LAKEWOOD, Colo. - As the number of proposed wind energy projects in the Upper Great Plains increases, Western Area Power Administration (Western) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to evaluate the environmental, social and economic impacts of wind energy development in Westerns Upper Great Plains Region (all or parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), and on the Services grassland and wetland easements in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. The PEIS also will identify typical environmental impacts of wind energy development; mitigation strategies, standard construction practices, and best management practices; and establish a comprehensive environmental program for evaluating future projects.
0 The Upper Great Plains are home to some of the best wind-energy resources in the world. This Programmatic EIS will help streamline our process to address a growing number of applications to develop the wind resource and assist in meeting our Nation's need for renewable energy," said Bob Harris, Westerns Upper Great Plains Regional Manager.
0 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service welcomes the opportunity to work with Western to better understand and address the rapid development of wind-energy resources on the prairies," said Service Mountain-Prairie Region Director Steve Guertin. "The Service, together with a wide range of partners, has invested heavily in the conservation of wetlands and grasslands in the Upper Great Plains, and our participation in this process is aimed at protecting that investment - and public trust resources, including migratory birds - as wind-energy development proceeds."
0 Public scoping meetings to obtain comments on issues associated with wind energy development in the Upper Great Plains are scheduled for Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and 2. Meetings will be held
0 September 30, Sioux Falls, S.D., Holiday Inn City Centre, 100 West 8th Street
0 October 1, Bismarck, N.D., Radisson Hotel, 605 East Broadway Avenue
0 October 2, Billings, Mont., Quality Inn Homestead Park, 2036 Overland Avenue
0 Registration will begin at 6 p.m., and the meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. All meeting locations are handicapped accessible.
0 Western and Service representatives will be available to answer questions about the PEIS. Oral comments will be accepted immediately following introductory presentations, including 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.
0 Written comments will be accepted through the online comment form at http://plainswindeis.anl.gov or by letter to
0 WAPA/FWS Wind Energy Programmatic EIS Scoping
0 Argonne National Laboratory
0 9700 S. Cass Avenue ? EVS/900
0 Argonne, IL 60439
0 Valuable comments include comments and information on resources that wind-energy development may impact and comments and information that help refine preliminary alternatives and environmental issues to be analyzed in depth or that help eliminate from detailed study any alternatives and environmental issues that are not feasible or pertinent. Comments are welcomed through the end of the public comment period, November 10.
0 Goals of the Upper Great Plains Programmatic Wind EIS and program include:
