[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 108 (Monday, June 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35624-35625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13965]



[[Page 35624]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration


Stateline Wind Project

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and notice of floodplain and wetlands involvement.

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SUMMARY: BPA and Walla Walla County, Washington, intend to jointly 
prepare an EIS on the proposed Stateline Wind Project, located along 
the Oregon-Washington border in Walla Walla County, Washington, and 
Umatilla County, Oregon. FPL Energy Vansycle LLC (FPL Energy) proposes 
to construct and operate the 300 megawatt (MW) wind generation 
facility; BPA proposes to purchase up to 300 MW of the electrical 
output from the project and to provide transmission services. The EIS 
will consider the potential site-specific impacts of the construction 
and operation of the wind project itself, as well as any related 
transmission facilities. In addition, the EIS will take a broad 
programmatic look at the surrounding Potential Wind Power Development 
Area and the associated cumulative biological impacts.
    This action may involve floodplain and wetlands located in Walla 
Walla County, Washington, and/or Umatilla County, Oregon. In accordance 
with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands 
environmental review requirements, BPA will prepare a floodplain and 
wetlands assessment and will perform this proposed action in a manner 
so as to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within the affected 
floodplain and wetlands. The assessment and a floodplain statement of 
findings will be included in the EIS being prepared for the proposed 
project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA).

DATES: BPA has established a 30-day scoping period during which 
affected landowners, concerned citizens, special interest groups, local 
governments, and any other interested parties are invited to comment on 
the scope of the proposed EIS. Scoping will help BPA ensure that a full 
range of issues related to this proposal is addressed in the EIS, and 
also will identify significant or potentially significant impacts that 
may result from the proposed project. Written comments are due to the 
address below no later than July 7, 2000. Comments may also be made at 
the EIS scoping meetings to be held on June 14, 15, and 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: BPA invites comments and suggestions on the proposed scope 
of the Draft EIS. Send comment letters and requests to be placed on the 
project mailing list to Communications, Bonneville Power 
Administration--KC-7, P.O. Box 12999, Portland, Oregon, 97212. The 
phone number of the Communications office is 503-230-3478 in Portland; 
toll-free 1-800-622-4519 outside of Portland. Comments may also be sent 
to the BPA Internet address: [email protected].
    The EIS scoping meetings will be held at Helix High School, 120 
Main Street, Helix, Oregon, on Wednesday, June 14, 2000, from 6:30 p.m. 
to 9 p.m., at Touchet High School, 90 Champion Street, Touchet, 
Washington, on Thursday, June 15, 2000, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and 
at BPA, Room 470, 905 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, on June 22, 
2000, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. At these informal meetings, FPL Energy will 
provide information, including maps and visual simulations, about the 
wind project; State and County officials will describe their related 
processes. Written information will also be available, and BPA staff 
will answer questions and accept oral and written comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine S. Pierce B KECP-4, 
Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 97208-
3621, phone number 503-230-3962, fax number 503-230-5699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restructuring in the electric utility industry has resulted in 
increased demand for energy produced by new renewable resources. Part 
of this demand is due to the increased ability consumers have to choose 
their power provider. Some of these consumers want to encourage the 
development of renewable energy resources, and want their power 
provider to give them options for doing this. Some Northwest states 
(such as Oregon) have passed laws that require utilities to offer their 
customers a power rate that includes significant new renewable energy 
resources. In other cases, individual utilities have chosen to dedicate 
a portion of their wholesale power purchases to new renewable resources 
and are looking to BPA to supply them. In addition, the Northwest Power 
Planning Council's Fourth Conservation and Electric Power Plan 
recommends that Northwest utilities offer green power purchase 
opportunities as a way to help the region integrate renewable resources 
into the power system in the future.

Purpose and Need

    In the face of regional growth in electrical loads and increasing 
constraints on the existing energy resource base, BPA needs to acquire 
resources that will contribute to diversification of the long-term 
power supply prospects in the region. The purposes of acquiring a 
diverse resource portfolio include:
     Protecting BPA and its customers against risk;
     Assuring consistency with BPA's responsibility under the 
Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act 
(Northwest Power Act) to encourage the development of renewable energy 
resources;
     Meeting customer demand for energy from renewable energy 
resources, thereby assuring consistency with BPA's Business Plan EIS 
(DOE/EIS-0183, June 1995) and Business Plan ROD;
     Assuring consistency with the resource acquisition 
strategy of BPA's Resource Programs EIS (DOE/EIS-February 1993) and 
ROD; and
     Meeting the objective in the January 2000 Strategic Plan 
of BPA's Power Business Line to acquire at least 150 average MW of new 
renewable resources by the end of fiscal year 2006 in order to meet 
customer demand for new renewable resources.

Proposed Action

    BPA proposes to execute one or more power purchase and transmission 
services agreements to acquire and transmit up to the full electrical 
output of FPL Energy's proposed Stateline Wind Project. FPL Energy 
proposes to construct and operate this 250- to 300-MW wind generation 
facility, located in southern Walla Walla County, Washington, and in 
Umatilla County, Oregon, along the Oregon-Washington border. This 
location is several miles north and west of the existing 24.9-MW 
Vansycle Ridge wind project, located in Umatilla County, Oregon. The 
proposed project site consists of ridge tops located in an area of 
rolling, arid hills bisected by canyons. Land uses within the project 
site consist of non-irrigated agriculture-winter wheat and cattle 
grazing. The project will be located entirely on private farmland, and 
no project facilities will be constructed upon lands owned by the 
States of Oregon or Washington or by the United States.
    The approximately 250 to 450 turbines will be arranged in several

[[Page 35625]]

``strings,'' with generally approximately 200 to 300 feet between 
turbines in each string. FPL Energy is considering using either 660-
kilowatt (kW) turbines similar to those used at the existing Vansycle 
Wind Project, or larger, up to 1,300-kW (1.3 MW) turbines if needed to 
meet the demand for power. If the 660-kW turbines are used, the 
turbines will be about 165 feet tall at the turbine hub, and about 245 
feet tall including the turbine blades. The diameter of the circle 
covered by the rotors will be about 154 feet. Each turbine will be 
mounted on a tubular steel tower installed on a concrete foundation 
approximately 20 feet in diameter. The pad will be buried up to 15 feet 
underground. If the 1,300-kW turbines are needed, all these dimensions 
will be somewhat greater. Agricultural activities generally can take 
place directly adjacent to the turbine pads.
    The turbine towers will be tubular steel structures. The turbines 
will be linked to each other using underground electrical cables. Power 
from all turbines in the project will be transmitted by a combination 
of underground and overhead cables to similar strings and then to a 
proposed substation to be located in Washington. The fenced substation 
site will occupy approximately one to two acres. From the substation 
site, power from the project will be transmitted by new above-ground 
lines (likely H-frame wood towers) to interconnect with one or more 
existing transmission lines: about eight to ten miles to a 115-kilovolt 
(kV) BPA transmission line located north of the Walla Walla River and/
or a 230-kV PacifiCorp transmission line located two miles to the west 
of the project (south of the Walla Walla River). Other facilities 
required as part of the project are access roads, an operations and 
maintenance (O&M) building, and a water tank. Most of the access roads 
will consist of improved, graveled, existing farm roads, with some 
construction of new graveled roads in areas where usable farm roads do 
not exist. The O&M building will probably be located near Hatchgrade 
Road to provide good visibility of the turbines.
    FPL Energy proposes to begin construction in late 2000 or early 
2001. The Stateline Wind Project is scheduled to begin commercial 
operation late in 2001, and would operate for at least 25 years.

Process to Date

    FPL Energy has filed an application for a Conditional Use Permit 
from Walla Walla County, Washington, Regional Planning. Oregon 
Department of Energy has received and approved FPL Energy's request for 
Expedited Review of FPL Energy's Application for a Site Certificate. In 
addition, the Oregon Department of Energy and the Oregon Department of 
Fish and Wildlife have suggested that the EIS address both the 
Stateline Wind Project (at a site-specific level) and a broader 
Potential Wind Development Area (at a broad, programmatic level). This 
Area was the subject of a baseline avian study conducted in the mid-
1990's. Some environmental analyses have already been conducted by FPL 
Energy for the Stateline Wind Project. Surveys for sensitive plant and 
animal species were conducted in the spring of 1999 and surveys for 
sensitive animal species and cultural resources were conducted in the 
spring of 2000. Scoping will help identify what additional studies will 
be required.

Alternatives Proposed for Consideration

    The alternatives include the proposed action (executing a power 
purchase agreement with FPL Energy for up to 300 MW of electrical 
energy from the proposed Stateline Wind Project) and the No Action 
alternative. In addition, at least two transmission alternatives will 
be examined in the EIS.

Identification of Environmental Issues

    For other wind projects, noise, visual impacts, cultural resources, 
and impacts to sensitive plant and animal species have been identified 
as potential environmental issues. The scoping process will help 
identify the range of environmental issues that should be addressed in 
this EIS. Maps and further information are available from BPA at the 
address above.
    When completed, the Draft EIS will be circulated for review and 
comment, and BPA will hold public comment meetings for the Draft EIS. 
BPA will consider and respond to comments received on the Draft EIS in 
the Final EIS, expected to be published in late 2000 or early 2001. 
BPA's subsequent decision will be documented in a Record of Decision 
(ROD).
    The EIS will satisfy the requirements of the NEPA and the 
Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The State of Oregon 
will coordinate its Energy Facility Siting process with the NEPA/SEPA 
process.

    Issued in Portland, Oregon, on May 25, 2000.
Terence G. Esvelt,
Acting Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 00-13965 Filed 6-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P