[Federal Register: December 22, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 245)]
[Notices]
[Page 71101-71102]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22de03-40]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration
Transmission Policy-Level Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy
(DOE).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: BPA proposes to adopt a comprehensive policy to guide its
transmission business activities. This transmission policy-level
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will address the planning,
construction, operation, and marketing of BPA's Transmission Business
Line. BPA is taking this opportunity to further enhance and inform its
decisionmaking by providing a comprehensive and cumulative analysis of
the potential impacts that can result from its transmission-related
policy decisions.
BPA owns and operates the Federal Columbia River Transmission
System (FCRTS) and is the leading provider of high-voltage electric
transmission in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to this regional
transmission network, BPA operates large inter-regional transmission
lines that connect to Canada, California, the Southwest, and eastern
Montana. New challenges to transmission activities continue to emerge,
contributing to the difficulty of solving existing policy issues. To
address these challenges, and in support of BPA's transmission business
decisions, the EIS will examine a broad and comprehensive range of
policy alternatives.
DATES: Written comments are due to the BPA Communications address below
no later than March 31, 2004. Comments may also be made at EIS scoping
meetings to be held in January 2004, at the addresses below. Public EIS
scoping meetings will be held January 13, 2004, in Portland, Oregon;
January 14, 2004, in Seattle, Washington; and January 15, 2004, in
Spokane, Washington. Details are yet to be determined on other meetings
that may be held in Idaho and Montana. Information about all public
meetings will be published on an Internet site dedicated to this
transmission policy EIS, at http://www2.transmission.bpa.gov/PlanProj/Policy_EIS/
.
ADDRESSES: Send letters with comments and suggestions on the proposed
scope of the Draft EIS, and requests to be placed on the project
mailing list, to Communications, Bonneville Power Administration--DM-7,
Attn: Transmission Policy EIS, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, Oregon, 97293-
4428. You may also call BPA's toll-free comment line at 1-800-622-4519,
naming this project, to record your comments. Comments may also be sent
to the BPA Internet address at comment@bpa.gov or through the above-
mentioned Internet site.
On Tuesday, January 13, 2004, a formal scoping meeting will be held
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room 120C at the Oregon State Office Building,
800 NE Oregon Street, Portland. On Wednesday, January 14, 2004, a
formal scoping meeting will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Comfort Suites Downtown/Seattle Center, at 601 Roy Street, Seattle,
Washington. On Thursday, January 15, 2004, a formal scoping meeting
will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quality Inn Oakwood, 7919 N.
Division Street, Spokane, Washington. At these meetings, information
will be provided about the objectives of the EIS. BPA's EIS team
members will also be available to discuss potential issues, the
process, and timeline for completing the
[[Page 71102]]
document. Written and oral comments may also be submitted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mike Mayer or Rick Yarde, NEPA
project managers, Bonneville Power Administration--KEC-4, P.O. Box
3621, Portland, Oregon, 97208-3621; toll-free telephone number 1-800-
282-3713; fax number 503-230-5699; e-mail addresses msmayer@bpa.gov or
rryarde@bpa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BPA owns and operates approximately three-
quarters of the high-voltage electric grid in the Pacific Northwest.
These 15,000 miles of transmission lines carry energy from dams and
other power-generating facilities to public and private utility
customers and direct-service industries. BPA's transmission system also
includes transmission lines that connect to Canada, California, the
Southwest, and eastern Montana.
BPA's transmission business consists of more than just the
construction, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines; it
includes all of the activities necessary to manage a regional system to
deliver electricity, such as marketing of capacity and setting rates to
recover costs in accordance with sound business principles. This
requires participation with regional and national stakeholders in
discussions regarding reliability, environmental concerns, congestion
management, conservation measures, industry restructuring, and national
standards, among other issues. This policy-level EIS will further
enhance BPA's understanding of the impacts that transmission-related
activities have on the human environment, and will help further inform
the public of these impacts.
Several Federal statutes guide BPA's transmission business line.
The Bonneville Project Act Sec. 2(b) states that ``* * * the
administrator is authorized and directed to provide, construct,
operate, maintain, and improve such electric transmission lines and
substations, 3 and facilities and structures * * * as he finds
necessary, desirable, or appropriate. * * *.'' In addition, the Federal
Columbia River Transmission System Act, Sec. Sec. 4(a)-(d) directs the
administrator to operate and maintain the system for stability and
reliability, among other objectives. The Pacific Northwest Electric
Power Planning and Conservation Act, Sec. 2(2) requires the
administrator to assure an adequate, efficient, economical, and
reliable power supply for the Northwest.
In addition to these statutory obligations, BPA's transmission
business is operated separately from its power business, because BPA
voluntarily complies with the open access policies of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Although BPA is not subject to
FERC's jurisdiction concerning these policies, BPA has adopted and
currently implements an Open Access Transmission Tariff for the FCRTS
that is generally consistent with FERC's pro forma open access tariff.
This course of action demonstrates BPA's commitment to non-
discriminatory access to its transmission system and ensures that BPA
will receive non-discriminatory access to the transmission systems of
utilities that are subject to FERC's jurisdiction.
FERC has fostered several industry-restructuring initiatives, in
which BPA has participated. To promote competitive wholesale power
markets through standards of practice, FERC has proposed a Standard
Market Design. Key features of this Market Design include the formation
of regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and sound wholesale
market rules. Over the years, BPA has been part of regional discussions
regarding the potential creation of an RTO in the Pacific Northwest, to
discuss BPA's possible role in an RTO and ensure that its formation
provides coordinated benefits to BPA's customers and the Northwest.
As part of addressing its many transmission policy issues, BPA is
also involved in several agency and regional processes. For example, in
early 2003, BPA initiated a roundtable for discussion of ``non-wire''
solutions to transmission capacity issues. Round table meetings
considered transmission line alternatives such as energy efficiency
programs, demand reduction initiatives, pricing strategies, and
distributed generation. The agency has also been meeting with customers
regarding available transfer capability (ATC). These discussions
described the methodology for determining ATC, and the effects the
methodology would have on contracting and scheduling.
BPA will use the previously mentioned processes, among others
related to transmission issues, to help shape the development of this
policy-level EIS. BPA expects that this EIS will enhance the
transmission issues discussed in BPA's 1995 Business Plan EIS (DOE/EIS-
0183). The Business Plan EIS included an evaluation of the
environmental impacts potentially resulting from the full range of the
agency's business policies, including its power, transmission, and fish
and wildlife activities. This transmission EIS will provide a policy-
level analysis that is more focused on transmission issues, similar to
the way BPA's recently completed Fish and Wildlife Implementation Plan
EIS provides a policy-level analysis that is more focused on the
agency's administration of its fish and wildlife responsibilities.
This EIS is being prepared to consider and assess various potential
policy directions for the planning, construction, operation, and
marketing of BPA's transmission activities. This document will allow
BPA's decisionmakers and the public to be better informed about the
potential cumulative impacts that can be expected from BPA's
transmission-related policy decisions. This EIS is intended to support
and facilitate a number of decisions regarding BPA's transmission
activities.
This transmission EIS will identify a broad range of alternative
policy directions structured around key transmission policy
considerations such as reliability, cost, contractual obligations,
regulatory requirements, and ``non-wire'' solutions. The EIS will also
provide an assessment of potential impacts on the human environment
associated with each of the alternatives. During this scoping period,
the public is invited to provide comments and suggestions on potential
alternatives to be included in the EIS. BPA is in the process of
defining these alternatives, and is interested in receiving public
input before fully defining the range of alternatives to be considered
in the EIS. The public also is invited to comment on potential key
issues and environmental impacts to be considered in the EIS.
Issued in Portland, Oregon, on December 15, 2003.
Stephen J. Wright,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-31452 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P