[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 127 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40616-40617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16558]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed JEA Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor 
Project at Jacksonville, FL

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the JEA Circulating 
Fluidized Bed Combustor Project (DOE/EIS-0289), at Jacksonville, 
Florida. The Final JEA EIS analyzes the environmental impacts that 
could result from construction and operation of a 297.5 megawatt-
electric, coal- and petroleum coke-fired, circulating fluidized bed 
combustor and boiler to repower an existing steam turbine at JEA's 
Northside Generating Station. The proposed Federal action is cost-
shared funding of approximately $73.1 million (about 24 percent of the 
total estimated cost of $309 million) for construction of the combustor 
and boiler and for a 24-month period of demonstration testing of the 
technology. The proposed project is expected to demonstrate technology 
for the cost-effective reduction of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and 
particulate emissions, while producing power more efficiently and at 
less cost than conventional coal combustion technologies. Information 
and experience developed from this project would provide the basis for 
demonstrating the potential of utility scale, atmospheric pressure, 
circulating fluidized bed technology as a viable alternative to 
conventional coal-fired power plant technologies. DOE may issue a 
Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days after the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes a Notice of Availability of the Final EIS 
in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Final EIS or other information 
about the proposed action should be addressed to: Ms. Lisa 
Hollingsworth, JEA NEPA Document Manager, National Energy Technology 
Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. 
Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880; by telephone at 304-285-4992; by 
fax at 304-285-4403; by leaving a message at 1-800-276-9851; or by 
electronic mail at [email protected]. The Final JEA EIS 
will be available under the DOE NEPA Analyses link from the DOE NEPA 
Web at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE 
NEPA process, please contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office 
of NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585. Ms. Borgstrom may be 
contacted by calling 202-586-4600 or by leaving a message at 1-800-472-
2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The JEA EIS was prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations (40 CFR 
Parts 1500-1508), and the DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR Part 1021).
    A Notice of Intent (Notice) to prepare an environmental impact 
statement for the proposed JEA Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor 
Project and hold a public scoping meeting was published in the Federal 
Register on Thursday, November 13, 1997 (62 FR 60889). The Notice 
invited oral and written comments and suggestions on the proposed scope 
of the environmental impact statement, including

[[Page 40617]]

environmental issues and alternatives, and invited public participation 
in the National Environmental Policy Act process. A public scoping 
meeting was announced and held on December 3, 1997, at Jacksonville, 
FL. Comments and feedback received during the public scoping process 
were used to guide development of the environmental analyses included 
in this final JEA EIS. The availability of the draft environmental 
impact statement for the Proposed JEA Circulating Fluidized Bed 
Combustor Project was announced in the Federal Register on Wednesday, 
August 25, 1999 (64 FR 46363). The Notice invited oral and written 
comments and provided details on the public hearing. A public hearing 
was held at the North Campus of the Florida Community College in 
Jacksonville, Florida, on September 30, 1999. Comments received during 
the comment period and at the public hearing have been addressed in the 
Final JEA EIS.
    DOE proposes to provide funding to JEA for supporting the 
construction and operation of a combustor and boiler to repower a steam 
turbine and generator that have been out of service since 1983 at JEA's 
Northside Generating Station. As part of this proposed action (the 
preferred alternative identified in the EIS), the Final JEA EIS 
evaluates plans by JEA to repower a second, currently operating, steam 
turbine without cost-shared funding from DOE. In addition to analyzing 
the environmental impacts of the proposed action, the Final JEA EIS 
analyzes the potential impacts of the No-Action Alternative. Under the 
No-Action Alternative, three scenarios that reasonably could be 
expected to be pursued by JEA in the absence of DOE funding are 
analyzed. The Final JEA EIS compares the environmental impacts that 
could be expected to occur from repowering the two steam turbines with 
new circulating fluidized bed combustors with the impacts that would be 
likely from each of the three scenarios under the No-Action 
Alternative.
    The principal focus of the JEA EIS is on evaluating impacts from 
construction and operation of the proposed project on the primary areas 
of concern: human health, air quality, surface water, groundwater, 
ecological resources, socioeconomic resources (including environmental 
justice), noise, and traffic. In addition, impacts on land use, 
floodplains, wetlands, waste management, and cultural resources are 
also considered.
    DOE has distributed copies of the Final JEA EIS to appropriate 
Members of Congress, State and local agencies and government officials 
in Florida, Federal agencies, and other interested parties. Copies of 
the document may be obtained by contacting DOE as provided in the 
section of this notice entitled ADDRESSES. Copies of the Final JEA EIS 
are also available for inspection at the locations identified below:

(1) U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, 1E-
190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 
20585.
(2) U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 
3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880.
(3) Highlands Branch Library, 1826 Dunn Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32218.

    DOE may issue a Record of Decision (ROD) on whether to provide 
cost-shared funding for the proposed JEA Circulating Fluidized Bed 
Combustor Project no sooner than 30 days after the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes a Notice of Availability of the Final EIS 
in the Federal Register.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this 26th day of June 2000.
Robert S. Kripowicz,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 00-16558 Filed 6-29-00; 8:45 am]
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