[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25933-25935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09945]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement for Cumberland Fossil Plant 
Retirement

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) intends to prepare an

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Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the impacts associated 
with the proposed retirement of the two coal-fired units at the 
Cumberland Fossil Plant (CUF) and the construction and operation of 
facilities to replace part of the retired generation. TVA will use the 
EIS process to elicit and prioritize the values and concerns of 
stakeholders; formulate, evaluate and compare alternatives; provide 
opportunities for public review and comment; and ensure that TVA's 
evaluation of potential retirement and replacement energy generation 
reflects a full range of stakeholder input. Public comment is invited 
concerning the scope of the EIS, alternatives being considered, and 
environmental issues that should be addressed as a part of this EIS. 
TVA is also requesting data, information and analysis relevant to the 
proposed action from the public; affected Federal, State, tribal, and 
local governments, agencies, and offices; the scientific community; 
industry; or any other interested party.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments on the scope and environmental 
issues must be postmarked, emailed or submitted online no later than 
June 10, 2021. To facilitate the scoping process, TVA will hold a 
public scoping meeting; see http://www.tva.gov/nepa for more 
information on the meeting.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Ashley Pilakowski, NEPA 
Compliance Specialist, 400 West Summit Hill Dr., WT 11B, Knoxville, TN 
37902-1499. Comments may also be submitted online at: www.tva.gov/nepa, 
or by email at [email protected]. Please note that, due to current TVA 
requirements for many employees to work remotely, TVA recommends the 
public submit comments electronically to ensure their timely review and 
consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Ashley Pilakowski at 
the address above, by phone at (865) 632-2256 or email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is provided in accordance with 
the regulations promulgated by Council on Environmental Quality at 40 
CFR parts 1500 to 1508 (84 FR 43304, July 16, 2020) and TVA's 
procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act at 18 CFR 
part 1318. TVA is an agency and instrumentality of the United States, 
established by an act of Congress in 1933, to foster the social and 
economic welfare of the people of the Tennessee Valley region and to 
promote the proper use and conservation of the region's natural 
resources. One component of this mission is the generation, 
transmission, and sale of reliable and affordable electric energy.

Background

    In June 2019, TVA published the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan 
(IRP), which was developed with input from stakeholder groups and the 
general public. The 2019 IRP evaluated six scenarios (plausible 
futures) and five strategies (potential TVA responses to those futures) 
and identified a range of potential resource additions and retirements 
throughout the TVA power service area, which encompasses approximately 
80,000 square miles covering most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, 
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. The 
target supply mix adopted by the TVA Board through the 2019 IRP 
included the potential retirement of 2,200 MW of coal-fired generation 
by 2038. The IRP acknowledged continued operational challenges for the 
aging coal fleet and included a recommendation to conduct end-of-life 
evaluations during the term of the IRP to determine whether retirements 
greater than 2,200 MW would be appropriate.
    Following the publication of the IRP, TVA began conducting these 
evaluations to inform long-term planning. TVA's recent evaluation 
confirms that the aging coal fleet is among the oldest in the nation 
and is experiencing deterioration of material condition and performance 
challenges. The performance challenges are projected to increase 
because of the coal fleet's advancing age and the difficulty of 
adapting the fleet's generation within the changing generation profile; 
and, in general, because the coal fleet is contributing to 
environmental, economic, and reliability risks.
    CUF is located in Cumberland City, Stewart County, Tennessee, 
approximately 22 miles southwest of Clarksville. The plant is on a 
large reservation of approximately 2,388 acres located at the 
confluence of Wells Creek and the south bank of the Cumberland River. 
Built between 1968 and 1973, CUF is the largest plant in the TVA coal 
fleet. The two-unit, coal-fired steam-generating plant has a summer net 
capability of 2,470 megawatts (MW). CUF is 15 to 20 years younger than 
TVA's other coal plants, but frequent cycling of the large super-
critical units, a recent change in the method of plant operation for 
which the plant was not originally designed, presents reliability 
challenges that are difficult to anticipate and very expensive to 
mitigate. Based on this analysis, TVA has developed planning 
assumptions for CUF retirement. TVA proposes to retire one CUF unit as 
early as 2026 but no later than 2030, and the second unit as early as 
2028 but no later than 2033, dependent on internal and external factors 
that could affect bringing replacement generation online.
    The Cumberland EIS assesses the impact of retiring both CUF units 
and of replacing the generation of one of those units, as discussed in 
the Alternatives section below. To recover the generation capacity lost 
from retirement of one CUF unit, TVA is proposing the addition of 
approximately 1,450 MW of replacement generation. To maintain adequate 
reserves on the TVA system, this 1,450 MW replacement generation would 
need to be in commercial operation prior to retirement of the first CUF 
unit. Replacement generation for the second retired CUF unit would 
likely consist of some combination of gas, solar, and storage, but the 
planning for that generation can be deferred to allow more time to 
assess the specific types and locations of that generation. Additional 
tiered NEPA analysis will be completed as these future generation needs 
are identified.

Alternatives

    TVA anticipates that the scope of the EIS will include various 
alternatives in addition to the no action alternative (continuing to 
operate CUF). TVA plans to consider three action alternatives in the 
EIS: (A) Retirement of CUF and construction and operation of a Combined 
Cycle Combustion Turbine (CC) Gas Plant at the same site; (B) 
Retirement of CUF and construction and operation of Simple Cycle 
Combustion Turbine (CT) Gas Plants at alternate locations; (C) 
Retirement of CUF and construction and operation of Solar and Storage 
Facilities, primarily at alternate locations. Whether these or other 
alternatives are reasonable warranting further consideration under NEPA 
would be determined in the course of preparing the EIS. Connected 
actions, such as the natural gas pipeline and transmission upgrades, 
will also be considered in this assessment.

Proposed Issues To Be Addressed

    The EIS will address the effects of each alternative on the 
environment, including
     emissions of greenhouse gases,
     fuel consumption,
     air quality,
     water quality and quantity,
     waste generation and disposal,
     land use,
     ecological,
     cultural resources,
     transportation,
     visual and noise,

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     socioeconomic impacts and environmental justice.
    The EIS will include discussion and review of any proposed natural 
gas pipeline(s) that would be a necessary component of a new proposed 
CC or CT plants under Alternatives A or B. Currently under Alternative 
A, TVA is considering replacing generation at the CUF location which 
would require an approximate 30 mile natural gas pipeline to bring gas 
supply to the CUF reservation. Under Alternative B, since TVA is 
considering replacement generation at locations with existing 
transmission infrastructure and an adequate supply of natural gas, no 
further pipeline construction would be needed other than the lateral 
lines necessary to make the connection to the facility itself. The 
construction of the natural gas pipeline(s) would likely be subject to 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction and additional 
review will be undertaken by FERC in accordance with its own NEPA 
procedures. The proposed action may also require issuance of an 
Individual or Nationwide Permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water 
Act; Section 401 Water Quality Certification; conformance with 
Executive Orders on Environmental Justice (12898), Wetlands (11990), 
Floodplain Management (11988), Migratory Birds (13186), and Invasive 
Species (13112); and compliance with Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act, Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, and 
other applicable Local, Federal and State regulations.

Scoping Process

    Scoping, which is integral to the process for implementing NEPA, 
provides an early and open process to ensure that (1) issues are 
identified early and properly studied; (2) issues of little 
significance do not consume substantial time and effort; (3) the draft 
EIS is thorough and balanced; and (4) delays caused by an inadequate 
EIS are avoided.
    TVA invites members of the public as well as Federal, state, and 
local agencies and federally recognized Indian tribes to comment on the 
scope of the EIS. Information about this project is available on the 
TVA web page at www.tva.com/nepa, including a link to a virtual public 
meeting room and an online public comment page. Comments on the scope 
of this EIS should be submitted no later than the date given under the 
DATES section of this notice. Any comments received, including names 
and addresses, will become part of the administrative record and will 
be available for public inspection.
    After consideration of the comments received during this scoping 
period, TVA will summarize public and agency comments, identify the 
issues and alternatives to be addressed in the draft EIS, and identify 
the schedule for completing the EIS process. Following analysis of the 
issues, TVA will prepare a draft EIS for public review and comment. 
Notice of availability of the draft EIS will be published by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register. TVA will 
solicit written comments on the draft EIS and also hold a public open 
house, which may be virtual, for this purpose. TVA expects to release 
the draft EIS in Spring of 2022. TVA anticipates issuing the final EIS 
in Fall of 2022 and a record of decision at least 30 days after its 
release.

Rebecca Tolene,
Vice President, Environment.
[FR Doc. 2021-09945 Filed 5-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P