[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 219 (Thursday, November 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64365-64367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28394]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Proposed Wanapa Energy Center, Umatilla County, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA), with the cooperation of the Bonneville Power 
Administration (BPA) and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (CTUIR), intends to file a draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the 
proposed Wanapa Energy Center, Umatilla County, Oregon, and that the 
DEIS is now available for public review. The purpose of the proposed 
project is to help provide for the economic development of the CTUIR 
and for the power needs of the Pacific Northwest. This notice also 
announces public hearings for the public to provide comments on the 
DEIS.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS must arrive by December 29, 2003. 
Public hearings on the DEIS will be held December 3 and December 4, 
2003, starting at 7 p.m.

ADDRESSES: You may hand carry written comments to the Umatilla Agency, 
46807 B Street, Mission, Oregon, or mail them to Philip Sanchez, 
Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Umatilla Agency, P.O. Box 
520, Pendleton, OR 97801.
    The December 3, 2003, public meeting will be in Pendleton, Oregon. 
The December 4, 2003, public meeting will be in Hermiston, Oregon. 
Exact addresses for the hearings will be determined at a later date. 
These may be obtained from the FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT listed 
below.
    To obtain a copy of the DEIS, please write to Jerry Lauer, Natural 
Resource Officer, Division of Natural Resources Management, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Umatilla Agency, 
P.O. Box 520,

[[Page 64366]]

Pendleton, Oregon 97801. Copies of the DEIS are available for public 
review at the Umatilla Agency on the CTUIR Reservation, Mission, 
Oregon; at the Pendleton Public Library, 500 SW Dorian, Pendleton, 
Oregon; and at the Hermiston Public Library, 238 E. Gladys Avenue, 
Hermiston, Oregon. Copies of the DEIS have also been sent to agencies 
and individuals who participated in the scoping process and to all 
others who have previously requested copies of the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Lauer, (541) 278-3790.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is to lease Indian trust 
land upon which Diamond Wanapa ILP, CTUIR, the Eugene, OR, Water and 
Electric Board, the City of Hermiston, and the Port of Umatilla propose 
to jointly build and operate the Wanapa Energy Center, an approximately 
1200 megawatt (Mw), natural gas-fired electric power generation plant 
that would provide electrical energy to the BPA grid system. The 
Center's design features two similar blocks of combined cycle, each 
having a nominal capacity of 600 Mw. A block would consist of (1) two 
combustion turbines; (2) two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) that 
can be fired by auxiliary duct burners; (3) 180 foot exhaust stacks; 
(4) one steam turbine in a 2 by 1 configuration; and (4) associated 
plant equipment. The proposed project also would include a switch yard, 
cooling towers, storage tanks, natural gas supply pipeline, water 
supply pipeline, electrical power transmission line, and other related 
facilities. The plant would be constructed in two phases, each 
consisting of two gas turbines, two HRSGs, two stacks, one steam 
turbine, one cooling tower, three generators, and supporting 
facilities. The maximum plant output would be approximately 1,485 Mw.
    Natural gas would be the sole fuel used for the combustion turbines 
and duct burners. This would be provided through a new, 9.9 mile 
lateral pipeline that would extend from a source in the vicinity of 
Stanfield, Oregon, approximately 10 miles north to the proposed project 
site. A new 500 kV electrical transmission line would extend from the 
project site to the McNary Substation on the Columbia River.
    Water demand for the facility is estimated to be from 3 million 
gallons per day (about 2,500 acre-feet per year) at 600 Mw production 
to 6 million gallons per day (about 5,000 acre-feet per year) at 1200 
Mw production. Pre-allocated municipal water would be obtained under 
the City of Hermiston's and the Port of Umatilla's allocated water 
supply from the Columbia River. Currently, the proposed power plant's 
blow-down water discharge location is the Feed Canal, approximately 5 
miles south of the project site. The Feed Canal empties into Cold 
Springs Reservoir, approximately 1 mile downstream of the proposed 
discharge point. The water discharge pipeline would follow and be 
located with the proposed natural gas pipeline lateral to the discharge 
point.
    In addition to the proposed action and no action, alternatives 
analyzed through the DEIS include routing options for the gas supply 
pipeline and transmission line. They are as follows:
    Gas Supply Pipeline Route Alternatives. There are two alternatives 
that would be approximately the same 9.9 mile length as the proposed 
route, but would follow a more eastern (Alternative 1-GSP) or a more 
western (Alternative 2-GSP) route. All three would begin at the 
Stanfield Compressor Station and terminate at the proposed power plant. 
Alternative 1-GSP is about 53,500 feet (10.13 miles) long. From the 
plant, the line would follow the proposed route for approximately 1.4 
miles, then continue farther eastward about 2.3 miles along highway 730 
before proceeding southward approximately 4.4 miles to the existing 
Northwest Gas Right of Way (ROW). Once co-located along this ROW, it 
would follow the existing line southeastward about 2 miles to the 
interconnect point at the Stanfield Compressor Station. This route 
would follow existing roads in a rural area for the majority of its 
length.
    Alternative 2-GSP is about 53,700 feet (10.17 miles) long. From the 
proposed power plant, the line would follow the proposed route for 
approximately 1,000 feet, at which point it would proceed due west for 
approximately 2,000 feet. It would then proceed about 4 miles due south 
to the Northwest Gas ROW and follow the existing line southeastward 
approximately 5.6 miles to interconnect with source pipelines at the 
Stanfield Compressor Station.
    Transmission Line Route Alternatives. In addition to the route 
described in the proposed action, three alternative transmission line 
routes from the plant site to McNary Substation are evaluated in the 
DEIS. These range from 3.7 to 4.0 miles in length. Alternative 1-TLR 
would include 21,900 feet of single-circuit and 5,800 of double-circuit 
line (5.25-miles combined. The route would traverse directly south from 
the project site, cross Highway 730, and then enter and follow the same 
alignment as the proposed route, parallel to the existing BPA ROWs 
west/ northwest and north.
    Alternative 2-TLR would be a 19,400-foot (3.67-mile) long single-
circuit line. It would run northwest from the project site until it 
neared and paralleled the bluffs above the Columbia River, then 
traverse southwest into the substation. This alternative would be 
located in an entirely new ROW. Alternative 3-TLR would be about a 
20,900-foot (3.96-mile) long single-circuit line. The route would 
traverse west from the project site until it passed McNary Beach Access 
Road, proceed north to where the Alternative 2 route turns southwest, 
then follow the Alternative 2 route into the substation.

Public Participation

    The public has participated throughout the development of this 
DEIS. The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was filed in the Federal 
Register on October 22, 2001 (66 FR 53430). Public scoping meetings 
were held in Pendleton, Oregon, on November 5, 2001, and in Hermiston, 
Oregon, on November 6, 2001, to identify issues and content for 
consideration in the EIS. On July 28, 2003, an open house was held in 
Hermiston, Oregon, to update the public on the EIS process for the 
proposed project. All comments presented throughout the process have 
been considered.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the mailing address shown in the 
ADDRESSES section, during regular business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may 
request confidentiality. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or 
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent 
allowed by law. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. All 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

    Authority: This notice is published in accordance with section 
1503.1 of the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 
parts 1500 through 1508) implementing the procedural requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.), and the Department of the

[[Page 64367]]

Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the exercise of authority 
delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: November 6, 2003.
Aurene M. Martin,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-28394 Filed 11-12-03; 8:45 am]
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