[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-2222]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: February 1, 1994]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Notice of Scoping Meetings for the Proposed Columbia Wind Farm
AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy
(DOE).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. et seq. and to conduct scoping meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: BPA and Klickitat County (the County) intend to jointly
prepare an EIS on the proposed Columbia Wind Farm in Klickitat County,
Washington sufficient to satisfy NEPA and the Washington State
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Conservation And Renewable Energy
System (CARES), a joint operating agency composed of eight Washington
Public Utility Districts, has proposed that BPA purchase the electrical
output from the Columbia Wind Farm, a wind energy demonstration project
(Project). CARES has submitted a Conditional Use Permit application to
the County to construct and operate the Project. The EIS will consider
all actions connected to the planning, development, and operation of
the Project by CARES, to the issuance by the County of a Conditional
Use Permit, and to the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement between
BPA and CARES. The EIS will also consider potentially significant
cumulative impacts that may result from this Project and from one or
two other wind development projects proposed in the same area of the
County.
DATES: BPA has established a 30-day scoping period (beginning with the
publication of this notice in the Federal Register) during which
affected landowners, concerned citizens, tribes, special interest
groups, local governments, and any other interested parties are invited
to comment on the scope of the EIS. Scoping will help BPA and the
County ensure that a full range of issues related to this proposal are
addressed in the EIS, and also will identify significant or potentially
significant impacts that may result from the proposed Project.
Scoping meetings will be held at the following locations and on the
following dates:
White Salmon, Washington, February 15, 7 p.m., Henkle
Middle School Library, 480 NW Loop Rd., White Salmon, WA.
Goldendale, Washington, February 16, 7 p.m., Public
Utility District No. 1 of Klickitat County, 1313 S. Columbus,
Goldendale, WA.
The scoping meetings will be conducted to include this Project and
the other wind development projects proposed for development on lands
near or adjacent to this Project. At the informal meetings, Project
developers will make a presentation on their projects, written
information will be available, and BPA and County staff will answer
questions and accept oral and written comments. The meetings will be
publicized by general announcement as well as by written invitation to
known interested parties. Written comments are invited as well, and
should be submitted by February 28, 1994 to the Public Involvement
Manager or the Klickitat County Planning Director at the addresses
below. Comments received after this date will be considered to the
extent practicable.
The Draft EIS (DEIS) will be circulated for review and comment, and
BPA and the County will hold a public comment meeting for the DEIS. BPA
or the County will consider and respond to comments received on the
DEIS in the final EIS.
ADDRESSES: BPA and the County invite comments and suggestions on the
proposed scope of the DEIS. Send comment letters, requests to be placed
on the project mailing list, and/or requests for more information to
the Public Involvement Manager, P.O. Box 12999, Portland, Oregon 97212
or to the Klickitat County Planning Director, 228 West Main, Rm. 150,
Goldendale, Washington 98620.
To have your name placed on the mailing list for this project, to
submit comment letter, or to receive a copy of the DEIS when it becomes
available, write to the Public Involvement Manager, Bonneville Power
Administration--ALP, Post Office Box 12999, Portland, Oregon 97212.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Kathy Fisher, EIS Manager, at (503) 230-4375 or, Francine
Havercroft, Klickitat County Planning Director, at (509) 773-5703. You
may also contact BPA's Public Involvement Office at (503) 230-3478, or
toll-free 1-800-622-4519. Information may also be obtained from Mr.
Thomas V. Wagenhoffer, Snake River Area Manager, 1520 Kelley Place,
Walla Walla, Washington 99362, (509) 527-6225.
FOR INFORMATION ON DOE NEPA PROCEDURES, OR THE STATUS OF A NEPA REVIEW
CONTACT: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director of NEPA Oversight, EH-25, U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585, (202) 586-4600 or 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 1991 Northwest Power Plan, the
Northwest Power Planning Council set a goal of confirming additional
conservation and renewable energy resources in the region. Responding
to this goal, BPA made a commitment in the April 22, 1993, Record of
Decision (ROD) for the Resource Programs Final Environmental Impact
Statement to strive to expand the supply of renewable resources. The
ROD identified the Resource Supply Expansion Program (RSEP) as the
primary mechanism for confirming the supply, cost, and reliability of
renewable energy supplies. Through the RSEP, the Wind Energy Resource
Development Strategy for the Pacific Northwest was developed. A key
component of the strategy was to promote the commercial viability of
the wind resource in the Northwest through demonstration projects. In
response to the strategy, BPA issued a 50 MW Request for Proposals
(RFP) for a Wind Energy Demonstration Project(s) in September 1992. BPA
received 10 proposals, selecting the Columbia Wind Farm proposal and
one other, located in Carbon County, Wyoming for potential acquisition.
To assure consistency with the Resource Programs ROD, BPA must
conduct project-specific NEPA review tiered to the Resource Programs
EIS prior to acquiring the output of any generating resource. BPA will
lead the NEPA analysis for the Columbia Wind Project. The Wyoming wind
demonstration proposal will undergo NEPA analysis with the Bureau of
Land Management as the lead agency and BPA as a cooperating agency.
A. Proposed Action
CARES, in conjunction with FloWind Corporation, proposes to
develop, construct, and operate a wind energy electric generating
facility in the Columbia Hills area southeast of Goldendale, Washington
and north of the Columbia River, outside of the Columbia River Gorge
National Scenic Area. CARES would be the Project owner and the BPA
required utility sponsor. As a contractor to CARES, FloWind would
assist in Project development and initial Project operations. Upon
completion, the Project would have an installed capacity of 25 MW of
electricity which is expected to produce approximately 7 average
megawatts of energy to be sold to BPA.
CARES has submitted a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application to
the County to develop the Project on approximately 395 hectares (975
acres) of private agricultural and scrub/shrub lands leased from
Columbia Aluminum Corporation. As initially proposed, the Project
development would involve the installation and operation of 91 wind
turbines mounted on tubular towers approximately 51 meters (140 feet)
in height. Each wind turbine would have a blade diameter of 26.2 meters
(86.0 feet). Total machine height to the top of the turbine blade would
be approximately 66 meters (183 feet).
Additional facilities in the Project would include a 3.7 meter (12
foot) wide main Project access road, engineered access roads to each
turbine, associated meteorological towers, underground power collection
and transmission lines, transformers, a wood pole line collecting power
from the ends of each turbine row and carrying that power to a
substation, and a transmission line from the Project substation to a
transmission line owned by the Klickitat Public Utility District #1 of
Klickitat County.
B. Process to Date
In order to reduce duplication between NEPA and comparable State
and local requirements, BPA and the County have agreed to jointly
prepare a single EIS for the Project sufficient to satisfy NEPA and the
Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The EIS will include
a Cumulative Impact Study (CIS) to analyze any potentially significant
cumulative impacts that may result from this Project and from one or
two other wind development projects proposed in the same area of the
County.
One other wind development project, known as the Washington
Windplant, will also undergo a joint NEPA/SEPA review by BPA and the
County. U.S. Windpower, Inc. (USW) plans to develop a 115 megawatt (MW)
wind energy facility (Project) in the east Columbia Hills area near
Goldendale, Washington. PacifiCorp, Puget Sound Power & Light Company
(Puget), and Portland General Electric (PGE) together are purchasing 50
MW of the Project and have each requested BPA to integrate and transmit
(wheel) their share of the electrical power generated from the proposed
Project with the Federal transmission system. The Washington Windplant
would involve the installation and operation of approximately 322 wind
turbines on approximately 4856 hectares (12,000 acres) of private lands
under easement to USW. Additional facilities would include
meteorological towers, power collection and transmission lines,
transformers, access roads, and a substation.
Another wind energy facility is proposed by Mariah Energy Group,
Inc. (Mariah). Mariah has submitted an incomplete CUP application to
the County to install 20 wind turbines on approximately 1.14 hectares
(2\3/4\ acres) of land owned by the developer. The site is located on
land previously used by DOE to test the MOD-2 wind turbines. The MOD-2
wind turbines were dismantled and removed from the site when the
testing was completed. The Mariah project will not undergo individual
NEPA analysis because no Federal involvement has been requested. The
County will conduct an appropriate level of SEPA review prior to
approving the CUP if Mariah submits a completed CUP application.
The CIS used in the Columbia Wind Farm EIS will also be used in the
Washington Windplant--EIS. This will ensure that the combined impacts
from the two proposed wind development projects are analyzed and
reasonable alternatives are considered in both EISs. Given the early
stage of the Mariah project, it is not yet known whether the CIS will
include that project as well. Although separate EISs will be prepared
for the CARES and USW projects, the County and BPA have agreed to hold
joint public scoping meetings to avoid duplication and confusion.
C. Alternatives Proposed for Consideration
Alternatives thus far identified for evaluation in the EIS are: (1)
The proposed action, and (2) no action (the consequences of not
developing the wind demonstration project). Other alternatives may be
identified through the scoping process.
D. Identification of Environmental Issues
BPA and the County plan to jointly prepare an EIS addressing the
proposed Columbia Wind Farm and the associated transmission facilities.
BPA and the County intend to scope the EIS so that all potential
impacts associated with the Columbia Wind Farm are addressed.
The principal potential issues identified thus far for
consideration in the DEIS are as follows:
(1) Impacts to resident and migratory bird populations from
operating wind turbines;
(2) Impacts to other wildlife and habitats;
(3) Impacts on cultural resources;
(4) Aesthetic and visual impacts;
(5) Sound impacts; and
(6) Land use impacts.
These, together with any additional issues identified through this
scoping process, may be examined in the EIS.
Issued in Portland, Oregon, on January 26, 1994.
Paul O. Crabtree, Jr.,
Policy Advisor.
[FR Doc. 94-2222 Filed 1-31-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M
