Highwood Generating Station, 6197-6198 [E7-2090]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 27 / Friday, February 9, 2007 / Notices
Official, USDA, Wenatchee National
Forest, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee,
Washington 98801, 509–644–9200.
Dated: February 5, 2007.
Paul Hart,
Designated Federal Official, Okanogan and
Wenatchee National Forests.
[FR Doc. 07–582 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–11–M
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Highwood Generating Station
Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
Notice of availability of Final
Environmental Impact Statement.
AGENCY:
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
ACTION:
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that
the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an
agency which administers the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Rural
Development Utilities Programs (USDA
Rural Development), is issuing a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the Highwood Generating Station
(HGS). The Final EIS was prepared
pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231
et seq.) in accordance with the Council
on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
regulations for implementing the
procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR
1500—1508) and RUS regulations (7
CFR 1794). This document has been
prepared jointly with the Montana
Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), which has its own statutory
mandates to analyze potential
environmental impacts under the
Montana Environmental Policy Act
(MEPA) (75–1–101 et seq., MCA and
ARM 17.4.601 et seq.) and to issue
permits under the Montana Clean Air
Act, Montana Clean Water Act, and
Montana Solid Waste Management Act.
USDA Rural Development invites
comments on the Final EIS.
The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate
the potential environmental impacts of
and alternatives to the Southern
Montana Electric Transmission &
Generation Cooperative, Inc. (SME)
application to USDA Rural
Development for a loan guarantee to
construct a 250 megawatt (MW) coalfired power plant near Great Falls,
Montana. SME also proposes to
construct and operate four, 1.5-MW
wind turbines at the proposed project
site to generate supplemental electrical
power.
DATES: Written comments on this Final
EIS will be accepted on or before March
12, 2007.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
21:06 Feb 08, 2007
Jkt 211001
To
send comments or for more information,
contact: Richard Fristik, USDA, Rural
Development, Utilities Programs, 1400
Independence Avenue, Mail Stop 1571,
Room 2237, Washington, DC 20250–
1571, telephone (202) 720–5093, fax
(202) 720–0820, or e-mail:
Richard.Fristik@wdc.usda.gov.
A copy of the FEIS has been sent to
affected Federal, state, and local
government agencies and to interested
parties. The document can be obtained
or viewed online at https://
www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/eis.htm.
The files are in a portable document
format (pdf); in order to review or print
the document, users need to obtain a
free copy of Adobe Reader. The
Adobe Reader can be obtained from
https://www.adobe.com/prodindex/
acrobat/readstep.html.
Copies of the Final EIS will be
available for public review during
normal business hours at the following
locations:
ADDRESS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Montana State Library System, Attn:
Roberta Gebhardt, P.O. Box 201800, Helena,
MT 59620–1800, (406) 444–5393.
University of Montana at Missoula, 32
Campus Drive 59801, Mansfield Library,
Missoula, MT 59812, (406) 243–6866.
Missoula Public Library, 301 East Main,
Missoula, MT 59802–4799, (406) 721–2665,
FAX: (406) 728–5900.
Montana State University Libraries, P.O.
Box 173320, Bozeman, MT 59717–3320,
Phone: (406) 994–3119, Fax: (406) 994–2851.
MSU-Northern Library, P.O. Box 7751,
Havre, MT 59501–7751.
Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave.
North, Great Falls MT 59401–2593, (406)
453–0349.
Havre-Hill County Library, 402 3rd St.,
Havre, MT 59501, (406) 265–2123.
Parmly Billings Library, 510 N 28th St. #1,
Billings, MT 59101, (406) 657–3079.
Belt Public Library, 404 Millard Street,
Belt, MT 59411–0467.
Chouteau County Library, 1518 Main, Fort
Benton, MT 59442.
Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box
1247, Big Sandy, MT 59520.
Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box
316, Geraldine, MT 59446.
Stone Child College Library, RR 1 Box
1082, Box Elder, MT 59521.
Wedsworth Memorial Library, 9–1⁄2 Front
St., Cascade, MT 59421–0526.
Fort Belknap College Library and Tribal
Archives, P.O. Box 159, Harlem, MT 59526.
Harlem Public Library, 37 First Ave. SE.,
Harlem, MT 59526.
Choteau-Teton County Library, 17 Main
Ave. North, Choteau, MT 59422.
Copies of the Final EIS may also be
obtained by contacting either Richard
Fristik at 202–720–5093 (e-mail:
Richard.Fristik@wdc.usda.gov) or Kathy
Johnson at 406–444–1760 (e-mail:
katjohnson@mt.gov).
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Frm 00004
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
6197
Presently,
SME meets all of its power requirements
for its cooperative member systems by
purchasing power from two Federal
power suppliers—the Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA) and the Western
Area Power Administration. The major
supplier (BPA) will begin to phase out
its sales of power to SME in 2008 and
terminate them entirely by 2011, thus
the need exists to fulfill future
requirements by other means. More
information on the purpose and need for
the proposal is in Chapter 1 of the FEIS.
On September 24, 2004, USDA Rural
Development published the Notice of
Intent to prepare an EIS for the
Highwood Generating Station in the
Federal Register. The EIS focused on
potential impacts to the following
resources: Soils, topography and
geology; water resources, air quality,
biological resources, the acoustic
environment, recreation, cultural and
historic resources, visual resources,
transportation, farmland and land use,
waste management, human health and
safety, the socioeconomic environment,
environmental justice, and cumulative
effects. In compliance with Section 7(c)
of the Endangered Species Act, a
Biological Assessment was prepared to
evaluate potential effects to threatened
and endangered species in the proposed
project area. On June 29, 2006 USDA
Rural Development published its Notice
of Availability of the Draft EIS for the
proposed project in the Federal
Register. The 60-day comment period
ended on August 30, 2006. Over 1400
comments were received on the Draft
EIS; a comment/response summary is
appended to the Final EIS.
Alternatives evaluated in the FEIS
include: Power purchase agreements;
energy conservation and efficiency;
renewable non-combustible energy
sources (wind energy, solar energy,
hydroelectricity, geothermal energy);
renewable combustible energy sources
(biomass, biogas, municipal solid
waste); non-renewable combustible
energy sources (natural gas combined
cycle, microturbines, pulverized coal,
circulating fluidized bed coal, integrated
gasification combined cycle coal, oil),
and combinations of renewable and
non-renewable sources. Site screening
evaluated 4 main potential locations
statewide, while site selection examined
6 alternative sites in the preferred
location near Great Falls. Several samesite alternatives for project components
were also studied, including using
different railroad spur alignments,
methods of obtaining potable water,
discharging wastewater, and disposing
of ash, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\09FEN1.SGM
09FEN1
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
6198
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 27 / Friday, February 9, 2007 / Notices
Alternatives assessed in detail include
the: (1) No Action Alternative; (2)
Proposed Action (construction/
operation of the HGS at the Salem site
eight miles east of Great Falls, and (3)
Industrial Park Site (construction/
operation of the power plant, but no
wind generation, at an alternate site in
a designated industrial park just north
of Great Falls). The No Action
Alternative avoids most direct adverse
environmental effects, but potentially
entails a number of indirect and
cumulative impacts associated with
other generation sources from which
SME would have to purchase power if
unable to generate its own. In most
respects, with the exception of cultural
and historic resources, impacts from the
Proposed Action (2) and Alternative Site
(3) are similar, though the proximity of
the Alternative Site to greater numbers
of residents intensifies some of these
impacts, such as traffic, noise, and air
quality; nonetheless, these impacts
would not likely be significant.
Potential air quality impacts at both
locations would be reduced to nonsignificant levels through the
application of CFB technology and other
pollution controls. The proposed plant
would comply with Montana’s air
quality standards, including its recent
mercury rule. The agency’s preferred
alternative is Alternative 2.
The FEIS concludes that the Proposed
Action would have significant adverse
impacts on historic and visual
resources, because it is located on and
adjacent to the Great Falls Portage
National Historic Landmark (NHL). In
accordance with Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act,
consultation was initiated with a
number of consulting parties and a
consulting party meeting was held in
Great Falls on October 5 to discuss RUS’
adverse effect finding. The results of
those discussions are integrated in the
FEIS, including a draft Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) that proposes on-site
and off-site mitigation measures to
avoid and minimize these effects.
Potentially significant impacts to traffic
during construction were also identified
with Alternative 2; a mitigation plan
would be developed in cooperation with
the Montana Department of
Transportation to minimize or mitigate
these impacts. Other adverse but nonsignificant impacts of the Proposed
Action include those on soils, water, air,
biological resources, noise,
transportation, farmland and land use,
human health and safety, and
environmental justice. The Proposed
Action would result in moderately
beneficial socioeconomic impacts,
VerDate Aug<31>2005
21:06 Feb 08, 2007
Jkt 211001
including increased employment
opportunities, total purchases of goods
and services, and an increase in the tax
base.
Construction and operation of the
proposed power plant at the Alternative
Industrial Park Site would result in
broadly similar impacts to those of the
Proposed Action, but with some
important distinctions. No wind
turbines are proposed for the Industrial
Park site. Due to space limitations at the
Industrial Park site, ash from coal
combustion would be hauled off-site to
a licensed landfill for disposal. Adverse
but non-significant impacts of the
Alternative Site include those on soils,
water, air, biological resources, noise,
cultural and historic resources, visual
resources, transportation, farmland and
land use, human health and safety, and
environmental justice. Building and
operating the proposed SME power
plant at the Alternative Site would
produce moderately beneficial
socioeconomic impacts, including
increased employment opportunities,
total purchases of goods and services,
and an increase in the tax base.
James R. Newby,
Assistant Administrator— Electric Program,
Rural Development Utilities Program.
[FR Doc. E7–2090 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–15–P
COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
SEVERELY DISABLED
Procurement List; Proposed Addition
Committee for Purchase From
People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
ACTION: Proposed Addition to
Procurement List.
AGENCY:
The Committee is proposing
to add to the Procurement List a service
to be furnished by nonprofit agencies
employing persons who are blind or
have other severe disabilities.
Comments Must Be Received On or
Before: March 11, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase
From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800,
1421 Jefferson Davis Highway,
Arlington, Virginia 22202–3259.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT
COMMENTS CONTACT: Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Telephone: (703) 603–7740, Fax: (703)
603–0655, or e-mail
CMTEFedReg@jwod.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice is published pursuant to 41
U.S.C. 47(a)(2) and 41 CFR 51–2.3. Its
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
purpose is to provide interested persons
an opportunity to submit comments on
the proposed actions.
If the Committee approves the
proposed additions, the entities of the
Federal Government identified in the
notice for each product or service will
be required to procure the services
listed below from nonprofit agencies
employing persons who are blind or
have other severe disabilities.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
I certify that the following action will
not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The major factors considered for this
certification were:
1. If approved, the action will not
result in any additional reporting,
recordkeeping or other compliance
requirements for small entities other
than the small organizations that will
furnish the services to the Government.
2. If approved, the action will result
in authorizing small entities to furnish
the services to the Government.
3. There are no known regulatory
alternatives which would accomplish
the objectives of the Javits-WagnerO’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46–48c) in
connection with the services proposed
for addition to the Procurement List.
Comments on this certification are
invited. Commenter’s should identify
the statement(s) underlying the
certification on which they are
providing additional information.
End of Certification
The following service is proposed for
addition to Procurement List for
production by the nonprofit agencies
listed:
Service
Service Type/Location: Full Food Service, Ft.
Indiantown Gap (USPFO of
PA),Annville, PA.
NPA: Opportunity Center, Inc, Wilmington,
DE.
Contracting Activity: Pennsylvania Army
National Guard Bureau, Annville, PA.
Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Director, Information Management.
[FR Doc. E7–2187 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353–01–P
COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM
PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR
SEVERELY DISABLED
Procurement List; Deletions
Committee for Purchase From
People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\09FEN1.SGM
09FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 27 (Friday, February 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6197-6198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2090]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Highwood Generating Station
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS),
an agency which administers the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural
Development Utilities Programs (USDA Rural Development), is issuing a
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Highwood Generating
Station (HGS). The Final EIS was prepared pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in
accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations
for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500--1508)
and RUS regulations (7 CFR 1794). This document has been prepared
jointly with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ),
which has its own statutory mandates to analyze potential environmental
impacts under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) (75-1-101 et
seq., MCA and ARM 17.4.601 et seq.) and to issue permits under the
Montana Clean Air Act, Montana Clean Water Act, and Montana Solid Waste
Management Act. USDA Rural Development invites comments on the Final
EIS.
The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental
impacts of and alternatives to the Southern Montana Electric
Transmission & Generation Cooperative, Inc. (SME) application to USDA
Rural Development for a loan guarantee to construct a 250 megawatt (MW)
coal-fired power plant near Great Falls, Montana. SME also proposes to
construct and operate four, 1.5-MW wind turbines at the proposed
project site to generate supplemental electrical power.
DATES: Written comments on this Final EIS will be accepted on or before
March 12, 2007.
ADDRESS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: To send comments or for more
information, contact: Richard Fristik, USDA, Rural Development,
Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, Mail Stop 1571, Room
2237, Washington, DC 20250-1571, telephone (202) 720-5093, fax (202)
720-0820, or e-mail: Richard.Fristik@wdc.usda.gov.
A copy of the FEIS has been sent to affected Federal, state, and
local government agencies and to interested parties. The document can
be obtained or viewed online at https://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/
eis.htm. The files are in a portable document format (pdf); in order to
review or print the document, users need to obtain a free copy of
Adobe[reg] Reader[reg]. The Adobe[reg] Reader[reg] can be obtained from
https://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.
Copies of the Final EIS will be available for public review during
normal business hours at the following locations:
Montana State Library System, Attn: Roberta Gebhardt, P.O. Box
201800, Helena, MT 59620-1800, (406) 444-5393.
University of Montana at Missoula, 32 Campus Drive 59801,
Mansfield Library, Missoula, MT 59812, (406) 243-6866.
Missoula Public Library, 301 East Main, Missoula, MT 59802-4799,
(406) 721-2665, FAX: (406) 728-5900.
Montana State University Libraries, P.O. Box 173320, Bozeman, MT
59717-3320, Phone: (406) 994-3119, Fax: (406) 994-2851.
MSU-Northern Library, P.O. Box 7751, Havre, MT 59501-7751.
Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave. North, Great Falls MT
59401-2593, (406) 453-0349.
Havre-Hill County Library, 402 3rd St., Havre, MT 59501, (406)
265-2123.
Parmly Billings Library, 510 N 28th St. 1, Billings, MT
59101, (406) 657-3079.
Belt Public Library, 404 Millard Street, Belt, MT 59411-0467.
Chouteau County Library, 1518 Main, Fort Benton, MT 59442.
Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box 1247, Big Sandy, MT
59520.
Branch of Chouteau County Library, Box 316, Geraldine, MT 59446.
Stone Child College Library, RR 1 Box 1082, Box Elder, MT 59521.
Wedsworth Memorial Library, 9-\1/2\ Front St., Cascade, MT
59421-0526.
Fort Belknap College Library and Tribal Archives, P.O. Box 159,
Harlem, MT 59526.
Harlem Public Library, 37 First Ave. SE., Harlem, MT 59526.
Choteau-Teton County Library, 17 Main Ave. North, Choteau, MT
59422.
Copies of the Final EIS may also be obtained by contacting either
Richard Fristik at 202-720-5093 (e-mail: Richard.Fristik@wdc.usda.gov)
or Kathy Johnson at 406-444-1760 (e-mail: katjohnson@mt.gov).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Presently, SME meets all of its power
requirements for its cooperative member systems by purchasing power
from two Federal power suppliers--the Bonneville Power Administration
(BPA) and the Western Area Power Administration. The major supplier
(BPA) will begin to phase out its sales of power to SME in 2008 and
terminate them entirely by 2011, thus the need exists to fulfill future
requirements by other means. More information on the purpose and need
for the proposal is in Chapter 1 of the FEIS.
On September 24, 2004, USDA Rural Development published the Notice
of Intent to prepare an EIS for the Highwood Generating Station in the
Federal Register. The EIS focused on potential impacts to the following
resources: Soils, topography and geology; water resources, air quality,
biological resources, the acoustic environment, recreation, cultural
and historic resources, visual resources, transportation, farmland and
land use, waste management, human health and safety, the socioeconomic
environment, environmental justice, and cumulative effects. In
compliance with Section 7(c) of the Endangered Species Act, a
Biological Assessment was prepared to evaluate potential effects to
threatened and endangered species in the proposed project area. On June
29, 2006 USDA Rural Development published its Notice of Availability of
the Draft EIS for the proposed project in the Federal Register. The 60-
day comment period ended on August 30, 2006. Over 1400 comments were
received on the Draft EIS; a comment/response summary is appended to
the Final EIS.
Alternatives evaluated in the FEIS include: Power purchase
agreements; energy conservation and efficiency; renewable non-
combustible energy sources (wind energy, solar energy,
hydroelectricity, geothermal energy); renewable combustible energy
sources (biomass, biogas, municipal solid waste); non-renewable
combustible energy sources (natural gas combined cycle, microturbines,
pulverized coal, circulating fluidized bed coal, integrated
gasification combined cycle coal, oil), and combinations of renewable
and non-renewable sources. Site screening evaluated 4 main potential
locations statewide, while site selection examined 6 alternative sites
in the preferred location near Great Falls. Several same-site
alternatives for project components were also studied, including using
different railroad spur alignments, methods of obtaining potable water,
discharging wastewater, and disposing of ash, respectively.
[[Page 6198]]
Alternatives assessed in detail include the: (1) No Action
Alternative; (2) Proposed Action (construction/operation of the HGS at
the Salem site eight miles east of Great Falls, and (3) Industrial Park
Site (construction/operation of the power plant, but no wind
generation, at an alternate site in a designated industrial park just
north of Great Falls). The No Action Alternative avoids most direct
adverse environmental effects, but potentially entails a number of
indirect and cumulative impacts associated with other generation
sources from which SME would have to purchase power if unable to
generate its own. In most respects, with the exception of cultural and
historic resources, impacts from the Proposed Action (2) and
Alternative Site (3) are similar, though the proximity of the
Alternative Site to greater numbers of residents intensifies some of
these impacts, such as traffic, noise, and air quality; nonetheless,
these impacts would not likely be significant. Potential air quality
impacts at both locations would be reduced to non-significant levels
through the application of CFB technology and other pollution controls.
The proposed plant would comply with Montana's air quality standards,
including its recent mercury rule. The agency's preferred alternative
is Alternative 2.
The FEIS concludes that the Proposed Action would have significant
adverse impacts on historic and visual resources, because it is located
on and adjacent to the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark
(NHL). In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, consultation was initiated with a number of
consulting parties and a consulting party meeting was held in Great
Falls on October 5 to discuss RUS' adverse effect finding. The results
of those discussions are integrated in the FEIS, including a draft
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that proposes on-site and off-site
mitigation measures to avoid and minimize these effects. Potentially
significant impacts to traffic during construction were also identified
with Alternative 2; a mitigation plan would be developed in cooperation
with the Montana Department of Transportation to minimize or mitigate
these impacts. Other adverse but non-significant impacts of the
Proposed Action include those on soils, water, air, biological
resources, noise, transportation, farmland and land use, human health
and safety, and environmental justice. The Proposed Action would result
in moderately beneficial socioeconomic impacts, including increased
employment opportunities, total purchases of goods and services, and an
increase in the tax base.
Construction and operation of the proposed power plant at the
Alternative Industrial Park Site would result in broadly similar
impacts to those of the Proposed Action, but with some important
distinctions. No wind turbines are proposed for the Industrial Park
site. Due to space limitations at the Industrial Park site, ash from
coal combustion would be hauled off-site to a licensed landfill for
disposal. Adverse but non-significant impacts of the Alternative Site
include those on soils, water, air, biological resources, noise,
cultural and historic resources, visual resources, transportation,
farmland and land use, human health and safety, and environmental
justice. Building and operating the proposed SME power plant at the
Alternative Site would produce moderately beneficial socioeconomic
impacts, including increased employment opportunities, total purchases
of goods and services, and an increase in the tax base.
James R. Newby,
Assistant Administrator-- Electric Program, Rural Development Utilities
Program.
[FR Doc. E7-2090 Filed 2-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P
