[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 27 (Friday, February 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6197-6198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2090]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Highwood Generating Station

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), 
an agency which administers the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural 
Development Utilities Programs (USDA Rural Development), is issuing a 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Highwood Generating 
Station (HGS). The Final 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), 
which has its own statutory mandates to analyze potential environmental 
impacts under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) (75-1-101 et 
seq., MCA and ARM 17.4.601 et seq.) and to issue permits under the 
Montana Clean Air Act, Montana Clean Water Act, and Montana Solid Waste 
Management Act. USDA Rural Development invites comments on the Final 
EIS.
    The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental 
impacts of and alternatives to the Southern Montana Electric 
Transmission & Generation Cooperative, Inc. (SME) application to USDA 
Rural Development for a loan guarantee to construct a 250 megawatt (MW) 
coal-fired power plant near Great Falls, Montana. SME also proposes to 
construct and operate four, 1.5-MW wind turbines at the proposed 
project site to generate supplemental electrical power.

DATES: Written comments on this Final EIS will be accepted on or before 
March 12, 2007.

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 FEIS has been sent to affected Federal, state, and 
local government agencies and to interested parties. The document 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 
Adobe[reg] Reader[reg]. The Adobe[reg] Reader[reg] can be obtained from 
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.
    Copies of the Final 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, FAX: (406) 728-5900.
    Montana State University Libraries, P.O. Box 173320, Bozeman, MT 
59717-3320, Phone: (406) 994-3119, Fax: (406) 994-2851.
    MSU-Northern Library, P.O. Box 7751, Havre, MT 59501-7751.
    Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave. North, Great Falls MT 
59401-2593, (406) 453-0349.
    Havre-Hill County Library, 402 3rd St., Havre, MT 59501, (406) 
265-2123.
    Parmly Billings Library, 510 N 28th St. 1, Billings, MT 
59101, (406) 657-3079.
    Belt Public Library, 404 Millard Street, Belt, MT 59411-0467.
    Chouteau County Library, 1518 Main, Fort Benton, MT 59442.
    Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box 1247, Big Sandy, MT 
59520.
    Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box 316, Geraldine, MT 59446.
    Stone Child College Library, RR 1 Box 1082, Box Elder, MT 59521.
    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.
    Choteau-Teton County Library, 17 Main Ave. North, Choteau, MT 
59422.

    Copies of the Final 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]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Presently, SME meets all of its power 
requirements for its cooperative member systems by purchasing power 
from two Federal power suppliers--the Bonneville Power Administration 
(BPA) and the Western Area Power Administration. The major supplier 
(BPA) will begin to phase out its sales of power to SME in 2008 and 
terminate them entirely by 2011, thus the need exists to fulfill future 
requirements by other means. More information on the purpose and need 
for the proposal is in Chapter 1 of the FEIS.
    On September 24, 2004, USDA Rural Development published the Notice 
of Intent to prepare an EIS for the Highwood Generating Station in the 
Federal Register. The EIS focused on potential impacts to the following 
resources: Soils, topography and geology; water resources, air quality, 
biological resources, the acoustic environment, recreation, cultural 
and historic resources, visual resources, transportation, farmland and 
land use, waste management, human health and safety, the socioeconomic 
environment, environmental justice, and cumulative effects. In 
compliance with Section 7(c) of the Endangered Species Act, a 
Biological Assessment was prepared to evaluate potential effects to 
threatened and endangered species in the proposed project area. On June 
29, 2006 USDA Rural Development published its Notice of Availability of 
the Draft EIS for the proposed project in the Federal Register. The 60-
day comment period ended on August 30, 2006. Over 1400 comments were 
received on the Draft EIS; a comment/response summary is appended to 
the Final EIS.
    Alternatives evaluated in the FEIS include: Power purchase 
agreements; energy conservation and efficiency; renewable non-
combustible energy sources (wind energy, solar energy, 
hydroelectricity, geothermal energy); renewable combustible energy 
sources (biomass, biogas, municipal solid waste); non-renewable 
combustible energy sources (natural gas combined cycle, microturbines, 
pulverized coal, circulating fluidized bed coal, integrated 
gasification combined cycle coal, oil), and combinations of renewable 
and non-renewable sources. Site screening evaluated 4 main potential 
locations statewide, while site selection examined 6 alternative sites 
in the preferred location near Great Falls. Several same-site 
alternatives for project components were also studied, including using 
different railroad spur alignments, methods of obtaining potable water, 
discharging wastewater, and disposing of ash, respectively.

[[Page 6198]]

    Alternatives assessed in detail include the: (1) No Action 
Alternative; (2) Proposed Action (construction/operation of the HGS at 
the Salem site eight miles east of Great Falls, and (3) Industrial Park 
Site (construction/operation of the power plant, but no wind 
generation, at an alternate site in a designated industrial park just 
north of Great Falls). The No Action Alternative avoids most direct 
adverse environmental effects, but potentially entails a number of 
indirect and cumulative impacts associated with other generation 
sources from which SME would have to purchase power if unable to 
generate its own. In most respects, with the exception of cultural and 
historic resources, impacts from the Proposed Action (2) and 
Alternative Site (3) are similar, though the proximity of the 
Alternative Site to greater numbers of residents intensifies some of 
these impacts, such as traffic, noise, and air quality; nonetheless, 
these impacts would not likely be significant. Potential air quality 
impacts at both locations would be reduced to non-significant levels 
through the application of CFB technology and other pollution controls. 
The proposed plant would comply with Montana's air quality standards, 
including its recent mercury rule. The agency's preferred alternative 
is Alternative 2.
    The FEIS concludes that the Proposed Action would have significant 
adverse impacts on historic and visual resources, because it is located 
on and adjacent to the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark 
(NHL). In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, consultation was initiated with a number of 
consulting parties and a consulting party meeting was held in Great 
Falls on October 5 to discuss RUS' adverse effect finding. The results 
of those discussions are integrated in the FEIS, including a draft 
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that proposes on-site and off-site 
mitigation measures to avoid and minimize these effects. Potentially 
significant impacts to traffic during construction were also identified 
with Alternative 2; a mitigation plan would be developed in cooperation 
with the Montana Department of Transportation to minimize or mitigate 
these impacts. Other adverse but non-significant impacts of the 
Proposed Action include those on soils, water, air, biological 
resources, noise, transportation, farmland and land use, human health 
and safety, and environmental justice. The Proposed Action would result 
in moderately beneficial socioeconomic impacts, including increased 
employment opportunities, total purchases of goods and services, and an 
increase in the tax base.
    Construction and operation of the proposed power plant at the 
Alternative Industrial Park Site would result in broadly similar 
impacts to those of the Proposed Action, but with some important 
distinctions. No wind turbines are proposed for the Industrial Park 
site. Due to space limitations at the Industrial Park site, ash from 
coal combustion would be hauled off-site to a licensed landfill for 
disposal. Adverse but non-significant impacts of the Alternative Site 
include those on soils, water, air, biological resources, noise, 
cultural and historic resources, visual resources, transportation, 
farmland and land use, human health and safety, and environmental 
justice. Building and operating the proposed SME power plant at the 
Alternative Site would produce moderately beneficial socioeconomic 
impacts, including increased employment opportunities, total purchases 
of goods and services, and an increase in the tax base.

James R. Newby,
Assistant Administrator-- Electric Program, Rural Development Utilities 
Program.
[FR Doc. E7-2090 Filed 2-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P