[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7467-7468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4511]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service


Olympic Cross Cascade Pipeline Project, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie 
National Forest, Snohomish, King, Kittitas, Grant, Adams, and Franklin 
Counties, Washington

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, USDA, as lead federal agency will prepare 
an environmental impact statement on a proposal by Olympic Pipe Line 
Company (OPL) to construct a new 230-mile underground/aboveground 
pipeline to deliver motor gasoline, diesel fuel, and aviation jet fuel 
from north of OPL's Woodinville Station, Washington to a new 
distribution facility near the City of Kittitas, Washington and an 
existing facility in Pasco, Washington. This environmental impact 
statement will be a combined NEPA/SEPA document. The lead state agency 
will be the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. If approved, 
construction would commence in 1997 and be completed in about one year.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing by April 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions concerning the scope 
of the analysis to: Dennis E. Bschor, Forest Supervisor, Mt. Baker-
Snoqualmie National Forest, 21905--64th Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace, 
WA 98043-2278.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steve Johnson, Project Manager, North Bend Ranger District, 42404 SE 
North Bend Way, North Bend, WA 98045; phone (206) 888-1421.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Olympic Pipe Line Company (OPL), located 
in Renton, Washington, proposes to construct a new 230-mile-long, 14-
inch-diameter pipeline from north of OPL's Woodinville Station near the 
King/Snohomish County line, in western Washington, to a new 
distribution facility near the City of Kittitas and to the existing 
terminal facility in Pasco, in southeastern Washington. It would start 
as a 14-inch pipeline in Snohomish County north of the King/Snohomish 
County line, travel eastward and then southeast to North Bend, run east 
along/near the Interstate 90 highway corridor, and cross over 
Snoqualmie Pass. The pipeline would then continue eastward along/near 
I-90 to the City of Kittitas where it will change to a 12-inch 
pipeline, continue past Ellensburg and the Yakima Training Center, 
cross under the Columbia River downstream of Wanapum Dam, run toward 
the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, and then travel south to Pasco 
where it would connect with existing facilities. The pipeline would be 
placed underground and above-ground, depending upon design 
requirements, and six pump stations would be placed along the pipeline 
route. The pipeline would transport motor gasoline, diesel fuel, and 
aviation jet fuel.
    If approved, construction would commence in 1997 and be completed 
in about one year. Construction of the pipeline would require a 2- to 
3-foot-wide and 36- to 60-inch-deep (or deeper) trench. Construction 
typically occurs in about a 60-foot-wide area and the permanent right-
of-way would typically be about 30 feet wide. The pipeline, which would 
be transported in 40- to 80-foot lengths, would be made of high-grade 
steel coated with a polyolefin-type material to prevent corrosion. The 
welds of the pipeline would be X-ray tested, and the entire line would 
be hydrostatically tested to 125% of the maximum pressure allowed 
during operation of the pipeline.
    Scoping meetings to receive public comments on the project, and the 
associated open houses and land use hearings, will occur as follows: 
March 12, 1996 (Ellensburg High School, Ellensburg, WA); March 13, 1996 
(Jackson High School, Mill Creek, WA); March 14, 1996 (Snoqualmie 
Middle School, Snoqualmie, WA); March 26, 1996 (Royal High School, 
Royal City, WA); March 27, 1996 (Columbia Basin Community College, 
Pasco, WA); and March 28, 1996 (Othello High School, Othello, WA). Each 
meeting date will begin with an open house at 5 p.m., followed by a 
land use hearing and a scoping meeting. Potential issues of concern for 
the environmental impact statement include the risk of a spill; impacts 
to health and safety, soil erosion, stream and river crossings, water 
quality, fish and wildlife, wetlands, agriculture, forest land, and 
transportation and utilities; and compatibility with existing land 
uses.
    Three alternatives are considered for this project, including: 
constructing an east-west pipeline route as proposed above; building a 
new north-south pipeline from Renton, WA, to Portland, OR, and 
continuing barging on the Columbia River to Pasco; or continuing with 
the current no action alternative. Optional subcomponents to the 
proposed action include: (1) Shortening the pipeline so that it 
terminates in Moses Lake and rebuilding the Moses Lake-to-Spokane 
pipeline; (2) using the same initial route but turning south near 
Ellensburg and going through the Yakima Valley to Pasco; (3) routing a 
300-mile pipeline through one of two alternative routes across Stevens 
Pass and terminating it in Pasco; (4) routing the pipeline through one 
of two other routes through Snoqualmie Pass and terminating in Pasco; 
and (5) routing the pipeline through Stampede Pass and terminating in 
Pasco. The no action alternative (existing practices) includes the 
following subcomponents: (1) Piping to Portland and then barging from 
there to Pasco on the Columbia River; (2) shipping by barge or tanker 
from Puget Sound, south along the Washington coast to Portland, and 
then transferring to river barges for shipment to Pasco on the Columbia 
River; and (3) transporting by tanker truck across the Cascade 
Mountains to Pasco. The only permit required for the project is an 
Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council Site Certification.
    The Forest Service will be the lead federal agency. Cooperating 
agencies include the Bureau of Land Management (Joseph Buesing, Spokane 
District Manager), Bureau of Reclamation (John W. Keys, III, Regional 
Director), and Department of the Army (Lieut. General C.G. Marsh, 
Installation Commander, Headquarters, I CORPS and Fort Lewis). This 
environmental impact statement will be a combined NEPA/SEPA document. 
The lead state agency under the Washington State Environmental Policy 
Act will be the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (Allen J. 
Fiksdal, EFSEC Project Manager).
    Interested parties are invited to provide suggestions and comments 
about the proposed project in writing to the address provided above, or 
at the public hearings that will be held throughout the state. At this 
time, it is estimated the draft environmental impact statement will be 
issued during the summer of 1996. The final environmental impact 
statement will be issued early in 1997.
    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice at this early stage of the project of several 

[[Page 7468]]
court rulings related to public participation in the environmental 
review process. First, reviewers of draft environmental impact 
statements must structure their participation in the environmental 
review process so that it is meaningful and alerts an agency to the 
reviewer's position and contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. 
v. NRDC 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that 
could be raised at the draft environmental impact statement stage but 
that are not raised until after completion of the final environmental 
impact statement may be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of 
Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin 
Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). 
Because of these court rulings, it is very important that those 
interested in this proposed action participate by the close of the 45-
day comment period so that substantive comments and objections are made 
available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully 
consider them and respond to them in the final environmental impact 
statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the 
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft 
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives 
formulated and discussed in the statement. (Reviewers may wish to refer 
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing 
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.).

    Dated: February 15, 1996.
Gene R. Cyrus,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 96-4511 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]
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