[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 9559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3292]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. PP-305]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Public Hearings for the Proposed Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. 
International Transmission Line

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality (DEQ) as co-lead agencies, with the Department of 
the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a cooperating agency 
(together, the ``Agencies''), announce the availability of the 
``Federal Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the State of Montana 
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Montana 
Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) 230-kV Transmission Line'' (DOE/EIS-0399) for 
public review and comment. The Agencies also announce three public 
hearings on the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS evaluates the environmental 
impacts of DOE's proposed Federal action of issuing a Presidential 
permit to MATL for the construction, operation, maintenance, and 
connection of a 230-kilovolt electric transmission line that would 
cross the U.S.-Canada border in the vicinity of Cut Bank, Montana. The 
proposed DEQ action is the issuance of a certificate of compliance 
under the Montana Facility Siting Act (MFSA) for construction of the 
electric transmission line within the State of Montana. BLM's proposed 
Federal action is issuance of a right-of-way grant to allow the 
transmission line to cross Federal lands within BLM's management 
responsibility.

DATES: The Agencies 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 during the public comment period. The public 
comment period started on February 15, 2008, with the publication in 
the Federal Register (73 FR 8869) by the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency of the Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS, and will 
continue until March 31, 2008. Written and oral comments will be given 
equal weight and all comments received or postmarked by that date will 
be considered by the Agencies 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. March 11, 2008, 6-9 p.m., Great Falls, Montana.
    2. March 12, 2008, 6-9 p.m., Cut Bank, Montana.
    3. March 13, 2008, 6-9 p.m., Conrad, Montana.
    Requests to speak at a specific public hearing should be received 
by Mr. Tom Ring as indicated in the ADDRESSES section below on or 
before March 10, 2008. 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:
    Mr. Tom Ring, Environmental Sciences Specialist, Montana Department 
of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901, or 
(406) 444-6785, or via electronic mail at [email protected].
    The locations of the public hearings are:
    1. Civic Center, Missouri Room, Great Falls, Montana.
    2. Voting Center, Cut Bank, Montana.
    3. Blue Sky Villa, Norley Hall, Conrad, Montana.
    Written comments on the Draft EIS may be addressed to Mr. Ring as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have any questions about the 
Presidential permit process, please contact Mrs. Ellen Russell at U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 
Reliability, Mail Stop OE-20, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, 
DC 20585, by telephone at 202-586-9624, or by electronic mail at 
[email protected].
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, contact Carol M. 
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-20), 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.
    If you have questions about the Montana MFSA siting process, please 
contact Mr. Ring at the address provided above. For general information 
on the State of Montana Environmental Policy Act process contact Greg 
Hallsten, Environmental Science Specialist, at the same above address 
or by phone at 406-444-3276.

Availability of the Draft EIS

    Copies of the Draft EIS have been distributed to appropriate 
Members of Congress, state and local government officials in Montana, 
American Indian tribal governments, and other Federal agencies, groups, 
and interested parties. Printed copies of the document may be obtained 
by contacting Mr. Ring at the above address. Copies of the Draft EIS 
and supporting documents are also available for inspection in Montana 
at the Conrad Public Library, Cut Bank Public Library, Dutton Public 
Library, Great Falls Public Library, and the Montana State Library. The 
Draft EIS is also available on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/documentspub.html or on the State of Montana 
project Web site at http://www.deq.mt.gov/mfs/MATL.asp.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 15, 2008.
Ellen Russell,
Acting Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery 
and Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. E8-3292 Filed 2-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P