[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 11, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26089-26090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10656]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. PP-234 and PP-235]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Public Hearings for the Proposed Baja California Power, Inc., and 
Sempra Energy Resources Transmission Lines

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE), with the Department of the 
Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a cooperating agency, 
announces the availability of the ``Imperial-Mexicali 230-kV 
Transmission Lines Draft Environmental Impact Statement'' (DOE/EIS-
0365) for public review and comment. DOE and BLM also announce two 
public hearings on the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS was prepared pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA 
regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, and the DOE NEPA regulations, 10 
CFR Part 1021. The Draft EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of the 
DOE's proposed Federal actions of issuing Presidential permits to 
either Sempra Energy Resources or Baja California Power, Inc. (also 
known as Sempra and Intergen, respectively), or to both, for the 
construction, operation, maintenance, and connection of two double-
circuit, 230,000-volt electric transmission lines that would cross the 
United States international border in the vicinity of Calexico, 
California, and connect to separate natural gas-fired electric power 
plants that have been constructed in Mexico. BLM's proposed Federal 
actions are the issuance of right-of-way grants to allow the 
transmission lines to cross Federal lands within BLM's management 
responsibility.

DATES: DOE and BLM invite interested Members of Congress, state and 
local governments, other Federal agencies, American Indian tribal 
governments, organizations, and members of the public to provide 
comments on the Draft EIS. The public comment period will start with 
the publication in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection 
Agency of the ``Notice of Availability'' of the Draft EIS, expected to 
occur on May 14, 2004, and will continue until June 30, 2004. Written 
and oral comments will be given equal weight, and all comments received 
or postmarked by that date will be considered in preparing the Final 
EIS. Comments received or postmarked after that date will be considered 
to the extent practicable.
    Dates for the public hearings are:

1. June 17, 2004, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., El Centro, California
2. June 17, 2004, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Calexico, California

    Requests to speak at a specific public hearing should be received 
by Mrs. Russell as indicated in the ADDRESSES section below on or 
before June 15, 2004. Requests to speak may also be made at the time of 
registration for the hearing(s). However, persons who have submitted 
advance requests to speak will be given priority if time should be 
limited during the hearing.

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the public hearings should be addressed 
to: Mrs. Ellen Russell, Office of Fossil Energy (FE-27), U.S. 
Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, or transmitted by phone: 
202-586-9624, by facsimile: 202-287-5736 or by electronic mail at 
[email protected].
    The locations of the public hearings are:

1. El Centro City Hall, 1275 W. Main Street, El Centro, California
2. Calexico City Hall, 608 Heber Street, Calexico, California

    Printed copies of the Draft EIS are available. Requests should be 
made to Mrs. Russell at one of the addresses provided above. 
Alternatively, the Draft EIS is available on the Internet at http://
web.ead.anl.gov/bajatermoeis.
    Written comments on the Draft EIS may be addressed to Mrs. Russell 
as indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed 
project or to receive a copy of the Draft EIS, contact Mrs. Russell as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice or Lynda Kastoll, 
Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1661 South 
Fourth Street, El Centro, CA 92243, Phone 760-337-4421, facsimile: 760-
337-4490, or electronic mail at [email protected].
    For general information on the DOE NEPA 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, Phone: 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 800-472-2756; 
Facsimile: 202-586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Executive Order (E.O.) 10485, as amended by E.O. 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 E.O. 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 E.O. have been codified 
at 10 CFR 205.320-205.329. Issuance of a permit indicates that there is 
no Federal objection to the project, but does not mandate that a 
project be completed.
    On December 5, 2002, DOE issued Presidential permits to Sempra and 
Intergen based in part on the information contained in an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) prepared 
pursuant to NEPA. BLM was also a cooperating agency in the preparation 
of the EA and prepared separate FONSIs for its Federal actions. Right-
of-way grants were issued by BLM in December 2002. In February 2003, 
Sempra and Intergen completed construction of the permitted facilities 
and began exporting electricity to the United States in July 2003.
    In March 2003, the Border Power Plant Working Group filed suit in 
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California 
requesting that the court declare that the EA, FONSI, BLM Decision 
Notice and DOE Presidential permits failed to comply with NEPA. The 
court granted in part plaintiff's request ``to set aside the 
Presidential permits, the rights of way, and the FONSI'' and remanded 
the NEPA review back to the Federal agencies ``for the preparation of 
NEPA documents consistent with [the court's May 2 and July 8, 2003 
orders].'' At the same time, the court declined to enjoin the operation 
of the transmission lines immediately and ``defer[red] the setting 
aside the permits and the FONSI until July 1, 2004, or until such time 
as superceding NEPA documents and permits have issued, whichever is 
earlier.'' In light of the concerns raised by the court, and to 
increase the opportunities for public and stakeholder participation, 
DOE and BLM decided to prepare an EIS.
    In its July 8, 2003 order, the court expressly prohibited DOE and 
BLM from considering the interim operation of the transmission lines, 
completion of their construction, or the court's analysis of 
environmental impacts of the proposed actions in conducting the

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agencies' additional environmental review. DOE and BLM have interpreted 
this language to require them to conduct their NEPA review from a fresh 
slate, as if the transmission lines had never been built. Accordingly, 
the discussion and analysis of the transmission lines are presented in 
this Draft EIS as if the lines do not exist.
    On October 30, 2003, DOE published in the Federal Register (68 FR 
61796) a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the proposed 
projects. The NOI informed the public of the proposed scope of the EIS, 
solicited public participation in the scoping process, and announced 
public scoping meetings that were held on November 20, 2003, in El 
Centro, and Calexico, California. The public scoping period closed on 
December 1, 2003. Comments received during the public scoping process 
were used in preparing the Draft EIS.

Action Alternatives Considered

    The action alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS are:
    1. The proposed action of granting one or both Presidential permits 
and corresponding ROWs. This sets forth the impacts in the United 
States of constructing and operating the line(s) from powerplants in 
Mexico, as those plants are presently designed.
    2. The ``Alternative Technologies'' action of granting one or both 
permits and corresponding ROWs to authorize transmission lines that 
connect to powerplants that would employ more efficient emissions 
controls and alternative cooling technologies.
    3. The ``Mitigation Measures'' action of granting one or both 
permits and corresponding ROWs to authorize transmission lines whose 
developers would employ off-site mitigation measures to minimize 
environmental impacts in the United States.
    NEPA requires the identification of the agency's preferred 
alternative or alternatives in a Draft EIS if one or more exists or, if 
one does not yet exist at the draft stage, in the Final EIS, 40 CFR 
Part 1502.14(e). DOE's and BLM's preferred alternative is to grant both 
permits and corresponding ROW grants.

No Action Alternative

    The Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations require 
that an agency ``include the alternative of no action'' as one of the 
alternatives it considers, 40 CFR 1502.14(d). For DOE and BLM, ``no 
action'' means neither of the proposed transmission lines would be 
constructed and the environmental impacts associated with their 
construction and operation would not occur. In the case of Sempra, lack 
of the requested transmission line would preclude the powerplant from 
operating because there would be no delivery path for the electricity 
generated. Similarly, in the case of Intergen, as discussed more fully 
in the Draft EIS, only a portion of the electricity generated inside 
Mexico would have been available to be transmitted to the United States 
because of powerplant design. One of Intergen's generating units 
designated for export to the United States would be connected solely to 
the proposed transmission line. Its other generating unit designated 
for export to the United States normally would be connected to the 
proposed transmission line but also could be connected to other 
transmission lines within Mexico for export to the United States over 
an existing international transmission line. If the permit is denied, 
the electricity produced by the generating unit connected solely to the 
proposed transmission line would not have a transmission path.
    The Draft EIS analyzes the potential environmental effects, or 
impacts, of Sempra and Intergen constructing and operating the proposed 
transmission lines. CEQ's regulations require that an EIS contain a 
description of the environmental effects (both positive and negative) 
of the proposed alternatives. The regulations also distinguish between 
direct and indirect effects (40 CFR 1508.8). Direct effects are caused 
by an action and occur at the same time and place as the action. 
Indirect effects are reasonably foreseeable effects caused by the 
action that occur later in time or farther in distance. Both direct and 
indirect effects are addressed in the Draft EIS. CEQ's regulations also 
require that an EIS contain a description of the cumulative impacts of 
the proposed alternatives (40 CFR 1508.7). CEQ's regulations define 
cumulative impacts as those that result from the incremental impact of 
an action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions, regardless of what agency or person undertakes such 
other actions. Cumulative impacts are addressed in the Draft EIS.
    The Draft EIS presents information on the potential environmental 
effects of the construction and subsequent operation of the 
transmission lines on land use and recreation, visual resources, 
biological resources, cultural resources, socioeconomics, geology and 
soils, water resources, air quality, noise, human health and 
environment, infrastructure, transportation, and minority and low 
income populations. The Draft EIS also includes a Floodplains and 
Wetlands Assessment, in accordance with E.O. 11988, Floodplain 
Management, and E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands.

Availability of the Draft EIS

    DOE has distributed copies of the Draft EIS to appropriate Members 
of Congress, state and local government officials in California, 
American Indian tribal governments, and other Federal agencies, groups, 
and interested parties. Copies of the document may be obtained by 
contacting DOE as provided in the section of this notice entitled 
ADDRESSES. Copies of the Draft EIS and supporting documents are also 
available for inspection at the locations identified below:
    1. U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, 
Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC.
    2. Bureau of Land Management, El Centro Field Office, 1661 South 
4th Street, El Centro, California.
    Comments on the Draft EIS may be submitted to Mrs. Russell (see 
ADDRESSES, above) or provided at the public hearings (see DATES, 
above). After the public comment period ends on June 30, 2004, DOE and 
BLM will consider all comments received, revise the Draft EIS as 
appropriate, and issue a Final EIS. DOE and BLM will consider the Final 
EIS, along with other information, such as electric reliability and 
national policy factors, in deciding whether or not to issue 
Presidential permits or right-of-way grants.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 5th day of May, 2004.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal and Power 
Import/Export, Office of Coal and Power Systems, Office of Fossil 
Energy.
[FR Doc. 04-10656 Filed 5-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P