[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 175 (Monday, September 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53786-53787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18023]



[[Page 53786]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. PP-89-1]


Notice of Public Hearings for the Proposed Bangor Hydro-Electric 
Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability Interconnect

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces two public hearings 
on the ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Bangor Hydro-
Electric Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability Interconnect'' (DOE/EIS-
0372). 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 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) are cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of this Draft EIS.
    The proposed DOE action in the Draft EIS is to amend BHE's existing 
Presidential permit to allow construction along the Modified 
Consolidated Corridors Route of a single-circuit, 345,000-volt, 
electric transmission line that would cross the U.S. international 
border in the vicinity of Baileyville, Maine. DOE has prepared this 
Draft EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts in the United 
States of the proposed action and the range of reasonable alternatives, 
including the No Action alternative.

DATES: DOE invites 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 began on August 
26, 2005, with the publication of the Notice of Availability of the 
Draft EIS in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection 
Agency and will continue until October 11, 2005. Written and oral 
comments will be given equal weight, and DOE will consider all comments 
received or postmarked by that date 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. September 28, 2005, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Baileyville, Maine.
    2. September 29, 2005, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Brewer, Maine.
    Requests to speak at a specific public hearing should be received 
by Dr. Jerry Pell as indicated in the ADDRESSES section below on or 
before September 21, 2005. 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 meeting.

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the public hearings should be addressed 
to: Dr. Jerry Pell, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability (OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, 
or transmitted by phone: 202-586-3362, facsimile: 202-318-7761, or 
electronic mail at [email protected]. Please be aware that anthrax 
screening delays conventional mail delivery to DOE.
    The locations of the public hearings are:
    1. Woodland Elementary School, 23 Fourth Avenue, Baileyville, 
Maine.
    2. Jeff's Catering Banquet & Convention Center, East West 
Industrial Park, 5 Coffin Avenue, Brewer, Maine.
    Copies of the Draft EIS are available in paper format, accompanied 
by a CD-ROM containing the entire Draft EIS, or as a CD-ROM only. 
Requests for additional copies in either format should be addressed to 
Dr. Pell at any of the addresses above. Additionally, the Draft EIS is 
available on the project Internet Web site at http://web.ead.anl.gov/interconnecteis, and also on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/docs/deis/deis.html.
     Written comments on the Draft EIS may be addressed to Dr. Jerry 
Pell as indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice or submitted 
on the project Web site at http://web.ead.anl.gov/interconnecteis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed 
project or to receive a copy of the Draft EIS, contact Dr. Pell as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    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: 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 
environmental impacts of the proposed project pursuant to NEPA, the 
project's impact on electric reliability by ascertaining whether the 
proposed project would adversely affect the operation of the U.S. 
electric power supply system under normal and contingency conditions, 
and any other factors that DOE may also consider relevant to the public 
interest. The regulations implementing the E.O. have been codified at 
10 CFR 205.320-205.329. Issuance of the permit indicates that there is 
no Federal objection to the project, but does not mandate that the 
project be completed.
    On January 22, 1996, DOE issued Presidential Permit PP-89 which 
authorized BHE to construct a single-circuit, 345,000-volt (345-kV) 
alternating current transmission line that would originate at BHE's 
Orrington Substation, extend eastward approximately 85 miles (137-km), 
and cross the U.S.-Canada border near Baileyville, Maine. Before 
granting the Presidential permit, DOE prepared an EIS which analyzed 
the environmental impacts of various alternative actions and routes. 
The preferred alternative in the EIS and in the Record of Decision was 
to grant a Presidential permit for construction of the transmission 
line along the Stud Mill Road route. However, the project was never 
constructed and on September 30, 2003, BHE applied to DOE to amend 
Presidential Permit PP-89 by allowing construction of the proposed 
transmission line along a route other than the Stud Mill Road route.

Alternatives Considered

    The proposed DOE action in the Draft EIS is to amend BHE's existing 
Presidential permit to allow construction along the Modified 
Consolidated Corridors Route. DOE has prepared this Draft EIS to 
evaluate the potential environmental impacts in the United States of 
the proposed action and the range of reasonable alternatives, including 
the No Action alternative. Under the No Action alternative, only the 
previously permitted route (the Stud Mill Road route) could be utilized 
by BHE for construction of the transmission line. In addition to the 
Modified Consolidated Corridors Route and the Previously Permitted 
Route, two other alternative routes are analyzed in

[[Page 53787]]

the Draft EIS: the Consolidated Corridors Route, and the MEPCO South 
Route. DOE also analyzed a rescission alternative under which the 
existing permit would be rescinded and no international transmission 
line could be constructed. As indicated in the Draft EIS, DOE has 
designated the Modified Consolidated Corridors Route as its preferred 
alternative.

Availability of the Draft EIS

    DOE has distributed copies of the Draft EIS to appropriate members 
of Congress, state and local government officials in Maine, 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 ADDRESSES section of this notice. 
Copies of the Draft EIS are also available for inspection at the 
locations identified below:
    1. Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401.
    2. Brewer Public Library, 24 Union St., Brewer, ME 04412.
    3. Calais Free Library, 9 Union St., Calais, ME 04619.
    4. Orrington Public Library, 15 School St., Orrington, ME 04474.
    5. Princeton Public Library, Main Street, Princeton, ME 04668.
    6. Baileyville Public Library, 169 Main Street, Baileyville, ME 
04694.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 6, 2005.
Anthony J. Como,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 05-18023 Filed 9-9-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P