[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 140 (Thursday, July 20, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45042-45044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18438]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP-197, DOE/EIS-0307]


Notice of Reopening Scoping Period and Schedule for Public 
Scoping Meetings; Public Service Company of New Mexico

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: DOE announces that it is reopening the scoping period and will 
hold additional public scoping meetings for the environmental impact 
statement (DOE/EIS-0307) that is being prepared in connection with an 
application for a Presidential permit filed by Public Service Company 
of New Mexico (PNM). PNM has applied for a Presidential permit to 
construct electric transmission lines across the U.S.-Mexican border. 
An EIS is being prepared because DOE has determined that the issuance 
of the Presidential permit would constitute a major Federal action that 
may have a significant impact upon the environment within the meaning 
of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The purpose of 
this notice is to open a new scoping period to obtain comments on two 
additional alternative transmission corridors that have been 
identified. One of these new corridors has been designated by PNM as 
its ``preferred alternative.''

DATES: DOE invites interested agencies, organizations, and members of 
the public to submit comments or suggestions to assist in identifying 
significant environmental issues not

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previously identified and in determining the appropriate scope of the 
EIS. This new scoping period starts with the publication of this notice 
in the Federal Register and will continue until September 8, 2000. 
Written and oral comments will be given equal weight, and DOE will 
consider all comments received or postmarked by September 8, 2000, in 
defining the scope of the EIS. Comments received or postmarked after 
that date will be considered to the extent possible.
    Dates, times, and locations for the public scoping meetings are:
    1. August 22, 7 p.m., Rio Rico Resort, 1069 Camino Caralampi, Rio 
Rico, Arizona.
    2. August 23, 7 p.m., Presidio Plaza Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn 
City Center), 181 W. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona.
    Requests to speak at a public scoping meeting(s) should be received 
by the NEPA Document Manager, Mrs. Ellen Russell, at the address 
indicated below on or before August 18, 2000. Requests to speak may 
also be made at the time of the scoping meeting(s). However, persons 
who submitted advance requests to speak will be given priority if time 
should be limited during the meeting.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions on the scope of the EIS and 
requests to speak at the scoping meeting(s) should be addressed to: 
Mrs. Ellen Russell, NEPA Document Manager, Office of Fossil Energy (FE-
27), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington DC 20585-0350; phone 202-586-9624, facsimile: 202-287-5736, 
or by electronic mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed 
project or to receive a copy of the Draft EIS when it is issued, 
contact Mrs. Russell at the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA review process, contact: 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-
42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, 
Washington, DC 20585-0119; Phone: 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 
800-472-2756; Facsimile: 202-586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 10485, as amended by 
Executive Order 12038, requires that a Presidential permit be issued by 
DOE before electric transmission facilities may be constructed, 
connected, operated, or maintained at the U.S. international border. 
The Executive Order provides that a Presidential permit may be issued 
after a finding that the proposed project is consistent with the public 
interest. In determining consistency with the public interest, DOE 
considers the impacts of the project on the reliability of the U.S. 
electric power system and on the environment. The regulations 
implementing the Executive Order have been codified at 10 CFR 
Secs. 205.320-205.329. Issuance of a Presidential permit does not 
mandate that the project be completed; in fact, prior to construction, 
the recipient must obtain approval from all other Federal, state and 
local authorities with jurisdiction over the project.
    On December 28, 1998, PNM filed an application for a Presidential 
permit with the Office of Fossil Energy of DOE. PNM proposed to 
construct up to two transmission lines on a single right-of-way 
extending approximately 140 to 230 miles from the electric switchyard 
near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located approximately 
30 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, to the U.S.-Mexico border in the 
vicinity of the western boundary of the Tohono O'odham Nation, Nogales, 
or Sasabe, Arizona. South of the border, PNM would extend the line(s) 
approximately 60 to 120 miles to the Santa Ana Substation, located in 
the City of Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico, and owned by the Comision 
Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico. 
In its application for a Presidential permit, PNM identified three 
alternative corridors for construction of the cross-border transmission 
lines. These corridors, Alternatives 1, 2 and 3, were the subject of 
public meetings conducted in Nogales, Tucson, Patagonia, Sells, Ajo, 
Gila Bend, and Casa Grande, Arizona, in March 1999, during a scoping 
period that extended from February 12 to April 14, 1999 (64 FR 7173, 
February 12, 1999, and extended by 64 FR 13553, March 19, 1999). Later, 
three additional alternative corridors (Alternatives 4, 5, and 6) were 
developed and were the subject of public meetings conducted in Green 
Valley, Tubac, Sasabe, Three Points (Robles Junction), and Tucson in 
June 1999, during a second scoping period that extended from June 10 to 
July 14, 1999 (64 FR 31204, June 10, 1999).
    On June 18, 2000, PNM submitted a letter to DOE in which it:
    1. Amended its application to include two additional alternative 
corridors (Alternatives 7 and 8) and identified Alternative 7 as its 
``preferred alternative'';
    2. Notified DOE that it prefers to construct the transmission lines 
as alternating current (AC) lines rather than direct current (DC) 
lines; and,
    3. Notified DOE that it was in discussions with Citizens Utilities 
of Nogales, Arizona, regarding the potential for providing back-up 
electrical service to the utility.
    Selection of the AC option would require construction of a back-to-
back AC/DC/AC converter station inside the U.S. in the vicinity of the 
border. If power is supplied to Citizens Utilities in the Nogales area, 
the ``step-down'' equipment also would be installed within the confines 
of this converter station. The AC transmission line(s) would be 
operated at 345 kV inside the U.S. and at 230 kV between the converter 
station and CFE's Santa Ana Substation. Use of the AC option means that 
two electrical circuits would be required. In some locations, both 
circuits would be installed on the same set of support structures. In 
other areas, two separate sets of support structures would be required 
with the need for a wider right-of-way. Each line would have an 
electrical transfer capability of approximately 400 megawatts (MW). If 
the AC option is not selected, PMN likely would not provide electrical 
service to Citizens Utilities.
    The EIS is being prepared to satisfy the environmental review 
requirements of any Federal agency having jurisdiction over the 
proposed project or any segment of it. Potential Federal cooperating 
agencies include the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (including the 
U.S. Forest Service), Interior (including the Bureau of Land 
Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fish and Wildlife 
Service), and State (including the International Boundary and Water 
Commission).

Description of New Alternatives

    Alternative 7 (PNM Preferred Alternative)--This alternative 
corridor extends southeasterly from the electrical switchyard adjacent 
to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS), approximately 
three miles north of Red Rock, Arizona. From this point, the line 
continues in a southeasterly direction, following highway I-10 and 
existing electric transmission and natural gas pipelines until 
approximately Marana. At Marana, this alternative corridor turns south, 
largely running parallel to an existing powerline corridor 
approximately eight miles west of Saguaro National Park. Near Orange 
Grove Road, the corridor turns east until it intersects with a current 
gas pipeline that runs southeast. It follows the pipeline until it 
approaches the Central

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Arizona Project (CAP) where it follows the CAP around the Garcia Strip 
of the Tohono O'odham Nation. It then heads southwest over Sandario 
Road and turns due south. Near the existing Bicknell substation, this 
proposed corridor turns due south following a gas pipeline through the 
copper mines and west of the mine residue piles that border Green 
Valley. The corridor would follow the pipeline until a point just north 
of Arivaca Road (near Amado) where the corridor would head due east, 
cross I-19, and cross to the east of the existing 115-KV line owned by 
Citizens Utilities. The corridor would then run south, paralleling the 
Citizen's line past Tubac and Tumacacori National Historic Park and 
then head west again, recrossing I-19. The corridor then rejoins the 
pipeline corridor and follows it through Coronado National Forest until 
west of Nogales where it crosses the U.S.-Mexico border. If PNM 
provides service to Citizens Utilities, a converter station and step 
down substation would be constructed in the vicinity of Nogales.
    Alternative 8--This alternative corridor is almost identical to 
Alternative 7. It differs from Alternative 7 in only one area. North of 
Arivaca Road (near Amado) this corridor proceeds due south (where 
Alternative 7 turns east) and continues to parallel the existing gas 
pipeline to Coronado National Forest, then through the forest, and 
crosses the border west of Nogales.
    A description of alternative transmission corridors 1 thru 6 can be 
found in the Federal Register notice for the second scoping period, 
referenced above. This notice can be accessed from the project web site 
maintained for DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute at http://projects/
battelle.org/pnmeis/. In addition, from this site, interested persons 
can download the PNM Presidential permit application as well as the 
project fact sheet, maps, verbatim transcripts from previous scoping 
meetings, and other project-related information.

Scoping Process

    Interested parties are invited to participate in the scoping 
process. Public scoping meetings will be held at the locations, dates, 
and times indicated above under the DATES and ADDRESSES sections. These 
scoping meetings will be informal. The DOE presiding officer will 
establish only those procedures needed to ensure that everyone who 
wishes to speak has a chance to do so and that DOE understands all 
issues and comments. Speakers will be allocated approximately 10 
minutes for their oral statements. Persons who have not submitted a 
request to speak in advance may register to speak at the scoping 
meetings, but advance requests are encouraged. Should any speaker 
desire to provide for the record further information that cannot be 
presented within the designated time, such additional information may 
be submitted in writing by the date listed in the DATES section. Both 
oral and written comments will be considered and given equal weight by 
DOE. Oral and written comments previously submitted on Alternatives 1 
through 6 have been entered in the official record of this proceeding 
and need not be resubmitted.

    Issued in Washington, DC on July 14, 2000.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/
Ex, Office of Coal & Power Systems, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 00-18438 Filed 7-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P