[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50806-50807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24457]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Minnesota Agri-Power Plant and Associated 
Facilities

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1998 (63 FR 53885), U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board [MEQB, a Minnesota 
State agency] announced its intent to prepare a joint Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) regarding a proposal by the Minnesota Valley 
Alfalfa Producers (MnVAP) to construct and operate a 75-103 megawatt 
biomass fueled gasifier and electric generating facility, known as the 
Minnesota Agri-Power Plant (MAPP), and associated transmission lines 
and alfalfa processing facilities. After careful review of this 
proposed biopower gasification project, DOE has determined that it will 
no longer participate in the cooperative agreement with MnVAP. This 
determination terminates DOE's financial support for the MAPP project, 
thus DOE will not provide funding toward the cost of constructing the 
proposed biomass power plant and the associated alfalfa processing 
facilities. As a result of DOE's decision not to fund the construction 
of the power plant and the associated processing facilities, there is 
no longer a federal requirement to conduct an EIS. Accordingly, DOE is 
withdrawing its notice of intent to prepare an EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE's 
NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of 
NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119, Phone: 202-586-4600 
or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
    For general information about the NEPA process relating to MnVAP's 
proposed biopower gasification project, please contract Mr. Tim Howell, 
Acting NEPA Compliance Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field 
Office, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401; Telephone: 303-275-4700 or 
toll-free 1-800-644-6735 extension 4700; Fax: 303-275-4790; E-mail: 
[email protected].
    For information regarding the MEQB process please contact: Mr. John 
Hynes, Permit Compliance Officer, Minnesota Environmental Quality 
Board, 300 Centennial Building, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155, Phone: 651-
296-4095, Fax: 651-296-2871, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MnVAP is a farmer-owned cooperative, 
incorporated in 1994 to increase the value of farm products grown in 
and near the State of Minnesota. In response to a joint Department of 
Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Solicitation for Financial 
Assistance for Biomass Power for Rural Development (DE-PS36-95GO10052), 
MnVAP submitted a proposal to establish Minnesota Agri-Power as a 
limited liability corporation, with MnVAP as the majority stock holder, 
for the purposes of siting, constructing, and operating a 75-103 
megawatt power plant fueled with gasified alfalfa stems. DOE selected 
the MnVAP project as one of several promising efforts to meet the goals 
of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to develop and ultimately 
commercialize biomass energy systems for the purposes of positively 
affecting global climate change and the revitalization of rural 
America. Under the terms of the solicitation, MnVAP and DOE would each 
share the financial burden of taking a biomass gasification technology 
from the demonstration phase to full commercial production.
    The proposed power plant was to partially meet the Minnesota 
``Biomass Power Mandate,'' Minnesota State Law, 216B.2424, which 
requires that:

    A public utility * * * that operates a nuclear-powered electric 
generating plant within this state must construct and operate, 
purchase, or contract to construct and operate (1) by December 31, 
1998, 50 megawatts of electric energy installed capacity generated 
by farm-grown closed-loop biomass scheduled to be operational by 
December 31, 2001; and (2) by December 31, 1998, an additional 75 
megawatts of installed capacity so generated scheduled to be 
operational by December 31, 2002.

The MAPP project, as proposed, was to use an ``integrated gasification 
combined-cycle'' or IGCC system where the gasifier would process 
approximately 1,100 tons of alfalfa stems per day (i.e., this would 
produce approximately 750 million British thermal units per hour). As 
proposed, the gross output of the power plant could be as high as 103 
megawatts. The alfalfa stems were to be rapidly heated in the gasifier 
to approximately 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit to produce alfalfa gas, 
cooled to 1,020 degrees Fahrenheit, and then cleaned to meet air 
quality standards and the requirements for the combustion turbine. The 
combustion turbine was to be designed to operate efficiently on the low 
energy biomass fuel produced by the gasifier unit with

[[Page 50807]]

a gross electric power output of 66 megawatts (the alfalfa gas was to 
be supplemented with natural gas as needed). Another 37 megawatts were 
to be generated from the super-heated, high-pressure steam recovered 
from the hot combustion gases leaving the combustion turbine. Since the 
biomass gasification technology proposed for MAPP has yet to be 
successfully demonstrated at full commercial scale, DOE was proposing 
to fund $44 million (up to 30%) of the cost of construction of the 
plant and associated facilities (approximately $140 to $200 million) as 
part of the Department's mission to support biomass technology 
commercialization. Other key participants in the MAPP project have 
included the University of Minnesota, Stone and Webster Engineering 
Corporation, Kvaerner/Carbona Corporation, Enron Capital and Trade 
Resources Corporation, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and 
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Enron Capital and Trade Resources 
Corporation, however, terminated its co-development participation in 
the MAPP project in early 1999.
    In the event that MnVAP elects to proceed with the MAPP project 
without funding from DOE, an analysis of the relative impact of the 
proposed project on the environment would still be required under 
applicable Minnesota laws and regulations. In such an event, the MEQB, 
in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, would be the lead 
agency for the environmental analysis. While DOE may be asked by the 
MEQB to assist by providing relevant information to any Minnesota led 
environmental analysis, DOE would no longer participate as a lead 
agency or as a co-preparer.

    Issued in Golden, Colorado, on September 10, 1999.
Frank M. Stewart,
Manager, Golden Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 99-24457 Filed 9-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P