[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8580-8581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3326]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP-197]


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement; Public Service Company of New Mexico

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: On February 12, 1999, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced 
its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) 
for the Public Service Company of New Mexico's (PNM) request for a 
Presidential permit for proposed international electric transmission 
lines. The proposed Federal action in this EIS was to grant PNM a 
Presidential permit for the construction, operation, maintenance, and 
connection of two 345,000-volt electric transmission lines originating 
at the switchyard of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS) 
near Phoenix, Arizona, and extending approximately 160 miles to the 
south, crossing the United States border with Mexico in the vicinity of 
Nogales, Arizona. The EIS would have evaluated the potential 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed Federal action and 
reasonable alternatives.
    In a letter dated November 16, 2004, PNM notified DOE that it no 
longer finds the proposed project viable and withdrew its application 
for a Presidential permit. Therefore, further preparation of an EIS is 
not necessary. The notice of intent to prepare an EIS is withdrawn and 
the NEPA process is hereby terminated.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Russell, Office of Fossil 
Energy, FE-27, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Washington, DC 20585. Telephone 202-586-9624; electronic mail: 
[email protected].
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please 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: The construction, operation, maintenance and 
connection of facilities at the international border of the United 
States for the transmission of electric energy between the United 
States and a foreign

[[Page 8581]]

country is prohibited in the absence of a Presidential permit issued 
pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 10485, as amended by EO 12038.
    On December 31, 1998, PNM, a regulated public utility, filed an 
application with the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of DOE for a 
Presidential permit. PNM proposed to construct two high-voltage 
transmission circuits within a single right-of-way. Both circuits would 
have originated at the switchyard adjacent to the PVNGS located west of 
Phoenix, Arizona, and extended to the U.S.-Mexico border in one of 
three two-mile wide corridors preliminarily identified by PNM. From the 
U.S.-Mexico border, the proposed facilities would have extended 
approximately 60 miles into Mexico where they would have connected with 
complementary transmission facilities of the Comision Federal de 
Electricidad (CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico, at CFE's 
existing Santa Ana Substation.
    Parts of the proposed transmission corridor identified by PNM were 
on Federal land managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau 
of Land Management and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest 
Service; both were cooperating agencies in preparation of the EIS. 
Activities by those agencies with respect to the EIS are also 
terminated.

    Issued in Washington, DC on February 15, 2005.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 05-3326 Filed 2-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P