[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9813]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 22, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement for the Proposed Northwest Regional
Power Facility
AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy
(DOE).
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Joint Federal/State Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) under section 102(2)(c) of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321), and notice of
Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement.
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SUMMARY: BPA and the State of Washington Energy Facility Site
Evaluation Council (EFSEC) intend to prepare a joint Federal/State EIS
for the proposed Northwest Regional Power Facility (NRPF), an 838-
megawatt (MW) combustion turbine electric generating project to be
sited east of Creston, Washington. An application for site
certification and request for expedited processing was submitted to
EFSEC on December 13, 1993, by two independent power producers: CSW
Energy, Inc. (CSWE) and KVA Resources, Inc. (KVA). At the request of
the project applicants, BPA has completed system studies to determine
what transmission facilities would be required to integrate the 838 MW
of electricity into the Federal transmission system. At this time,
customers who would purchase the electricity generated by the project
have not been identified. BPA was subsequently requested by the
applicants to provide transmission integration and wheeling services
and to coordinate compliance with State and Federal environmental laws
through a joint NEPA/State of Washington Environmental Policy Act
(SEPA) process.
Because the project may cross various wetlands and a floodplain, in
accordance with 10 CFR part 1022, a floodplain and wetlands assessment
will be prepared as part of the EIS, and the proposed action would be
undertaken in a manner so as to avoid or minimize potential harm to or
within any affected floodplain and wetlands.
DATES: Interested and affected persons, including landowners, concerned
citizens, special interest groups, local governments, and community
groups, are invited to comment on the scope of the proposed EIS.
Scoping will be coordinated with the EFSEC siting process and will help
BPA, the State, and cooperating agencies identify environmental
resources and issues to be addressed in the draft EIS (DEIS). Three
BPA/EFSEC-sponsored scoping meetings will be held the week of May 9,
1994, at the following locations: May 10, 5-8 p.m., Creston School
Gymnasium, Creston, Washington; May 11, 5-8 p.m., Cavanaughf Inn at the
Park, Finch Room, Spokane Washington; May 12, 5-8 p.m., Washington
State Energy Office, 925 Plum Street, room 308, Olympia, Washington.
Meetings will be conducted as open houses, where project material will
be available for study. BPA and EFSEC staff will answer questions and
accept verbal and written comments. The time and place of scoping
meetings will also be announced in local newspapers and in a letter to
interested parties. Written comments may be sent to the BPA Public
Involvement Manager at the address below. Scoping ends May 27, 1994.
The DEIS is scheduled to be circulated for public review and
comment in December 1994. A public comment period, as well as at least
one public comment meeting, will be provided. Comments received on the
DEIS will be considered and responded to in the Final EIS (FEIS), which
is planned for release in early summer 1995.
EFSEC is currently evaluating the project application for a site
certificate. The applicants anticipate receiving a site certificate
from EFSEC in mid-to-late 1995 (after the release of the FEIS).
ADDRESSES: BPA invites comments and suggestions on the proposed scope
of the DEIS. Send comment letters, requests to be placed on the project
mailing list, and any requests for further information to the Public
Involvement Manager--ALP, P.O. Box 12999, Portland, Oregon 97212.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Stacy L. Mason, BPA Project
Environmental Coordinator, at (503) 230-5455, fax number (503) 230-
3984; or call BPA's Public Involvement Office at (503) 230-3478 in
Portland; call toll-free (800) 622-4519 outside of Portland and within
the western states region. Project information may also be obtained
from Mr. Allen Fiksdal, Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation
Council, P.O. Box 34172, Olympia, WA 98504-3172, or by phone at (206)
956-2000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As identified in DOE's Regulations for
Compliance with NEPA (10 CFR part 1021), appendix D to subpart D,
``Classes of Actions that Normally Require EISs,'' this proposed
project is identified as category D6 ``Integrating transmission
facilities'' (that is, transmission system additions for integrating
major new sources of generation into a Power Marketing Administration's
main grid) and category D7 ``Establishment and Implementation of
contracts, policies, marketing plans, or allocation plans * * * that
involve (1) the addition of major (greater than 50 average megawatts)
new generation resources.''
Proposed Action
The NRPF applicants propose to build an 838-MW gas combustion
turbine generation plant on a 486-hectare (ha) [1200-acre (ac.)] site
located in Lincoln County, Washington, near the town of Creston,
Sections 2 and 11, Township 26 North, Range 34 East. The generation
plant would be located near BPA's Grand Coulee--Bell transmission line
corridor and would include a main equipment building housing gas- and
steam-turbine generating units; four auxiliary structures attached to
the main equipment building, each housing a steam generator and air
pollution control equipment as well as an emission stack about 40
meters (m) [125 feet (ft.)] high; administrative and maintenance
facilities and parking lot; two cooling tower structures (about 14 m by
60 m by 15 m) (45 ft. by 200 ft. by 50 ft.) tall; and several fenced
evaporation ponds totaling about 100 ha (250 ac.). A 500-kV substation
(about 90 m by 185 m) (300 ft. by 600 ft.) would be built on the site
next to the BPA transmission corridor.
The project will require approximately 19 million liters (5 million
gallons) of water per day for cooling purposes. KVA has applied for a
water right for taking of project water at the forebay of Little Falls
Dam on the Spokane River. A 76-centimeter (30-inch) water supply
pipeline would be built from a wellfield located about 137 m (450 ft.)
from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (Section 1, Township 27 North, Range 34
East) to the facility. Two water pipeline routes are being considered:
one following Redwine Canyon [about 24 kilometers (km) or 15 miles
(mi.) long], and the other heading directly south cross-country to the
facility (about 16 km or 10 mi. long).
Natural gas would be used exclusively as the fuel for the project,
with no alternative or backup fuel supply. A 97-km (60-mi.) lateral
natural-gas pipeline would supply fuel for the project from the Pacific
Gas Transmission Company's (PGT) main transmission line east of
Spokane. The pipeline would be owned and operated by PGT. Routes for
the gas pipeline are not yet proposed.
BPA proposes to integrate the NRPF at the new substation on the
project site. The substation would be connected to a proposed 132-km
(82-mile) Grand Coulee-Bell 500-kV transmission line that would be
located in the existing BPA corridor and is being planned as the
Eastern Washington Main Grid Support project, presently under
environmental review. The Eastern Washington Main Grid Support project
would be constructed whether the NRPF is built or not, and is therefore
not addressed here, but in a separate EIS.
A new compensation station would be built next to BPA's existing
Grand Coulee-Hanford 500-kV line east of Coulee City, in Grant County.
Three potential compensation station sites have been identified; one on
either side of Road 36 NE, and one about 3 km (2 mi.) south of Road 36
NE. The station would be about 0.8 ha (2 ac.) and would be needed to
avoid overloads and generation curtailments. Landowners of the
potential sites are being contacted.
The applicants have not confirmed any specific markets for the
power that will be generated. They intend to obtain market commitments
after obtaining a site certificate. As a result, the anticipated
impacts of wheeling the power over the transmission system will be
addressed in a generic manner in this EIS. The EIS will be
supplemented, if necessary, by BPA when generation and operation
commitments are known. BPA would then be able to enter into wheeling
agreements.
In accordance with Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 40
CFR 1501.5 and 1501.6, BPA and EFSEC have agreed to serve as joint
Federal/State lead agencies on this project. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau
of Reclamation may participate as cooperating agencies, if appropriate.
Negotiations for natural gas service have not been completed by the
project applicant; therefore, FERC's involvement as a cooperating
agency is not certain at this time. Coordination with state and local
permitting agencies will be handled by EFSEC through the State of
Washington facility siting process.
Alternatives
Alternatives identified at this time for possible evaluation in the
EIS are divided into five categories: (1) The proposed action; (2) no
action (the consequences of not providing integration and wheeling
services for the project); (3) alternative sites for the water supply
pipeline, gas pipeline, and transmission compensation station; (4)
alternative water sources; and (4) alternative plant operations and
power markets.
Identification of Environmental Issues
NEPA and its implementing regulations direct Federal agencies to
consider the environmental impacts of all connected actions, even when
such actions are proposed by others. Therefore, BPA and EFSEC intend to
define the scope of the EIS so that the impacts of both the
transmission elements and the generation plant and other support
facilities are addressed.
The following potential environmental issues have been identified
and will be discussed in the draft EIS: (1) Air quality impacts
(nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic
compounds); (2) impacts on surface and ground water movement, quality,
and quantity; (3) esthetic impacts of facilities, including visual, and
noise impacts from plant operation; (4) land use impacts of siting and
operation; (5) impacts of using a non-renewable resource (gas) as fuel;
(6) socioeconomic impacts created by the influx of construction workers
in a sparsely populated area; (7) effects on fish and wildlife,
including threatened and endangered species; (8) effects of
construction and placement of facilities in floodplains and wetlands;
(9) impacts on range or agricultural lands; (10) potential impacts of
facilities on cultural resources; (11) concern about human exposure to
electric and magnetic fields, such as those produced by high-voltage
transmission lines; (12) impacts on recreational resources; and (13)
impacts of gas generation plant operations on the operation and
reliability of the Pacific Northwest transmission system.
Other issues identified through the scoping process will also be
examined in the draft EIS.
Floodplains and Wetlands
In Lincoln County, the Redwine Canyon water pipeline route crosses
the 100-year floodplain of the Redwine Canyon tributary of Welsh Creek
in Sections 20, 29, and 30, Township 27 North, Range 35 East.
Wetlands are found along the Redwine Canyon route in Sections 20,
29, and 30, Township 27 North, Range 35 East; Sections 25 and 36,
Township 27 North, Range 34 East; and within the NRPF property line in
Sections 2 and 11, Township 26 North, Range 34 East.
In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain
and wetland environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022), a
floodplain and wetlands assessment will be prepared for this project.
The assessment and a floodplain statement of findings will be included
in the EIS, in accordance with NEPA. Maps and further information are
available from Ms. Stacy Mason, BPA Project Environmental Coordinator,
at the address shown above.
Issued in Portland, Oregon, on April 14, 1994.
Randall W. Hardy,
Chief Executive Officer, Bonneville Power Administration.
[FR Doc. 94-9813 Filed 4-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
