[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 97 (Friday, May 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32267-32269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10651]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Cheatham County Generation Site Environmental Impact Statement

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 address the potential 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed construction and 
operation of a simple cycle Combustion Turbine (CT) plant and Battery 
Energy Storage System (BESS) on a parcel of TVA-owned land in Cheatham 
County, Tennessee. The Cheatham County Generation Site (CHG) would 
generate approximately 900 Megawatts (MW) and replace generation 
capacity for a portion of the Cumberland Fossil Plant (CUF) second unit 
retirement planned by the end of 2028. The CHG CTs would be composed of 
multiple natural gas-fired frame CTs and natural gas-fired and oil-
fired (i.e., dual-fuel) Aeroderivative CTs. CHG would provide flexible 
and dispatchable transmission grid support and facilitate the 
integration of renewable generation onto the TVA bulk transmission 
system, consistent with the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). TVA is 
inviting public comment concerning the scope of the EIS, alternatives 
being considered, and environmental issues that should be addressed as 
a part of this EIS.

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this 
notice of intent in the Federal Register. To ensure consideration, 
comments must be postmarked, submitted online, or emailed no later than 
June 20, 2023. To facilitate the scoping process, TVA will hold an in-
person public open house; see https://www.tva.gov/NEPA for more 
information on the meeting.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to J. Taylor Johnson, NEPA 
Compliance Specialist, 1101 Market Street, BR 2C-C, Chattanooga, 
Tennessee 37402. Comments may also be submitted online at: https://www.tva.gov/NEPA or by email at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about the 
project, please contact J. Taylor Johnson, NEPA Compliance Specialist, 
by mail at 1101 Market Street, BR 2C-C, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402, 
by email at [email protected], or by phone at 423-751-2732.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is provided in accordance with 
the Council on Environmental Quality's Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 
to 1508) and TVA's procedures for implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 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.

TVA Transmission System

    TVA provides electricity for local power companies serving 10 
million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, as 
well as directly to large industrial customers and Federal 
installations. TVA is fully self-financed without Federal 
appropriations and funds virtually all operations through electricity 
sales and power system bond financing. Dependable electrical capacity 
on the TVA power system is approximately 38,000 MW. TVA transmits 
electricity from generating

[[Page 32268]]

facilities over 16,000 miles of transmission lines.

Generation Asset Planning

    In June 2019, TVA published an IRP, which was developed with input 
from stakeholder groups and the public. The 2019 IRP evaluated six 
scenarios (plausible futures) and five strategies (potential TVA 
responses to those plausible futures) and identified a range of 
potential resource additions and retirements throughout the TVA power 
service area, which encompasses approximately 80,000 square miles.
    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. Consistent with aging 
coal fleet evaluation, TVA made a decision to retire the first CUF unit 
by the end of 2026 and the second unit by the end of 2028. Generation 
from the proposed project would replace a portion of the capacity of 
the second CUF unit to be retired by 2028. Generation from the proposed 
project would also be consistent with the target supply mix in the 2019 
IRP that aims the addition of up to 5,200 MW of simple cycle capacity 
by 2028 to facilitate the integration of solar onto the TVA bulk power 
system.

Project Purpose and Need

    The TVA-owned land for TVA's proposed project is in Ashland City, 
Cheatham County, Tennessee, which is approximately 22 miles northwest 
of Nashville. The total property is approximately 285 acres with the 
proposed project footprint covering a footprint of approximately 75 
acres. TVA's EIS would evaluate the proposed action to replace a 
portion of the 1,450 MW generation capacity of the second CUF unit 
planned for retirement in 2028 with up to 900 MW of generation capacity 
from CHG.
    The purpose of the proposed action is to help provide generation to 
support continued load growth in the Tennessee Valley and TVA's 
decarbonization goals. TVA needs flexible, dispatchable power that can 
successfully integrate increasing amounts of renewable energy sources 
while ensuring reliability. One of the purposes of the proposed action 
is to facilitate the integration of solar onto the electric grid and 
thereby advance TVA's decarbonation goals.
    The need for the Proposed Action is to ensure that TVA can meet 
required year-round generation and maximum capacity system demands and 
planning reserve margin targets. By constructing and operating a CT 
with a BESS interconnected to the transmission system at the same 
location, TVA would continue providing dispatchable and reliable energy 
to the people of the Tennessee Valley at the lowest feasible cost with 
fewer environmental impacts than the current generating capacity that 
is being replaced. The addition of the proposed 400 MW-hour BESS could 
also help TVA maintain grid stability and reliability as generating 
assets with greater minute-by-minute variability are integrated into 
TVA's transmission system (e.g. wind and solar generating assets).

Preliminary Proposed Action and Alternatives

    TVA anticipates that the scope of the EIS will evaluate a No Action 
Alternative and an Action Alternative. The No Action alternative 
provides a baseline for comparing against the Action Alternative. Under 
the No Action Alternative, TVA would not develop the TVA-owned property 
in Cheatham County for energy generation. The Action Alternative would 
evaluate the development of the CHG property for construction and 
operation of a CT interconnected with a BESS. The CHG property would 
also include an approximately 13-acre pollinator habitat along Sycamore 
Creek. Whether these or other alternatives are reasonable warranting 
further consideration under NEPA would be determined in the course of 
preparing the EIS. Related actions, such as the construction of an 
approximately 12-mile natural gas pipeline lateral and off-site 
transmission lines, will also be assessed in this EIS. The pipeline 
facilities to bring gas supply to the CHG property would, to the extent 
practicable, be located within or adjacent to an existing pipeline 
right of way.

Anticipated Environmental Impacts

    The EIS will include a detailed evaluation of the environmental, 
social, and economic impacts associated with implementation of the 
proposed action. Resource areas to be addressed in the EIS include, but 
are not limited to: air quality; aquatics; botany; climate change; 
cultural resources; emergency planning; floodplains; geology and 
groundwater; land use; noise and vibration; soil erosion and surface 
water; socioeconomics and environmental justice; threatened and 
endangered species; transportation; visual; waste; wetlands; and 
wildlife. Measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse effects 
will be identified and evaluated in the EIS.

Anticipated Permits and Other Authorizations

    TVA anticipates seeking required permits or authorizations, as 
appropriate. 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 to construct a CT and BESS may 
also require issuance of an air permit under the Clean Air Act, 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.

Public Participation and Scoping Process

    Scoping, which is integral to the process for implementing NEPA, 
provides an early and open process to ensure that issues are identified 
early and properly studied; issues of little significance do not 
consume substantial time and effort; the draft EIS is thorough and 
balanced; and delays caused by an inadequate EIS are avoided. TVA seeks 
comment and participation from all interested parties for 
identification of potential alternatives, information, and analyses 
relevant to the proposed action in this EIS. Information about this 
project is available at https://www.tva.gov/NEPA, which includes a link 
to an online public comment page. Comments must be received or 
postmarked no later than June 20, 2023. Federal, State, local agencies, 
and Native American Tribes are also invited to provide comments. Please 
note that any comments received, including names and addresses, will 
become part of the project administrative record and will be available 
for public inspection. TVA plans to have an open house on

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May 24, 2023. Visit https://www.tva.gov/NEPA to obtain more information 
about the open house.

EIS Preparation and Schedule

    TVA will consider comments received during the scoping period and 
develop a scoping report which will be published at https://www.tva.gov/NEPA. The scoping report will summarize public and agency 
comments that were received and identify the projected schedule for 
completing the EIS process. Subsequently, following completion of the 
environmental analysis, TVA will post a Draft EIS for public review and 
comment on the project web page. TVA anticipates holding a public open 
house after releasing the Draft EIS. Open house details will be posted 
on TVA's website in conjunction with the Draft EIS. TVA expects to 
release the Draft EIS in 2024, a Final EIS in 2025, and a Record of 
Decision at least 30-days after the release of the Final EIS.
    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.9.

Susan Jacks,
General Manager, Environmental Resource Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2023-10651 Filed 5-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P