[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 123 (Monday, June 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27833-27835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12026]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
[Docket #RUS-25-ELECTRIC-0001]
Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision Regarding Central
Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. Financial Assistance
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
[[Page 27834]]
Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of
NEPA, RUS Environmental Policies and Procedures, and other applicable
environmental requirements related to providing financial assistance
for Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Central Electric or the
Applicant) proposed McClellanville 115 kilovolt (kV) transmission line
(Project) in South Carolina. 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 allows
these reviews to proceed. The ROD is not a decision on the Central
Electric'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 June 13, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The ROD is available on the RUS website at: https://www.rd.usda.gov/resources/environmental-studies/impact-statement/mcclellanville-115kv-transmission-line-berkeley-charleston-and-georgetown-counties-sc.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, or to request
copies of the ROD, contact Suzanne Kopich, Environmental Protection
Specialist, USDA, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW,
Mail Stop 1570, Washington, DC 20250, by phone at 202-961-8514, or
email to: [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project proponent and USDA applicant,
Central Electric, is a not-for-profit electric generation and
transmission cooperative that is the wholesale power supplier to its
member-owners, South Carolina's 20 retail electric cooperatives that
includes Berkeley Electric. Organized in 1948, Central Electric designs
and builds transmission lines that connect the state's bulk
transmission system (the coordinated and integrated Central Electric/
South Carolina Public Service Authority [Santee Cooper] system) and the
member-cooperative system substations. Central Electric, a South
Carolina (SC) transmission cooperative, proposes to construct and
maintain a new 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line between the existing
Jamestown substation and a new Berkeley Electric Cooperative, Inc.
(Berkeley Electric) McClellanville Substation near the town of
McClellanville, SC. The preferred transmission line route is referred
to as the Jamestown corridor. The new transmission line would improve
system reliability in the McClellanville Service Area, including
reducing the number and duration of power outages that occur. The
current level of system capacity cannot readily accommodate existing
load demand nor future load growth in the McClellanville area. Studies
of system reliability (studies included in the Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS)) indicate that a new 115-kV transmission line and
associated substation is needed to serve the long-term needs of this
area of coastal South Carolina by increasing capacity to distribute
electricity and enhance the reliability of the delivery system.
RUS is authorized under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as
amended (7 U.S.C. 901-918a.) to make loans and loan guarantees to
finance the construction of electric distribution, transmission, and
generation facilities, including system improvements and replacements
required to furnish and improve electric service in rural areas, as
well as demand-side management, electricity conservation programs, and
on- and off-grid renewable electricity systems. Central Electric
intends to request financial assistance from RUS for the Project. Along
with other technical and financial considerations, completing the
environmental review process is one of RUS's requirements in processing
Central Electric's application.
RUS is the lead Federal agency, as defined at 40 CFR 1501.7 (2020),
for the preparation of the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
Cooperating agencies for this Project include the United States Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the United States Forest Service (USFS).
The USACE will review the Applicant's permit application, as required
by Section 404 under the Clean Water Act. The USFS has been involved in
interagency coordination as a cooperating agency for the Project
because 13.5 miles (58%) of the proposed transmission line would cross
National Forest Service (NFS) lands managed by the Francis Marion
National Forest. The USFS would need to issue a special use
authorization for the Project to occupy NFS lands and will use the
final EIS analysis in its decision- making process to either approve or
disapprove the Applicant's request for a Special Use Permit (SUP).
RUS prepared a FEIS and published a notice of availability in the
Federal Register on October 18, 2024, 89 FR 83833, to analyze the
impacts of its respective Federal actions and the proposed Project in
accordance with RUS Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part
1970).
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 Project on historic properties. The National Historic Preservation
Act (NHPA), Section 106 review is integrated with the NEPA review of
cultural and historic resources in the FEIS in accordance with the
guiding regulations of each law (40 CFR 1500-1508; 36 CFR part 800).
Indian Tribes, including the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the
Catawba Indian Nation, and Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and the town of
McClellanville were invited to participate in the NHPA, Section 106
review process, attend the public scoping and Draft EIS meetings, and
provide relevant information for inclusion in the EIS. Only the Catawba
Indian Nation chose to become a consulting party, and in the end, they
did not comment on the EIS.
There are two known cultural resources along the proposed
transmission line: the NRHP-listed Old Georgetown Road and the NRHP-
eligible Honey Hill Fire Tower; and several unevaluated archaeological
sites. The Project will have a direct, visual impact on the Old
Georgetown Road and Honey Hill Fire Tower. Mitigation for this impact
will be determined through the Section 106 consultation process under
the Programmatic Agreement (PA) for the McClellanville 115 kV
Transmission Line Project. Once the project right of way has been
finalized, additional cultural resource surveys and studies will be
conducted to identify any additional historic sites and potential
impacts. In coordinating Section 106 compliance, RUS has developed a
project-specific PA among RUS, USFS, and the South Carolina State
Historic Preservation Office. Any historic sites will be spanned and
protected during construction when feasible, as identified in the PA.
The PA will have provisions for the treatment of any post-review
structure discoveries.
On May 29, 2014, RUS announced the issuance of a Draft EIS for the
Project (79 FR 30805). A public meeting was held on June 3, 2014, at
the St. James-Santee Elementary-Middle School in McClellanville to
solicit comments on the Draft EIS. Based on public comments and because
of updates to RUS environmental policies and
[[Page 27835]]
procedures, as well as the publication of a revised FMNF Land
Management Plan, RUS and Central Electric determined that a
Supplemental Draft EIS (SDEIS) would be necessary to evaluate other
reasonable corridors, including two options that would originate from
the Belle Island Substation, as evaluated in the Draft EIS, and new
options originating from the Jamestown Substation and Charity
Substation. In 2017, because of comments received from agencies and the
general public, Central Electric commissioned, at the request of RUS,
an independent engineering study to evaluate and supplement the
previously developed studies and assess the merit of the proposed
alternatives based on need, impacts, and cost; and to offer additional
insight and information that may be relevant to assessing each
potential solution.
On August 30, 2019, RUS announced the availability of the SDEIS for
the Project (84 FR 45720), which included new analysis of the Jamestown
and Charity corridors and two of the original Belle Isle corridors
(Options B and C). On September 17 and 19, 2019, RUS conducted public
meetings at St. James-Santee Elementary-Middle School in McClellanville
and at Jamestown Baptist Church Life Center, respectively.
Following the October 18, 2024 issuance of the FEIS, a total of
three public comments were received and were all minor in content.All
public comments associated with the FEIS have been taken into
consideration and addressed in the ROD. Based on consideration of the
environmental impacts of the Project and comments received throughout
the Agency and public review process, RUS has determined that the
Proposed Action as described above best meets the purpose and need for
the 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.
Christopher McLean,
Assistant Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, USDA Rural
Development.
[FR Doc. 2025-12026 Filed 6-27-25; 8:45 am]
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