[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 97 (Friday, May 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27638-27640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12538]


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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 field by Public Service Company 
of New Mexico (PNM). PNM has applied for a Presidential permit to 
construct electric transmission lines across the U.S.-Mexico border. 
DOE is preparing an EIS, with the U.S. Forest Service as a cooperating 
agency, because together they have determined that the issuance of a 
DOE Presidential permit and/or issuance of a Forest Service ``Special 
Use Permit'' would constitute major Federal actions 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 the five 
alternative corridors proposed to be analyzed in the EIS. These 
alternative corridors have been derived from the eight study corridors 
that were the subject of previous scoping periods.

DATES: DOE invites interested agencies, organizations, and members of 
the public to submit comments or suggestions to assist in identifying 
significant environmental issues not 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 June 22, 2001. Written and oral comments will be 
given equal weight and DOE will consider all comments received or 
postmarked by June 22, 2001, 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. June 12, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Rio Rico Resort, 1069 Camino 
Caralampi, Rio Rico, Arizona.
    2. June 13, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Marana High School, Marana, 
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 June 7, 2001. 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. Ellem 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]. Comments that relate 
exclusively to activities on or impacts to lands under the control of 
the U.S. Forest Service may also be transmitted directly to Jerry 
Conner, Coronado National Forest, 300 W.

[[Page 27639]]

Congress Street, Tucson, Arizona 85701; phone 520-670-4527 or via 
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:

Background and Need for Agency Action

    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, maintained, operated or 
connected 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 10 205.320-205.329. 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 210 to 250 miles from the electric switchyard 
near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS), located 
approximately 30 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, to the U.S.-Mexico 
border. South of the border, PNM would extend the line(s) approximately 
60 miles to the Santa Ana Substation, located in the City of Santa Ana, 
Sonora, Mexico, and owned by the Commission Federal de Electricdad 
(CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico.
    In its December 28, 1998, Presidential permit application, PNM 
identified three alternative corridors for construction of the two 
cross-border transmission lines. These corridors were the subject of 
public scoping meetings conducted in Nogales, Tucson, Patagonia, Sells, 
Ajo, Gila Bend, and Casa Grande, Arizona, in March 1999. The initial 
scoping period extended from February 12 to March 15, 1999 (64 FR 7173, 
February 12, 1999), and was later extended to April 14, 1999 (64 FR 
13553, March 19, 1999). Later, three additional alternative corridors 
were developed and were the subject of public scoping 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). A 
third scoping period was opened on July 20, 2000 (65 FR 45042, July 20, 
2000), and, by an August 20, 2000, information letter to the public, 
continued until October 2, 2000, to receive public comment on two 
additional alternative corridors, one identified as the PNM ``Preferred 
Alternative.'' Public scoping meetings on these two additional 
alternative corridors were scheduled for Rio Rico and Tucson during 
August but were later canceled when DOE became aware from comments by 
the public that the quality of maps distributed and posted on the 
project web site was not adequate. Also, the public pointed out to DOE 
that during the month of August many residents of southern Arizona 
vacation outside of the State and either would not be available for the 
meeting or would not have received information on the proceeding.
    When the third scoping period was opened on July 20, 2000, PNM had 
identified a total of eight corridors, modified the path of several 
from what had originally been presented to the public by DOE, and 
eliminated the proposal to use direct current (DC) technology. Since 
the close of the third scoping period, PNM has continued to identify, 
eliminate and/or modify its proposed alternative corridors. For 
example, initially, for each of its proposal corridors, PNM had assumed 
a two-mile-wide study corridor. As its proposal has evolved, PNM has 
more narrowly defined each alternative study corridor, reducing the 
width of most to approximately one mile. PNM also has continued to 
define corridor alternatives and consider multiple options to many 
segments of these corridors.
    Earlier this year DOE informed PNM that this proceeding and the 
number of variations to proposed corridors had become too cumbersome 
for DOE to adequately describe and analyze or for the public to 
decipher. DOE requested PNM to identify the set of alternatives that 
DOE would propose to analyze in the EIS. DOE then mapped PNM's set of 
alternatives to provide the public with information to identify 
potential impacts to their property and to their community during this 
scoping period. In addition, DOE decided that it would not consider 
corridors PNM had earlier proposed through the Tohono O'odham Nation in 
light of the Nation's sovereignty and in response to its request that 
DOE terminate the NEPA and Presidential permit processes as they 
pertain to the Nation.
    Each of the five corridors that DOE proposed to analyze in the EIS 
has been named after distinguishing characteristics in the southern 
part of the corridor within the United States: the East Valley 
Corridor, the Sasabe Corridor, the Pipeline Corridor, the Cross-Over 
Corridor (designated the PNM preferred corridor), and the Tucson 
Corridor. The first four of these corridors have an optional routing in 
the area near Picacho and Marana. A map and description of each of the 
alternatives (and options) is being mailed to stakeholders who have 
previously expressed an interest in this proposal. In addition, maps 
are available on the project web site maintained for DOE by Battelle 
Memorial Institute at http://projects.battelle.org/pnmeis/ or may be 
received by mail by leaving a message at 1-888-806-3421. In addition, 
from this web site interested persons can download other project-
related information.
    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. The U.S. Forest Service 
(Coronado National Forest) has notified DOE that it will participate as 
a cooperating agency in the preparation of this EIS; several of the 
PNM-proposed corridors cross land under control of the Coronado 
National Forest. PNM must obtain a ``Special Use Permit'' from the U.S. 
Forest Service before a transmission line can be constructed on these 
lands.

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 DATES and ADDRESSES sections. These 
scoping meetings will be informal but a transcript will be taken and 
made available on the project web site. The DOE presiding officer will 
establish only those procedures needed

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to ensure that everyone who wishes to speak has a chance to do so and 
that DOE understands all issues and comments. At this time DOE expects 
to provide speakers with approximately 5 minutes for their oral 
statements. Allotted time may change based on the number of speakers 
who register. Persons who have not submitted a request to speak in 
advance may register to speak at each scoping meeting, 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 in this proceeding have been 
entered in the official record of this proceeding and need not be 
resubmitted.

    Issued in Washington, DC on May 15, 2001.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/
Ex, Office of Coal & Power System, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 01-12538 Filed 5-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M