71462 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 228 / Tuesday, November 29, 2005 / Notices 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. All responses to this notice 

will become a matter of public record 

and be summarized in the request for 

OMB approval. 

Signed at Washington, DC, November 14, 

2005. 

Joe Reilly, 

Associate Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E5–6675 Filed 11–28–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Central Electric Power Cooperative, 

Inc.; Notice of Intent to Hold Public 

Scoping Meetings and Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to hold public 

scoping meetings and prepare an 

environmental assessment (EA). 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS) intends to hold public scoping 

meetings and prepare an environmental 

assessment in connection with possible 

impacts related to a project proposed by 

Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. 

(CEPCI) of South Carolina. The proposal 

consists of the construction of 

approximately 20 miles of 115 kilovolt 

transmission line to provide more 

reliable transmission power to 

McClellanville, SC. The proposed 115- 

kilovolt transmission line project would 

be constructed within one of several 

alternative corridors under 

consideration. The alternative 

transmission line corridors originate at 

existing power delivery points near 

Jamestown and Charity, Berkeley 

County and Winyah and Belle Isle south 

of the city of Georgetown in Georgetown 

County, SC and at a potential new 

substation that would be built in the 

vicinity of the town of Honey Hill, 

Berkeley County, SC. The corridors 

terminate at the proposed location of a 

substation in McClellanville from which 

electric power distribution lines would 

service the community. Portions of the 

alternative corridors include Federal 

lands of the Francis Marion National 

Forest therefore the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Forest Service (FS) is a cooperating 

agency in the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) analysis. CEPCI is 

requesting RUS to provide financing for 

the proposed project. 

DATES: RUS will conduct a scoping 

meeting in an open house format from 

4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, 

December 14, 2005, at the 

McClellanville Government Services 

Building, located at 405 Pinckney 

Street, McClellanville, SC 29458 Phone: 

(843) 887–3712. The purpose of the 

meeting is to provide information and 

solicit comments for the preparation of 

an EA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephanie Strength, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, USDA, Rural 

Development, Utilities Programs, 

Engineering and Environmental Staff, 

Stop 1571, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20250–1571, 

telephone (202) 720–0468. Mrs. 

Strength’s e-mail address is 

stephanie.strength@wdc.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CEPCI 

proposes to construct a 115 kilovolt 

transmission line between a source 

substation and a proposed substation 

located in McClellanville. 

Single pole structures ranging in 

height from 80- to 150-feet would 

support the conductors and would 

require a right-of-way of 70 feet. One 

alternative route includes an 

approximately 2-mile subsurface 

directionally-drilled section below the 

Santee River delta. Depending on which 

route is chosen the approximate length 

of the transmission line would be from 

16 to 26 miles. It is anticipated that this 

transmission line would be in service in 

the Spring of 2008. 

Alternatives considered by RUS and 

CEPCI include: (a) No action, (b) 

alternative transmission improvements, 

and (c) alternative transmission line 

corridors. An Electric Alternative 

Evaluation and Macro Corridor Study 

Report, prepared by CEPCI will be 

presented at the public scoping meeting. 

The Report is available for public 

review at the USDA/Rural Development 

address provided in this notice, at 

Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., 

121 Greystone Blvd., Columbia, SC 

29210 and at: 

Berkeley County Library, PO Box 1239, 

1003 Hwy. 52, Moncks Corner, SC 

29461, (843) 719–4223, (843) 719–

4226 (Fax), Director: Colleen L. 

Carney, Web Site: http:// 

www.berkeley.lib.sc.us/. 

Charleston County Library, 68 Calhoun 

Street, Charleston, SC 29401, (843) 

805–6801, (843) 727–3741 (Fax), 

Director: Jan Buvinger, Web Site: 

http://www.ccpl.org. 

Georgetown County Library, 405 

Cleland Street, Georgetown, SC 

29440, (843) 546–2521, (843) 527–

3251 (Fax), Director: Dwight 

McInvaill, Web Site: http:// 

www.gcpl.lib.sc.us/. 

McClellanville Branch Library, 222 

Baker St., McClellanville, SC 29458, 

(843) 889–3300. 

Government agencies, private 

organizations, and the public are invited 

to participate in the planning and 

analysis of the proposed project. 

Representatives from RUS and CEPCI 

will be available at the scoping meeting 

to discuss RUS’ environmental review 

process, describe the project, the need 

for the project, the macro corridors 

under consideration, and discuss the 

scope of environmental issues to be 

considered, answer questions, and 

accept oral and written comments. 

Written comments will be accepted for 

30 days after the public scoping 

meeting. Written comments should be 

sent to RUS at the address provided in 

this notice. 

From information provided in the 

alternative evaluation and site selection 

study, input that may be provided by 

government agencies, private 

organizations, and the public, Central 

Electric Power Cooperative will prepare 

an environmental analysis to be 

submitted to RUS for review. RUS will 

use the environmental analysis to 

determine the significance of the 

impacts of the project and may adopt it 

as its environmental assessment of the 

project. RUS’ environmental assessment 

of the project would be available for 

review and comment for 30 days. 

Should RUS determine, based on the 

EA of the project, that the project would 

not have a significant environmental 

impact, it will prepare a finding of no 

significant impact. Public notification of 

a finding of no significant impact would 

be published in the Federal Register 

and in newspapers with a circulation in 

the project area. 

Any final action by RUS related to the 

proposed project will be subject to, and 

contingent upon, compliance with 

environmental review requirements as 

prescribed by the Council on 

Environmental Quality and RUS 

environmental policies and procedures. 

Benjamin Shuman, 

Acting Director, Engineering and 

Environmental Staff, USDA/Rural 

Development/Utilities Programs. 

[FR Doc. 05–23381 Filed 11–28–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce has 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for clearance the