[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: 94-2223]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Notice of Scoping Meetings for the Proposed Washington Windplant

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. 4321 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 Washington Windplant in Klickitat 
County, Washington sufficient to satisfy NEPA and the Washington State 
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). 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 over the Federal 
transmission system. USW 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 issuance of a Conditional 
Use Permit and the performance of the wheeling service. The EIS will 
also consider potentially significant cumulative impacts that may 
result from this Project and from 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, 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. Written comments 
should be sent to the address below.
    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 two 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 letters, 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, Office 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: The Federal Columbia River Transmission 
System Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-454) requires the BPA Administrator to 
make available to all utilities on a fair and nondiscriminatory basis, 
any capacity in the Federal transmission system which is determined by 
the Administrator to be in excess of the capacity required to transmit 
electric power generated or acquired by the United States. Guided by 
this statutory responsibility, BPA must consider all requests from 
utilities to use the BPA transmission system to deliver power to 
specified locations.

A. Proposed Action

    USW proposes to construct and operate a wind energy facility in the 
Columbia Hills area east of Goldendale, Washington and north of the 
Columbia River, outside of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic 
Area. The proposal would include the phased development, construction, 
and operation of an electric generating facility on approximately 4856 
hectares (12,000 acres) of private agricultural and scrub/shrub lands 
under easement to USW. The first phase of development would generate 50 
MW of electricity; 115 MW of electricity would be generated upon 
completion of the final development phase.
    USW would sell the first 50 MW of the Project to PacifiCorp, Puget, 
and PGE. Puget and PacifiCorp would each own an undivided interest of 
37.5% in the first 50 MW. PGE would own the remaining 25% of the first 
50 MW. USW would operate and maintain the Project for PacifiCorp, 
Puget, and PGE` on a contractual basis.
    USW has submitted a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application to the 
County to develop the Project. Project development would involve the 
installation and operation of approximately 322 wind turbines (Model 
33M-VS) mounted on lattice towers ranging from 29 to 43 meters (80 to 
120 feet) in height, plus associated meteorological towers, power 
collection and transmission lines, transformers, access roads, and a 
control building and substation. Each wind turbine would have a blade 
diameter of 33 meters (108 feet) and each tower would be free standing, 
with no supporting guy wires. Total machine heights to the top of the 
turbine blade, depending on tower height, could range from 49 to 63 
meters (135 to 175 feet).
    Additional facilities in the Project could include a 3.7 meter (12 
foot) wide access road to each turbine, underground power collection 
and communications lines connecting the turbines, a micro-wave 
communications tower, a wood pole line collecting power from the ends 
of each turbine row and carrying that power to a substation, and 
possibly a transmission line from the project substation to an off-site 
BPA substation.

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 Columbia Wind 
Farm, will also undergo a joint NEPA/SEPA review by BPA and the County. 
The Columbia Wind Farm is proposed for development by Conservation And 
Renewable Energy System (CARES), a joint operating agency composed of 
eight Washington Public Utility Districts. FloWind Corporation, as a 
contractor to CARES, would assist in Project development and initial 
operations. CARES has applied for a CUP from the County and has 
proposed that BPA purchase the electricity that would be generated by 
the CARES project.
    The CARES project would have an installed capacity of 25 MW and 
would be expected to produce approximately 7 average MW of energy. The 
CARES project would involve the installation and operation of 91 wind 
turbines on approximately 395 hectares (975 acres) of leased private 
land adjacent to the USW Project. 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 1.1 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 Washington Windplant-- EIS will also be used 
for the Columbia Wind Farm 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 USW and CARES 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 
providing transmission services to PacifiCorp, Puget, or PGE). 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 Washington Wind Plant and the associated transmission 
facilities. BPA and the County intend to scope the EIS so that all 
potential impacts associated with the Washington Wind Plant are 
addressed.
    The principal issues identified thus far for consideration in the 
DEIS are as follows:
    (1) potential 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 the 
scoping process, may be examined in the EIS.

    Issued in Portland, Oregon, on January 26, 1994.
Paul O. Crabtree, Jr.,
Policy Advisor.
[FR Doc. 94-2223 Filed 1-31-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P