[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40155-40156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19334]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability of final supplemental environmental
impact statement.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
is issuing a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS)
related to Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc.'s, (Seminole) proposed
Hardee Unit 3. The FSEIS is a supplement to the Final Environmental
Impact Statement issued in January 1991 by the Rural Electrification
Administration (predecessor of RUS).
A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was issued for
Hardee Unit 3 in May of 1995. The availability of the draft appeared in
the Federal Register and in newspapers with a general circulation in
Polk and Hardee Counties, Florida. There was a 45-day comment period on
the draft which ended on July 17, 1995. Comments received during this
comment period have been included in the FSEIS and have been addressed
therein as appropriate.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Lawrence R. Wolfe, Chief,
Environmental Compliance Branch, Electric Staff Division, Rural
Utilities Service, Ag. Box 1569, Washington, DC 20250, Telephone (202)
720-1784, Fax (202) 720-7491.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FSEIS for Hardee Unit 3 covers the
construction and operation of 440 MW of additional generating capacity
to be installed at the existing 1,300-acre Hardee Power Station site.
The Hardee Power Station site is located in Hardee and Polk counties
approximately 9 miles northwest of Wauchula, 16 miles south-southwest
of Bartow, and 40 miles east of Tampa Bay. The site is bordered on the
east by Hardee County Road 663, a CSX Railroad right-of-way, and CF
Industries' Hardee Complex. IMC-Agrico properties surround the
remaining portions of the site. Payne Creek flows along the southern
and western boundary of the Hardee Power Station site. The proposed
Hardee Unit 3 would occupy approximately 50 acres of this site.
As proposed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Hardee Power Station, Hardee Power Partners has constructed and
operates 295 MW of generation capacity at the Hardee Power Station and
proposes an additional 145 MW of generation capacity there by the year
2003 for use by Seminole or TECO Power Services, Corp. Seminole
originally proposed to construct and operate an additional 220 MW at
the Hardee Power Station at a future date that was to be determined.
That addition, along with Hardee Power Partners' 145 MW addition, would
have increased the existing 295 MW Hardee Power Station capacity to 660
MW. Seminole now proposes in the FSEIS to construct 440 MW of
additional capacity at the Hardee Power Station at a specified date,
1999, instead of the originally proposed 220 MW addition at an
unspecified date. As now proposed, the Hardee Power Station Site would
be made up of a total of 880 MW of capacity when completed.
The proposed Hardee Unit 3 would consist of natural gas fired
combustion turbines utilizing heat recovery steam generators that will
operate efficiently by recovering heat from the combustion turbines.
Fuel oil would be used as a backup source of fuel. These are the same
type of generators already installed at the Hardee Power Station (295
MW) and the same type proposed for future installation (145 MW) at the
site by Hardee Power Partners. The natural gas would be transported via
an existing 18 inch diameter, underground gas pipeline connected to the
Florida Gas Transmission System to the Hardee Power Station. Three
existing 230 kilovolt transmission lines would be utilized to connect
Hardee Unit 3 into the Florida transmission grid.
Alternatives to the project as proposed included no action, design
alternatives, alternative fuels, and conservation.
[[Page 40156]]
Seminole has provided RUS with a Site Certification Application/
Environmental Analysis for Hardee Unit 3 which is the primary support
document used by RUS to develop its FSEIS. RUS has concluded that the
Site Certification Application/Environmental Analysis for Hardee Unit 3
represents an accurate assessment of the potential environmental
impacts related to the proposed project. The Hardee Unit 3 Site
Certification Application/Environmental Analysis has been incorporated
by reference into the FSEIS and is available for inspection by
interested parties at RUS or Seminole at the addresses provided in this
notice. That document, along with the FSEIS, will also be available for
review at the following libraries:
Bartow Public Library, 315 E. Parker Street, Bartow, Florida 33830.
Hardee County Library, 315 N. 6th Avenue, Suite 114, Wauchula, Florida
33837.
Notice of availability of the FSEIS and the 30-day comment period
is being published in the Federal Register by RUS and EPA. Seminole
will have a notice similar to this one published in newspapers of
general circulation in Polk and Hardee Counties. As it is possible that
RUS, EPA, and Seminole's notices will not appear on the same date, the
30-day comment period will begin on the date the latest notice (RUS,
EPA or Seminole's) is published. In no case would the 30-day comment
period end prior to 30 days from the publication date of this notice.
Questions concerning the closing date of the 30-day comment period can
be referred to Mr. Lawrence Wolfe at (202) 720-1784.
Anyone wishing to comment on the FSEIS should do so in writing
within the 30-day comment period to RUS at the address provided in this
notice. All comments received during the comment period will be given
consideration in the formulation of final determinations regarding
RUS's action related to the Hardee Unit 3. Prior to taking its final
action related to the Hardee Unit 3, RUS will prepare a Record of
Decision. The availability of the Record of Decision will not be
announced nor circulated as have the Draft Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement and the FSEIS. Anyone wishing a copy of RUS's Record
of Decision for the project should notify RUS at the address provided
in this notice.
Dated: July 28, 1995.
Adam M. Golodner,
Deputy Administrator, Program Operations.
[FR Doc. 95-19334 Filed 8-4-95; 8:45 am]
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