[Federal Register: May 11, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 91)]
[Notices]
[Page 26089-26090]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11my04-74]
[[Page 26089]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. PP-234 and PP-235]
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
and Public Hearings for the Proposed Baja California Power, Inc., and
Sempra Energy Resources Transmission Lines
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE), with the Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a cooperating agency,
announces the availability of the ``Imperial-Mexicali 230-kV
Transmission Lines Draft Environmental Impact Statement'' (DOE/EIS-
0365) for public review and comment. DOE and BLM also announce two
public hearings on the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS was prepared pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA
regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, and the DOE NEPA regulations, 10
CFR Part 1021. The Draft EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of the
DOE's proposed Federal actions of issuing Presidential permits to
either Sempra Energy Resources or Baja California Power, Inc. (also
known as Sempra and Intergen, respectively), or to both, for the
construction, operation, maintenance, and connection of two double-
circuit, 230,000-volt electric transmission lines that would cross the
United States international border in the vicinity of Calexico,
California, and connect to separate natural gas-fired electric power
plants that have been constructed in Mexico. BLM's proposed Federal
actions are the issuance of right-of-way grants to allow the
transmission lines to cross Federal lands within BLM's management
responsibility.
DATES: DOE and BLM invite interested Members of Congress, state and
local governments, other Federal agencies, American Indian tribal
governments, organizations, and members of the public to provide
comments on the Draft EIS. The public comment period will start with
the publication in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection
Agency of the ``Notice of Availability'' of the Draft EIS, expected to
occur on May 14, 2004, and will continue until June 30, 2004. Written
and oral comments will be given equal weight, and all comments received
or postmarked by that date will be considered in preparing the Final
EIS. Comments received or postmarked after that date will be considered
to the extent practicable.
Dates for the public hearings are:
1. June 17, 2004, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., El Centro, California
2. June 17, 2004, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Calexico, California
Requests to speak at a specific public hearing should be received
by Mrs. Russell as indicated in the ADDRESSES section below on or
before June 15, 2004. Requests to speak may also be made at the time of
registration for the hearing(s). However, persons who have submitted
advance requests to speak will be given priority if time should be
limited during the hearing.
ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the public hearings should be addressed
to: Mrs. Ellen Russell, Office of Fossil Energy (FE-27), U.S.
Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, or transmitted by phone:
202-586-9624, by facsimile: 202-287-5736 or by electronic mail at
Ellen.Russell@hq.doe.gov.
The locations of the public hearings are:
1. El Centro City Hall, 1275 W. Main Street, El Centro, California
2. Calexico City Hall, 608 Heber Street, Calexico, California
Printed copies of the Draft EIS are available. Requests should be
made to Mrs. Russell at one of the addresses provided above.
Alternatively, the Draft EIS is available on the Internet at http://web.ead.anl.gov/bajatermoeis
.
Written comments on the Draft EIS may be addressed to Mrs. Russell
as indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed
project or to receive a copy of the Draft EIS, contact Mrs. Russell as
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice or Lynda Kastoll,
Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1661 South
Fourth Street, El Centro, CA 92243, Phone 760-337-4421, facsimile: 760-
337-4490, or electronic mail at lkastoll@ca.blm.gov.
For general information on the DOE NEPA process, contact: Carol M.
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585, Phone: 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 800-472-2756;
Facsimile: 202-586-7031.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Executive Order (E.O.) 10485, as amended by E.O. 12038, requires
that a Presidential permit be issued by DOE before electric
transmission facilities may be constructed, maintained, operated, or
connected at the U.S. international border. The E.O. provides that a
Presidential permit may be issued after a finding that the proposed
project is consistent with the public interest. In determining
consistency with the public interest, DOE considers the impacts of the
project on the reliability of the U.S. electric power system and on the
environment. The regulations implementing the E.O. have been codified
at 10 CFR 205.320-205.329. Issuance of a permit indicates that there is
no Federal objection to the project, but does not mandate that a
project be completed.
On December 5, 2002, DOE issued Presidential permits to Sempra and
Intergen based in part on the information contained in an Environmental
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) prepared
pursuant to NEPA. BLM was also a cooperating agency in the preparation
of the EA and prepared separate FONSIs for its Federal actions. Right-
of-way grants were issued by BLM in December 2002. In February 2003,
Sempra and Intergen completed construction of the permitted facilities
and began exporting electricity to the United States in July 2003.
In March 2003, the Border Power Plant Working Group filed suit in
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
requesting that the court declare that the EA, FONSI, BLM Decision
Notice and DOE Presidential permits failed to comply with NEPA. The
court granted in part plaintiff's request ``to set aside the
Presidential permits, the rights of way, and the FONSI'' and remanded
the NEPA review back to the Federal agencies ``for the preparation of
NEPA documents consistent with [the court's May 2 and July 8, 2003
orders].'' At the same time, the court declined to enjoin the operation
of the transmission lines immediately and ``defer[red] the setting
aside the permits and the FONSI until July 1, 2004, or until such time
as superceding NEPA documents and permits have issued, whichever is
earlier.'' In light of the concerns raised by the court, and to
increase the opportunities for public and stakeholder participation,
DOE and BLM decided to prepare an EIS.
In its July 8, 2003 order, the court expressly prohibited DOE and
BLM from considering the interim operation of the transmission lines,
completion of their construction, or the court's analysis of
environmental impacts of the proposed actions in conducting the
[[Page 26090]]
agencies' additional environmental review. DOE and BLM have interpreted
this language to require them to conduct their NEPA review from a fresh
slate, as if the transmission lines had never been built. Accordingly,
the discussion and analysis of the transmission lines are presented in
this Draft EIS as if the lines do not exist.
On October 30, 2003, DOE published in the Federal Register (68 FR
61796) a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the proposed
projects. The NOI informed the public of the proposed scope of the EIS,
solicited public participation in the scoping process, and announced
public scoping meetings that were held on November 20, 2003, in El
Centro, and Calexico, California. The public scoping period closed on
December 1, 2003. Comments received during the public scoping process
were used in preparing the Draft EIS.
Action Alternatives Considered
The action alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS are:
1. The proposed action of granting one or both Presidential permits
and corresponding ROWs. This sets forth the impacts in the United
States of constructing and operating the line(s) from powerplants in
Mexico, as those plants are presently designed.
2. The ``Alternative Technologies'' action of granting one or both
permits and corresponding ROWs to authorize transmission lines that
connect to powerplants that would employ more efficient emissions
controls and alternative cooling technologies.
3. The ``Mitigation Measures'' action of granting one or both
permits and corresponding ROWs to authorize transmission lines whose
developers would employ off-site mitigation measures to minimize
environmental impacts in the United States.
NEPA requires the identification of the agency's preferred
alternative or alternatives in a Draft EIS if one or more exists or, if
one does not yet exist at the draft stage, in the Final EIS, 40 CFR
Part 1502.14(e). DOE's and BLM's preferred alternative is to grant both
permits and corresponding ROW grants.
No Action Alternative
The Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations require
that an agency ``include the alternative of no action'' as one of the
alternatives it considers, 40 CFR 1502.14(d). For DOE and BLM, ``no
action'' means neither of the proposed transmission lines would be
constructed and the environmental impacts associated with their
construction and operation would not occur. In the case of Sempra, lack
of the requested transmission line would preclude the powerplant from
operating because there would be no delivery path for the electricity
generated. Similarly, in the case of Intergen, as discussed more fully
in the Draft EIS, only a portion of the electricity generated inside
Mexico would have been available to be transmitted to the United States
because of powerplant design. One of Intergen's generating units
designated for export to the United States would be connected solely to
the proposed transmission line. Its other generating unit designated
for export to the United States normally would be connected to the
proposed transmission line but also could be connected to other
transmission lines within Mexico for export to the United States over
an existing international transmission line. If the permit is denied,
the electricity produced by the generating unit connected solely to the
proposed transmission line would not have a transmission path.
The Draft EIS analyzes the potential environmental effects, or
impacts, of Sempra and Intergen constructing and operating the proposed
transmission lines. CEQ's regulations require that an EIS contain a
description of the environmental effects (both positive and negative)
of the proposed alternatives. The regulations also distinguish between
direct and indirect effects (40 CFR 1508.8). Direct effects are caused
by an action and occur at the same time and place as the action.
Indirect effects are reasonably foreseeable effects caused by the
action that occur later in time or farther in distance. Both direct and
indirect effects are addressed in the Draft EIS. CEQ's regulations also
require that an EIS contain a description of the cumulative impacts of
the proposed alternatives (40 CFR 1508.7). CEQ's regulations define
cumulative impacts as those that result from the incremental impact of
an action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions, regardless of what agency or person undertakes such
other actions. Cumulative impacts are addressed in the Draft EIS.
The Draft EIS presents information on the potential environmental
effects of the construction and subsequent operation of the
transmission lines on land use and recreation, visual resources,
biological resources, cultural resources, socioeconomics, geology and
soils, water resources, air quality, noise, human health and
environment, infrastructure, transportation, and minority and low
income populations. The Draft EIS also includes a Floodplains and
Wetlands Assessment, in accordance with E.O. 11988, Floodplain
Management, and E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands.
Availability of the Draft EIS
DOE has distributed copies of the Draft EIS to appropriate Members
of Congress, state and local government officials in California,
American Indian tribal governments, and other Federal agencies, groups,
and interested parties. Copies of the document may be obtained by
contacting DOE as provided in the section of this notice entitled
ADDRESSES. Copies of the Draft EIS and supporting documents are also
available for inspection at the locations identified below:
1. U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room,
Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC.
2. Bureau of Land Management, El Centro Field Office, 1661 South
4th Street, El Centro, California.
Comments on the Draft EIS may be submitted to Mrs. Russell (see
ADDRESSES, above) or provided at the public hearings (see DATES,
above). After the public comment period ends on June 30, 2004, DOE and
BLM will consider all comments received, revise the Draft EIS as
appropriate, and issue a Final EIS. DOE and BLM will consider the Final
EIS, along with other information, such as electric reliability and
national policy factors, in deciding whether or not to issue
Presidential permits or right-of-way grants.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 5th day of May, 2004.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal and Power
Import/Export, Office of Coal and Power Systems, Office of Fossil
Energy.
[FR Doc. 04-10656 Filed 5-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P