[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 62 (Wednesday, March 31, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16947-16948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7134]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Environmental Statements; Availability, etc: Arrowhead-Weston 
Transmission Line Right-of-Way Crossing of the Saint Croix National 
Scenic Riverway, WI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Arrowhead-Weston Transmission Line Right-of-Way 
Crossing of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, Wisconsin.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 
Arrowhead-Weston Transmission Line Right-of-Way Crossing of the Saint 
Croix National Scenic Riverway (Riverway), Wisconsin.

DATES: There will be a 60-day public review period for comments on this 
document. Comments on the Draft EIS must be received no later than 60-
days after the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice of 
availability in the Federal Register. A public open house for 
information about, or to make comment on, the Draft EIS will be 
announced in the local media and the Riverway's Web site when they are 
scheduled. Information about meeting time and place will also be 
available by contacting the Riverway at (715) 483-3284 or by visiting 
the Riverway's Web site at http://www.nps.gov/sacn/management/planning_docs.html.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft EIS will be sent to over 100 interested 
parties, as well as to public libraries throughout the project area. 
Please check our Web site for a listing of the libraries to which the 
draft EIS will be sent. The draft EIS is approximately 500 pages long 
with many figures and oversize color plates. Due to the size of the 
document, it was not possible to provide it over the Internet. A 
limited number of hardcopies are available upon request for individuals 
or organizations with special needs. Additional copies are available on 
compact disk. To request a hardcopy of the draft EIS or a copy on 
compact disk, please contact the Superintendent, Saint Croix National 
Scenic Riverway, P.O. Box 708, St. Croix Falls, WI 54024, Attention: 
Jill Medland, or phone at (715) 483-3284 Ext 609.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Medland, Planning and Compliance 
Specialist, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, P.O. Box 708, 401 
Hamilton Street, St. Croix Falls, WI 54024, or by phone (715) 483-3284 
Ext 609.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Arrowhead-Weston Project (Project) is a 
345 kilovolt (kV) electric transmission line proposed by Minnesota 
Power, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, and American Transmission 
Company (the Applicant's) that would run 220 miles from Duluth, 
Minnesota to Wausau, Wisconsin. The governmental entity with approval 
authority for the overall Project is the Public Service Commission of 
Wisconsin (PSCW). The PSCW approved the Project in 2001 and re-approved 
it in 2003. According to the Applicants, and as reflected in the PSCW 
decision, the purpose of the overall Project is to (1) strengthen the 
bulk transmission system by providing a second high-capacity connection 
across the Minnesota-Wisconsin interface and (2) to transmit 
electricity from the upper Midwest to markets in the eastern Wisconsin 
area.
    The State-approved route of the Project would cross the Namekagon 
River, which is part of Riverway, at a location approximately 10 miles 
downstream of the city of Hayward in Washburn County, Wisconsin. The 
NPS has received a right-of-way (ROW) request from the Applicants to 
cross the Riverway with the State-approved Project. To reach a decision 
about the right-of-way request to cross the Riverway, the NPS is 
preparing an EIS. The Corps of Engineers (Corps) is a cooperating 
agency on the EIS, since the Corps would also need to issue a permit 
for the river crossing.
    The Applicant's propose to cross the Riverway and the Namekagon 
River at an existing 161kV electric transmission line corridor granted 
to Xcel Energy as an easement by private landowners prior to NPS land 
acquisition in the area. All alternatives (except no action) would 
require additional right-of-way from the NPS. The following 
alternatives are under consideration for crossing the Namekagon River:
    No Action (Deny ROW Request): The existing 161kV line would remain 
as it is on 70-foot wood poles (this alternative would require the 
Applicants to go around the Riverway and reopen of the State approval 
process);
    Alternative 1: This alternative would double circuit the 345kV and 
161kV lines overhead on 145-150 foot-tall single steel poles 
(Applicant's preferred);
    Short-span Option: This option calls for the use of 130 to 150 
foot-tall steel structures to carry each of three electrical phases, 
using bundled conductors for each circuit, with a pair of overhead 
shield wires, for the entire crossing.
    Long-span Option: This option calls for much the same equipment for 
the right-of-way except at the actual crossing of the Namekagen River. 
At the river crossing, the Project will use shorter (125 foot-tall) 
steel structures set further back from the river, use of special long-
span conductors which allows fewer conductors and longer span lengths, 
and the elimination of the two overhead shield wires.
    Alternative 2: This alternative would have a single circuit 345kV 
overhead on 120-130 foot-tall single steel poles, underground the 
existing 161kV, and use transition structures at the overhead-to-
underground changeover;

[[Page 16948]]

    Alternative 3: This alternative would upgrade the existing 161kV to 
85-95-foot tall steel poles, place the 345kV underground, and use 
transition structures at the underground-to-overhead changeover;
    Alternative 4: This alternative would place both 345kv and 161kV 
underground, and use transition structures at the underground-to-
overhead changeover.
    The NPS preferred alternative is alternative 1, the long-span 
option. The NPS believes the no action alternative is the 
environmentally preferred alternative because this alternative would 
result in no changes to the river corridor.
    Persons wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so by any one of 
several methods. They may attend the open house noted above. They may 
mail comments to Superintendent, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, 
P.O. Box 708, 401 Hamilton Street, St. Croix Falls, WI 54024, 
Attention: Jill Medland. They, also, may comment via e-mail to [email protected] (include name and return address in the e-mail 
message). Finally, they may hand-deliver comments to Riverway 
Headquarters, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, 401 Hamilton 
Street, St. Croix Falls, WI 54024.
    The NPS practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the record, which we will honor to the extent 
allowable by law. There, also, may be circumstances in which we would 
withhold from the record a respondent's identify, as allowable by law. 
If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state 
this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not 
consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses available for public inspection in their entirety.
    The responsible official is Mr. Ernest Quintana, Midwest Regional 
Director, National Park Service.

    Dated: February 17, 2004.
David N. Given,
Acting Regional Director, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 04-7134 Filed 3-30-04; 8:45 am]
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