This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

56051 

Vol. 75, No. 178 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Bemidji to Grand Rapids Minnesota 

230 kV Transmission Line Project 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS), U.S. Forest Service Chippewa 

National Forest (CNF), U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers (USACE) and Leech Lake 

Band of Ojibwe Division of Resource 

Management (LLBO) have issued a Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the proposed Bemidji to Grand 

Rapids, Minnesota 230 kV Transmission 

Line Project (‘‘Project’’) in Minnesota. 

The Final EIS was prepared pursuant to 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 

1500–1508), and RUS regulations (7 

CFR 1794). To minimize duplication of 

effort pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.2, RUS 

prepared the Final EIS jointly with the 

Minnesota Department of Commerce, 

Office of Energy Security (OES) in 

compliance with federal responsibilities 

under NEPA and other federal statutes 

and regulations, and state 

responsibilities under the Minnesota 

Environmental Policy Act and the 

Minnesota Power Plant Siting Act. RUS 

is the lead federal agency as defined at 

40 CFR 1501.5, and CNF and USACE are 

cooperating agencies. LLBO accepted an 

invitation to participate as a cooperating 

agency. The purpose of the Final EIS is 

to evaluate the potential environmental 

impacts of and alternatives to the 

application of Minnkota Power 

Cooperative, Inc. for RUS financing to 

construct a 230 kilovolt (kV) 

transmission line between the Wilton 

Substation near Bemidji, Minnesota and 

the Boswell Substation near Grand 

Rapids, Minnesota, which will cross 

portions of Beltrami, Hubbard, Itasca, 

and Cass counties. Minnkota also 

proposes to modify the Wilton and 

Boswell substations and construct a new 

115 kV breaker station at Nary Junction, 

Minnesota. In addition, Minnkota 

proposes to upgrade an existing or 

construct a new substation in the Cass 

Lake, Minnesota area, depending on the 

route alternative selected for the Project. 

The Project is being jointly developed 

by Minnkota, Otter Tail Power 

Company, and Minnesota Power. 

DATES: Written comments on this Final 

EIS will be accepted 30 days following 

the publication of the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

notice of receipt of the Final EIS in the 

Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the 

Final EIS or further information, 

contact: Ms. Stephanie Strength, 

Environmental Protection Specialist, 

USDA Rural Utilities Service, 

Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 1571, 

Room 2239–S, Washington, DC 20250– 

1571, telephone: (970) 403–3559, fax: 

(202) 690–0649, or e-mail: 

stephanie.strength@wdc.usda.gov. Or 

contact Suzanne Steinhauer, Project 

Manager, Minnesota Department of 

Commerce, Office of Energy Security, 85 

Seventh Place East, Suite 500, Saint 

Paul, Minnesota 55101–2198; telephone 

(651) 296–2888, or e-mail 

suzanne.steinhauer@state.mn.us. 

A copy of the Final EIS has been sent 

to affected Federal, State, and local 

government agencies and to interested 

parties and can be viewed online at the 

RUS Web site at http://www.usda.gov/ 

rus/water/ees/eis.htm, or at the 

Minnesota Public Utilities Web site at 

http://energyfacilities.puc.state.mn.us/ 

Docket.html?Id=19344. 

Copies of the Final EIS will also be 

available for public review at the 

following public libraries: 

Bemidji Public Library, 509 America 

Ave., NW., Bemidji, MN 56601; 

Cass Lake Community Library, 223 

Cedar Ave., NW., Cass Lake, MN 

56633; 

Grand Rapids Area Library, 140 NE 2nd 

Street, Grand Rapids, MN 55744; 

Blackduck Community Library, 72 First 

St., SE., Blackduck, MN 56630; 

Margaret Welch Memorial Library, 5051 

State 84, Longville, MN 56655; 

Walker Public Library, 207 4th St., 

Walker, MN 56484; 

Bovey Public Library, Village Hall, 402 

2nd Street, Bovey, MN 55709–0130; 

and 

Coleraine Public Library, Independent 

Building, 203 Cole Avenue, Coleraine, 

MN 55722–0225. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Minnkota 

Power, Otter Tail Power, and Minnesota 

Power propose to construct a new 

transmission line from Bemidji to Grand 

Rapids, Minnesota. The proposal is 

designed to correct a local load serving 

inadequacy for the Bemidji area and the 

northern Red River Valley in West 

Central Minnesota. It is part of the 

CapX2020 long-range planning effort 

that has identified a comprehensive 

framework for new transmission 

infrastructure that will be needed to 

maintain reliability of the transmission 

system throughout Minnesota and the 

surrounding region. 

Minnkota Power is seeking financing 

from RUS for its portion of the 

investment. Prior to making a financial 

decision about whether to provide 

financial assistance for a proposal, RUS 

is required to conduct an environmental 

review under NEPA in accordance with 

the Agency’s policies and procedures 

codified in 7 CFR Part 1794. 

This proposal is identified under RUS 

regulation 7 CFR 1794.24(b)(1) as 

requiring an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) with scoping meetings. The State 

of Minnesota requires that an EIS be 

prepared by OES in accordance with 

Chapter 216E of the Minnesota Power 

Plant Siting Act, and Chapter 116D of 

the Minnesota Environmental Policy 

Act. RUS and OES have agreed to be colead agencies in preparing a joint 

federal/state EIS on the Project. Using 

information from the Alternatives 

Evaluation Study (AES), the MacroCorridor Study (MCS), Public Scoping 

Meetings, the Draft EIS and public 

hearings and comments on the Draft 

EIS, RUS and OES developed this Final 

EIS in consultation with the cooperating 

agencies, CNF, USACE, and LLBO. 

On July 18, 2008, RUS published in 

the Federal Register a Notice of Intent 

to prepare an EIS for the proposal. The 

EIS focused on potential impacts to the 

following resources: soils, topography 

and geology, water resources, air 

quality, biological resources, the 

acoustic environment, recreation, 

cultural and historic resources, visual 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
56052 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 15, 2010 / Notices 

resources, transportation, farmland, 

land use, human health and safety, the 

socioeconomic environment, 

environmental justice, and cumulative 

effects. On March 3, 2010, the Rural 

Utilities Service published its Notice of 

Availability of the Draft EIS for the 

proposed project in the Federal 

Register. The 45-day comment period 

ended on April 19, 2010. Comments 

received on the Draft EIS were 

addressed in the Final EIS. 

After considering various ways to 

meet the reliability needs, Minnkota 

identified construction of the proposed 

Project as its best course of action. This 

EIS considered four route alternatives in 

terms of cost-effectiveness, technical 

feasibility, and environmental factors. 

The EIS analyzes in detail the no 

action alternative, the proposed action 

Route Alternative 4 and three other 

Route Alternatives. Route Alternative 4 

has been identified as the applicants’ 

preferred alternative, the federally 

preferred alternative and the 

environmentally preferred alternative. 

Because the proposed Project may 

involve action in floodplains or 

wetlands, this Notice of Availability 

also serves as a notice of proposed 

floodplain or wetland action. 

Any 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 

RUS’s Environmental Policies and 

Procedures, 7 CFR part 1794, as 

amended. 

Dated: September 7, 2010. 

Nivin Elgohary, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Electric 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2010–22966 Filed 9–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting 

of the South Dakota Advisory 

Committee 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the rules and 

regulations of the U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights (Commission), and the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA), that a planning meeting of the 

South Dakota Advisory Committee to 

the Commission will convene by 

conference call at 1 p.m. and end at 3 

p.m. on Tuesday, September 28, 2010. 

The purpose of the meeting is for the 

committee to discuss recent 

Commission and regional activities and 

current civil rights issues in the State 

and plan future activities. 

This conference call is available to the 

public through the following call-in 

number: 1–800–516–9896, access code: 

8334. Any interested member of the 

public may call this number and listen 

to the meeting. Callers can expect to 

incur charges made over wireless lines, 

and the Commission will not refund 

those charges incurred. Callers will 

incur no charge for calls using the callin number over land-line connections. 

Persons with hearing impairments may 

also follow the proceedings by first 

calling the Federal Relay Service at 1– 

800–977–8339 and providing the 

Service with the conference call number 

and access code number. 

To ensure that the Commission 

secures an appropriate number of lines 

for the public, persons are asked to 

register by contacting the Rocky 

Mountain Regional Office at least ten 

(10) working days before the scheduled 

meeting date. 

Members of the public are entitled to 

submit written comments; the 

comments must be received in the 

regional office by October 28, 2010. The 

address is Rocky Mountain Regional 

Office, 999–18th Street, Suite 1380 

South, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 866– 

1040. Comments may be e-mailed to 

ebohor@usccr.gov. Records generated by 

this meeting may be inspected and 

reproduced at the Rocky Mountain 

Regional Office, as they become 

available, both before and after the 

meeting. Persons interested in the work 

of this advisory committee are advised 

to go to the Commission’s Web site, 

http://www.usccr.gov, or to contact the 

Rocky Mountain Regional Office at the 

above e-mail or street address. 

The meeting will be conducted 

pursuant to the provisions of the rules 

and regulations of the Commission and 

FACA. 

Dated in Washington, DC, on September 

10, 2010. 

Peter Minarik, 

Acting Chief, Regional Programs 

Coordination Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2010–22995 Filed 9–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Sunshine Act Notice 

AGENCY: United States Commission on 

Civil Rights. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

DATE AND TIME: Friday, September 24, 

2010; 9:30 a.m. EDT 

PLACE: 624 9th St., NW., Room 540, 

Washington, DC 20425. 

Meeting Agenda 

This meeting is open to the public. 

I. Approval of Agenda 

II. Program Planning 

• Approval of New Black Panther 

Party Enforcement Report 

• Consideration of Findings and 

Recommendations for Briefing 

Report on Health Care Disparities 

• Consideration of FY 2011 

Enforcement Report Topic 

• Consideration of Concept Paper for 

Briefing on the Department of 

Education’s Investigation of 

Disparate Impact in Student 

Discipline 

• Consideration of Policy on 

Commissioner Statements and 

Rebuttals 

• Update on Sex Discrimination in 

Liberal Arts College Admissions 

Project—Some of the discussion of 

this agenda item may be held in 

closed session. 

• Update on Clearinghouse Project 

III. State Advisory Committee Issues 

• Maine SAC 

• New Mexico SAC 

IV. Approval of Minutes of September 

10 Meeting 

V. Staff Director’s Report 

VI. Announcements 

VII. Adjourn 

CONTACT PERSON FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION: Lenore Ostrowsky, Acting 

Chief, Public Affairs Unit (202) 376– 

8591. TDD: (202) 376–8116. 

Persons with a disability requiring 

special services, such as an interpreter 

for the hearing impaired, should contact 

Pamela Dunston at least seven days 

prior to the meeting at 202–376–8105. 

TDD: (202) 376–8116. 

Dated: September 13, 2010. 

David Blackwood, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23184 Filed 9–13–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

Action Affecting Export Privileges; 

Mahan Airways and Gatewick LLC 

Mahan Airways, Mahan Tower, No. 21, 

Azadegan St., M.A. Jenah Exp. Way, 

Tehran, Iran; and Gatewick LLC, 

a/k/a Gatewick Freight & Cargo 

Services, a/k/a/Gatewick Aviation 

Services, G#22 Dubai Airport Free 

Zone, P.O. Box 393754, Dubai, United 

Arab Emirates; and P.O. Box 52404, 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES