Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Notices 67235

collection requests at the beginning of

the Departmental review of the

information collection. Each proposed

information collection, grouped by

office, contains the following: (1) Type

of review requested, e.g., new, revision,

extension, existing or reinstatement; (2)

Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4)

Description of the need for, and

proposed use of, the information; (5)

Respondents and frequency of

collection; and (6) Reporting and/or

Recordkeeping burden. ED invites

public comment.

The Department of Education is

especially interested in public comment

addressing the following issues: (1) Is

this collection necessary to the proper

functions of the Department; (2) will

this information be processed and used

in a timely manner, (3) is the estimate

of burden accurate; (4) how might the

Department enhance the quality, utility,

and clarity of the information to be

collected, and (5) how might the

Department minimize the burden of this

collection on respondents, including

through the use of information

technology.

Dated: December 21, 2001.

John Tressler,

Leader, Regulatory Information Management,

Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Office of Postsecondary Education

Type of Review: Revision.

Title: Grant Application for the FIPSE

Comprehensive Program.

Abstract: The Comprehensive

Program is a discretionary grant award

program of the Fund for the

Improvement of Postsecondary

Education (FIPSE). Applications are

submitted in two stages—preliminary

and final. The Program supports

innovative reform projects that hold

promise as models for the resolution of

important issues and problems in

postsecondary education. Grants made

under this program are expected to

contribute new information in

educational practice that can be shared

with others. As its name suggests, the

Comprehensive Program may support

activities in any discipline, program, or

student service. Nonprofit institutions

and organization offering postsecondary

education programs are eligible

applicants. The Comprehensive Program

has established a record of meaningful

and lasting improvement to access and

quality in postsecondary education.

Additional Information: Since the

public last reviewed these guidelines,

the Secretary has proposed to streamline

them. You have until January 14 to send

your related comments to OMB for their

consideration.

Frequency: Annually.

Affected Public: Not-for-profit

institutions; State, Local, or Tribal

Gov’t, SEAs or LEAs.

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour

Burden:

Responses: 1,650.

Burden Hours: 19,500.

Requests for copies of the proposed

information collection request should be

directed to Vivian Reese, Department of

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW,

Room 4050, Regional Office Building 3,

Washington, DC 20202–4651, or should

be electronically mailed to the internet

address OCIO.RIMG@ed.gov, or should

be faxed to 202–708–9346.

Comments regarding burden and/or

the collection activity requirements,

contact Joseph Schubart at (202) 708–

9266 or via his internet address

Joe.Schubart@ed.gov. Individuals who

use a telecommunications device for the

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339.

[FR Doc. 01–32024 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

Mercer Ranch Power Project

AGENCY: Bonneville Power

Administration (BPA), Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

SUMMARY: This notice announces BPA’s

intention to prepare a joint National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/State

Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) EIS in

cooperation with the State of

Washington Energy Facility Site

Evaluation Council (EFSEC) for an

electrical interconnection with a

proposed power plant. BPA is the lead

Federal agency under NEPA and EFSEC

is the lead Washington State agency

under SEPA. The Mercer Ranch Power

Project is an 800-megawatt (MW)

generating station proposed by Mercer

Ranch Power LLC (MRP) that would be

located between the communities of

Paterson and Roosevelt in Benton

County, Washington. MRP has

requested an interconnection to BPA’s

transmission system that would allow

power delivery to customers in the

Pacific Northwest. A switchyard will be

constructed to integrate power from the

generating station into the Federal

Columbia River Transmission System

(FCRTS). BPA proposes to execute an

agreement with MRP to provide the

interconnection and transmission of

power.

ADDRESSES: To be placed on the project

mailing list, including notification of

proposed meetings, call toll-free 1–800–

622–4520, name this project, and leave

your complete name and address. To

comment, call toll-free 1–800–622–

4519; send an e-mail to the BPA Internet

address comment@bpa.gov; or send a

letter to Communications, Bonneville

Power Administration—KC–7, P.O. Box

12999, Portland, Oregon, 97212.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Donald L. Rose, Bonneville Power

Administration—KEC–4, P.O. Box 3621,

Portland, Oregon, 97208–3621; toll-free

telephone 1–800–282–3713; direct

telephone 503–230–3796; or e-mail

dlrose@bpa.gov. Additional information

can be found at BPA’s web site,

www.bpa.gov; and EFSEC’s web site,

www.efsec.wa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EIS

will assess the environmental

consequences of the proposed project,

including:

• The proposed interconnection

agreement with MRP;

• The construction and operation of

the power plant;

• The construction and operation of

less than one-half mile of natural gas

pipeline to tie into Northwest Pipeline

Corporation (NWP) pipeline;

• The construction and operation of

an interconnection to the FCRTS

consisting of:

• Approximately one-half mile of

500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; and

• A new 500-kV switchyard (Crow

Butte) linking the Mercer Ranch Power

Project to one or more BPA 500-kV

transmission lines.

Later this winter, one or more EIS

scoping meetings will be held by BPA,

EFSEC, and MRP to provide information

on the project and associated BPA

transmission interconnection and

upgrades and to identify topics to be

addressed in the EIS. A 45-day comment

period will be announced, during which

affected landowners, concerned

citizens, special interest groups, local

governments, and any other interested

parties are invited to comment on the

scope of the proposed EIS. A 30-day

notice of the meeting(s), including time

and location, will be provided to

interested persons. At the meeting(s),

BPA and EFSEC will answer questions

and accept oral and written comments.

Receiving comments from interested

parties will ensure BPA and EFSEC

address the full range of issues and

potentially significant impacts related to

the proposed project in the EIS. When

completed, the Draft EIS will be

67236 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Notices

circulated for review and comment.

BPA and EFSEC will hold at least one

public comment meeting on the Draft

EIS. BPA and EFSEC will consider and

respond in the Final EIS to comments

received on the Draft EIS.

Proposed Action. MRP proposes to

construct the Mercer Ranch Power

Project, a new power plant in

southwestern Benton County,

Washington. The proposed capacity of

the plant is nominally 800 MW, which

brings the project under the jurisdiction

of the Energy Facility Site Evaluation

Council (EFSEC) for the State of

Washington.

The MRP generating facility will be

designed for a life of 40 years. The

project is proposed to be constructed as

a merchant plant for electric power

generation, with generated power routed

to the FCRTS.

The new power plant will be located

on a site consisting of approximately 40

acres, adjacent to approximately 9,000

acres of irrigated cropland owned by

Mercer Ranches, Inc. This site is located

in unincorporated Benton County, near

the border with Klickitat County. It is

approximately 12 miles west of the

unincorporated town of Paterson,

Washington; 17 miles east of the

unincorporated town of Roosevelt; and

2.5 miles north of the Columbia River.

The project site is approximately 500

feet above sea level and 245 feet above

the normal Columbia River elevation.

The sole fuel for the power generation

facility will be pipeline-quality natural

gas. Gas transportation services will be

provided by the NWP natural gas

transmission pipeline, which runs

through the plant site. It is anticipated

that the natural gas tie-in pipeline will

be constructed and owned by MRP since

it will be on land owned by MRP.

The power plant will include three

individual generating units. Each unit

will consist of one General Electric

PG7241FA combustion turbine

generator (CTG), one triple pressure

reheat type Heat Recovery Steam

Generator (HRSG) with natural gas

supplementary firing capabilities, and

one reheat Steam Turbine Generator

(STG). The CTGs and the HRSG

supplemental firing system will burn

only natural gas. Additional equipment

dedicated to each unit will include

generator step-up transformers,

electrical distribution gear, and all

associated ancillary equipment. The

plant will also use air-cooling

technologies for condensing lowpressure steam. Water for plant

operations will come from the Columbia

River via existing surface water rights.

The Mercer Ranch power project

would deliver electricity to the regional

power grid through an interconnection

to one or more BPA 500-kV

transmission line near the plant. The

interconnection and proposed upgrade

to the transmission grid would include

less than one-half mile of new 500-kV

transmission line (approximately 2 to 3

towers) and a switchyard (Crow Butte)

consisting of up to eight bays to be

located east of Dead Canyon. The

switchyard would connect the power

plant to the existing Ashe-Slatt #1

transmission line and may intertie to the

Ashe-Marion #2 500-kV transmission

line and the proposed John Day-McNary

500-kV transmission line.

Responsibility for construction and

operation of the power plant is

principally with MRP. MRP would

construct and own the interconnecting

500-kV transmission line. BPA would

construct and operate the switchyard.

Process to Date. BPA is the lead

Federal agency for the joint NEPA/SEPA

EIS, and EFSEC is the lead Washington

State agency. EFSEC has already held

open houses introducing the MRP

Project to interested parties in Benton

County. MRP will prepare an

Application for Site Certification and

submit it to EFSEC in January 2002. The

application will address the MRP

Project in detail. BPA and EFSEC will

conduct joint scoping meetings after

receipt and preliminary review of the

initial submission.

Alternatives Proposed for

Consideration. Alternatives thus far

identified for evaluation in the EIS are

(1) the proposed actions, and (2) no

action. Other alternatives may be

identified through the scoping process.

Identification of Environmental

Issues. EFSEC will prepare an EIS

consistent with its responsibilities

under Chapter 80.50 of the Revised

Code of Washington and Chapter 197–

11 of the Washington Administrative

Code. BPA must make a decision

whether to construct the proposed

switchyard and interconnect the

proposed power plant to the regional

transmission grid. Therefore, BPA and

EFSEC intend to prepare a joint NEPA/

SEPA EIS addressing both the power

plant and the associated electric power

interconnection and transmission

facilities. The principal issues identified

thus far for consideration in the Draft

EIS are (1) air quality impacts, (2)

aesthetic and visual impacts, (3) socioeconomic impacts, (4) wetlands and

wildlife habitat impacts, (5) water

quality impacts, and (6) cultural

resource impacts. These issues, together

with any additional significant issues

identified through the scoping process,

will be addressed in the EIS.

Issued in Portland, Oregon, on December

18, 2001.

Stephen J. Wright,

Acting Administrator and Chief Executive

Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–31920 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Energy Technology

Laboratory; Notice of Intent To Grant

Exclusive Patent License

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE),

National Energy Technology Laboratory

(NETL).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of an

intent to grant to Woodward Industrial

Controls of Fort Collins, Colorado, an

exclusive license to practice the

inventions described in U.S. patent

applications titled, ‘‘Real-Time

Combustion Controls and Diagnostics

Sensors’’ and ‘‘Flashback Detection

Sensor for Lean Premix Fuel Nozzles.’’

The inventions are owned by the United

States of America, as represented by the

Department of Energy (DOE). The

proposed license will be exclusive,

subject to a license and other rights

retained by the U.S. Government, and

other terms and conditions to be

negotiated.

DOE intends to grant the license,

upon a final determination in

accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c),

unless within 15 days of publication of

this Notice the Technology Transfer

Manager, Department of Energy,

National Energy Technology Laboratory,

P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507–

0880, receives in writing any of the

following, together with the supporting

documents:

(i) A statement from any person

setting forth reasons why it would not

be in the best interest of the United

States to grant the proposed license; or

(ii) An application for a nonexclusive

license to the invention, in which

applicant states that it already has

brought the invention to practical

application or is likely to bring the

invention to practical application

expeditiously.

DATES: Written comments or

nonexclusive license applications are to

be received at the address listed below

no later than fifteen (15) days after the

date of this published Notice.

ADDRESSES: Technology Transfer

Manager, U.S. Department of Energy,

National Energy Technology Laboratory,

P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507–

0880.