30560 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 122 / Friday, June 26, 2009 / Notices 

power transmission system, 70 FR 30716 (May 27, 

2005). 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 

participated as a cooperating agency in 

the EIS process. USACE is considering 

whether to issue a permit for Section 10 

of the Rivers and Harbors Act and for 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for 

construction of the proposed Project 

within or across navigable waters and 

waters of the United States. 

DATES: Western and USACE will wait at 

least thirty days from the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

Notice of Availability for the Final EIS 

published in the Federal Register before 

issuing decisions on the interconnection 

request and permits, respectively. 

Western’s decision on whether or not to 

grant the interconnection request will be 

published in the Federal Register, once 

issued. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or to request a copy 

of the Final EIS or the Executive 

Summary, please write Mr. Matt 

Blevins, NEPA Document Manager, Big 

Stone II EIS, Western Area Power 

Administration, P.O. Box 281213, 

Lakewood, CO 80228; e-mail 

BigStoneEIS@wapa.gov, or Phone: (800) 

336–7288. Please note that printed 

versions will only be available for the 

Executive Summary and Volumes I and 

II. The full Final EIS (Volumes I–IV) is 

available upon request only in an 

electronic version. 

For general information on DOE’s 

NEPA review process, please contact: 

Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of 

NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC–20, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, 

DC 20585, (202) 586–4600 or (800) 472– 

2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Otter Tail 

Corporation (dba Otter Tail Power 

Company), Central Minnesota 

Municipal Power Agency, Heartland 

Consumers Power District, MontanaDakota Utilities Company, and Western 

Minnesota Municipal Power Agency 

(dba Missouri River Energy Services), 

collectively referred to as the Coowners, propose to develop a new 600– 

MW (net) baseload coal-fired electric 

generating power plant and associated 

transmission lines and substation 

upgrades known as the Big Stone II 

Power Plant and Transmission Project. 

The proposed Project outlined in the 

Final EIS differs from that presented in 

the Big Stone II Power Plant and 

Transmission Project Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (Draft 

EIS) issued in May 2006. Based on 

comments received on the Draft EIS and 

revised cost estimates for constructing 

the proposed make-up water storage 

pond presented in the Draft EIS, the Coowners revised their proposed Project to 

include the use of groundwater as a 

source of make-up water, as well as 

other changes associated with 

groundwater use. These revisions were 

outlined in a Supplemental Draft EIS 

issued in October 2007. 

The Final EIS is available in four 

volumes. Volume I contains the Final 

EIS, which integrates the information 

contained in the Draft EIS and the 

Supplemental Draft EIS, including 

revisions to the proposed Project, as 

well as other revisions and minor edits 

made in response to specific comments. 

A summary of all substantive comments 

received and Western’s responses are 

included in Volume II of the Final EIS. 

Volume II also contains response papers 

providing additional information on 

mercury emissions, renewable and wind 

energy, and demand side management. 

All comments received on the Draft EIS 

and Supplemental Draft EIS were 

carefully reviewed and considered in 

preparing the Final EIS. Volume III 

contains the Appendices, and Volume 

IV includes a copy of all substantive 

comments received on the Draft EIS and 

the Supplemental Draft EIS. 

Copies of the full Final EIS are 

available for public review at the offices 

and public libraries listed below: 

Public Libraries 

Ortonville Public Library, 412 Second 

Street Northwest, Ortonville, 

Minnesota. 

Morris Public Library, 102 East 6th 

Street, Morris, Minnesota. 

Granite Falls Public Library, 155 7th 

Avenue, Granite Falls, Minnesota. 

Appleton Public Library, 322 W. 

Schlieman Avenue, Appleton, 

Minnesota. 

Canby Public Library, 110 Oscar Avenue 

North, Canby, Minnesota. 

Willmar Public Library, 410 5th Street 

Southwest, Willmar, Minnesota. 

Kerkhoven Public Library, 208 10th 

Street North, Kerkhoven, Minnesota. 

Benson Public Library, 200 13th Street 

South, Benson, Minnesota. 

Grant County Public Library, 207 Park 

Avenue East, Milbank, South Dakota. 

Watertown Regional Library, 611 Bruhn 

Avenue, NE., Watertown, South 

Dakota. 

The Final EIS is also available at DOE 

Reading Rooms at the following 

addresses: U.S. Department of Energy, 

Forrestal Building, Reading Room 1E– 

190, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; Western Area 

Power Administration, Corporate 

Services Office, 12155 West Alameda 

Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado 80228; 

and Western Area Power 

Administration, Upper Great Plains 

Customer Service Region, South Dakota 

Maintenance Office, 200 4th Street, SW., 

Huron, South Dakota 57350. 

Decisions by Western and the USACE 

will be made no sooner than 30 days 

from the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s published Notice of 

Availability for the Final EIS in the 

Federal Register. Western is considering 

whether to grant a request to 

interconnect the proposed Project with 

Western’s transmission system at Morris 

and Granite Falls substations in 

Minnesota, an action which requires 

Western to complete modifications to 

these substations to support the 

interconnection. The USACE is 

considering whether to issue permits for 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

and for Section 404 of the Clean Water 

Act for construction of the proposed 

Project within or across navigable 

waters and waters of the United States. 

Dated: June 8, 2009. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–15125 Filed 6–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[FERC Docket No. CP09–54–000] 

Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C.; Notice of 

Availability of the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement and Notice of Public 

Comment Meetings for the Ruby 

Pipeline Project 

June 19, 2009. 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) has prepared a draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

on the natural gas pipeline facilities 

proposed by Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C. 

(Ruby) in the above-referenced docket. 

The Ruby Pipeline Project facilities 

would be located in Wyoming, Utah, 

Nevada, and Oregon and would be 

capable of transporting up to 1.5 million 

dekatherms per day of natural gas. 

The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy 

the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA). The U.S. Department of 

Interior, Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish 

and Wildlife Service; the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service (USFS) and Natural Resources 

Conservation Service; the U.S. Army 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 122 / Friday, June 26, 2009 / Notices 30561 

1 Interventions may also be filed electronically via 

the Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous 

discussion on filing comments electronically. 

Corps of Engineers; the State of Utah 

Public Lands Policy Coordination 

Office; and the Board of County 

Commissioners in Lincoln County, 

Wyoming are participating as 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of the EIS. Cooperating agencies have 

jurisdiction by law or special expertise 

with respect to resources potentially 

affected by the proposal, and participate 

in the NEPA analysis. The Ruby 

Pipeline Project would require permits 

from the cooperating agencies pursuant 

to right-of-way grants (and/or temporary 

use or special use permits) for federally 

administered lands/canals crossed in 

Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon. 

Based on the analysis included in the 

EIS, the FERC staff concludes that 

construction and operation of the Ruby 

Pipeline Project would result in some 

adverse environmental impacts. 

However, most of these would be 

reduced to less-than-significant levels 

with the implementation of Ruby’s 

proposed mitigation measures; 

additional measures and agreements 

being discussed by Ruby and other 

agencies related to permitting or 

conservation agreements; and the 

additional measures recommended by 

staff in the EIS. 

The draft EIS addresses the potential 

environmental effects of the following 

project facilities: 

• About 675.2 miles of 42-inchdiameter mainline pipeline; 

• About 2.6 miles of 42-inch-diameter 

lateral pipeline; 

• 1 electric-powered compressor 

station and 3 natural gas-powered 

compressor stations (totaling 160,500 

horsepower of new compression); 

• 4 meter stations containing 

interconnects to other pipeline systems; 

• 44 mainline valves; 

• 20 pig launchers or receivers; 

• 5 new communication towers; and 

• Miscellaneous communications 

equipment installed at eight existing 

communication towers. 

Comment Procedures and Public 

Meetings 

You can make a difference by 

providing us with your specific 

comments or concerns about the Ruby 

Pipeline Project. Your comments should 

focus on the potential environmental 

effects, reasonable alternatives, and 

measures to avoid or lessen 

environmental impacts. The more 

specific your comments, the more useful 

they will be. To ensure consideration of 

your comments on the proposal in the 

final EIS, it is important that the 

Commission receive your comments 

before August 10, 2009. 

For your convenience, there are four 

methods in which you can use to submit 

your comments to the Commission. In 

all instances please reference the project 

docket number CP09–54–000 with your 

submission. The Commission 

encourages electronic filing of 

comments and has dedicated eFiling 

expert staff available to assist you at 

(202) 502–8258 or efiling@ferc.gov. 

Please carefully follow these 

instructions so that your comments are 

properly recorded: 

(1) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the Quick 

Comment feature, which is located on 

the Commission’s Internet Web site at 

http://www.ferc.gov under the link 

Documents and Filings. A Quick 

Comment is an easy method for 

interested persons to submit text-only 

comments on a project; 

(2) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s Internet Web site at 

http://www.ferc.gov under the link to 

Documents and Filings. eFiling involves 

preparing your submission in the same 

manner as you would if filing on paper, 

and then saving the file on your 

computer’s hard drive. You will attach 

that file as your submission. New 

eFiling users must first create an 

account by clicking on ‘‘Sign-up’’ or 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be asked to select 

the type of filing your are making. A 

comment on a particular project is 

considered a ‘‘Comment on a Filing;’’ 

(3) You may file your comments via 

mail to the Commission by sending an 

original and two copies of your letter to: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First St., NE; Room 1A, Washington, DC 

20426; label one copy of your comments 

for the attention of the Gas Branch 1, PJ– 

11.1 and reference Docket No. CP09–54– 

000 on the original and both copies; and 

(4) In lieu of sending written or 

electronic comments, the FERC invites 

you to attend one of the public comment 

meetings the staff will conduct in the 

project area to receive comments on the 

draft EIS. All meetings will begin at 7 

p.m., local time, and are scheduled as 

follows: 

Date Location 

July 21, 2009 .... Malin Community Hall, 

2307 Front Street. Malin, 

OR 97623. 

July 22, 2009 .... Elks Lodge, 323 N. F 

Street, Lakeview, OR 

97630. 

July 23, 2009 .... Winnemucca Convention 

Center, 50 W. 

Winnemucca Blvd., 

Winnemucca, NV 89445. 

July 27, 2009 .... Brigham City Senior Center, 24 N 300 W, 

Brigham City, UT 84302. 

July 28, 2009 .... Hilton Garden Inn, 3650 

East Idaho St., Elko, NV 

89801. 

July 29, 2009 .... Kemmerer Senior Center, 

105 J.C. Penney Drive, 

Kemmerer, WY 83101. 

July 30, 2009 .... Hyrum Civic Center, 83 W. 

Main St., Hyrum, UT 

84319. 

Interested groups and individuals are 

encouraged to attend and present oral 

comments on the draft EIS. Transcripts 

of the meetings will be prepared. 

After the comments are reviewed, any 

significant new issues are investigated, 

and modifications are made to the draft 

EIS, a final EIS will be published and 

distributed. The final EIS will contain 

the staff’s responses to timely comments 

received on the draft EIS. 

Comments will be considered by the 

Commission but will not serve to make 

the commentor a party to the 

proceeding. Any person seeking to 

become a party to the proceeding must 

file a motion to intervene pursuant to 

Rule 214 of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 

385.214). Anyone may intervene in this 

proceeding based on the draft EIS. You 

must file your request to intervene as 

specified above.1 Only intervenors have 

the right to seek rehearing of the 

Commission’s decision. You do not 

need intervenor status to have your 

comments considered. 

The draft EIS has been placed in the 

public files of the FERC, BLM, and 

USFS and is available for public 

inspection at: 

30562 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 122 / Friday, June 26, 2009 / Notices 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management U.S. Forest Service 

Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., 

Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 

502–8371. 

Wyoming State Office, P.O. Box 1828, Cheyenne, WY 82003. 

Kemmerer Field Office, 312 Highway 189 N, 

Kemmerer, WY 83101. 

Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, Suite 

500, Salt Lake City, UT 84145–0155. 

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Ogden 

Ranger District, 507 25th Street, Ogden, UT 

84401. 

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Salt 

Lake Office, 8256 Federal Building, 125 S. 

State Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84138. 

Salt Lake Field Office, 2370 South 2300 

West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119. 

Fremont-Winema National Forest, 1301 S. G 

Street, Lakeview, OR 97630. 

Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., 

Reno, NV 89502. 

U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Regional 

Office, 324 25th Street, Ogden, UT 84401. 

Elko District Office, 3900 E. Idaho Street, 

Elko, NV 89801. 

Winnemucca District Office, 5100 E. 

Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 

89445. 

Surprise Field Office, 602 Cressler Street, 

Cedarville, CA 96104. 

Oregon State Office, 333 SW First Avenue, 

Portland, OR 97204. 

Lakeview Office, 1301 S. G Street, Lakeview, 

OR 97630. 

Klamath Falls Office, 2795 Anderson Avenue, 

Bldg. #25, Klamath Falls, OR 97603. 

A limited number of hard copies and 

CD–ROMs of the draft EIS are available 

from the FERC’s Public Reference Room 

identified above. The draft EIS is also 

available for public viewing on the 

FERC’s Internet Web site at http:// 

www.ferc.gov. In addition, copies of the 

draft EIS have been mailed to federal, 

state, and local government agencies; 

elected officials; Native American tribes; 

local libraries and newspapers; 

intervenors in the FERC’s proceeding; 

individuals who provided scoping 

comments; affected landowners and 

individuals who requested the draft EIS; 

and new landowners identified as being 

crossed by route alternatives either 

recommended by FERC staff or stuill 

under consideration. 

Route Alternatives Recommended or 

Considered by FERC in the Draft EIS 

Some landowners are receiving the 

draft EIS because their property has 

been identified as potentially being 

affected by certain route alternatives 

recommended or considered by FERC 

staff to avoid or lessen environmental 

impacts along Ruby’s proposed pipeline 

route in several locations. Refer to the 

discussion of the Terrace Basin, Willow 

Creek, Southern Langell Valley, 

Sheldon, and Black Rock Route 

Alternatives in section 3.4 of the draft 

EIS. Please note that while staff has 

recommended the use of the first three 

listed alternatives, a decision whether or 

not to recommend use of the Sheldon 

Route Alternative or Black Rock Route 

Alternative has not yet been made. The 

Commission staff wants to ensure that 

all potentially affected landowners have 

the opportunity to participate in the 

environmental review process, thus staff 

is soliciting comments to assist with the 

environmental analysis of these route 

alternatives, which will be presented in 

the final EIS. 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at 1–866–208–FERC (3372) or on the 

FERC Internet Web site (http:// 

www.ferc.gov). Using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ 

link, select ‘‘General Search’’ from the 

eLibrary menu, enter the selected date 

range and ‘‘Docket Number,’’ excluding 

the last three digits in the Docket 

Number field (i.e., CP09–54), and follow 

the instructions. You may also search 

using the phrase ‘‘Ruby Pipeline 

Project’’ in the ‘‘Text Search’’ field. For 

assistance with access to eLibrary, the 

helpline can be reached at 1–866–208– 

3676, TTY (202) 502–8659, or at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. The 

eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web 

site also provides access to the texts of 

formal documents issued by the 

Commission, such as orders, notices, 

and rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription that 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. To register for this service, 

go to http://www.ferc.gov/ 

esubscribenow.htm. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–15151 Filed 6–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. ES09–36–001] 

Upper Peninsula Power Company; 

Notice of Filing 

June 19, 2009. 

Take notice that on June 17, 2009, 

Upper Peninsula Power Company 

(UPPCO) filed a supplement to its 

application for renewed authorization to 

issue short-term debt, with new Exhibits 

C, D, and E, pursuant to section 204 of 

the Federal Power Act and Part 34 of the 

Commission’s regulations. 

Any person desiring to intervene or to 

protest this filing must file in 

accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of 

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). 

Protests will be considered by the 

Commission in determining the 

appropriate action to be taken, but will 

not serve to make protestants parties to 

the proceeding. Any person wishing to 

become a party must file a notice of 

intervention or motion to intervene, as 

appropriate. Such notices, motions, or 

protests must be filed on or before the 

comment date. On or before the 

comment date, it is not necessary to