[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]


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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.

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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