[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 227 (Monday, November 27, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58304-58305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-28846]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 35

[Docket Nos. RM95-8-000 and RM94-7-001]


Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-
Discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities; Recovery of 
Stranded Costs by Public Utilities and Transmitting Utilities

November 17, 1995.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of draft environment impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has 
prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed 
rulemaking in this proceeding to satisfy the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act.

DATES: Comments are due on or before January 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: 888 First Street NE., Washington, D.C. 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. William Meroney, DEIS Project Manager, Office of Economic Policy, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
D.C. 20426.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all 
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of 
this document during normal business hours in the Public Reference Room 
at 888 First Street NE., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic 
bulletin board service, provides access to the text of formal documents 
issued by the Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to the user 
and may be accessed using a personal computer with a modem by dialing 
(202) 208-1397 or (800) 856-3920. To access CIPS, set your 
communications software to 19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, 
or 1200 bps, full duplex, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. The 
full text of this document will be available on CIPS in ASCII and 
WordPerfect 5.1 format. The complete text on diskette in WordPerfect 
format may also be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, La 
Dorn Systems Corporation, also located in the Public Reference Room at 
888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has prepared 
a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed 
rulemaking referenced above to satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act.
    On July 12, 1995, the Commission issued a Notice of Intent to 
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues (NOI) (60 
FR 36752, July 18, 1995).\1\ The NOI described proposed cases for 
examination and established a procedure for public comments. Thirty-six 
comments were received in response to the NOI. A public meeting was 
held on September 8, 1995, in Washington, D.C. The most frequently 
raised issue involves air quality impacts, particularly the possible 
transport of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions by Midwestern generating 
plants to airsheds in the Northeast and the resulting impacts on ozone 
non-attainment areas in the Northeast.

    \1\ The proposed rule in this proceeding was published April 7, 
1995 (60 FR 17662).
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    Based on the comments and a careful analysis of the major issues, 
the staff developed a study that addresses the key potential 
environmental impacts of the rulemaking. The staff used a modeling 
approach that includes a detailed representation of the transmission 
grid. The model results and other analyses allow the staff to examine a 
series of other issues, including visibility; impacts on land, water 
and waste; and some potential mitigation options.
    The DEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is 
available for public inspection at:


[[Page 58305]]

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files 
Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 208-1371.

    Copies of the DEIS have been mailed to Federal agencies and 
individuals who requested copies of the DEIS in response to the NOI.
    The DEIS will be available to the public on the Commission Posting 
System (CIPS). CIPS is an electronic bulletin board service which 
provides access to the text of formal documents issued by the 
Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to the user and may be 
accessed using a personal computer with a modem by dialing (202) 208-
1397 or (800) 856-3920. To access CIPS, set your communications 
software to 19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps, 
full duplex, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit.
    Written comments are welcome on the DEIS. Please take notice that 
all written comments on specific environmental issues should contain 
supporting documentation and rationale. Written comments must be filed 
on or before January 8, 1996, reference Docket Nos. RM95-8-000 and 
RM94-7-001, and be addressed to:

Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE., Washington, D.C. 20426.

    A copy of any comments should also be sent to:

Mr. William Meroney, DEIS Project Manager, Office of Economic 
Policy, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

    In addition, commenters are asked to submit their written comments 
on a 3\1/2\-inch diskette formatted for MS-DOS based computers. In 
light of our ability to translate MS-DOS based materials, the text need 
only be submitted in the format and version that it was generated 
(i.e., MS Word, WordPerfect, ASCII, etc.). It is not necessary to 
reformat word processor generated text to ASCII. For Macintosh users, 
it would be helpful to save the documents in Macintosh word processor 
format and then write them to files on a diskette formatted for MS-DOS 
machines.
    After the comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are 
investigated, and modifications are made to the DEIS, a final EIS will 
be published and distributed by the staff. The final EIS will contain 
the staff's responses to timely comments received on the DEIS.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-28846 Filed 11-24-95; 8:45 am]
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