[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71101-71102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31452]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration


Transmission Policy-Level Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: BPA proposes to adopt a comprehensive policy to guide its 
transmission business activities. This transmission policy-level 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will address the planning, 
construction, operation, and marketing of BPA's Transmission Business 
Line. BPA is taking this opportunity to further enhance and inform its 
decisionmaking by providing a comprehensive and cumulative analysis of 
the potential impacts that can result from its transmission-related 
policy decisions.
    BPA owns and operates the Federal Columbia River Transmission 
System (FCRTS) and is the leading provider of high-voltage electric 
transmission in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to this regional 
transmission network, BPA operates large inter-regional transmission 
lines that connect to Canada, California, the Southwest, and eastern 
Montana. New challenges to transmission activities continue to emerge, 
contributing to the difficulty of solving existing policy issues. To 
address these challenges, and in support of BPA's transmission business 
decisions, the EIS will examine a broad and comprehensive range of 
policy alternatives.

DATES: Written comments are due to the BPA Communications address below 
no later than March 31, 2004. Comments may also be made at EIS scoping 
meetings to be held in January 2004, at the addresses below. Public EIS 
scoping meetings will be held January 13, 2004, in Portland, Oregon; 
January 14, 2004, in Seattle, Washington; and January 15, 2004, in 
Spokane, Washington. Details are yet to be determined on other meetings 
that may be held in Idaho and Montana. Information about all public 
meetings will be published on an Internet site dedicated to this 
transmission policy EIS, at http://www2.transmission.bpa.gov/PlanProj/Policy_EIS/.

ADDRESSES: Send letters with comments and suggestions on the proposed 
scope of the Draft EIS, and requests to be placed on the project 
mailing list, to Communications, Bonneville Power Administration--DM-7, 
Attn: Transmission Policy EIS, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, Oregon, 97293-
4428. You may also call BPA's toll-free comment line at 1-800-622-4519, 
naming this project, to record your comments. Comments may also be sent 
to the BPA Internet address at [email protected] or through the above-
mentioned Internet site.
    On Tuesday, January 13, 2004, a formal scoping meeting will be held 
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room 120C at the Oregon State Office Building, 
800 NE Oregon Street, Portland. On Wednesday, January 14, 2004, a 
formal scoping meeting will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the 
Comfort Suites Downtown/Seattle Center, at 601 Roy Street, Seattle, 
Washington. On Thursday, January 15, 2004, a formal scoping meeting 
will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quality Inn Oakwood, 7919 N. 
Division Street, Spokane, Washington. At these meetings, information 
will be provided about the objectives of the EIS. BPA's EIS team 
members will also be available to discuss potential issues, the 
process, and timeline for completing the

[[Page 71102]]

document. Written and oral comments may also be submitted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mike Mayer or Rick Yarde, NEPA 
project managers, Bonneville Power Administration--KEC-4, P.O. Box 
3621, Portland, Oregon, 97208-3621; toll-free telephone number 1-800-
282-3713; fax number 503-230-5699; e-mail addresses [email protected] or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BPA owns and operates approximately three-
quarters of the high-voltage electric grid in the Pacific Northwest. 
These 15,000 miles of transmission lines carry energy from dams and 
other power-generating facilities to public and private utility 
customers and direct-service industries. BPA's transmission system also 
includes transmission lines that connect to Canada, California, the 
Southwest, and eastern Montana.
    BPA's transmission business consists of more than just the 
construction, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines; it 
includes all of the activities necessary to manage a regional system to 
deliver electricity, such as marketing of capacity and setting rates to 
recover costs in accordance with sound business principles. This 
requires participation with regional and national stakeholders in 
discussions regarding reliability, environmental concerns, congestion 
management, conservation measures, industry restructuring, and national 
standards, among other issues. This policy-level EIS will further 
enhance BPA's understanding of the impacts that transmission-related 
activities have on the human environment, and will help further inform 
the public of these impacts.
    Several Federal statutes guide BPA's transmission business line. 
The Bonneville Project Act Sec.  2(b) states that ``* * * the 
administrator is authorized and directed to provide, construct, 
operate, maintain, and improve such electric transmission lines and 
substations, 3 and facilities and structures * * * as he finds 
necessary, desirable, or appropriate. * * *.'' In addition, the Federal 
Columbia River Transmission System Act, Sec. Sec.  4(a)-(d) directs the 
administrator to operate and maintain the system for stability and 
reliability, among other objectives. The Pacific Northwest Electric 
Power Planning and Conservation Act, Sec.  2(2) requires the 
administrator to assure an adequate, efficient, economical, and 
reliable power supply for the Northwest.
    In addition to these statutory obligations, BPA's transmission 
business is operated separately from its power business, because BPA 
voluntarily complies with the open access policies of the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Although BPA is not subject to 
FERC's jurisdiction concerning these policies, BPA has adopted and 
currently implements an Open Access Transmission Tariff for the FCRTS 
that is generally consistent with FERC's pro forma open access tariff. 
This course of action demonstrates BPA's commitment to non-
discriminatory access to its transmission system and ensures that BPA 
will receive non-discriminatory access to the transmission systems of 
utilities that are subject to FERC's jurisdiction.
    FERC has fostered several industry-restructuring initiatives, in 
which BPA has participated. To promote competitive wholesale power 
markets through standards of practice, FERC has proposed a Standard 
Market Design. Key features of this Market Design include the formation 
of regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and sound wholesale 
market rules. Over the years, BPA has been part of regional discussions 
regarding the potential creation of an RTO in the Pacific Northwest, to 
discuss BPA's possible role in an RTO and ensure that its formation 
provides coordinated benefits to BPA's customers and the Northwest.
    As part of addressing its many transmission policy issues, BPA is 
also involved in several agency and regional processes. For example, in 
early 2003, BPA initiated a roundtable for discussion of ``non-wire'' 
solutions to transmission capacity issues. Round table meetings 
considered transmission line alternatives such as energy efficiency 
programs, demand reduction initiatives, pricing strategies, and 
distributed generation. The agency has also been meeting with customers 
regarding available transfer capability (ATC). These discussions 
described the methodology for determining ATC, and the effects the 
methodology would have on contracting and scheduling.
    BPA will use the previously mentioned processes, among others 
related to transmission issues, to help shape the development of this 
policy-level EIS. BPA expects that this EIS will enhance the 
transmission issues discussed in BPA's 1995 Business Plan EIS (DOE/EIS-
0183). The Business Plan EIS included an evaluation of the 
environmental impacts potentially resulting from the full range of the 
agency's business policies, including its power, transmission, and fish 
and wildlife activities. This transmission EIS will provide a policy-
level analysis that is more focused on transmission issues, similar to 
the way BPA's recently completed Fish and Wildlife Implementation Plan 
EIS provides a policy-level analysis that is more focused on the 
agency's administration of its fish and wildlife responsibilities.
    This EIS is being prepared to consider and assess various potential 
policy directions for the planning, construction, operation, and 
marketing of BPA's transmission activities. This document will allow 
BPA's decisionmakers and the public to be better informed about the 
potential cumulative impacts that can be expected from BPA's 
transmission-related policy decisions. This EIS is intended to support 
and facilitate a number of decisions regarding BPA's transmission 
activities.
    This transmission EIS will identify a broad range of alternative 
policy directions structured around key transmission policy 
considerations such as reliability, cost, contractual obligations, 
regulatory requirements, and ``non-wire'' solutions. The EIS will also 
provide an assessment of potential impacts on the human environment 
associated with each of the alternatives. During this scoping period, 
the public is invited to provide comments and suggestions on potential 
alternatives to be included in the EIS. BPA is in the process of 
defining these alternatives, and is interested in receiving public 
input before fully defining the range of alternatives to be considered 
in the EIS. The public also is invited to comment on potential key 
issues and environmental impacts to be considered in the EIS.

    Issued in Portland, Oregon, on December 15, 2003.
Stephen J. Wright,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-31452 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P