Emergency Order To Resume Limited Operation at the Potomac River Generating Station, Alexandria, VA, in Response to Electricity Reliability Concerns in Washington, DC, 3279-3281 [06-570]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 13 / Friday, January 20, 2006 / Notices
ACTION:
Notice of public meeting
agenda.
Thursday, February 2,
2006, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
PLACE: Hyatt Regency (Valley Forge
Room), 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20001. (Metro Stop:
Union Station).
AGENDA: The Commission will receive
the following reports: Title II
Requirements Payments Update; and
updates on other administrative matters.
The Commission will receive
presentations on the following topics:
Implementation of the EAC Voting
System Certification Program.
This meeting will be open to the
public.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bryan Whitener. Telephone: (202) 566–
3100.
DATE AND TIME:
Ray Martinez III,
Vice-Chairman, U.S. Election Assistance
Commission.
[FR Doc. 06–607 Filed 1–18–06; 3:32 pm]
BILLING CODE 6820–KF–M
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Emergency Order To Resume Limited
Operation at the Potomac River
Generating Station, Alexandria, VA, in
Response to Electricity Reliability
Concerns in Washington, DC
Department of Energy.
Notice of emergency action.
AGENCY:
wwhite on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
ACTION:
SUMMARY: Pursuant to 10 CFR 1021.343,
the U.S. Department of Energy is issuing
this Notice to document emergency
actions that it has taken, and to set forth
the steps it intends to take in the future,
to comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the
matter described in this Notice.
On August 24, 2005, Mirant
Corporation, and its wholly owned
subsidiary, Mirant Potomac River, LLC
(collectively referred to herein as
Mirant), ceased operations at its
Potomac River Generating Station (the
‘‘Plant’’) in Alexandria, Virginia, after
modeling that it conducted indicated
that the Plant’s operations were causing
exceedances of the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of the
Clean Air Act. On the same day, the
District of Columbia Public Service
Commission (DCPSC) filed with the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE or
‘‘Department’’), a petition for an
emergency order pursuant to section
202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA),
asserting that the Plant’s closure
reduced the reliability of the electrical
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16:16 Jan 19, 2006
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supply to much of the central business
district of the District of Columbia,
many federal institutions, the
Georgetown area in DC, as well as other
portions of Northwest DC, and the
District of Columbia Water and Sewer
Authority’s Blue Plains Advanced Water
Treatment Plant (collectively referred to
herein as the ‘‘Central DC area’’),
placing these electrical customers in
risk of a blackout.
After an exhaustive review of the
facts, and consultation with Federal and
state officials responsible for
environmental compliance and the
private entities responsible for
electricity transmission, the Secretary of
the Department of Energy on December
20, 2005, issued an emergency order
(the ‘‘Order’’) directing the Plant’s
owner, Mirant, to generate electricity at
the coal-fired Plant under certain,
limited circumstances. The section
below on ‘‘Further Information’’
includes information on how to obtain
paper and electronic copies of the
Order.
In emergency situations such as this
one, the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) Regulations
Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of NEPA at 40 CFR
1506.11 provide that a federal agency
may take an action with significant
environmental impacts without
observing the provisions of the NEPA
regulations associated with preparing an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Instead, the agency should consult with
CEQ to determine what alternative
arrangements the agency will take in
lieu of preparing a normal NEPA EIS.
DOE has consulted with CEQ about
alternative arrangements it will take in
this matter and is publishing this notice
to inform the public of those
arrangements pursuant to DOE’s NEPA
regulations at 10 CFR 1021.343.
Consistent with its consultation with
CEQ, DOE will implement the following
alternative arrangements: (1) Prepare a
Special Environmental Analysis (SEA)
that will examine the potential impacts
from issuance of the order, and identify
potential mitigation measures; (2)
provide opportunities for public
involvement by disseminating
information related to the
environmental effects of Mirant’s
operations and by accepting public
comment on this notice, the compliance
plan Mirant submitted to DOE, and the
SEA; (3) continue consultations with
appropriate agencies with regard to
relevant environmental issues; and (4)
identify in the SEA any steps that DOE
believes can be taken to mitigate the
impacts from its Order.
PO 00000
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3279
Comments on this notice and on
issues to be addressed in the SEA
should be submitted to DOE on or
before February 21, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be
addressed to: Lawrence Mansueti,
Permitting, Siting, and Analysis
Division, Office of Electricity Delivery
and Energy Reliability (OE–20), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585–0119; telephone:
202–586–2588; fax: 202–586–5860;
Lawrence.Mansueti@hq.doe.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information on this Notice, to
obtain paper copies of the Order and
compliance plan, to submit comments
on the compliance plan, or for
information on the emergency activities
related to the Plant, contact Mr.
Mansueti at the above address. In
addition, all publicly available
documents, including the Order and
compliance plan, are available on DOE’s
Web site for this matter at https://
www.electricity.doe.gov/about/
dcpsc_docket.cfm or via hyperlinks
from that Web site (referred to herein as
the ‘‘Mirant matter Web site’’). Copies of
the SEA will also be available on the
DOE NEPA Web site at https://
www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/.
For information on the DOE NEPA
process, please contact: Carol M.
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA
Policy and Compliance (EH–42), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585–0119; telephone:
202–586–4600; fax: 202–586–7031; or
leave a toll-free message at: 1–800–472–
2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
Procedural Background
On August 19, 2005, Mirant submitted
to the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) a
computerized emissions modeling study
Mirant had conducted of its Plant that
indicated that emissions from the Plant
caused or contributed to significant
localized exceedances of the NAAQS.
Also on August 19, 2005, DEQ issued a
letter to Mirant which requested ‘‘that
Mirant immediately undertake such
action as is necessary to ensure
protection of human health and the
environment, in the area surrounding
the Potomac River Generating Station,
including the potential reduction of
levels of operation, or potential shut
down of the facility.’’ (emphasis in
original). On August 24, 2005, Mirant
shut down all five of the generating
units at the Plant, and on the same day,
the District of Columbia Public Service
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3280
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 13 / Friday, January 20, 2006 / Notices
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Commission (DCPSC) filed an
Emergency Petition and Complaint with
DOE and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) pursuant to the
Federal Power Act (FPA). The DCPSC
requested the Secretary of Energy to find
that an emergency existed under section
202(c) of the FPA and to issue an order
directing Mirant to continue operation
of the Plant. The basis for the petition
was that the shutdown of the Plant
‘‘* * * will have a drastic and
potentially immediate effect on the
electric reliability in the greater
Washington, DC, area and could expose
hundreds of thousands of consumers,
agencies of the Federal Government and
critical federal infrastructure to
curtailments of electric service, load
shedding and, potentially, blackouts.’’
On September 20, 2005, Mirant restarted
its unit number one on an 8/8/8 basis—
that is, in any given 24-hour period, the
unit runs for eight hours at its maximum
level of 88 MW, eight hours at its
minimum level of 35 MW, and has eight
hours when it does not run. DOE has
been informed that both the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and DEQ acknowledge that the
operation of this unit in this manner
does not result in any modeled NAAQS
exceedances.
Electricity Reliability
The coal-fired Mirant Plant consists of
five generating units, two of which are
cycling units that range in output from
35 MW to 88 MW, and three of which
are baseload units that range in output
from 35 MW to 102 MW. The Plant is
one of only three sources of electricity
to the Central DC area. The other two
sources are two 230,000-volt (230 kV)
transmission lines that deliver
electricity from other generating sources
in the regional electric grid operated by
PJM Interconnection (PJM). Although
there are other generating units in close
physical proximity to the Central DC
area, there are no transmission lines that
would allow delivery of power from
these other units to reach the Central DC
area. Under North American Electric
Reliability Council (NERC) standards, at
a minimum, the power system must
carry at least enough contingency
reserves of electricity to cover the most
severe single contingency. The
standards require that an area’s system
always be operated with sufficient
reserves to compensate for the sudden
failure of the area’s most important
single generator or transmission line.
Based on the fact that the Central DC
area has only three sources of supply,
the Plant and the two 230 kV
transmission lines, in order to maintain
a minimally reliable electric power
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16:16 Jan 19, 2006
Jkt 208001
system, the Plant must be available to
run when one of the 230 kV lines is out
of service, because if the remaining line
failed there would be no other source of
electricity to serve the Central DC area
load.
The outage of one of these two lines
is not merely a theoretical possibility.
Since 2000, there have been 34 one-line
outages for maintenance, and seven
occasions where one of the lines has
failed unexpectedly. DOE has been
informed that, prior to 2000, there were
two occasions when both of the lines
failed simultaneously. Moreover, just
days before issuance of the Order, PJM
informed DOE on December 16, 2005,
that on the previous night, ‘‘one of the
two circuits critical to providing service
to the District tripped. Continued
[electric] service to certain load within
the District was at that time entirely
dependent on the remaining circuit.’’
Fortunately, full service to the line that
failed was restored by the morning of
December 16, 2005. Nonetheless, there
can be no assurance that the Central DC
area would be so lucky next time. In
addition, the Potomac Electric Power
Company (PEPCO) informed DOE that it
needed to perform maintenance on the
lines in January of 2006.
Central DC area is out of service as
specified by PJM for the duration of the
outage, and (2) keep as many generating
units in operation and take all other
measures to reduce the start-up time of
units not in operation, for the purpose
of providing electricity reliability, as
feasible, as determined by DOE after
consideration of the plan submitted by
Mirant pursuant to the Order and after
consultation with EPA, without regard
to cost, and without causing or
significantly contributing to any
exceedance of the NAAQS. A blackout
in the Central DC area would have
drastic impacts on the environment, as
well as for the employees and citizens
of the Central DC area, affecting
hundreds of thousands of residents and
workers, as well as public safety and
protection facilities, including hospitals,
police, and fire facilities. In addition,
DOE has been informed that within 24
hours of a blackout in the Central DC
area, untreated sewage from the Blue
Plains Wastewater Treatment plant
would be discharged into the Potomac
River.
The time period for DOE’s Order
extends through October 1, 2006.
The Order
On December 20, 2005, DOE found
that in the circumstances presented, an
emergency existed within the meaning
of section 202(c) of the FPA because of
the reasonable possibility an outage
would occur that would cause a
blackout, the number and importance of
facilities and operations in our Nation’s
Capital that would be potentially
affected by such a blackout, the
extended number of hours of any
blackout that might in fact occur, and
the fact that the current situation
violated applicable reliability standards.
PEPCO has applied to the DCPSC to
construct two additional 230 kV lines
that would supply electricity to the
Central DC area and in the same
application, proposed building two new
69kV lines to supply the Blue Plains
wastewater treatment plant. Once
completed, these lines will likely
provide a high level of electricity
reliability in the Central DC area, even
in the absence of production from the
Plant. However, it will likely take 18–
24 months to construct the new lines.
Based on this finding, on December
20, 2005, DOE issued an Order requiring
Mirant to, among other things, (1)
operate the Plant to produce the amount
of power (up to its full capabilities)
needed to meet demand in the Central
DC area during any period in which one
or both of the 230kV lines serving the
Pursuant to DOE’s Order, Mirant
submitted a compliance plan (referred
to as the Operating Plan by Mirant) on
December 30, 2005. The plan outlines a
proposed temporary phase, and two
options for a proposed intermediate
phase, Option A and Option B. All
proposals include the use of ‘‘trona’’
(sodium sesquicarbonate, a naturally
occurring substance similar to baking
soda) and/or lower sulfur coal to
manage air emissions. On January 4,
2006, DOE authorized Mirant to
‘‘immediately take the necessary steps
to implement Option A of the
intermediate phase proposed in the
implementation plan,’’ stating that
‘‘Mirant represents that implementation
of this option will produce no NAAQS
exceedences.’’ DOE will work with EPA
to verify the accuracy of that
representation. DOE is still in the
process of reviewing the other proposals
described in Mirant’s compliance plan
in consultation with EPA.
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Frm 00025
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Mirant’s Compliance Plan
NEPA Compliance Actions
Pursuant to CEQ regulations at 40
CFR 1506.11, DOE consulted with CEQ
on December 20, 2005, December 22,
2005, January 13, 2006, and January 17,
2006, about formulating a plan for
alternative arrangements. Under the
agreed upon alternative arrangements
plan, which will expire October 1, 2006,
unless extended, DOE will:
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 13 / Friday, January 20, 2006 / Notices
1. Prepare a Special Environmental
Analysis (SEA). The SEA will examine
potential impacts resulting from
issuance of the Order, and describe
further DOE decisionmaking regarding
reasonable future alternatives and
potential further mitigation actions DOE
may take in this matter. The analysis
will present reasonably foreseeable
impacts from possible changes in
operations of the Plant over the time
until two additional transmission lines
planned by PEPCO are installed. DOE
intends to issue its SEA no later than
August 2006 and will make it available
to the public on the DOE NEPA and
Mirant matter Web sites as well as
announce its availability in the Federal
Register. DOE will consider information
contained in the SEA, and public input
received on the SEA, in any future
decisionmaking in this matter.
2. Provide Opportunities for Public
Involvement. DOE is currently accepting
public comments on the compliance
plan that DOE required Mirant to submit
under the DOE Order. DOE also invites
public comments on this Notice, as well
as on issues to be addressed in the SEA.
DOE will consider public input in
determining appropriate mitigation
measures and any additional actions
DOE may take as DOE adaptively
manages implementation of the Order.
DOE will post on the Mirant matter Web
site publicly available information (not
exempt from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act) regarding
the environmental effects of ongoing or
alternative operations of the Plant (e.g.,
reasonably available ambient air quality
data and results of air quality modeling),
that the Department receives from
Mirant, EPA, and DEQ.
3. Continue Agency Consultations.
DOE will continue to consult with EPA
and DEQ concerning information on
emissions, modeling results, potential
mitigation measures, and any changes to
the operation of the Plant. EPA will act
as a ‘‘cooperating agency’’ (see 40 CFR
1501.6 and 1508.5) for purposes of
providing reasonably available public
information regarding the
environmental effects of operations of
the Plant to be disseminated via DOE’s
Mirant matter Web site and evaluated in
the SEA.
4. Identify Mitigation. DOE will
identify in its SEA any steps that it
believes can be taken to mitigate the
impacts from its Order. DOE will
continue to track the impacts of its
Order and public input and provide for
appropriate mitigation where
practicable. DOE will publish on its
Web sites, as noted above, its discussion
of which mitigation measures are
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16:16 Jan 19, 2006
Jkt 208001
adopted for any future decision, and if
not, why they are not adopted.
DOE may modify, in consultation
with CEQ, the foregoing alternative
arrangements as conditions warrant and
will notify the public in the Federal
Register if it does so.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 18,
2006.
John Spitaleri Shaw,
Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety
and Health.
[FR Doc. 06–570 Filed 1–19–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 12481–002]
AMG Energy, LLC; Notice of Surrender
of Preliminary Permit
January 12, 2006.
Take notice that AMG Energy, LLC,
permittee for the proposed Selden Dam
Project, has requested that its
preliminary permit be terminated. The
permit was issued on April 20, 2004,
and would have expired on March 31,
2007.1 The project would have been
located on the Black Warrior River in
Greene and Hale Counties, Alabama.
The permittee filed the request on
December 7, 2005, and the preliminary
permit for Project No. 12481 shall
remain in effect through the thirtieth
day after issuance of this notice unless
that day is a Saturday, Sunday, part-day
holiday that affects the Commission, or
legal holiday as described in section 18
CFR 385.2007, in which case the
effective date is the first business day
following that day. New applications
involving this project site, to the extent
provided for under 18 CFR Part 4, may
be filed on the next business day.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–598 Filed 1–19–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
3281
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 12485–002]
AMG Energy, LLC; Notice of Surrender
of Preliminary Permit
January 12, 2006.
Take notice that AMG Energy, LLC,
permittee for the proposed Claiborne
Hydroelectric Project, has requested that
its preliminary permit be terminated.
The permit was issued on June 28, 2004,
and would have expired on May 31,
2007.1 The project would have been
located on the Alabama River in Monroe
County, Alabama.
The permittee filed the request on
December 7, 2005, and the preliminary
permit for Project No. 12485 shall
remain in effect through the thirtieth
day after issuance of this notice unless
that day is a Saturday, Sunday, part-day
holiday that affects the Commission, or
legal holiday as described in section 18
CFR 385.2007, in which case the
effective date is the first business day
following that day. New applications
involving this project site, to the extent
provided for under 18 CFR part 4, may
be filed on the next business day.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–599 Filed 1–19–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. RP03–36–015]
Dauphin Island Gathering Partners;
Notice of Negotiated Rate
January 13, 2006.
Take notice that on January 9, 2006,
Dauphin Island Gathering Partners
(Dauphin Island) tendered for filing as
part of its FERC Gas Tariff, First Revised
Volume No. 1, the revised tariff sheets
listed below to become effective
February 9, 2006.
Twenty-Fourth Revised Sheet No. 9.
Nineteenth Revised Sheet No. 10.
Seventh Revised Sheet No. 359.
Third Revised Sheet No. 427.
Dauphin Island states that these tariff
sheets reflect changes to its statement of
negotiated rates and nonconforming
transportation and reserve commitment
agreement tariff sheets.
1 107
PO 00000
FERC ¶ 62,053.
Frm 00026
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FERC ¶ 62,287.
20JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 13 (Friday, January 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3279-3281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-570]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Emergency Order To Resume Limited Operation at the Potomac River
Generating Station, Alexandria, VA, in Response to Electricity
Reliability Concerns in Washington, DC
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of emergency action.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to 10 CFR 1021.343, the U.S. Department of Energy is
issuing this Notice to document emergency actions that it has taken,
and to set forth the steps it intends to take in the future, to comply
with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the matter
described in this Notice.
On August 24, 2005, Mirant Corporation, and its wholly owned
subsidiary, Mirant Potomac River, LLC (collectively referred to herein
as Mirant), ceased operations at its Potomac River Generating Station
(the ``Plant'') in Alexandria, Virginia, after modeling that it
conducted indicated that the Plant's operations were causing
exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of
the Clean Air Act. On the same day, the District of Columbia Public
Service Commission (DCPSC) filed with the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE or ``Department''), a petition for an emergency order pursuant to
section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), asserting that the
Plant's closure reduced the reliability of the electrical supply to
much of the central business district of the District of Columbia, many
federal institutions, the Georgetown area in DC, as well as other
portions of Northwest DC, and the District of Columbia Water and Sewer
Authority's Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant (collectively
referred to herein as the ``Central DC area''), placing these
electrical customers in risk of a blackout.
After an exhaustive review of the facts, and consultation with
Federal and state officials responsible for environmental compliance
and the private entities responsible for electricity transmission, the
Secretary of the Department of Energy on December 20, 2005, issued an
emergency order (the ``Order'') directing the Plant's owner, Mirant, to
generate electricity at the coal-fired Plant under certain, limited
circumstances. The section below on ``Further Information'' includes
information on how to obtain paper and electronic copies of the Order.
In emergency situations such as this one, the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of NEPA at 40 CFR 1506.11 provide that a federal agency
may take an action with significant environmental impacts without
observing the provisions of the NEPA regulations associated with
preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Instead, the agency
should consult with CEQ to determine what alternative arrangements the
agency will take in lieu of preparing a normal NEPA EIS. DOE has
consulted with CEQ about alternative arrangements it will take in this
matter and is publishing this notice to inform the public of those
arrangements pursuant to DOE's NEPA regulations at 10 CFR 1021.343.
Consistent with its consultation with CEQ, DOE will implement the
following alternative arrangements: (1) Prepare a Special Environmental
Analysis (SEA) that will examine the potential impacts from issuance of
the order, and identify potential mitigation measures; (2) provide
opportunities for public involvement by disseminating information
related to the environmental effects of Mirant's operations and by
accepting public comment on this notice, the compliance plan Mirant
submitted to DOE, and the SEA; (3) continue consultations with
appropriate agencies with regard to relevant environmental issues; and
(4) identify in the SEA any steps that DOE believes can be taken to
mitigate the impacts from its Order.
DATES: Comments on this notice and on issues to be addressed in the SEA
should be submitted to DOE on or before February 21, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to: Lawrence Mansueti,
Permitting, Siting, and Analysis Division, Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy,
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0119; telephone:
202-586-2588; fax: 202-586-5860; Lawrence.Mansueti@hq.doe.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this
Notice, to obtain paper copies of the Order and compliance plan, to
submit comments on the compliance plan, or for information on the
emergency activities related to the Plant, contact Mr. Mansueti at the
above address. In addition, all publicly available documents, including
the Order and compliance plan, are available on DOE's Web site for this
matter at https://www.electricity.doe.gov/about/dcpsc_docket.cfm or via
hyperlinks from that Web site (referred to herein as the ``Mirant
matter Web site''). Copies of the SEA will also be available on the DOE
NEPA Web site at https://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/.
For information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Carol M.
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585-0119; telephone: 202-586-4600; fax: 202-586-7031; or leave a
toll-free message at: 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Procedural Background
On August 19, 2005, Mirant submitted to the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) a computerized emissions modeling study
Mirant had conducted of its Plant that indicated that emissions from
the Plant caused or contributed to significant localized exceedances of
the NAAQS. Also on August 19, 2005, DEQ issued a letter to Mirant which
requested ``that Mirant immediately undertake such action as is
necessary to ensure protection of human health and the environment, in
the area surrounding the Potomac River Generating Station, including
the potential reduction of levels of operation, or potential shut down
of the facility.'' (emphasis in original). On August 24, 2005, Mirant
shut down all five of the generating units at the Plant, and on the
same day, the District of Columbia Public Service
[[Page 3280]]
Commission (DCPSC) filed an Emergency Petition and Complaint with DOE
and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pursuant to the
Federal Power Act (FPA). The DCPSC requested the Secretary of Energy to
find that an emergency existed under section 202(c) of the FPA and to
issue an order directing Mirant to continue operation of the Plant. The
basis for the petition was that the shutdown of the Plant ``* * * will
have a drastic and potentially immediate effect on the electric
reliability in the greater Washington, DC, area and could expose
hundreds of thousands of consumers, agencies of the Federal Government
and critical federal infrastructure to curtailments of electric
service, load shedding and, potentially, blackouts.'' On September 20,
2005, Mirant restarted its unit number one on an 8/8/8 basis--that is,
in any given 24-hour period, the unit runs for eight hours at its
maximum level of 88 MW, eight hours at its minimum level of 35 MW, and
has eight hours when it does not run. DOE has been informed that both
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DEQ acknowledge that
the operation of this unit in this manner does not result in any
modeled NAAQS exceedances.
Electricity Reliability
The coal-fired Mirant Plant consists of five generating units, two
of which are cycling units that range in output from 35 MW to 88 MW,
and three of which are baseload units that range in output from 35 MW
to 102 MW. The Plant is one of only three sources of electricity to the
Central DC area. The other two sources are two 230,000-volt (230 kV)
transmission lines that deliver electricity from other generating
sources in the regional electric grid operated by PJM Interconnection
(PJM). Although there are other generating units in close physical
proximity to the Central DC area, there are no transmission lines that
would allow delivery of power from these other units to reach the
Central DC area. Under North American Electric Reliability Council
(NERC) standards, at a minimum, the power system must carry at least
enough contingency reserves of electricity to cover the most severe
single contingency. The standards require that an area's system always
be operated with sufficient reserves to compensate for the sudden
failure of the area's most important single generator or transmission
line. Based on the fact that the Central DC area has only three sources
of supply, the Plant and the two 230 kV transmission lines, in order to
maintain a minimally reliable electric power system, the Plant must be
available to run when one of the 230 kV lines is out of service,
because if the remaining line failed there would be no other source of
electricity to serve the Central DC area load.
The outage of one of these two lines is not merely a theoretical
possibility. Since 2000, there have been 34 one-line outages for
maintenance, and seven occasions where one of the lines has failed
unexpectedly. DOE has been informed that, prior to 2000, there were two
occasions when both of the lines failed simultaneously. Moreover, just
days before issuance of the Order, PJM informed DOE on December 16,
2005, that on the previous night, ``one of the two circuits critical to
providing service to the District tripped. Continued [electric] service
to certain load within the District was at that time entirely dependent
on the remaining circuit.'' Fortunately, full service to the line that
failed was restored by the morning of December 16, 2005. Nonetheless,
there can be no assurance that the Central DC area would be so lucky
next time. In addition, the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO)
informed DOE that it needed to perform maintenance on the lines in
January of 2006.
The Order
On December 20, 2005, DOE found that in the circumstances
presented, an emergency existed within the meaning of section 202(c) of
the FPA because of the reasonable possibility an outage would occur
that would cause a blackout, the number and importance of facilities
and operations in our Nation's Capital that would be potentially
affected by such a blackout, the extended number of hours of any
blackout that might in fact occur, and the fact that the current
situation violated applicable reliability standards. PEPCO has applied
to the DCPSC to construct two additional 230 kV lines that would supply
electricity to the Central DC area and in the same application,
proposed building two new 69kV lines to supply the Blue Plains
wastewater treatment plant. Once completed, these lines will likely
provide a high level of electricity reliability in the Central DC area,
even in the absence of production from the Plant. However, it will
likely take 18-24 months to construct the new lines.
Based on this finding, on December 20, 2005, DOE issued an Order
requiring Mirant to, among other things, (1) operate the Plant to
produce the amount of power (up to its full capabilities) needed to
meet demand in the Central DC area during any period in which one or
both of the 230kV lines serving the Central DC area is out of service
as specified by PJM for the duration of the outage, and (2) keep as
many generating units in operation and take all other measures to
reduce the start-up time of units not in operation, for the purpose of
providing electricity reliability, as feasible, as determined by DOE
after consideration of the plan submitted by Mirant pursuant to the
Order and after consultation with EPA, without regard to cost, and
without causing or significantly contributing to any exceedance of the
NAAQS. A blackout in the Central DC area would have drastic impacts on
the environment, as well as for the employees and citizens of the
Central DC area, affecting hundreds of thousands of residents and
workers, as well as public safety and protection facilities, including
hospitals, police, and fire facilities. In addition, DOE has been
informed that within 24 hours of a blackout in the Central DC area,
untreated sewage from the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment plant would
be discharged into the Potomac River.
The time period for DOE's Order extends through October 1, 2006.
Mirant's Compliance Plan
Pursuant to DOE's Order, Mirant submitted a compliance plan
(referred to as the Operating Plan by Mirant) on December 30, 2005. The
plan outlines a proposed temporary phase, and two options for a
proposed intermediate phase, Option A and Option B. All proposals
include the use of ``trona'' (sodium sesquicarbonate, a naturally
occurring substance similar to baking soda) and/or lower sulfur coal to
manage air emissions. On January 4, 2006, DOE authorized Mirant to
``immediately take the necessary steps to implement Option A of the
intermediate phase proposed in the implementation plan,'' stating that
``Mirant represents that implementation of this option will produce no
NAAQS exceedences.'' DOE will work with EPA to verify the accuracy of
that representation. DOE is still in the process of reviewing the other
proposals described in Mirant's compliance plan in consultation with
EPA.
NEPA Compliance Actions
Pursuant to CEQ regulations at 40 CFR 1506.11, DOE consulted with
CEQ on December 20, 2005, December 22, 2005, January 13, 2006, and
January 17, 2006, about formulating a plan for alternative
arrangements. Under the agreed upon alternative arrangements plan,
which will expire October 1, 2006, unless extended, DOE will:
[[Page 3281]]
1. Prepare a Special Environmental Analysis (SEA). The SEA will
examine potential impacts resulting from issuance of the Order, and
describe further DOE decisionmaking regarding reasonable future
alternatives and potential further mitigation actions DOE may take in
this matter. The analysis will present reasonably foreseeable impacts
from possible changes in operations of the Plant over the time until
two additional transmission lines planned by PEPCO are installed. DOE
intends to issue its SEA no later than August 2006 and will make it
available to the public on the DOE NEPA and Mirant matter Web sites as
well as announce its availability in the Federal Register. DOE will
consider information contained in the SEA, and public input received on
the SEA, in any future decisionmaking in this matter.
2. Provide Opportunities for Public Involvement. DOE is currently
accepting public comments on the compliance plan that DOE required
Mirant to submit under the DOE Order. DOE also invites public comments
on this Notice, as well as on issues to be addressed in the SEA. DOE
will consider public input in determining appropriate mitigation
measures and any additional actions DOE may take as DOE adaptively
manages implementation of the Order. DOE will post on the Mirant matter
Web site publicly available information (not exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act) regarding the environmental
effects of ongoing or alternative operations of the Plant (e.g.,
reasonably available ambient air quality data and results of air
quality modeling), that the Department receives from Mirant, EPA, and
DEQ.
3. Continue Agency Consultations. DOE will continue to consult with
EPA and DEQ concerning information on emissions, modeling results,
potential mitigation measures, and any changes to the operation of the
Plant. EPA will act as a ``cooperating agency'' (see 40 CFR 1501.6 and
1508.5) for purposes of providing reasonably available public
information regarding the environmental effects of operations of the
Plant to be disseminated via DOE's Mirant matter Web site and evaluated
in the SEA.
4. Identify Mitigation. DOE will identify in its SEA any steps that
it believes can be taken to mitigate the impacts from its Order. DOE
will continue to track the impacts of its Order and public input and
provide for appropriate mitigation where practicable. DOE will publish
on its Web sites, as noted above, its discussion of which mitigation
measures are adopted for any future decision, and if not, why they are
not adopted.
DOE may modify, in consultation with CEQ, the foregoing alternative
arrangements as conditions warrant and will notify the public in the
Federal Register if it does so.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 18, 2006.
John Spitaleri Shaw,
Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 06-570 Filed 1-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
