[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1346-1348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00299]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

[Docket #: RUS-22-ELECTRIC-0055]


Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision for Badger State 
Solar, LLC, Project

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), 
an agency within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), has issued a 
Record of Decision (ROD) to meet its responsibilities in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural 
provisions of NEPA, RUS Environmental Policies and Procedure, and other 
applicable environmental requirements related to providing financial 
assistance for Badger State Solar's, LLC proposed Alternating Current 
solar project (Project) in Wisconsin. The Administrator of RUS has 
signed the ROD, which was effective upon signing. This ROD concludes 
RUS environmental review process in accordance with NEPA and RUS, 
Environmental Policies and Procedures. The ultimate decision as to loan 
approval depends on the conclusion of the environmental review process 
plus financial and engineering analyses. Issuance of the ROD will allow 
these reviews to proceed. The ROD is not a decision on the Badger State 
Solar's loan application and is not an approval of the expenditure of 
federal funds.

DATES: The Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service signed the 
Record of Decision on December 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES: To request copies of the ROD, contact Peter Steinour at 
[email protected]. The ROD is also available at RUS website 
at https://www.rd.usda.gov/resources/environmental-studies/impact-statements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact Peter 
Steinour, Environmental Protection Specialist, USDA, Rural Utilities 
Service, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Mail Stop 1570, Washington, DC 
20250, by phone at 202-961-6140, or email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Purpose and Need: Badger State Solar has indicated that it 
intends to request Federal financing from the USDA RUS for development 
of the Project. While RUS is authorized under the Rural Electrification 
Act of 1936 (REA) to finance electric generation infrastructure in 
rural areas, it is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. 
(MISO), not RUS, who is responsible for electric grid planning. 
Supporting renewable energy projects meets both RUS's goal to support 
infrastructure development in rural communities and USDA's support of 
the June 2013 Climate Action Plan, which encourages voluntary actions 
to increase energy independence.
    2. Project Description: Badger State Solar proposes to construct, 
install, operate, and maintain a 149-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) 
Alternating Current solar energy generating facility on a site in the 
Townships of Jefferson and Oakland, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. The 
total estimated Project cost would be approximately $225,000,000. 
Project construction is anticipated to begin in November 2022. 
Construction would be complete, and the Project would be expected to 
come online by Fall 2023.
    The Jefferson County site initially included three proposed 
development areas: The Primary Solar Array Area, Alternate Solar Array 
Area, and Optional Solar Array Area. As the solar facility design 
progressed, Badger State Solar determined that the approximately 1,200-
acre Primary Area would be suitable to host the proposed 149 MW solar 
power facility without requiring development of the Alternate and 
Optional Areas. The Primary Area became the Proposed Action which is 
the focus of this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Proposed 
Action would take place on approximately 1,200 acres located on the 
north and south sides of US Highway 18 (US 18), approximately 2 miles 
west of the City of Jefferson and west of State Highway 89. Site land 
cover is predominantly agricultural crops and pasture, with some forest 
and wetland.
    Construction involves the installation on leased lands of 487,848 
single-axis tracking PV panels. The PV panels would be mounted on a 
steel racking frame. Supporting facilities include an electrical 
substation. The lease

[[Page 1347]]

agreement allows for an operating period of 40 years. A power purchase 
agreement has been executed with Dairyland Power Cooperative for the 
entire output of the Proposed Action. The Project site is near the 
point of interconnection to the grid at the American Transmission 
Company (ATC) Jefferson substation near the intersection of State Trunk 
Highway 89 and US 18.
    Construction equipment would include graders, bulldozers, 
excavators, forklifts, trailers, plows, trenchers, pile drivers, and 
directional boring rigs. Vehicles for transporting construction 
materials and components primarily would be legal load over-the road 
flatbed and box trucks. Transport would use existing regional roads, 
bridges, and intersections. Laydown areas would be established within 
the Project site. Internal site access roads would be required. Fencing 
would be placed around contiguous blocks of solar arrays.
    Potential locations for development of the solar facility in 
Wisconsin were evaluated in an initial preliminary site review to 
identify locations where electric transmission infrastructure would be 
sufficient to connect a solar project to the power grid. The Site 
Selection Study consisted of three phases of evaluation which began 
with 18 potential sites and ended with the identification of the 
Project site in Jefferson County as the most feasible for 
consideration. The potential impacts of the No Action Alternative and 
the Proposed Action, construction of the Badger State Solar project in 
Jefferson County, Wisconsin, are analyzed in chapter 3 of the Final 
EIS.
    In the EIS, the effects of the proposal are compared to the 
existing conditions in the affected area of the proposal. Public health 
and safety, environmental impacts, socio-economic, and engineering 
aspects of the proposal are also considered in the Final EIS.
    The proposed Project is subject to the jurisdiction of the Public 
Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW), Wisconsin Department of Natural 
Resources (WDNR), Wisconsin Historical Society-Historic Preservation 
Office (SHPO), Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), and the 
State of Wisconsin Division of Safety and Buildings. Badger State Solar 
has submitted applications to the PSCW for a Certificate of Public 
Convenience and Necessity; and either has or will submit applications 
for permits to the WDNR for an Isolated Wetlands Permit and Wisconsin 
Pollution Discharge Elimination System/Stormwater Runoff Permit 
(NR216); WisDOT for a utility permit, driveway/access permit, and 
oversize/overweight permit; and the State of Wisconsin Division of 
Safety and Buildings for a Building permit. Badger State Solar may also 
submit applications for permits as needed to Jefferson County Highway 
Department (oversize-overweight, utility, county highway entrance), 
Jefferson County Land Conservation Department (stormwater management), 
Jefferson County (construction permit, utilities, sanitary permits), 
Jefferson County Farm District Drainage No. 16 (drainage alteration 
permit), City of Jefferson (driveway, sign, and building permits) and 
Town of Oakland (driveway permits). These state and local agency 
permits would authorize Badger State Solar to construct the proposed 
project under Wisconsin rules and regulations.
    While RUS is authorized under the REA to make loans to finance 
electric generation infrastructure in rural areas, it is the MISO, not 
RUS, who is responsible for electric grid planning. Supporting 
renewable energy projects meets both RUS's goal to support 
infrastructure development in rural communities and USDA's support of 
the June 2013 Climate Action Plan. Along with other technical and 
financial considerations, completing the environmental review process 
is one of RUS's requirements in processing Badger State Solar's 
application. RUS is the lead Federal agency for environmental review of 
the proposed project.
    RUS prepared a Final EIS and published a notice of availability in 
the Federal Register on August 26, 2022 (87 FR 52502), to analyze the 
impacts of its respective Federal actions and the proposed Project in 
accordance with NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality's 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 
parts 1500 through 1508), and RUS Environmental Policies and Procedures 
(7 CFR part 1970). Two comments were received on the Final EIS; one 
from the Environmental Protection Agency which indicated that their 
previous comments on the Draft EIS had been addressed in the Final EIS 
and one from the United States Army Corps of Engineers offering no 
comment on the Final EIS. No additional revisions to the Final EIS were 
necessary upon receipt of these comments.
    RUS determined that its action regarding the proposed Project is an 
undertaking subject to review under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act and its implementing regulation, ``Protection 
of Historic Properties'' (36 CFR part 800) and as part of its broad 
environmental review process, RUS must take into account the effect of 
the proposed project on historic properties.
    Of the identified archaeological resources within the Area of 
Potential Effect, none are recommended as eligible for the National 
Register of Historic Places. However, as a result of the archaeological 
and architecture/history investigations conducted for the Proposed 
Action, two of the resources within the Area of Potential Effects were 
recommended for avoidance or further investigations: a historic 
cemetery and the William Eustis House. Project activities would avoid 
the historic cemetery boundaries by a minimum of 10 feet. With regard 
to the NRHP-eligible William Eustis House, a No Adverse Effect finding 
was recommended based on the following factors: lack of any potential 
for physical destruction, damage or alterations to the property; an 
absence of proposed activities which could alter the architectural 
character of the Eustis House; and presence of intervening visual 
intrusions (dense vegetation, trees and barns) between the house and 
the proposed solar arrays. There would be no adverse effect to NRHP-
eligible historical structures. Based on these results, a finding of No 
Adverse Effect in accordance with 36 CFR 800.5(b) is appropriate for 
the Proposed Action. RUS submitted this finding in a letter to the 
Federally recognized tribes and the SHPO in November 2021 and January 
2022, respectively. On January 27, 2022, the SHPO concurred the 
Proposed Action would have no adverse effects to historic properties.
    The proposed overhead transmission crossing of U.S. 18 was added to 
the Proposed Action in February 2022. RUS recommended the finding of No 
Adverse Effect was still appropriate for the Proposed Action. RUS 
submitted this finding in a letter to the Federally recognized tribes 
and the SHPO in March 2022. These letters are on file at RUS. On March 
30, 2022, the SHPO concurred the Proposed Action would have no adverse 
effects to historic properties.
    RUS consulted with the following Federally recognized Native 
American tribes:

 Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma
 Forest County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin
 Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation 
of Montana
 Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
 Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the 
Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin

[[Page 1348]]

 Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
 Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
 Osage Nation
 Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
 Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

    The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, 
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Osage Nation, and the Winnebago Tribe of 
Nebraska did not provide objections to the project; however, they 
requested to be notified of any inadvertent discoveries. A Post-Review 
Discovery Plan was prepared and in the event of an inadvertent 
discovery, these Tribes will be contacted. The other Indian tribes 
consulted did not provide comments.
    Based on consideration of the environmental impacts of the proposed 
Project and comments received throughout the agency and public review 
process, RUS has determined that Proposed Action Alternative as 
described above best meets the purpose and need for the proposed 
Project. RUS finds that the evaluation of reasonable alternatives is 
consistent with NEPA and RUS Environmental Policies and Procedures. 
Details regarding RUS regulatory decision and compliance with 
applicable regulations are included in the ROD.

Andrew Berke,
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2023-00299 Filed 1-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P