[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]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P