[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56647-56649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19375]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement, Amend Relevant Agency Land Use Plans, Conduct Public Scoping 
Meetings, and Notice of Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement

AGENCIES: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
Department of Energy (DOE) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
Department of the Interior (DOI).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact 
statement, amend relevant agency land use plans, conduct public scoping 
meetings, and notice of floodplain and wetlands involvement.

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SUMMARY: Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (the Act), Public 
Law 109-58 (H.R. 6), enacted August 8, 2005, directs the Secretaries of 
Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and the Interior (the Agencies) 
to designate under their respective authorities corridors on Federal 
land in the 11 Western States for oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines and 
electricity transmission and distribution facilities (energy 
corridors). The Agencies have determined that designating corridors as 
required by Section 368 of the Act constitutes a major Federal action 
which may have a significant impact upon the environment within the 
meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). For 
this reason, the Agencies intend to prepare a programmatic 
environmental impact statement (PEIS) entitled, ``Designation of Energy 
Corridors on Federal Land in the 11 Western States'' (DOE/EIS-0386) to 
address the environmental impacts from the proposed action and the 
range of reasonable alternatives. DOE and BLM will be co-lead agencies 
for this effort, with the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service 
(FS) participating as a cooperating agency.
    The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to inform the public about 
the proposed action, announce plans to conduct 11 public scoping 
meetings, invite public participation in the scoping process, and 
solicit public comments for consideration in establishing the scope and 
content of the PEIS. Because the proposed action may involve actions in 
a floodplain or wetland, the draft PEIS will include a floodplain and 
wetlands assessment and the final PEIS or Record of Decision will 
include a floodplain statement of findings.
    The Agencies will prepare the PEIS in accordance with NEPA, the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, 40 CFR 1500-1508, 
DOE's regulations developed pursuant to NEPA, 10 CFR 1021, BLM's 
planning regulations 43 CFR 1600 and applicable FS planning regulations 
to amend land use plans.

DATES: The Agencies invite interested agencies, states, organizations, 
Native American tribes, and members of the public to submit comments or 
suggestions to assist in identifying significant environmental issues 
and in determining the scope of this PEIS. The public scoping period 
starts with the publication of this notice in the Federal Register and 
will continue until November 28, 2005. Written and oral comments will 
be given equal weight, and the Agencies will consider all comments 
received or postmarked by November 28, 2005 in defining the scope of 
this PEIS. Comments received or postmarked after that date will be 
considered to the extent practicable.
    Dates for the public scoping meetings are:

1. October 25, 2005, Denver, Colorado
2. October 26, 2005, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3. October 26, 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah
4. October 27, 2005, Cheyenne, Wyoming
5. October 27, 2005, Helena, Montana
6. November 1, 2005, Boise, Idaho
7. November 1, 2005, Sacramento, California
8. November 2, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada
9. November 2, 2005, Portland, Oregon
10. November 3, 2005, Phoenix, Arizona
11. November 3, 2005, Seattle, Washington
    The Agencies will announce the times and locations of the public 
meetings through the local media, newsletters, and the project Web site 
(http://corridoreis.anl.gov) at least 15 days prior to the meeting.
    Requests to speak at a public scoping meeting(s) should be received 
by Julia Souder at the addresses indicated below on or before October 
18, 2005. Requests to speak may also be made at the time of 
registration for the scoping meeting(s). However, persons who submitted 
advance requests to speak will be given priority if time should be 
limited during the meetings.

ADDRESSES: Comments or suggestions on the scope of the PEIS and 
requests to

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speak at the scoping meeting(s) should be sent to: Julia Souder by mail 
at U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; by 
facsimile at (202) 586-1472 or phone at (202) 586-9052.
    Please note that regular postal mail to DOE tends to be delayed 
because of anthrax screening. In order to avoid these delays, if you 
wish to comment or request to speak at the scoping meeting(s) by mail, 
we suggest that your submission be sent by using overnight service, or 
that your letter first be sent to us by facsimile or electronic mail, 
and then followed by regular mailing of the original documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed 
project or to receive a copy of the Draft PEIS when it is issued, 
contact Julia Souder by any of the means indicated in the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice. A complete description of the proposed action 
also may be found on the project Web site at http://corridoreis.anl.gov.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process please contact: 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-
42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0119, Phone: 202-586-4600; or leave a message at 
1-800-472-2756; Facsimile: 202-586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Need for Agency Action

    Section 368 of the Act, entitled ``Energy Right-of-Way Corridors on 
Federal Land,'' and specifically subsection 368(d) require the Agencies 
to designate energy corridors, taking into account the ``need for 
upgraded and new electricity transmission and distribution facilities'' 
in order to ``improve reliability,'' ``relieve congestion,'' and 
``enhance the capability of the national grid to deliver electricity.'' 
See Electricity Modernization Act, Pub. L. 109-58 (H.R. 6) section 
368(d)(1)-(3). Section 368 applies only to Federal lands.
    Specifically, Section 368 requires the Agencies to cooperate using 
their respective authorities to (1) ``designate corridors for oil, gas, 
and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution 
facilities on Federal land in the eleven contiguous Western States (as 
defined in Section 103(o) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(o)); (2) perform any environmental reviews that 
may be required to complete the designations of such corridors; and (3) 
incorporate the designated corridors into the relevant agency land use 
and resource management plans or equivalent plans''. See Pub. L. 109-59 
Sec.  368(a)(1)-(3).
    Section 368 divides the Agencies' schedules for designating 
transmission corridors on public lands into two groups: (1) ``Western 
States'', consisting of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; and (2) all 
other states. This PEIS relates solely to corridors in the Western 
States.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The Proposed Action in this PEIS is to designate corridors on 
Federal land in the eleven Western States for oil, gas and hydrogen 
pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities. 
Based upon the information and analyses developed in this PEIS, each 
Agency would amend its respective land use plans by designating a 
series of energy corridors effective upon signing of the Record(s) of 
Decision.

No Action Alternative

    Under the No Action alternative, no new energy corridors would be 
designated through this coordinated approach. The No Action alternative 
will identify the environmental impacts associated with each of the 
Agencies continuing to designate energy corridors through use of their 
present practices. These practices would include the application of 
local planning criteria by each regional land management office.

Increased Utilization Alternative

    Under the Increased Utilization alternative, the Agencies will 
assess the environmental impacts associated with increasing the 
capacity of existing energy corridors through the application of new 
technologies and/or operational techniques. This alternative will 
assesss the impacts of developing multiple projects within existing 
corridors and rights-of-way and the application of new technologies to 
increase the energy capacities of existing facilities within those 
corridors.

New Corridor Alternative

    Under the New Corridor alternative, the Agencies will assess the 
impacts associated with designating new energy corridors on Federal 
land. A preliminary set of new corridors will be identified through 
information obtained through scoping as well as information from the 
energy transport industry including, but not limited to: The Western 
Utility Group; the Seams Steering Group--Western Interconnection; 
Colorado Coordinating Planning Group; the Northwest Transmission 
Assessment Committee; the Southwest Area Transmission Study; the 
Southwest Transmission Expansion Plan; and the Rocky Mountain Area 
Transmission Study. The scoping process will afford other stakeholders 
such as environmental groups, counties, states, Native American tribes, 
and interested citizens an opportunity to propose new corridors. The 
Agencies will use this information to identify new energy corridors 
that will be analyzed in the PEIS.

Optimization Criteria Alternative

    Under the Optimization Criteria alternative, the Agencies will 
assess the impacts of new energy corridors that will be identified 
through a combination of new and existing corridors based on a set of 
criteria and strategies that incorporate environmental concerns, 
projected supply and demand, network efficiencies, landscape features, 
the availability of new technologies, and costs.
    The Agencies will consider any additional reasonable alternatives 
that result from comments received in response to the scoping process 
described in this notice.

Identification of Environmental Issues

    Note that environmental issues identified should be related to: 
Restriction of conflicting uses within the corridors, adequacy of 
potential plan direction within the corridors, any identifiable 
environmental concerns within the potential corridors. Any corridor 
designation, and subsequent incorporation into an agencies land use 
plan by this plan amendment process does not, itself, authorize project 
activities. Any new proposed project activities, such as construction 
of a new pipeline or electric transmission line or retrofitting 
utilities within an existing corridor, would be analyzed in subsequent 
NEPA analyses which would also involve public notice and comment. This 
PEIS is for corridor designation only.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments and suggestions 
for consideration in the preparation of the PEIS. As background for 
public comment, this notice contains a list of potential environmental 
issues that the Agencies have tentatively identified for analysis. This 
list is not intended to be all-inclusive or to imply any 
predetermination of impacts. Following is a preliminary list of issues 
that may be analyzed in the PEIS:

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    (1) Socioeconomic and recreational impacts of development of the 
land tracts and their subsequent uses;
    (2) Impacts on protected, threatened, endangered, or sensitive 
species of animals or plants, or their critical habitats;
    (3) Impacts on floodplains and wetlands;
    (4) Impacts on archaeological, cultural, or historic resources;
    (5) Impacts on human health and safety;
    (6) Impacts on existing and future land uses;
    (7) Visual impacts; and
    (8) Disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and 
low-income populations, also known as environmental justice 
considerations.

Scoping Process

    Interested parties are invited to participate in the scoping 
process, both to refine the preliminary alternatives and environmental 
issues to be analyzed in depth and to eliminate from detailed study 
those alternatives and environmental issues that are not feasible or 
pertinent. The scoping process is intended to involve all interested 
agencies (Federal, State, county, and local), public interest groups, 
Native American tribes, businesses, and members of the public. Public 
scoping meetings will be held as indicated above under the DATES and 
ADDRESSES sections. These scoping meetings will be informal. The 
presiding officer will establish only those procedures needed to ensure 
that everyone who wishes to speak has a chance to do so and that the 
Agencies understand all issues and comments. Speakers will be allocated 
approximately 5 minutes for their oral statements. Depending upon the 
number of persons wishing to speak, the presiding officer may allow 
longer times for representatives of organizations. Consequently, 
persons wishing to speak on behalf of an organization should identify 
that organization in their request to speak. Persons who have not 
submitted a request to speak in advance may register to speak at the 
scoping meeting(s), but advance requests are encouraged. Meetings will 
begin at the times specified and will continue until all those present 
who wish to participate have had an opportunity to do so. Should any 
speaker desire to provide for the record further information that 
cannot be presented within the designated time, such additional 
information may be submitted in writing by the date listed in the DATES 
section.
    Oral, written, and electronic (i.e., by facsimile or by e-mail) 
comments will be impartially considered and given equal weight by the 
Agencies.
    A complete transcript of the public scoping meetings will be 
retained by the Agencies and made available to the public for review on 
the DOE Web site at http://www.electricity.doe.gov, on the project Web 
site at http://corridoreis.anl.gov, and during business hours at the 
Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.

Draft PEIS Schedule and Availability

    The Draft PEIS is scheduled to be issued in early spring 2006. The 
availability of the Draft PEIS and dates for public hearings soliciting 
comments on it will be announced in the Federal Register and local 
media. Comments on the Draft PEIS will be considered in preparing the 
Final PEIS.
    Those interested parties who do not wish to submit comments at this 
time, but who would like to receive a copy of the Draft PEIS and other 
project materials, please contact Julia Souder as provided in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice.

Tom Lonnie,
Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection, Bureau of 
Land Management.
John Spitaleri Shaw,
Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health, Department of 
Energy.
[FR Doc. 05-19375 Filed 9-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P