[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58096-58097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23018]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Georgia Transmission Corporation: Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment and To Hold Public Scoping Meetings

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment and 
Hold Public Scoping Meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) intends to prepare an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) and hold public scoping meetings and to 
meet its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for 
implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and RUS's Environmental and 
Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1794) in connection with potential 
impacts related to a proposal by Georgia Transmission Corporation 
(GTC). The proposal consists of constructing approximately 40 to 45 
miles of 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line in portions of Atkinson, 
Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, and Lanier Counties, Georgia. GTC is 
requesting that RUS provide financial assistance for the proposal.

DATES: RUS will conduct two public scoping meetings in an open-house 
format on: Wednesday, September 26, 2012, from 3 to 7 p.m. at: the 
Holiday Inn Express Conference Room, 1636 South Peterson Ave., Douglas, 
Georgia 31534. Thursday, September 27, 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at: The 
Threatte Center, 209 South Highway 221, Lakeland, Georgia 31635. 
Representatives from RUS and GTC will be available at the meetings to 
discuss the environmental review process, the proposal, and the scope 
of environmental issues currently under consideration. Written comments 
regarding the proposal may be submitted at the public scoping meetings 
or by October 29, 2012, to the RUS address provided in this Notice.

ADDRESSES: To send comments or for further information, please contact 
Ms. Lauren McGee, Environmental Scientist, USDA Rural Utilities 
Service, P.O. Box 776, Haw River, North Carolina 27258-0776, telephone: 
(202) 695-2540, fax: (202) 690-0649, or email: 
[email protected].
    An Alternatives Evaluation and Macro Corridor Study, which 
discusses the purpose and need for the proposal and the alternatives 
considered in the proposal's development, is available for public 
review at the following RUS Web site: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/UWP-EA-DouglasLakelanGA.html; at GTC's headquarters office at: 2100 East 
Exchange Place, Tucker, Georgia 30084; and at the following 
repositories: Douglas/Coffee County Public Library, South Madison Ave., 
Douglas, Georgia 31533; Pearson Public Library, 56 East Bullard Ave., 
Pearson, Georgia 31642; Willacoochee Public Library, 165 East Fleetwood 
Ave., Willacoochee, Georgia 31650; and W.L. Miller Memorial Library, 
124 South Valdosta Road, Lakeland, Georgia 31635.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GTC proposes to construct approximately 40 
to 45 miles of 230 kV electric transmission line from the existing 
Douglas 115/230 kV Substation on the northwest side of the City of 
Douglas in Coffee County, Georgia, to an existing transmission line 
corridor north of the City of Lakeland in Lanier County, Georgia. In 
general, the project area is located in the Coastal Plains of South 
Georgia, east of Interstate 75 and northeast of the City of Valdosta. 
Proposal activities include acquisition of a 100 foot easement or 
right-of-way (ROW) within which the line would be sited. GTC 
anticipates using mostly single pole structures. Construction and line 
maintenance activities mostly would remain within the transmission line 
easement with access to the line from public ROW. Some construction 
activities may require stream and wetland crossings. GTC's proposal is 
one piece of the proposed Douglas-Pine Grove Plan (i.e., the preferred 
electrical solution). Four other connected actions, which will be 
constructed by other utilities, will be addressed in the proposed 
project's EA.
    Among the alternatives that RUS will address in the EA is the No 
Action alternative, under which the proposal would not be undertaken. 
In the EA, the effects of the proposal will be compared to the existing 
conditions in the project area. Public health and safety, environmental 
impacts, and engineering aspects of the proposal will be considered in 
the EA.
    RUS is the lead federal agency, as defined at 40 CFR 1501.5, for 
preparation of the EA. With this Notice, federally recognized Native 
American Tribes and Federal agencies with jurisdiction or special 
expertise are invited to be cooperating agencies. Such tribes or 
agencies may make a request to RUS to be a cooperating agency by 
contacting the RUS contact provided in this Notice. Designated 
cooperating agencies have certain responsibilities to support the NEPA 
process, as specified at 40 CFR 1501.6(b).
    As part of its broad environmental review process, RUS must take 
into account the effect of the proposal on historic properties in 
accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 
(Section 106) and its implementing regulation, ``Protection of Historic 
Properties'' (36 CFR part 800). Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), RUS is 
using its procedures for public involvement under NEPA to meet its 
responsibilities to solicit and consider the views of the public during 
Section 106 review. Accordingly, comments submitted in response to 
scoping will inform RUS decision-making in its Section 106 review 
process. Any party

[[Page 58097]]

wishing to participate more directly with RUS as a ``consulting party'' 
in Section 106 review may submit a written request to the RUS contact 
provided in this Notice.
    RUS will use input provided by government agencies, private 
organizations, and the public in the preparation of the EA. The EA will 
be available for review and comment for 30 days. If RUS finds, based on 
the EA, that the proposal will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment, RUS will prepare a Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI). Notification of the EA and FONSI will be 
published in the Federal Register and in newspapers with circulation in 
the proposal's area. If substantive comments are received on the EA, 
RUS may provide an additional period (15 days) for public review 
following the publication of its FONSI. When appropriate to carry out 
the purposes of NEPA, RUS may impose, on a case-by-case basis, 
additional requirements associated with the preparation of an EA. If at 
any point in the preparation of an EA and review of comments, RUS 
determines that the proposal will have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment, the preparation of an Environmental 
Impact Statement will be required.
    Any final action by RUS related to the proposal will be subject to, 
and contingent upon, compliance with all relevant executive orders and 
federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations in 
addition to the completion of the environmental review requirements as 
prescribed in RUS's Environmental Policies and Procedures, 7 CFR part 
1794, as amended.

    Dated: September 6, 2012.
Jon Melhus,
Acting Director, Engineering and Environmental Staff, USDA, Rural 
Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-23018 Filed 9-18-12; 8:45 am]
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