[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 4 (Friday, January 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2074-2076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-280]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Swan Lake-Lake Tyee Intertie Transmission Line
AGENCY: Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: Ketchikan Public Utilities proposes to build and operate a 115
kV electric transmission line in Southeast Alaska between the
switchyard of the Swan Lake Hydroelectric Station on Revillagigedo
Island and the switchyard at the Lake Tyee Hydroelectric Station the
Alaska mainland. The proposed new line would be a single-circuit 115 kV
line having three conductors and no shield wire. The proposed action
would intertie the electrical systems of Ketchikan Public Utilities,
Petersburg Municipal Power and Light, and Wrangell Municipal Light and
Power. [[Page 2075]]
The proposed intertie would lie within a corridor identified during
an earlier feasibility study as the ``preferred site'' of the
transmission line. The corridor is approximately 57 miles long and one
mile wide and lies almost entirely on National Forest System land
(Tongass National Forest) administered by the U.S. Forest Service. The
corridor follows lower elevations to minimize visual impacts, avoid
steep and unstable areas, and avoid extreme weather conditions. A 200-
foot-wide right-of-way would be cleared for the transmission line. The
line would require long aerial crossings at Eagle Bay, Bell Arm, the
Behm Canal, and Shrimp Bay with span lengths of approximately 2,000,
1,200, 4,000, and 2,000 feet, respectively. There are variations of
portions of the preferred route in the vicinity of Orchard Lake, Behm
Canal, and Eagle Lake and River.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be received
by March 7, 1995. Public scoping meetings are scheduled during this
comment period in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau. The
location and time of the meetings will be announced in the local media.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning the scope
of this project to Linn W. Shipley, Acting District Ranger, Tongass
National Forest, Ketchikan Ranger District, Attn: Swan Lake-Lake Tyee
EIS, 3031 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 99901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions about the proposal and the EIS should be directed to Becky
Cross, EIS Liaison, Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan Ranger District,
3031 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901, Telephone (907) 225-2148.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Possible variations to the basic
transmission line intertie include construction and use of an access
road to serve the majority of the line from Eagle Bay to Carroll Inlet.
The access road would not connect with any existing road and would not
provide access between the project area and Ketchikan or another urban
area. In addition to construction access, the road is intended to
provide maintenance access to the transmission line. To the extent
feasible, some portions of the road would follow the transmission line
right-of-way for direct access to clearing and construction operations.
The assumed road specifications are: a maximum grade of about 10
percent; a curve radius of about 100 feet; a shotrock surface about 14
feet wide and 24 to 30 inches deep; corrugated metal pipe culverts or
small bridges to cross permanent and intermittently flowing stream
channels; and incorporation of any nearby logging roads or other
vehicular trails into the access road where feasible.
An alternative to aerial crossings of large water bodies is use of
submarine crossings of Bell Arm, the Behm Canal, and Shrimp Bay. The
aerial conductors would connect to a terminal station or structure on
the shore near the water body and continue as self-contained fluid-
filled or dielectric cables underwater to the opposite shore, where
they would pass through a terminal station to continue as aerial
conductors.
To meet Ketchikan's energy needs, other alternatives which may be
considered could include development of new power generation in the
Ketchikan area and electrical load conservation measures. Finally, a no
action alternative will be considered.
The EIS will be prepared under Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) regulations governing third party contracts. Ketchikan Public
Utilities, the project proponent, has contracted with Foster Wheeler
Environmental Corporation, an environmental consulting firm based in
Washington State, to conduct the field studies and environmental
analyses, direct public involvement activities, and prepare the EIS for
the project. The third party is the Forest Service, which will be the
lead agency and which also is the deciding and permitting agency for
the proposal. Linn Shipley, the Acting District Ranger of the Ketchikan
Ranger District, must decide whether to issue a Special Use Permit to
Ketchikan Public Utilities permitting the intertie to cross the Tongass
National Forest. Foster Wheeler Environmental will be responsible to
the Forest Service for preparing an EIS that meets NEPA regulations and
Forest Service procedures.
Public participation will be an integral component of the study
process and will be especially important at several junctures of the
analysis. The first is during the scoping process. The Forest Service
is seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal, State,
and local agencies, individuals, and organizations that may be
interested in, or affected by, the proposed activities. The objectives
of the scoping process are to (1) identify the affected public and
agency concerns, and level of concern, (2) define the issues and
alternatives that will be examined in detail in the EIS, (3) eliminate
insignificant issues, and (4) identify analysis needs. In addition to
the scoping meetings mentioned above, written scoping comments are
being solicited through a scoping package that will be sent to those on
the project mailing list. For the Forest Service to best use the
scoping input, comments should be received within 60 days of the
publication of this Notice in the Federal Register . The following
preliminary issues have been identified:
1. Will construction-related air emissions affect the air quality
of the study area and Misty Fiords National Monument and Wilderness?
2. Will right-of-way clearing and road construction affect karst
and cave resources?
3. Will activities associated with right-of-way clearing and road
construction degrade fish habitat?
4. What are the possibilities for changing steam flow and creating
barriers to fish migration?
5. What will be the effect of clearing wetland and riparian areas
for the right-of-way and of encroachment and modification of
floodplains and estuarine areas?
6. What are the implications of the proposed action on timber
production and sensitive and rare plant species?
7. What are the potential effects of right-of-way clearing on
windthrow?
8. How will the right-of-way clearing affect wildlife habitat,
biodiversity, Habitat Conservation Areas, and rare and endangered
species?
9. Will wildlife species used for subsistence harvest be affected
by the transmission line and access road? If so, how? Will this affect
subsistence lifestyles?
10. To what degree will the transmission line and access road
affect the visual quality of key viewing areas, particularly at Orchard
Lake and Eagle Lake, which have been mentioned as potential additions
to the Wild and Scenic Rivers system?
11. To what degree will the transmission line and access road
change the quality and type of recreation opportunities?
12. What are the economic implications for the cities of Wrangell
and Petersburg?
Based on the results of scoping and agency consultation,
alternatives to the proposed action, including a ``no action''
alternative, will be developed for the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS).
A series of five public workshops will be held upon completion of
the Preliminary Draft EIS. These workshops will be informal sessions
designed to explain to the public the study process and preliminary
findings, answer questions, and highlight any problems that might need
resolving before issuing the DEIS. Their location, date, and time will
be announced in the local media. [[Page 2076]]
The DEIS is projected to be filed with the Environmental Protection
Agency in February 1996. Public comment on the DEIS will be solicited
for a minimum of 45 days from the date the Notice of Availability
appears in the Federal Register. Subsistence hearings, as required by
Section 8 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, are
planned during this 45-day comment period.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
DEIS's must structure their participation in the environmental review
of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts an agency to the
reviewer's position and contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp.
v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that
could be raised at the DEIS stage but that are not raised until after
completion of the final EIS may be waived or dismissed by the courts.
City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and
Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Suppl. 1334, 1338 (E.D.
Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings, it is very important that
those interested in this proposed action participate by the close of
the 45-day comment period so that substantive comments and objections
are made available to the Forest Service at a time when it can
meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final EIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the DEIS should be as
specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific
pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also address the
adequacy of the DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated and
discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer to the Council
on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing the procedural
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in
addressing these points.
Issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement is projected
in November 1996. The responsible official for the decision is Linn
Shipley, Acting District Ranger, Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan
Ranger District, 3031 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 99901.
Permits
Permits required for construction of the transmission line may
include the following:
Federal
U.S. Forest Service
Special use permit
Permit for surveying the right-of-way
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Approval of the discharge of dredged or fill materials
into waters of the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water
Act
Approval of the construction of structures or work in
navigable waters of the United States under Section 10 of the Rivers
and Harbors Act of 1899.
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
Notice of proposed construction
State
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Certificate of Reasonable Assurance regarding discharge of
dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States
Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for the
exhaust of any fossil-fuel-burning equipment used during construction
Open-burn permit for waste burning
Solid waste disposal permit
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Habitat Protection Permits when streams are to be crossed
and when other wildlife habitats are affected
Title 16 Fish Habitat permit for disturbing anadromous
fish streams
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Tideland lease for structures below mean high water line
Easement for crossing Alaska State uplands
Permit required if more than 500 gallons per day is
withdrawn from any stream
Permits required for log transfers facilities
Dated: December 28, 1994.
David D. Rittenhouse,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 95-280 Filed 1-5-95; 8:45 am]
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