[Federal Register: September 11, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 177)]
[Notices]
[Page 52855-52858]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11se08-64]
[[Page 52855]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Western Area Power Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement To Evaluate Wind Energy Development in Iowa, Minnesota,
Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Including the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service's Landscape-Level Easement Program in North
Dakota, South Dakota, and Eastern Montana; and To Conduct Public
Scoping Meetings
AGENCIES: Western Area Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy,
and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement, and to Conduct Public Scoping Meetings.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended; and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
regulations; the U.S. Department of Energy, Western Area Power
Administration (Western), and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish
and Wildlife Service (Service), will, as joint lead agencies, prepare a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Programmatic EIS) to
evaluate issues associated with wind energy development within
Western's Upper Great Plains Customer Service Region (UGP Region),
which encompasses all or parts of the States of Iowa, Minnesota,
Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and upon the
Service's landscape-level grassland and wetland easements in North
Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Rural Utility Services (RUS) plans to participate as a
cooperating agency. Public scoping meetings will be held during the
Programmatic EIS scoping period.
DATES: The public scoping meetings will be held September 30, October 1
and 2, 2008. The public scoping period starts with the publication of
this notice in the Federal Register and will continue until November
10, 2008. Western and the Service will consider all electronic and
written comments on the scope of the Programmatic EIS received on the
project Web site (http://plainswindeis.anl.gov), or postmarked by
November 10, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Western and the Service will hold public scoping meetings to
obtain comments on the Programmatic EIS at 6 p.m., at the following
locations:
1. September 30, 2008, Holiday Inn City Centre, 100 West 8th St.,
Sioux Falls, SD.
2. October 1, 2008, Radisson Hotel, 605 East Broadway Avenue,
Bismarck, ND.
3. October 2, 2008, Quality Inn Homestead Park, 2036 Overland
Avenue, Billings, MT.
The agencies will also announce the exact locations and times of
the public meetings through the local media, the project Web site
(http://plainswindeis.anl.gov), and an interested party mailing list.
You may submit comments electronically, using the online comment form
available on the project Web site (http://plainswindeis.anl.gov), or by
letter to WAPA/FWS Wind Energy Programmatic EIS Scoping, Argonne
National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue-EVS/900, Argonne, IL 60439.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on Western's proposed
Comprehensive Management Program for Wind Energy Project
Interconnections, and general information about interconnections with
Western's transmission system, contact Nicholas Stas, Regional
Environmental Manager, Upper Great Plains Customer Service Region,
Western Area Power Administration, P.O. Box 35800, Billings, MT 59107-
5800, telephone (406) 247-7404, facsimile (406) 247-7408, e-mail
stas@wapa.gov. For information on the Programmatic EIS process, or to
receive a copy of the Draft Programmatic EIS when it is issued, contact
Mark Wieringa, NEPA Document Manager, Western Area Power
Administration, P.O. Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213, telephone
(800) 336-7288, facsimile (720) 962-7263, e-mail wieringa@wapa.gov.
For information on the Service's participation in the Programmatic
EIS, contact Michael Spratt, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 134 Union
Boulevard, Lakewood, CO 80228-1807, telephone (303) 236-4366, facsimile
(303) 236-4792, e-mail Michael_Spratt@fws.gov.
For information on RUS's participation in the Programmatic EIS,
contact Barbara R. Britton, Environmental Protection Specialist,
Engineering and Environmental Staff, Water and Environmental Programs,
Rural Development-Utilities Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250;
telephone (202) 720-1414; facsimile (202) 720-0820; e-mail
Barbara.Britton@wdc.usda.gov.
For general information on the DOE's NEPA review process, contact
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-
20, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585-0119, telephone (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756,
facsimile (202) 586-7031.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western's UGP Region proposes to develop and
implement a comprehensive region-wide management program for wind-
energy project interconnections in response to an increasing number of
wind-energy project interconnection requests. The UGP Region includes
all or parts of the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North
Dakota, and South Dakota. The requests are primarily from independent
wind project developers who wish to interconnect their projects to the
UGP Region's transmission system, in order to move their generation to
market. Currently, Western addresses each request for interconnection
separately, in the order that they are received.
The objective of Western's proposed program would be to support the
processing of these interconnection requests, including NEPA analyses,
by having already addressed generic environmental interconnection
concerns and issues in a Programmatic EIS. The Programmatic EIS would
analyze, to the extent practicable, the impacts resulting from
development of wind energy projects and the effectiveness of mitigation
measures, standard construction practices, and best management
practices in reducing potential impacts. Impacts and mitigation would
be analyzed for each environmental resource, and all aspects of wind
energy projects would be addressed, including turbine, transformer,
collector line, access road, and substation installations, and
operational and maintenance activities. The program would be structured
to complement Western's Open Access Transmission Service Tariff
(Tariff), which includes procedures for addressing wind-energy project
interconnection requests.
Many of the impacts resulting from wind energy infrastructure
development, including siting wind turbines, access roads, underground
collector lines, overhead lines, and substations, are well known.
Similarly, effective mitigation measures and best management practices
have been developed to reduce the environmental impacts of constructing
and operating
[[Page 52856]]
wind-energy developments. The Programmatic EIS will collect and analyze
this information as it applies to wind-energy development in the six
states included in the UGP Region. Specifically, the EIS and program
would:
1. Define areas with a high potential for wind-energy development
near UGP Region's transmission system in anticipation of future wind-
generation interconnection requests.
2. Define natural and human environment resources in areas with
high wind-energy development potential, including Native American
lands, to support analyses of the environmental impacts and development
of wind-energy resources.
3. Develop and present mitigation measures for reducing wind-energy
development impacts on the natural and human environment for use by
interconnection applicants in addressing the environmental impacts of
their projects.
4. Complete a programmatic Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7
consultation for listed and proposed threatened and endangered species
within the study area boundaries established for the Programmatic EIS.
5. Implement an adaptive management approach that requires
mitigation implementation monitoring and reporting to ensure that the
best mitigation measures are identified and employed to reduce
environmental impacts. The monitoring reports would be used by Western
and the Service to periodically update mitigation practices.
6. Define thresholds for significant direct, indirect, and
cumulative environmental impacts from wind-energy developments and
associated transmission system enhancements to support the impact
analysis in the Programmatic EIS.
7. Define circumstances tied to laws, regulations, and policies
that have potential to affect wind-energy resource development.
8. Define possible transmission system enhancements to support wind
development and the general level of impacts expected from these
transmission enhancements.
9. Provide a guide for interconnection applicants that includes
information about natural resources within areas with a high potential
for wind development, requirements for subsequent site-specific
environmental reviews, transmission capacity needs and availability,
and appropriate mitigation measures to minimize adverse environmental
impacts related to wind projects and associated transmission system
enhancements.
The Service maintains a grassland and wetland easement program to
support and enhance waterfowl populations in the Prairie Pothole
Region. The Service's Region 6 has developed a plan that will allow
partial release of an easement for wind generation purposes, only with
defined conditions and on a specified area, in exchange for additional
easement acreage being conveyed to the Service. As the Service moves
forward with this plan, understanding the individual and cumulative
impacts to wildlife habitat (primarily grasslands easements) and
wildlife is critical. It is important to understand which habitats
should be avoided. A streamlined approach for compliance (NEPA,
National Historic Properties Act [NHPA], and ESA) for subsequent site-
specific wind development projects in the future would result from this
Programmatic EIS.
In accordance with the NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321), and the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508),
1501.5(b), Western and the Service will be joint lead agencies in the
preparation of the Programmatic EIS. Western and the Service will
consult under section 7 of the ESA in support of the Programmatic EIS
process. The Service intends to prepare a programmatic Biological
Opinion as a result of this consultation.
Western and the Service invite any Federal, State, or local agency
or tribal government with jurisdiction by law or special expertise in
wind energy development and/or electricity transmission operation to be
a cooperating agency. RUS has already indicated that it plans to
participate as a cooperating agency. Other agencies or state or tribal
governments may become cooperating agencies at a later date.
Meetings
Scoping meetings will include introductory presentations on the
proposed action by Western and the Service; an overview of wind-energy
technologies, interconnections, and power transmission; the Service's
landscape-level easement and avian protection programs; and the public
participation process. Oral comments from the public will commence
immediately after the presentations. Equal consideration will be given
to electronic, oral, and written comments. Western and the Service
encourage electronic submissions if possible. All meeting locations
will be handicapped-accessible. Anyone needing special accommodations
should contact Western or the Service to make arrangements.
Public Involvement and Comments
Interested parties are invited to participate in the scoping
process, both to refine preliminary alternatives and environmental
issues to be analyzed in depth and to eliminate from detailed study
those alternatives and environmental issues that are not feasible or
pertinent. The scoping process is intended to involve all interested
agencies (Federal, State, county, and local), public interest groups,
businesses, and members of the public.
The outcome of this Programmatic EIS may affect or apply to tribal
resources. Therefore, Western and the Service will meet their Federal
requirements to consult with affected tribes throughout the development
of the Programmatic EIS to jointly evaluate and address the potential
effects, if any, of the proposed action. These consultations would be
conducted in accordance with Executive Order 13175 ``Consultation and
Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249), the
President's memorandum of April 29, 1994, ``Government-to-Government
Relations with Native American Tribal Governments'' (59 FR 22961),
agency-specific guidance on tribal interactions, and applicable natural
and cultural resource laws and regulations (e.g., NEPA, ESA, NHPA, and
Migratory Bird Treaty Act).
Public scoping meetings will be held at the locations listed under
ADDRESSES above. A presiding officer will establish only those
procedures needed to ensure that everyone who wishes to speak has a
chance to do so and that the agencies understand all issues and
comments. Speakers will be asked to provide brief comments to allow
adequate time to hear all comments. Depending upon the number of
persons wishing to speak, the presiding officer may allow longer
speaking times. Persons wishing to speak on behalf of an organization
should identify that organization in their request to speak. Meetings
will begin at the times specified and will continue until all those
present who wish to participate have had an opportunity to do so.
Should any speaker desire to provide further information for the record
that cannot be presented within the designated time, such additional
information may be submitted electronically or by letter by November
10, 2008. A transcript of the comments offered during the scoping
meetings will be prepared and made available.
[[Page 52857]]
The public is encouraged to communicate information and comments on
issues it believes Western and the Service should address in the
Programmatic EIS. The agencies request information and comments on
resources in the UGP Region that development of wind energy may impact.
Comments may be in terms of broad areas or restricted to specific areas
of concern. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. For
written comments or comments received through the Web site, respondents
may request to withhold names or street addresses, except for the city
or town, from public view or from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act. Such a request must be stated prominently at the
beginning of the comment. We will honor requests to the extent allowed
by law. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in
their entirety.
After gathering public comments on what issues should be addressed
in the Programmatic EIS, Western and the Service will identify and
provide rationale in the EIS on those issues addressed and those issues
beyond the scope of the EIS. In addition to the major issues, Western
and the Service will address a number of management questions and
concerns in the Programmatic EIS. The public is encouraged to help
identify these questions and concerns during the public scoping period.
A scoping summary report will be available for public review
approximately 45 days following closure of the scoping period. The
report will be posted on the project Web site (http://
plainswindeis.anl.gov), or may be requested from the contacts noted in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
Background Information
The Western's UGP Region sells more than 12 billion kilowatt-hours
of firm power per year, generated from eight dams and powerplants of
the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program-Eastern Division. This power is
enough to serve more than 3 million households. The UGP Region delivers
this hydropower through nearly 100 substations and across nearly 7,800
miles of Federal transmission lines in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana,
Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, which are connected with
other regional transmission systems and groups.
Western offers transmission capacity in excess of the capacity it
requires for the delivery of long-term, firm capacity and energy to
current contractual electrical service customers of the Federal
government in accordance with its Tariff. The Tariff was developed in
response to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Orders implementing
key provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Section 211 of the
Federal Power Act requires that transmission service be provided upon
request if transmission capacity is available. Under the Tariff,
Western is required to provide firm and non-firm, point-to-point
transmission service and network integration transmission service to
applicants to the extent that Western has transmission capability
available.
Western must respond to a wind developer's request for
interconnection to the Federal transmission system. To each request,
Western applies the terms and conditions of its Tariff, including its
Large Generator Interconnection (LGI) and Small Generator
Interconnection (SGI) procedures for providing nondiscriminatory
transmission access. Interconnection requests to UGP Region's system
require Federal action; therefore, Western has the need to respond to
an applicant's request for interconnection to the Federal power system
by approving or denying the request. In 2008, Western's UGP Region has
received to date eight requests for interconnection for about 1,500
megawatts (MW) of wind generation.
If Western determines that existing transmission capacity is
available for a proposed wind development, Western must ensure that
existing transmission system reliability and service to existing
customers is not degraded. The LGI and SGI procedures provide for
transmission and system studies to ensure that capacity is available
and system reliability and service to existing customers are not
adversely affected. These studies also identify any system upgrades or
additions necessary to accommodate a proposed wind development and
ensure that they are included in the project's scope.
Wind generation looks promising to Western's customers, other
utilities, and wind energy developers in the UGP Region as a solution
to increasing energy needs. To date, Western's process for addressing
wind-energy interconnection requests has been on an individual basis
and in the order of preference defined by interconnection procedures in
its Tariff. With the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other
policy initiatives, Western supports development of wind-energy
resources in the UGP Region. In response to increasing wind-energy
development, UGP Region needs to establish a more proactive program to
support wind-energy resources in the UGP Region.
In the Service's Region 6, commercial wind energy development has
grown from almost nothing in the early 1980s to over 11.5 gigawatts
(GW) in 2006. Much of this growth has occurred in the past five years,
and some predict the industry's installed generating capacity will
continue to grow exponentially. Much of this potential development is
occurring in areas having some of the largest intact tracts of native
prairie and highest wetland densities, making it some of the most
productive waterfowl habitat in North America. The scope and geographic
extent of the Service's landscape level easement program in North
Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana make it difficult for wind
companies to avoid impacting Service easements when developing wind-
energy resources in the UGP Region.
Under the Service's grassland and wetlands easement program, the
owners of land subject to grassland and wetland easements cannot engage
in or allow any activity that would destroy vegetation. The intent of
the program is to prevent conversion of grassland and wetlands and to
protect these habitats at a landscape level while complementing
existing agricultural practices and allow for other compatible uses
where feasible. Cooperation with the agricultural community has
resulted in the overwhelming success of this program, with over three
million acres of grassland and wetlands protected to date. However,
where wind-energy development is proposed for lands subject to the
Service's easements, there must be a mechanism for reconciling these
otherwise conflicting interests. It is essential that the Service
consider the effects of the expansion of wind generation on the
wildlife that uses these easement lands.
Draft EIS Schedule and Availability
Western and the Service anticipate the Programmatic EIS process
will take about 22 months and will include the public scoping meetings;
consultation and involvement with appropriate Federal, State, and local
agencies, and tribal governments; public review and hearing(s) on the
published Draft EIS; a published Final EIS; and publication of Records
of Decision (ROD).
The public will be provided an opportunity to review the Draft EIS,
and hearings on the published Draft EIS are expected to be conducted in
the calendar year 2009. A notice of the location of these public
hearings will be provided at a later date. A published final EIS, a
waiting period, and
[[Page 52858]]
publications of ROD are anticipated in calendar year 2010.
Dated: July 23, 2008.
Timothy J. Meeks,
Administrator, Western Area Power Administration.
Dated: September 2, 2008.
Stephen D. Guertin,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E8-21149 Filed 9-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P