6284 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 24 / Friday, February 6, 2009 / Notices 

(866) 208–3372 (voice) or 202–502–8659 

(TTY), or send a fax to 202–208–2106 

with the required accommodations. 

All interested persons are permitted 

to attend. For further information please 

contact Vince Mareino at (202) 502– 

6167 or e-mail Vince.Mareino@ferc.gov. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–2525 Filed 2–5–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket Nos. RP08–591–000] 

Equitrans, L.P.; Notice of Technical 

Conference 

January 30, 2009. 

Take notice that Commission Staff is 

rescheduling the technical conference in 

the above-referenced proceedings, 

which was previously set to take place 

on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, to 

Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 10 a.m. 

(EST), in a room to be designated at the 

offices of the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 

FERC conferences are accessible 

under section 508 of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973. For accessibility 

accommodations please send an e-mail 

to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free 

(866) 208–3372 (voice) or (202) 502– 

8659 (TTY), or send a fax to (202) 208– 

2106 with the required 

accommodations. 

All interested persons are permitted 

to attend. For further information please 

contact Anna Fernandez at (202) 502– 

6682 or e-mail 

Anna.Fernandez@ferc.gov. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–2524 Filed 2–5–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Interconnection of the Proposed Deer 

Creek Station Energy Facility Project, 

South Dakota 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and to 

conduct scoping meetings; Notice of 

floodplain and wetlands involvement. 

SUMMARY: The Western Area Power 

Administration (Western), an agency 

within the U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE), intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for the interconnection of the proposed 

Deer Creek Station Energy Facility 

(Project) in South Dakota, in accordance 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, DOE 

NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 

CFR 1021), and the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing NEPA (40 

CFR 1500–1508). Basin Electric Power 

Cooperative (Basin Electric) has 

requested to interconnect the proposed 

Project to Western’s power transmission 

system. The EIS will address Western’s 

Federal action of whether to allow 

interconnection at its White Substation, 

and to make any necessary 

modifications to Western facilities to 

accommodate the interconnection. The 

EIS will also review the potential 

environmental impacts of constructing, 

operating, and maintaining Basin 

Electric’s proposed Project, which 

includes a 300 megawatt (MW) 

combined-cycle natural gas generation 

facility and associated electric, natural 

gas, and water lines that would be 

constructed east of White in Brookings 

and Deuel counties, South Dakota. 

Portions of Basin Electric’s proposed 

Project may affect floodplains and 

wetlands, so this Notice of Intent also 

serves as a notice of proposed 

floodplain or wetland action, in 

accordance with 10 CFR 1022.12 (a). 

Western will hold a public scoping 

meeting near the Project area to share 

information and receive comments and 

suggestions on the scope of the EIS. 

DATES: An open-house public scoping 

meeting will be held on February 24, 

2009, in White, South Dakota, from 6 

p.m. to 9 p.m. CST. The public scoping 

period starts with the publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register and will 

continue through April 7, 2009. To be 

assured of consideration, all fax or email comments or suggestions regarding 

the appropriate scope of the EIS must be 

received by the end of the scoping 

period. Mailed comments must be 

postmarked no later than midnight on 

the last day of the scoping period. 

ADDRESSES: The open-house public 

scoping meeting will be held at the 

following location starting at 6 p.m. 

CST.: February 24, 2009, McKnight 

Community Hall, 228 West Main Street, 

White, SD 57276. 

Written comments on the scope of the 

EIS should be addressed to the 

following: Mr. Matt Marsh, NEPA 

Document Manager, Western Area 

Power Administration, Upper Great 

Plains Customer Service Region, P.O. 

Box 35800, Billings, MT 59107–5800, 

fax (406) 247–7408, or e-mail 

DeerCreekStationEIS@wapa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the proposed Project, the 

EIS process, and general information 

about interconnections with Western’s 

transmission system, contact Mr. Marsh 

at the address provided above. Parties 

wishing to be placed on the Project 

mailing list for future information, and 

to receive copies of the Draft and Final 

EIS when they are available, should also 

contact Mr. Marsh. 

For general information on DOE 

NEPA review procedures or status of a 

NEPA review, contact Ms. Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance, GC–20, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone 

(202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western, 

an agency within DOE, markets Federal 

hydroelectric power to preference 

customers, as specified by law. These 

customers include municipalities, 

cooperatives, public utilities, irrigation 

districts, Federal and State agencies, 

and Native American Tribes in 15 

western states, including South Dakota. 

Western owns and operates about 

17,000 miles of transmission line. 

Basin Electric is a regional wholesale 

electric generation and transmission 

cooperative owned and controlled by its 

member cooperatives. Basin Electric 

serves approximately 2.5 million 

customers covering 430,000 square 

miles in portions of nine states, 

including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, 

Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North 

Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. 

Project Description 

Basin Electric has requested 

interconnection with Western’s electric 

transmission system at White 

Substation, located in Brookings 

County, South Dakota. Western’s 

Federal action is to consider Basin 

Electric’s interconnection request under 

Western’s Open Access Transmission 

Service Tariff and make a decision 

whether to approve or deny the 

interconnection request. If the decision 

is to approve the request, Western’s 

action would include making necessary 

system modifications to accommodate 

the interconnection of Basin Electric’s 

proposed Project. 

Basin Electric’s proposed Project is to 

construct, own, operate, and maintain 

the Deer Creek Station Energy Facility 

Project, a 300 MW combined-cycle 

natural gas generation facility, water 


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