[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48496-48497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19987]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Sacramento Area Voltage Support Project, California

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

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

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 102(2) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332, Western Area 
Power Administration (Western), intends to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) addressing Western's actions to meet the future 
voltage requirements of the Central Valley Project (CVP) transmission 
system in the Sacramento, California area. Per 40 CFR part 1501.5(b), 
Western will serve as the lead agency to prepare the EIS.
    This notice announces Western's intention to prepare an EIS and 
hold public scoping meetings for the proposed project. The scoping 
process will include notifying the general public and Federal, State, 
local, and tribal agencies of the proposed action. The purpose of 
scoping is to identify public and agency concerns, and alternatives to 
be considered in the EIS.

DATES: The meeting dates are:
    1. September 12, 2000, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Lodi, California.
    2. September 20, 2000, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 
p.m., Folsom, California.
    3. September 21, 2000, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Marysville, California.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS for the proposed 
project will also be accepted; comments on the scope should be received 
no later than October 2, 2000, addressed to: Ms. Loreen McMahon, 
Environmental Project Manager, Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region, 
Western Area Power Administration, 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA 
95630-4710, fax (916) 985-1936, e-mail [email protected].
    The meeting locations are:
    1. City of Lodi Council Chambers, Carnegie Forum Room, 305 West 
Pine Street, Lodi, California.
    2. Sierra Nevada Regional Office, Western Area Power 
Administration, 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom, California.
    3. Yuba County Board of Supervisors Chambers, Third Floor, 215 
Fifth Street, Marysville, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the U.S. 
Department of Energy's NEPA review procedures or status of a NEPA 
review, contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy 
and Compliance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone (202) 586-4600 or (800) 
472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western is a Federal power marketing 
administration, charged with the responsibility of marketing 
electricity generated by powerplants operated by

[[Page 48497]]

the Bureau of Reclamation, the Corps of Engineers, and the 
International Boundary and Water Commission. Created in 1977, Western 
markets on a wholesale basis and transmits Federal hydroelectric power 
throughout a 1.3 million square mile service territory to more than 600 
customers. Customers include rural electric cooperatives, municipal 
utilities, public utility districts, Federal and State agencies, 
irrigation districts, and Native American tribes. Western's power 
customers, in turn, provide service to millions of consumers in 15 
western States. Western has four customer service regions: Sierra 
Nevada, Desert Southwest, Upper Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain, as 
well as the Colorado River Storage Project Management Center in Salt 
Lake City, Utah. The Sierra Nevada Regional Office is located in 
Folsom, California, and carries out Western's mission to customers in 
northern and central California. This Notice of Intent addresses only 
the voltage support needs for the Sacramento, California area.
    Growth in the greater Sacramento area continues to increase the 
demand on the area's interconnected transmission system. This situation 
is reducing the reliability and security of the power system, 
particularly during summer peak periods. The majority of the Sacramento 
area's energy needs are imported over a limited transmission system 
that has reached, and occasionally exceeds, its maximum rated transfer 
limits. Western's CVP transmission system forms an integral part of the 
Sacramento area transmission grid.
    In order to maintain the reliability and stability of the system, 
the Western Systems Coordinating Council has established minimum 
operating standards. When the standards cannot be met and the system is 
in danger of transmission system or area capacity shortages, system 
instability, or voltage collapse, the California Independent System 
Operator (Cal-ISO) declares staged emergencies. Stage 1 of the State's 
Electrical Emergency Plan is initiated to advise the public of 
potential power shortages and to ask all customers to voluntarily 
conserve electricity to ensure there will be enough power to meet 
demand. When a Stage 2 Emergency is declared, supply is decreased to 
large commercial customers that have agreed to voluntarily curtail 
power during high demand days. A Stage 3 Emergency initiates 
involuntary curtailment of service to customers, including ``rotating 
blackouts.''
    Historically, eight Stage 1 Emergencies and four Stage 2 
Emergencies were declared within the Cal-ISO-controlled area in 1998, 
but no Stage 3 Emergency notices were issued. In 1999, the numbers 
dropped somewhat with three Stage 1 Emergencies and one Stage 2 
Emergency declared. However, as of July 25, 2000, eleven Stage 1 
Emergency notices have been issued and five Stage 2 Emergencies have 
been declared.
    Cal-ISO forecasts of insufficient power generation in the event of 
a ``hot'' summer this year could mean that the reliability of future 
electrical service is in further jeopardy. The forecast peak load for 
this year exceeds the sum of the resources for the area and identifies 
a power deficit of 1,110 megawatts. This deficit would reduce operating 
reserves to below minimum required levels. In order to meet the demand 
and ensure electrical service reliability, additional generation and 
additional transmission in the area is needed.
    Area utilities have taken interim measures, such as load shedding, 
to manage peak power demands and avoid uncontrolled, systemwide 
outages. Load shedding is the process of deliberately removing pre-
selected electric energy from a power system in order to maintain the 
reliability of the system under unusual conditions. As the usage 
increases within the Sacramento area, these interim measures will not 
be sufficient to prevent wide-scale power interruptions.
    Western proposes to prepare an EIS to address Western's actions 
concerning the future voltage requirements of the Sacramento area. The 
EIS will describe the projected near-term voltage support requirements 
for a 100-mile radius around Sacramento, existing transmission lines 
bringing power into the Sacramento area, and the potential for new 
transmission lines and/or system upgrades in the Sacramento area to 
alleviate the current shortfall in electrical service.
    The EIS will be prepared following the requirements of the Council 
on Environmental Quality's NEPA Implementing Regulations (40 CFR part 
1500-1508). The EIS will analyze the effects of constructing and 
operating all components of the project. The No Action Alternative will 
also be analyzed in the EIS. The EIS will address other alternatives 
within categories. The categories identified include: upgrade of 
existing transmission systems and facilities, new power generation, new 
transmission systems (including transmission responses to possible new 
power generation by others), demand-side management (e.g., non-firm 
load and load shedding), and distributed generation (e.g., solar, 
micro-turbines, fuel cells). The EIS will examine the potential impact 
to a number of resource areas including: terrestrial and aquatic 
environments, threatened and endangered species, cultural and historic 
resources, visual resources, recreation, socioeconomics, air resources, 
noise, geology and soils, water, and land use, in addition to any 
issues raised during the scoping process. Western intends to allow full 
public participation, disclosure, and coordination, and will encourage 
involvement from appropriate Federal, State, local, and tribal 
government agencies during the EIS process. The EIS process will 
include public information/scoping meetings (September 2000), public 
review of the Draft EIS (July 2001), a public hearing on the Draft EIS 
(August 2001), distribution of the Final EIS (April 2002), and 
Western's Record of Decision (June 2002).

    Dated: July 31, 2000.
Michael S. Hacskaylo,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 00-19987 Filed 8-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P