns members of the public or interested agencies 
have that are connected to the proposal and should be considered. 
Knowledge of these issues and concerns will help establish the scope of 
the Forest Service's environmental analysis and define the range of 
alternatives to be considered. The Forest Service welcomes any public 
comments on the proposal.
    The responsible officials will be the Forest Supervisor, Arapaho 
and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grasslands, 240 West 
Prospect Road, Fort Collins, Colorado and District Manager, Craig 
District, 455 Emerson Street, Craig, Colorado 81625.
    It is anticipated the draft environmental impact statement will be 
published in September, 1995 and the final environmental impact 
statement in January, 1996.
    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes the Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
draft environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 
519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at 
the draft environmental impact stage but that are not raised until 
after completion of the final environmental impact statement may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings, 
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action 
participate by the close of the 45-day comment period so that 
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 
Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to 
them in the final environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages of chapters of the 
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft 
environmental impact statement or the merits of alternatives formulated 
and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer to the 
Council of Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the 
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. Please note that comments you 
make on the draft environmental impact statement will be regarded as 
public information.

    Date: December 27, 1994.
Eric L. Jensen,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 94-32259 Filed 12-30-94; 8:45 am]
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