[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83797-83798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27988]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 225 / Tuesday, November 22, 2016 / 
Notices  

[[Page 83797]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Dairyland Power Cooperative: Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Hold Additional Public Scoping 
Meetings

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
and hold additional public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and hold additional public scoping 
meetings in connection with possible impacts related to the Cardinal-
Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project proposed by Dairyland Power 
Cooperative (DPC). Other utilities participating in the Project are 
American Transmission Company LLC, by its corporate manager ATC 
Management Inc. and ITC Midwest LLC.
    The proposal consists of the construction of a 345-kilovolt (kV) 
transmission line and associated infrastructure connecting the Hickory 
Creek Substation in Dubuque County, Iowa, with the Cardinal Substation 
in the Town of Middleton, Wisconsin (near Madison, Wisconsin). The 
Project also includes a new intermediate 345/138-kV substation near the 
Village of Montfort in either Grant County or Iowa County, Wisconsin. 
The total length of the 345-kV transmission lines associated with the 
proposed project will be approximately 125 miles. DPC and the other 
project participants have identified proposed and alternate segments 
and locations for transmission lines and associated facilities and for 
the intermediate substation. Dairyland Power Cooperative is requesting 
RUS to provide financing for its portion of the proposed project.

DATES: RUS will conduct two public scoping meetings in an open-house 
format at the following locations:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Date                        Location                  Time                      Venue
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 6, 2016...................  Peosta, Iowa..........  4:00-7:00 p.m.........  Peosta Community Center,
                                                                                      7896 Burds Road, Peosta,
                                                                                      IA 53068.
December 7, 2016...................  Barneveld, Wisconsin..  4:00-7:00 p.m.........  Deer Valley Lodge, 401 West
                                                                                      Industrial Drive,
                                                                                      Barneveld, WI 53507.
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    The additional meetings are being held to give the public more 
opportunities to review the project and provide comments.

ADDRESSES: To send comments or for further information, contact Dennis 
Rankin, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., 
Room 2244, Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250-1571 Email: 
[email protected] Washington, DC 20250-1571. The public 
comment period for the proposed project will extend through January 6, 
2017.
    An Alternative Evaluation Study (AES) and Macro Corridor Study 
(MCS), prepared by Dairyland Power Cooperative, will be presented at 
the public scoping meetings. The reports are available for public 
review at the RUS address provided in this notice and at Dairyland 
Power Cooperative, 3251 East Avenue South, La Crosse, WI 54602. In 
addition, the reports will be available at RUS' Web site, http://www.rd.usda.gov/publications/environmental-studies/impact-statements 
and at local libraries in the project area.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Preliminary proposed transmission line 
corridors, the siting area for the intermediate substation, and the two 
existing end-point substations have been identified. The EIS will 
address the construction, operation, and management of the proposed 
project, which includes the following: A new 345-kV terminal within the 
existing Hickory Creek Substation in Dubuque County, Iowa; a new 
intermediate 345/138-kV substation near the Village of Montfort in 
either Grant or Iowa County, Wisconsin; a new 345 kV terminal within 
the existing Cardinal Substation in the Town of Middleton in Dane 
County, Wisconsin; a new 45- to 65-mile (depending on the final route) 
345-kV transmission line between the Hickory Creek Substation and the 
intermediate substation; a new 45- to 60-mile (depending on the final 
route) 345-kV transmission line between the intermediate substation and 
the existing Cardinal Substation; a short, less than one-mile, 69-kV 
line in Iowa; facility reinforcement needed in Iowa and Wisconsin; 
construction and maintenance of access roads for all proposed 
transmission lines and rebuild of the Turkey River Substation in 
Dubuque County, Iowa with two 161/69 kV transformers, four 161-kV 
circuit breakers, and three 69-kV circuit breakers.
    Total length of the transmission lines for the proposed project 
will be approximately 125 miles. The project study area includes part 
or all of the following counties in Iowa: Clayton and Dubuque. In 
Wisconsin, the project area includes parts of the following counties: 
Dane, Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette.
    Among the alternatives RUS will address in the EIS is the No Action 
alternative, under which the project would not be undertaken. In the 
EIS, the effects of the proposed project will be compared to the 
existing conditions in the area affected. Alternative transmission line 
corridors and the intermediate substation location will be refined as 
part of the EIS scoping process and will be addressed in the Draft EIS. 
RUS will carefully study public health and safety, environmental 
impacts, and engineering aspects of the proposed project and all 
related facilities.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife

[[Page 83798]]

Service (USFWS) are participating in the environmental review process 
as cooperating agencies, with RUS as the lead Federal agency.
    RUS will use input provided by government agencies, private 
organizations, and the public in the preparation of the Draft EIS. The 
Draft EIS will be available for review and comment for 45 days. A Final 
EIS that considers all comments received will subsequently be prepared. 
The Final EIS will be available for review and comment for 30 days. 
Following the 30- day comment period, RUS will prepare a Record of 
Decision (ROD). Notices announcing the availability of the Draft EIS, 
the Final EIS, and the ROD will be published in the Federal Register 
and in local newspapers.
    Any final action by RUS related to the proposed project will be 
subject to, and contingent upon, compliance with all relevant federal, 
state, and local environmental laws and regulations and completion of 
the environmental review requirements as prescribed in the RUS 
Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1970).

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Kellie Kubena,
Director, Engineering and Environmental Staff, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-27988 Filed 11-21-16; 8:45 am]
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