[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31780-31781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12693]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement for Kingston 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 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the impacts associated 
with the proposed retirement of the nine coal-fired units at the 
Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) and the construction and operation of 
facilities to replace 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 
July 15, 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 Chevales Williams, NEPA 
Compliance Specialist, 1101 Market Street, BRC 2C, Chattanooga, TN 
37402. 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 Chevales Williams at 
the address above, by phone at (423) 751-7316 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.
    KIF is located in Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee, approximately 
35 miles west of downtown Knoxville. The plant is on a large 
reservation of approximately 1,255 acres situated on a peninsula formed 
by the confluence of the Clinch and Emory Rivers at the Clinch River. 
Built between 1954 and 1955, the nine-unit, coal-fired steam-generating 
plant has a summer net capability of 1,398 megawatts (MW). The 
intensive cycling of the KIF units, reflected in start-up/shutdown 
events

[[Page 31781]]

averaging greater than 85 times per year, is outside the intended 
design basis of the plant. Additionally, KIF has been dealing with 
significant material condition issues over the last five years. Lower 
boiler drum repairs at KIF are symptomatic of age-driven material 
condition failures that are difficult to proactively address. Based on 
this analysis, TVA has developed planning assumptions for KIF 
retirement. TVA proposes to retire three units as early as 2026, but no 
later than 2031, and the remaining six units as early as 2027, but no 
later than 2033, dependent on internal and external factors that could 
affect bringing replacement generation online.
    The Kingston EIS will assess the impact of retiring all KIF units 
and of replacing the generation of those units, as discussed in the 
Alternatives section below. To recover the generation capacity lost 
from retirement of the KIF units and to account for future load growth, 
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 of replacement generation would need to be in commercial operation 
prior to the retirement of KIF.

Alternatives

    TVA anticipates that the scope of the EIS will include various 
alternatives in addition to the no action alternative (continuing to 
operate KIF with needed regulatory updates). TVA plans to evaluate 
three action alternatives in the EIS: (A) Retirement of KIF and 
construction and operation of a Combined Cycle Combustion Turbine (CC) 
Gas Plant at the same site; (B) Retirement of KIF, investment in local 
and regional transmission, and construction and operation of Simple 
Cycle Combustion Turbine (CT) Gas Plants at alternate locations; (C) 
Retirement of KIF and construction and operation of Solar and Storage 
Facilities, primarily at alternate locations. Potential connected 
actions, such as the natural gas pipeline and transmission upgrades as 
necessary for any particular alternative, will also be considered in 
this assessment.

Issues To Be Addressed in EIS

    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,
 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 KIF location, which 
would require approximately 125 miles of natural gas pipeline 
facilities that will, to the extent practicable, be located within or 
adjacent to an existing pipeline right of way, to bring gas supply to 
the KIF reservation. The construction of the natural gas pipeline(s) 
would be subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 
jurisdiction and additional review will be undertaken by FERC in 
accordance with its own NEPA procedures. TVA's 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.gov/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 Summer of 2022. TVA anticipates issuing the final EIS 
in Spring of 2023 and a record of decision at least 30 days after its 
release.

Rebecca Tolene,
Vice President, Environment.
[FR Doc. 2021-12693 Filed 6-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P