[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5572-5574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-2826]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP-252]


Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
to conduct public scoping meetings and Notice of Floodplain and 
Wetlands Involvement; GenPower New York, L.L.C.

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and to conduct public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: GenPower New York, L.L.C. (GenPower) has applied to DOE for a 
Presidential permit to construct a 500,000-volt 
(500-kV) direct current (DC) submarine electric 
transmission cable across the U.S. border with Canada. The cable is 
proposed to originate in Goldboro, Nova Scotia, Canada, and terminate 
in New York City, New York. 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). For this reason, 
DOE intends to prepare an EIS to address reasonably foreseeable impacts 
from the proposed action and alternatives.
    The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to inform the public about 
the proposed action, announce plans for three public scoping meetings, 
invite public participation in the scoping process, and solicit public 
comments for consideration in establishing the scope and content of the 
EIS. Because the proposed project may involve an action in a floodplain 
or wetland, the EIS will include a floodplain and wetlands assessment 
and floodplain statement of findings in accordance with DOE regulations 
for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review 
requirements (10 CFR part 1022).

DATES: DOE invites interested agencies, organizations, and members of 
the public to submit comments or suggestions to assist in identifying 
significant environmental issues and in determining the appropriate 
scope of the EIS. The public scoping period starts with the publication 
of this Notice in the Federal Register and will continue until March 
25, 2002. Written and oral comments will be given equal weight, and DOE 
will consider all comments received or postmarked by March 25, 2002, in 
defining the scope of this EIS. Comments received or postmarked after 
that date will be considered to the extent practicable.

[[Page 5573]]

    Dates for the public scoping meetings are:
    1. February 26, 6 to 9 p.m., Gloucester, Massachusetts
    2. February 27, 1 to 4 p.m., Boston, Massachusetts
    3. February 28, 1 to 4 p.m., New York City, New York
    Requests to speak at a public scoping meeting(s) should be received 
by Mrs. Ellen Russell at the address indicated below on or before 
February 25, 2002. Requests to speak may also be made at the time of 
registration for 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, 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 electronic mail at 
[email protected]. In addition, a toll free comment line, 1-800-
437-7280, and a project information Web site, http://projects1.battelle.org/genpowereis, are available.
    The locations of the scoping meetings are:
    1. Milton Fuller School, 4 School House Road, Gloucester, 
Massachusetts.
    2. Environmental Protection Agency Building, Training Room 1101, 1 
Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts.
    3. Federal Triangle Building, Conference Room A, 26 Federal Plaza, 
New York City, NY.

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. The GenPower application, 
including associated maps and drawings, can be downloaded in its 
entirety from the Fossil Energy web site 
(www.FE.DOE.GOV; choose ``Electricity Regulation,'' then ``Pending 
Procedures'').
    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 CFR 205.320--205.329. Issuance 
of the permit indicates that there is no Federal objection to the 
project, but does not mandate that the project be completed.
    On September 19, 2001, GenPower filed an application with the 
Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the DOE for a Presidential permit. For 
its ``Hudson Energy Project,'' GenPower proposes to install a high-
voltage, direct current (HVDC) submarine cable extending from a 
proposed 820-megawatt combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant 
located in Goldboro, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada, to New 
York City, New York, a distance of approximately 800 to 900 miles 
(1,300 to 1,450 kilometers (km)). GenPower's proposed terminus in New 
York City is the Consolidated Edison Company's (ConEd) West 49th Street 
substation. GenPower proposes, based on technical and geological 
limitations, to bury the cable on the sea bed to a depth of 
approximately 3.3 feet (1 meter (m)) in Canadian, United States, and 
possibly international waters at ocean depths to 990 feet (300 m). The 
cable is proposed to be installed using remotely operated water-jet 
trenching and/or water-jet plow equipment. Two areas designated as 
Critical Habitat for the Right Whale may be transited by installer 
ships. GenPower proposes to finalize installation procedures after 
consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service under the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act.
    The GenPower application, including associated maps and drawings, 
can be downloaded in its entirety from the Fossil Energy Web site 
(www.FE.DOE.GOV; choose ``Electricity Regulation,'' then ``Pending 
Procedures'').
    GenPower does not have firm contracts in place in the United States 
for the sale of power from the proposed generating facilities.
    GenPower's application proposes two sea-bed alternatives in the 
vicinity of ``Georges Bank,'' one to the east, the other to the west 
(applicants preferred alternative), beginning at the proposed Goldboro, 
Nova Scotia, power plant and terminating at ConEd's West 49th Street 
Substation. Georges Bank is one in a series of immense underwater banks 
or plateaus stretching from Newfoundland to southern New England on the 
edge of the North American continental shelf. The northernmost banks 
are called the Grand Banks and are off the Newfoundland and Labrador 
coasts. Georges Bank is an oval-shaped geological formation, 
approximately 150 miles (240 km) long by 75 miles (120 km) wide, and 
approximately 330 feet (100 m) higher than the sea bed of the Gulf of 
Maine that lies just north of it. Georges Bank is located at the 
southwestern end of the chain of banks and it is 75 miles (120 km) off 
the coast of New England. An important fishing resource, the banks are 
prime North American breeding and feeding grounds for fish and 
shellfish.
    The alternative cable routes proposed by GenPower are as follows: 
For both alternatives, submarine cable installation would begin at 
Goldboro, Nova Scotia, and head offshore, then southwesterly along the 
Nova Scotia coast, to the Northeast Channel area. From there, the cable 
route would follow either a southeastern route around Georges Bank 
(southeast of Nantucket Island), or, for the applicant's preferred 
alternative, a southwestern route around Georges Bank to the Great 
South Channel and western terminus of the Ambrose shipping channel into 
New York Harbor.
    When the cable route would enter the territorial waters of New York 
State it would be outside Lower New York Bay approximately three miles 
(5 km) south of Rockaway Beach, Queens. The route would continue west, 
entering Lower New York Bay, then turn northwest, passing through the 
Narrows into Upper New York Bay. The route would then proceed north, on 
the east side of the New York/New Jersey state line, to the west of 
Governors Island. The route would then proceed north, paralleling the 
west shoreline of Manhattan until the vicinity of the Passenger Ship 
Terminal piers near West 50th Street, where the cable route would 
proceed east and enter a directionally drilled conduit to connect with 
a proposed DC to AC power converter facility, proposed to be located at 
West 50th and 12th Avenue. The converted power would then leave the 
converter facility

[[Page 5574]]

via a buried AC interconnection that would pass from the converter 
facility to ConEd's West 49th Street substation (located at West 49th 
Street between 12th and 11th Avenues), for interconnection with ConEd's 
existing electrical transmission system.
    Federal and Provincial Governments in Canada will also have a 
permitting role in the construction and operation of GenPower's Hudson 
Energy Project. DOE believes that this project is likely to require a 
demonstration that facilities in Canada would be undertaken in an 
environmentally safe manner. Further, DOE believes that an 
environmental review, similar to the one being announced by DOE herein, 
will be required by the Canada Environmental Assessment Act. DOE will 
consider information developed in that proceeding in the GenPower EIS.

Identification of Environmental Issues

    A purpose of this notice is to solicit comments and suggestions for 
consideration in the preparation of the EIS. As background for public 
comment, this notice contains a list of potential environmental issues 
that DOE has tentatively identified for analysis. This list is not 
intended to be all-inclusive or to imply any predetermination of 
impacts. Following is a preliminary list of issues that may be analyzed 
in the EIS:
    1. Impacts on fisheries, infrastructure, and employment;
    2. Impacts on protected, threatened, endangered, or sensitive 
species of animals or plants, or their critical habitats;
    3. Impacts on floodplains and wetlands;
    4. Impacts on cultural or historic resources;
    5. Impacts on human health and safety;
    6. Impacts on air, soil, and water;
    7. Visual impacts; and
    8. Disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and low-
income populations.
    The EIS will also consider alternatives to the proposed 
transmission lines, including, to the extent practicable, the No Action 
Alternative. However, not issuing the Presidential permit would not 
necessarily imply maintenance of the status quo. GenPower indicated its 
proposed action is required to meet current and projected demand for 
electricity in New York City. Other actions (e.g., construction of a 
new generating station in the vicinity of New York or New England and 
new transmission lines into New York City) could occur if the proposed 
transmission line is not built. The No Action Alternative will address 
the environmental impacts that are reasonably foreseeable to occur if 
the Presidential permit is not issued.

Scoping Process

    Interested parties are invited to participate in the scoping 
process both to refine the preliminary alternatives and environmental 
issues to be analyzed in depth, and to eliminate from detailed study 
those alternatives and environmental issues that are not feasible or 
pertinent. The scoping process is intended to involve all interested 
agencies (Federal, state, county, and local), public interest groups, 
Native American tribes, businesses, and members of the public. 
Potential Federal cooperating agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service. Both oral and written comments will 
be considered and given equal weight by DOE.
    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. Depending upon the number of persons 
wishing to speak, DOE may allow longer times for representatives of 
organizations. Consequently, persons wishing to speak on behalf of an 
organization should identify that organization in their request to 
speak. Persons who have not submitted a request to speak in advance may 
register to speak at the scoping meeting(s), 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. Meetings will begin at the times specified and 
will continue until all those present who wish to participate have had 
an opportunity to do so.

Draft EIS Schedule and Availability

    The Draft EIS is scheduled to be issued in the fall, 2002, at which 
time its availability will be announced in the Federal Register and 
local media and public comments again will be solicited.
    People who do not wish to submit comments or suggestions at this 
time but who would like to receive a copy of the Draft EIS for review 
and comment when it is issued should notify Mrs. Russell at the address 
above.
    The Draft EIS will be made available for public inspection. A 
notice of these locations will be provided in the Federal Register and 
local media at a later date.

    Issued in Washington, DC on January 31, 2002.
Steven V. Cary,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Environment, Safety, and Health.
[FR Doc. 02-2826 Filed 2-5-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P