[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55829-55832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22316]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Western Area Power Administration; Grapevine Canyon Wind Project 
Record of Decision (DOE/EIS-0427)

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (Western) received a request 
from Foresight Flying M, LLC (Foresight) to interconnect its proposed 
Grapevine Canyon Wind Project (Project) to Western's Glen Canyon-
Pinnacle Peak No. 1 and No. 2 transmission lines. The Project would be 
located about 28 miles south and east of Flagstaff, in Coconino County, 
Arizona. On June 8, 2012, the Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Grapevine Canyon Wind Project 
was published in the Federal Register (77 FR 34041). After considering 
the environmental impacts, Western has decided to allow Foresight's 
request for interconnection to Western's transmission system on its 
Glen Canyon-Pinnacle Peak transmission lines and to construct, own, and 
operate a new switchyard to accommodate the interconnection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, please 
contact Mr. Matt Blevins, Corporate Services Office, Western Area Power 
Administration, A7400, P.O. Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213, 
telephone (720) 962-7261, fax (720) 962-7263, or email: 
[email protected]. For general information on DOE's National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) review process, please contact 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-
54, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington,

[[Page 55830]]

DC 20585, telephone (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western is a Federal agency under the U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE) that markets and transmits wholesale 
electrical power through an integrated 17,000-circuit mile, high-
voltage transmission system across 15 western states. Western's Open 
Access Transmission Service Tariff (Tariff) provides open access to its 
electric transmission system. Considering the requester's objectives, 
Western provides transmission services if there is available capacity 
and the reliability of the transmission system is maintained.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Coconino 
National Forest (Forest Service) and the Arizona State Land Department 
participated as cooperating agencies on the EIS. Interested parties 
were notified of the proposed Project and the public comment 
opportunity through a Notice of Intent published in the Federal 
Register on July 24, 2009 (74 FR 36689). The U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) published a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the 
Draft EIS in the Federal Register on July 23, 2010 (75 FR 43161). The 
NOA also announced a 45-day comment period for receipt of comments on 
the Draft EIS. On June 8, 2012, the EPA published an NOA of the Final 
EIS for the Project in the Federal Register (77 FR 34041).\1\
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    \1\ The Final EIS can be found on Western's Web site at: http://ww2.wapa.gov/sites/Western/transmission/interconn/Pages/Grapevine.aspx.
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Proposed Federal Action

    Western's proposed Federal Action is to approve Foresight's request 
for interconnection to Western's transmission system on the Glen 
Canyon-Pinnacle Peak 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines, an action 
that would also require a new Western switchyard on Forest Service-
managed lands to be constructed, owned, and operated by Western.

Foresight Proposed Project

    Foresight proposes to construct and operate a utility-scale wind 
energy generating facility on private and state trust land. The wind 
energy generating facility would generate up to 500 megawatts of 
electricity from wind turbine generators (WTGs). The proposed project 
includes a wind energy generating facility (wind park) and a 345-kV 
transmission tie-line. The proposed wind park would be built in one or 
more phases, dependent on one or more power sale contracts. The 
proposed wind park would include improved and new access and service 
roads, WTGs, an electrical collection system, up to two step-up 
substations, an extension tie-line, communications system, operations 
and maintenance building, and meteorological monitoring towers. A new 
345-kV single-circuit electrical transmission tie-line would be 
constructed between the initial wind park step-up substation and 
Western's proposed switchyard at its existing Glen Canyon-Pinnacle Peak 
No. 1 and No. 2 345-kV transmission lines. The transmission tie-line 
would be approximately 15 miles in length, extending 8.5 miles across 
Forest Service-managed lands and up to approximately 6.5 miles across 
state trust and private lands.

Description of Alternatives

    Foresight, in coordination with the Forest Service, proposed a 
route for the transmission tie-line to address potential effects to 
visual resources and avoid or minimize impacts to other resources. The 
alternative tie-line would deviate from Foresight's proposed tie-line 
route by approximately one-half mile to avoid the intersection of 
Forest Service routes 125 and 82 on Forest Service-managed lands.
    Five alternatives to the location of the proposed transmission tie-
line and switchyard were considered during scoping. Additionally, an 
alternative addressing burying the transmission tie-line was 
considered. None of the transmission tie-line alternatives were carried 
forward for consideration based on criteria including cost, 
construction feasibility, environmental resource sensitivities, and 
conformance with applicable land use plans. Alternatives addressing the 
location of the proposed wind park were not evaluated because no 
alternative locations were proposed during the EIS scoping process, and 
decisions related to the wind park location are outside the decisions 
that would be made by the Federal agencies. As required by 40 CFR 
1505.2(b), Western has identified the No Action Alternative as its 
environmentally preferred alternative. Under this alternative, Western 
would deny the interconnection request and not modify its transmission 
system to interconnect the proposed Project with its transmission 
system. Under this alternative, there would be no modifications to 
Western's transmission system, and thus no new environmental impacts. 
Foresight's objectives relating to renewable energy development would 
not be met.

Mitigation Measures

    Foresight, the Forest Service, and Western proposed resource 
protection measures (RPMs) for each resource area to minimize impacts 
associated with construction, operation, and maintenance of the 
proposed Project. Foresight and the Federal agencies committed to these 
RPMs, and they were included in the evaluation of environmental impacts 
in the Final EIS. Foresight will follow standard construction 
practices, best management practices, and RPMs during the construction, 
operation, and maintenance of the proposed wind park and transmission 
tie-line facilities. To implement the RPMs, an Avian and Bat Protection 
Plan (ABPP) is being voluntarily developed with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the Arizona Department of Game and Fish. The ABPP 
includes components such as additional pre-construction and post-
construction wildlife studies to inform final micro-siting of the 
initial project phase and monitor operational impact levels. An 
adaptive management protocol will be implemented within the ABPP 
whereby iterative decision-making (evaluating results and adjusting 
actions on the basis of what has been learned) will be undertaken to 
reduce or avoid impacts to biological resources if post-construction 
monitoring demonstrates that impacts are greater than anticipated.
    Western does not have jurisdiction over the siting, construction, 
or operation of the proposed wind park, so its proposed RPMs apply to 
the proposed switchyard. The Forest Service has proposed certain 
measures that will be binding on Western for its proposed switchyard. 
In addition, Western requires its construction contractors to implement 
standard environmental protection provisions. These provisions are 
provided in Western's Construction Standard 13 and will be applied to 
the proposed switchyard. Specific BMPs that the Forest Service requires 
will address soil and water resources and invasive species management 
for the proposed switchyard.
    Western, the Forest Service, and Foresight are among the 
signatories to a Programmatic Agreement (PA) for compliance with the 
National Historic Preservation Act and, thus, will implement provisions 
in the PA addressing effects to properties on or eligible for listing 
to the National Register of Historic Places.
    With this decision, Western is not adopting any additional 
mitigation measures that apply to its action outside

[[Page 55831]]

of the RPMs addressed in the Final EIS. As such, a Mitigation Action 
Plan is not required for Western's proposed action. The RPMs in the 
Final EIS reflect all practicable means to avoid or minimize 
environmental harm from the Project and Western's Proposed Action.

Comments on Final EIS

    Western received comments from the Arizona Department of 
Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in a letter dated June 4, 2012, and from 
the EPA in a letter dated June 27, 2012. Additionally, Western received 
emails on June 6 and 11, 2012, and a letter dated June 29, 2012, from 
the owner of a 5-acre parcel about 2 miles east of the wind park study 
area boundary. Based on a review of these comments, Western has 
determined that the comments do not present any significant new 
circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and 
bearing on the Project or its impacts, and a Supplemental EIS is not 
required. The basis for this determination is summarized below.
    ADEQ provided information on how to reduce particulate matter 
disturbances and noted that it agreed with the EIS determination of the 
need for a minor air quality permit for the portable rock crusher and 
concrete batch plants. In addition, ADEQ reiterated its recommendations 
provided in its August 11, 2010, letter with comments on the Draft EIS. 
As noted in the Final EIS in response to the ADEQ letter, the air 
quality-related RPMs were expanded to address ADEQ's recommendations.
    EPA noted in its comment letter that the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (Corps) has not verified the preliminary jurisdictional 
delineation or issued a final jurisdictional determination. EPA 
recommended that this decision include a final determination of the 
geographic extent of jurisdictional waters, based on the approved 
jurisdictional determination. Based on information provided by 
Foresight, the Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination Report for the 
initial development phase for the wind park has been resubmitted to the 
Corps, with modifications in response to comments and suggestions made 
by the Corps following their review of the initial submittal. The 
resubmitted report is consistent with the data and analysis regarding 
the geographic extent of jurisdictional waters included in the Final 
EIS. Foresight will continue to pursue a final determination by the 
Corps and intends to obtain the appropriate Clean Water Act Section 404 
permits once the size of the initial development and final 
infrastructure siting are determined. Western's switchyard would not 
affect any jurisdictional waters.
    EPA also recommended that, when hauling material and operating non-
earthmoving equipment, speeds be limited to 15 miles per hour. 
Likewise, for earthmoving equipment, EPA recommended limiting speed to 
10 miles per hour. Western agrees with EPA's recommendations and will 
include provisions in its construction contract for the switchyard that 
limit construction vehicle speed limits. Foresight indicated that the 
wind park contractor will set speed limits within the project site with 
lower speed limits for construction areas as well as other areas with 
construction and project-related traffic.
    The owner of the parcel east of the wind park study area provided 
comments with concerns about not being notified about the proposed 
Project and an expansion of the study area boundaries during the EIS 
scoping process, the scoping map violating standards for color 
blindness, wind park access, WTG lighting, discrepancies with land 
cover information, groundwater impacts, ditch network impacts, and 
visual impacts to views from his parcel and Forest Service-managed 
lands west, south, and southeast of the proposed wind park.
    In response to the owner's concerns about the scoping process, 
Western sent landowner notifications based on a list of property owners 
within 10 miles of the proposed Project. The owner of the parcel was 
inadvertently not included in the list. During the scoping process, 
however, Western employed several mechanisms to notify potentially 
interested entities, including display ads in the area newspaper, radio 
ads, and postings of the project flyer in the Flagstaff and Winslow, 
Arizona, libraries, and the Meteor Crater RV Park and Visitor Center. 
In addition, the Forest Service maintained project information under 
its Schedule of Proposed Actions on its Web site. As explained in the 
paragraphs that follow, the EIS adequately addressed the property 
owner's concerns, even with the expansion of the wind park study area 
between the EIS scoping and the issuance of the Draft EIS. In response 
to the owner's concern about the scoping map violating the Americans 
with Disabilities Act, Western's use of color in the maps and figures 
was used to generally inform readers of various aspects of the Project. 
Western attempted to use sufficient difference in color tones so that 
users who are color-blind or have poor vision could distinguish between 
elements of the page. However, even if a user could not distinguish 
colors on certain maps or figures, the text of the Final EIS adequately 
describes the Federal actions and Foresight's proposed Project as well 
as the associated impacts. In addition, Western posted an electronic 
copy of the Final EIS, including the scoping map, on its Web site that 
meets the requirements of Section 508 of Workforce Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973. In relation to color, the primary requirement is that color 
cannot be the only means of identification on the page. The Final EIS 
used text in addition to color on the included maps and figures as well 
as text in the Final EIS body to convey the pertinent information.
    The property owner provided information to augment information 
included in the Final EIS, including the status of Forest Road 69 
between Chavez Pass and State Route 87, the management of lands along 
the southern boundary of the wind park study area by the Forest 
Service, and the ownership of lands at KOPs 4 and 5 addressed in the 
Final EIS. Western has noted this new information provided by the 
property owner, and it has been taken into account in this decision. 
Responses to the property owner's other comments follow.
    The property owner expressed concerns about the installation of red 
flashing lights on wind turbine generators per Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) requirements. Per a RPM in the Final EIS, exterior 
lighting on the WTGs required by the FAA would be kept to the minimum 
number and intensity required to meet FAA standards. Based on this 
measure, the proposed wind park would be consistent with current 
Coconino County goals and policies. The property owner's concern with 
the lighting does not present any significant new circumstances or 
information relevant to environmental concerns.
    The property owner commented that groundwater impacts extend 
significantly beyond the water resources evaluation area addressed in 
the Final EIS. Based on the analysis in the EIS, the water level 
drawdown contour would extend less than 800 feet from each well used 
for construction and would be negligible for wells more than one-half 
mile away. Therefore, the expected impacts at other existing wells in 
the vicinity are minimal and are not expected to affect the existing 
groundwater users' ability to continue their existing uses. Western 
believes the water analysis in the Final EIS accurately reflects 
drawdown levels.
    The property owner noted that the Final EIS failed to mention the 
ditch

[[Page 55832]]

network in and north of Chavez Pass. The RPMs included in the water 
resources section of the Final EIS would apply to the ditch network and 
wells in the wind park study area. With these measures, no permanent 
effects to the ditch network are expected.
    The property owner noted that KOP 5 is located about 1.5 miles from 
his property, and commented that the Scenery Integrity Level would 
change from high to low, which the commenter maintained would be 
unacceptable on Forest Service lands. The Final EIS includes photo 
simulations from a key observation point (KOP No. 5) located near State 
Highway 87 southeast of the wind park study area near the owner's 
parcel. No project facilities would be visible from KOP 5 located near 
the property owner's parcel for the initial development phase. Based on 
an evaluation in the Final EIS of the views from KOP 5, views of the 
San Francisco Peaks would be partially blocked by some of the closest 
WTGs for the subsequent build-out phases. The Final EIS also indicates 
that the subsequent build-out phases for the proposed wind park would 
create a high visual contrast from this viewpoint. However, the nearest 
WTG would be located more than one mile from the property owner's 
parcel in accordance with current County goals and policies. In 
addition, the views evaluated from KOP 5 are primarily outside of the 
Forest Service-defined management objectives. The commenter's concerns 
related to visual impacts do not present any significant new 
circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns.
    In response to the property owner's information on land ownership 
at KOP 4, the property owner is correct that KOP 4 is located on Forest 
Service-managed lands. The photo simulation from KOP 4 simulates the 
proposed wind park as it would be seen from a point along Chavez Pass 
Road. WTGs are depicted at a height of approximately 430 feet, and a 
distance of approximately 1.7 miles from the road. As such, they are 
located within middleground views. The KOP represents a view into the 
proposed wind park, which is not located on Forest Service-managed 
lands and is therefore outside of the Forest Service-defined management 
objectives for scenic resources. The Final EIS noted that the proposed 
wind park would result in visual contrast that ranges from low to high 
on private and state lands. Therefore, the location of the KOP on 
Forest Service managed land, versus state or private lands, do not 
present any significant new circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns.
    The property owner expressed concerns that the views from KOP 6, 
west of the proposed wind park and near the transmission tie-line 
routing, would result in a significant, drastic change to a beautiful 
viewshed. This KOP is located on Forest Service Road 125, along the 
eastern edge of Anderson Mesa, looking to the east. The Final EIS notes 
that the proposed wind park and transmission tie-line would introduce 
elements of form, line, scale, and color that would contrast with the 
otherwise natural valley floor. Therefore, the concerns expressed by 
the property owner do not present any significant new circumstances or 
information relevant to environmental concerns.
    The property owner noted that the EIS does not discuss Forest 
Service opinions of landscape changes on non-Forest Service land 
visible from Forest Service-managed lands. The purpose of the EIS is to 
disclose the environmental impacts from the proposed Project, not to 
provide Western or Forest Service opinions regarding developments on 
private land. For the reasons stated above in the discussion of visual 
impacts from KOPs 4, 5, and 6, the Final EIS adequately addresses the 
effects of views from Forest Service-managed lands towards the wind 
park development.
    Western does not have any jurisdiction over the siting of WTGs, but 
the owner of the parcel will have opportunities to provide additional 
input during the approval process for the General Use Permit that would 
be issued by Coconino County for the Project.

Decision

    Western's decision is to allow Foresight's request for 
interconnection to Western's transmission system at its Glen Canyon-
Pinnacle Peak No. 1 and No. 2 transmission lines, and to construct, 
own, and operate a new switchyard.\2\ Western's decision to grant this 
interconnection request satisfies the agency's statutory mission and 
Foresight's objectives while minimizing harm to the environment. Full 
implementation of this decision is contingent upon Foresight obtaining 
all other applicable permits and approvals as well as executing an 
interconnection agreement in accordance with Western's Tariff.
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    \2\ Western's authority to issue a ROD is pursuant to authority 
delegated on November 16, 2011, from DOE's Office of the General 
Counsel.
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    This decision is based on the information contained in the 
Grapevine Canyon Wind Project Final EIS and comments received on the 
Final EIS. This ROD was prepared pursuant to the requirements of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508) and DOE's Procedures for Implementing NEPA (10 CFR 
part 1021).

    Dated: August 28, 2012.
Anita J. Decker,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-22316 Filed 9-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P