1332 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 5 / Monday, January 8, 2001 / Notices

the inventions embodied in U.S. Patent

Nos. 5,324,661 and 5,326,703, and has

plans for commercialization of the

inventions.

The exclusive licenses will each be

subject to a license and other rights

retained by the U.S. Government, and

other terms and conditions to be

negotiated. DOE intends to negotiate to

grant the licenses, unless, within 60

days of this notice, the Assistant

General Counsel for Technology

Transfer and Intellectual Property,

Department of Energy, Washington, DC

20585, receives in writing any of the

following, together with supporting

documents:

(i) A statement from any person

setting forth reasons why it would not

be in the best interests of the United

States to grant either of the proposed

licenses; or

(ii) An application for a nonexclusive

license to either invention, in which

applicant states that he already has

brought either invention to practical

application or is likely to bring either

invention to practical application

expeditiously.

The Department will review all timely

written responses to this notice, and

will proceed with negotiating the

licenses if, after consideration of written

responses to this notice, a finding is

made that the licenses are in the public

interest.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 2,

2001.

Paul A. Gottlieb,

Assistant General Counsel for Technology,

Transfer and Intellectual Property.

[FR Doc. 01–441 Filed 1–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

Umatilla Generating 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 an EIS, under the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA), on a proposed electrical

interconnection requested by Umatilla

Generating Company, L.P., to integrate

electrical power from the Umatilla

Generating Project into the Federal

transmission grid. BPA proposes to

execute an agreement with Umatilla

Generating Company L.P., to provide

them with an interconnection.

DATES: BPA has established a 45-day

scoping period 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. Written comments are

due to the address below no later than

February 22, 2001. Comments may also

be made at an EIS scoping open house

meeting to be held on January 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: To comment, telephone tollfree 1–800–622–4519; send an e-mail to

the BPA Internet address

comment@bpa.gov; or mail comments to

Communications, Bonneville Power

Administration—KC–7, P.O. Box 12999,

Portland, Oregon, 97212. To be placed

on the project mail list, call 1–800–622–

4520.

An EIS open house will be held on

January 30, 2001, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,

at Hermiston High School, 600 S. First

Street, Hermiston, Oregon. At this

informal scoping meeting, BPA staff will

answer questions and accept oral and

written comments, and representatives

of BPA and the Umatilla Generating

Company, L.P., will be available to

discuss the proposed project and the

topics to be addressed in the EIS.

Information on the proposed project

will be available for review.

Scoping will help BPA ensure that a

full range of issues related to this

proposal is addressed in the EIS, and

also will identify significant or

potentially significant impacts that may

result from the proposed project. When

completed, the Draft EIS will be

circulated for review and comment, and

BPA will hold a public comment

meeting on the Draft EIS. BPA will

consider and respond in the Final EIS

to comments received on the Draft EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas C. McKinney, Bonneville Power

Administration—KEC–4, P.O. Box 3621,

Portland, Oregon, 97208–3621; toll-free

telephone 1–800–282–3713; direct

telephone 503–230–4749; or e-mail

tcmckinney@bpa.gov. Additional

information can be found at BPA’s web

site: www.bpa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EIS

will assess the environmental

consequences of the agreement which

BPA proposes with Umatilla Generating

Company, L.P., and of any

modifications to the transmission

system needed to provide an electrical

connection under the terms of the

agreement. In addition to these Federal

actions, the EIS will consider the

environmental consequences of

construction and operation of the

Umatilla Generating Project.

The proposed project has several

components. They include an electrical

connection at BPA’s McNary Substation

for the Umatilla Generating Company,

L.P.; a natural-gas-fired, combined-cycle

combustion turbine; electric-powergeneration plant (Umatilla Generating

Project); a natural-gas pipeline; and new

and modified electric-powertransmission lines. All proposed

facilities would be located within

Umatilla County, Oregon.

The Umatilla Generating Project is

proposed by the Umatilla Generating

Company, L.P., an independent power

producer. They would build and operate

the power plant, and would also pay for

the construction of approximately threequarters of a mile of new transmission

lines and modification of approximately

11 miles of existing transmission lines

owned by the Umatilla Electric

Cooperative. The new transmission

lines would be owned by the Umatilla

Electric Cooperative. PG&E Gas

Transmission-Northwest Corporation

(GTN) or Cascade Natural Gas would

build a natural-gas pipeline up to 5

miles in length to supply fuel to the

power plant.

A. Proposed Action. The proposed

Umatilla Generating Project would be a

combustion turbine/combined-cycle

electric power plant with a nominal

generating capacity of 550 megawatts.

The energy facility site would be located

about 4 miles southwest of the city of

Hermiston and about one-half mile west

of the existing Hermiston Generating

Plant.

The proposed Umatilla Generating

Project would consist of two essentially

identical combustion turbine generators,

two heat-recovery steam generators

(HRSG) and one steam turbine. The

proposed generating project would be

fueled by natural gas from the existing

GTN pipeline that passes approximately

5 miles south of the energy facility site.

Natural gas would be burned in the

combustion turbines. Expanding gases

from combustion would turn rotors

within the turbines that are connected

to electric generators. The hot gases

exhausted from the combustion turbines

would be used to raise steam in the

HRSGs. Steam from the HRSGs would

be expanded through a steam turbine

that drives its own electric generator.

Water would be needed at the facility

to generate steam and cool the steam

process. Water would be supplied from

the Port of Umatilla’s regional water

supply pipeline that currently extends

to the Hermiston Generating Plant. A

recirculating cooling system employing

mechanically induced draft evaporative

cooling towers would be used to

minimize water use. Water would be

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 5 / Monday, January 8, 2001 / Notices 1333

added to the cooling system to

compensate for evaporative losses

(make-up water) and blowdown.

Blowdown is the water bled from the

cooling system to limit the build-up of

salts. Blowdown would be conveyed by

pipeline to Madison Farms, located

approximately 3 miles south of the

proposed generating project, where it

would be applied to crops.

The proposed Umatilla Generating

Project would deliver electric power to

the regional power grid at BPA’s

McNary Substation in Umatilla using

the Umatilla Electric Cooperative’s

existing Westland-McNary

Transmission Line. A new 230-kilovolt

(kV) radial transmission line tap would

be constructed to connect the

switchyard at the proposed Umatilla

Generating Project to the WestlandMcNary Transmission Line. Presently,

the transmission line consists of one

115-kV circuit and one 230-kV circuit.

The existing 115-kV line would be

removed and replaced with a 230-kV

line. BPA would modify the McNary

Substation to accept electric power from

the Umatilla Generating Project.

In addition, the section of the 115–kV

transmission line between the Umatilla

Generating Project and the Hermiston

Generating Plant would be

reconductored for 230 kV. This portion

of the circuit reconductoring would

increase the overall efficiency and

reliability of the transmission line.

B. Process to Date. BPA is the lead

Federal agency for the project EIS. The

State of Oregon Energy Facility Siting

Council is currently evaluating the

Application for a Site Certificate for the

Umatilla Generating Project submitted

by the Umatilla Generating Company,

L.P. Oregon’s site evaluation process,

like NEPA, provides opportunity for

public participation. Umatilla

Generating Company, L.P., held a public

informational meeting on December 7,

2000. Umatilla Generating Company,

L.P., expects to submit an application

for Air Contaminant Discharge and

Prevention of Significant Deterioration

Permit for the proposed project to the

Oregon Department of Environmental

Quality in January 2001.

C. Alternatives Proposed for

Consideration. Alternatives thus far

identified for evaluation in the EIS are:

(1) The proposed action, and (2) no

action. Other alternatives may be

identified through the scoping process.

D. Identification of Environmental

Issues. BPA intends to prepare an EIS

addressing both the Umatilla Generating

Project and the associated electric

power interconnection facilities. BPA

decided to prepare the EIS for two

reasons: (1) The Umatilla Generating

Project would depend on the

modifications at BPA’s McNary

Substation to connect with BPA’s

transmission grid, and (2) no other

Federal or State agency is currently

preparing an EIS on the proposed

project. Because no other EIS is being

prepared, the scope of BPA’s EIS will

cover both the interconnection elements

and the Umatilla Generating Project.

The principal issues identified thus

far for consideration in the Draft EIS

with respect to the Umatilla Generating

Project are as follows: (1) Air quality

impacts, (2) noise impacts from plant

operation, (3) aesthetic impacts, (4)

socioeconomic impacts created by an

influx of construction workers into a

sparsely populated area, and (5) impacts

on wildlife habitat. The principal issues

identified thus far for consideration in

the Draft EIS with respect to the electric

power transmission facilities are as

follows: (1) Impacts of transmission line

construction on wetlands and wildlife

habitat, (2) aesthetic impacts, and (3)

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

27, 2000.

Stephen J. Wright,

Acting Administrator and Chief Executive

Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–442 Filed 1–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. ER01–627–001, et al.]

Commonwealth Edison Company, et

al.; Electric Rate and Corporate

Regulation Filings

January 2, 2001.

Take notice that the following filings

have been made with the Commission:

1. Commonwealth Edison Company

[Docket No. ER01–627–001]

Take notice that on December 21,

2000, Exelon Corporation (Exelon), on

behalf of its subsidiaries,

Commonwealth Edison Company

(ComEd) and Exelon Generation, L.L.C.

(Exelon Generation), tendered for filing

an amendment to its December 8, 2000,

filing of a form of agreement entitled

Ancillary and Other Control Area

Services Resource Purchase Agreement

(hereafter the Agreement). Due to an

administrative oversight, the Agreement

references various Schedules which

were inadvertently omitted in Exelon’s

December 8, 2000 filing. Per an informal

request of FERC Staff, ComEd is

accordingly submitting with this

transmittal letter the Agreement, along

with the previously omitted Schedules

referenced in said Agreement.

FERC Staff has advised ComEd that

making this amended filing should not

affect the effective date of January 1,

2001 requested by ComEd in its

December 8, 2000 filing in this docket.

Comment date: January 11, 2001, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

2. Commonwealth Edison Company

[Docket No. ER01–628–001]

Take notice that on December 21,

2000, Commonwealth Edison Company

(ComEd) tendered for filing an

amendment to its December 8, 2000,

filing to revise Schedules 4, 4A and 4G

to ComEd’s Open Access Transmission

Tariff (OATT). Second Revised Sheet

No. 124 of ComEd’s OATT references

Schedule 1 of the Ancillary and Other

Control Area Services Resource

Purchase Agreement (Agreement)

between ComEd and Exelon Generation,

L.L.C., filed contemporaneously in

Docket No. ER01–627–000 with the

revisions to Schedules 4, 4A and 4G. Per

an informal request of FERC Staff,

ComEd is amending its filing to include

Schedule 1 of the Agreement as

Attachment A to Schedule 4, instead of

merely referencing it in Schedule 4 to

ComEd’s OATT.

Comment date: January 11, 2001, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

3. Southwestern Electric Power

Company

[Docket No. ER01–651–001]

Take notice that on December 21,

2000, Southwestern Electric Power

Company (SWEPCO) tendered for filing

in this subdocket rate sheets reflecting

a proposed fixed return on common

equity (ROE) to be used in establishing

estimated and final redetermined

formula rates for wholesale service to

the City of Bentonville, Arkansas

(Bentonville). SWEPCO currently

provides service to Bentonville and its

other wholesale formula rate customers

under contracts which provide for

periodic changes in rates and charges

determined in accordance with cost-ofservice formulas, including a formulaic

determination of the ROE. SWEPCO has

proposed in this docket to replace the

formulaic ROE with a fixed ROE. The

filing in this subdocket is solely to file

the proposed Bentonville rate sheets