[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44610-44611]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12672]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Highwood Generating Station

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period and Additional 
Public Hearing, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Highwood 
Generating Station, Great Falls, Montana.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 
is extending the public comment period for the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Highwood Generating Station (HGS), and, 
as requested, is conducting an additional public hearing. The Draft EIS 
was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in accordance with the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural 
provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and RUS regulations (7 CFR 1794). 
This document has been prepared jointly with the Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
    The Draft EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of 
and alternatives to the Southern Montana Electric Transmission & 
Generation Cooperative, Inc. (SME) application for a loan guarantee to 
construct a 250 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant near Great Falls, 
Montana. SME is proposing to use a coal combustion technology known as 
circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Along with other proposed pollution 
controls collectively known as Best Available Control Technology 
(BACT), the HGS would be among the cleanest-burning coal-fired power 
plants currently operating in the United States. SME also proposes to 
construct and operate four, 1.5-MW wind turbines to generate 
supplemental electrical power at the preferred project location eight 
miles east of Great Falls.
    Receipt of the Draft EIS was announced by the U. S. Environmental 
Protection Agency in the Federal Register on July 3, 2006 (official 
date June 30, 2006). Requests for extension of public comment periods 
may be honored per 40 CFR 1506.10. The initial 45-day public comment 
period was to end on August 15, 2006. With the 15-day extension, the 
new deadline for public comments is now August 30, 2006.
    In addition to the public hearing held in Great Falls, Montana on 
July 27, an additional hearing will be held in Havre, Montana. The 
Havre public hearing will be held on August 7, 2006 at the Applied 
Technology Center Auditorium at MSU Northern, 300 West 11th Street, 
Havre, MT. An open house will be held from 5-7 p.m., with the hearing 
beginning at 7 p.m. The hearing will include a presentation summarizing 
the findings of the Draft EIS and the opportunity for attendees to 
submit both oral and written comments. In accordance with 40 CFR 
Section 1503.1, Inviting Comments, the purpose of the meeting will be 
to solicit comments from interested parties on the Draft EIS for the 
Highwood Generating Station.

DATES: Written comments on this Draft EIS will be accepted on or before 
August 30, 2006.

ADDRESS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:  To send comments or for more 
information, contact: Richard Fristik, USDA, Rural Development, 
Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, Mail Stop 1571, Room 
2237, Washington, DC 20250-1571, telephone (202) 720-5093, fax (202) 
720-0820, or e-mail: [email protected].
    A copy of the Draft EIS can be obtained or viewed online at http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/eis.htm. The files are in a portable 
document format (pdf); in order to review or print the document, users 
need to obtain a free copy of Acrobat Reader. The Acrobat Reader can be 
obtained from http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.
    Copies of the Draft EIS will be available for public review during 
normal business hours at the following locations:

Montana State Library System, Attn: Roberta Gebhardt, P.O. Box 201800, 
Helena, MT 59620-1800, (406) 444-5393.
University of Montana at Missoula, 32 Campus Drive 59801, Mansfield 
Library, Missoula, MT 59812, (406) 243-6866.
Missoula Public Library, 301 East Main, Missoula, MT 59802-4799, (406) 
721-2665.
Montana State University Libraries, P. O. Box 173320, Bozeman, MT 
59717-3320, (406) 994-3119.
Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave North, Great Falls MT 59401-
2593, (406) 453-0349.
Chouteau County Library, 1518 Main, Fort Benton, MT 59442.
Branches: Box 1247, Big Sandy, MT 59520; Box 316, Geraldine, MT 59446.
MSU-Northern Library, P. O. Box 7751, Havre, MT 59501-7751.
Havre-Hill County Library, 402 3rd St., Havre, MT 59501-3644.
Stone Child College Library, R. R. 1 Box 1082, Box Elder, MT 59521.
Belt Public Library, 70 Castner St., Belt, MT 59411-0467.
Wedsworth Memorial Library, 9-\1/2\ Front St., Cascade, MT 59421-0526.
Fort Belknap College Library and Tribal Archives, P. O. Box 159, 
Harlem, MT 59526.
Harlem Public Library, 37 First Ave., SE, Harlem, MT 59526.

[[Page 44611]]

Choteau-Teton County Library, 17 Main Ave., North, Choteau, MT 59422.

    Copies of the Draft EIS may also be obtained by contacting either 
Richard Fristik at (202) 720-5093 (e-mail: 
[email protected]) or Kathy Johnson at (406) 444-1760 (e-
mail: [email protected]).

    Dated: August 1, 2006.
Mark S. Plank,
Director, Engineering and Environmental Staff.
[FR Doc. E6-12672 Filed 8-4-06; 8:45 am]
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