[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