Norborne Baseload Plant: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement, 38559-38560 [E7-13299]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 134 / Friday, July 13, 2007 / Notices the 34,584 acres encumbered by WRP easements in Madison Parish, Louisiana 76.43 acres will be affected; Of the 513 acres encumbered by WRP easements in Red River Parish, Louisiana 4.61 acres will be affected; of the 7,285 acres encumbered by WRP easements in Richland Parish, Louisiana 6.36 acres will be affected; of the 3,716 acres encumbered by WRP easements in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana 1.82 acres will be affected. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dorothy S. Harris, Acting State Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 3737 Government Street, Alexandria, Louisiana 71302; telephone (318) 473–7751. A limited number of copies of the ROD are available to fill single copy requests at the above address. Basic data evaluated for the ROD are on file and may be reviewed by contacting Dorothy S. Harris. Dated: July 5, 2007. Dorothy S. Harris, Acting State Conservationist. [FR Doc. E7–13644 Filed 7–12–07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–16–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service Norborne Baseload Plant: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement. AGENCY: pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES ACTION: SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development, is issuing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Norborne Baseload Plant (Norborne Plant). 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). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a cooperating agency for this Final EIS. 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 Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI) application for Rural Development VerDate Aug<31>2005 19:05 Jul 12, 2007 Jkt 211001 financing to construct the proposed 660 megawatt (MW) net supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) fired power plant in Carroll County, Missouri, near the town of Norborne. AECI also proposes to construct new and modified substations, approximately 134 miles of new 345-kV transmission lines, a utility waste landfill, new rail access from existing mainline railroads, and a water supply system consisting of groundwater wells and associated pipeline. DATE: Written comments on this Final EIS will be accepted on or before August 9, 2007. ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the Final EIS or for further information, contact: Stephanie A. Strength, USDA, Rural Development Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 1570, Room 2244, Washington, DC 20250–1570, telephone (202) 720–0468, fax (202) 720–0820, or e-mail: Stephanie.strength@wdc.usda.gov. A copy of the Final EIS has been sent to affected federal, state, and local government agencies and to interested parties and can be viewed online at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/ eis.htm. Copies of the Final EIS will also be available for public review at the following locations (hours vary; contact individual repositories for available times): Boonslick Regional Library Sedalia Branch, 219 W. 3rd Street, Sedalia, MO 65301, Phone: 660/827–7323. Boonslick Regional Library, 950 E. Main Street, Warsaw, MO 65355, Phone: 660/438–5211. Cameron Public Library, 312 N. Chestnut Street, Cameron, MO 64429, Phone: 816/632–2311. Carnegie Library, 316 Massachusetts Street, St. Joseph, MO 64504, Phone: 816/238–0526. Carrollton Public Library, 1 N. Folger Street, Carrollton, MO 64633, Phone: 660/542–0183. Concordia Library, 709 S. Main Street, Concordia, MO 64020, Phone: 660/ 463–2277. DeKalb County Public Library, 105 N. Polk Street, Maysville, MO 64469, Phone: 816/449–5695. Dulany Memorial Library, 501 S. Broadway, Salisbury, MO 65281, Phone: 660/388–5712. Downtown Library, 927 Felix Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501, Phone: 816/232– 7729. East Hills Library, 502 N. Woodbine Road, Suite A., St. Joseph, MO 64506, Phone: 816/236–2136. Hale Library & Museum, 321 Main Street, Hale, MO 64643, Phone: 660/ 565–2617. PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 38559 Lexington Library, 1008 Main Street, Lexington, MO 64067, Phone: 660/ 259–3071. Little Dixie Regional Library, 111 N. 4th Street, Moberly, MO 65270, Phone: 660/263–4426. Macon Public Library, 210 N. Rutherford Street, Macon, MO 63552, Phone: 660/385–3314. Marshall Public Library, 214 N. Lafayette, Marshall, MO 65340, Phone: 660/886–3391. Maryville Public Library, 509 N. Main Street, Maryville, MO 64468, Phone: 660/582–5281. Mid-Continent Public Library, Excelsior Springs Branch, 1460 Kearney Road, Excelsior Springs, MO 64024–1746, Phone: 816/630–6721. Mid-Continent Public Library, Kearney Branch, 100 S. Platte-Clay Way, Kearney, MO 64060–7640, Phone: 816/628–5055. Mound City Public Library, 205 E. 6th Street, Mound City, MO 64470, Phone: 660/442–5700. Norborne Public Library, 109 E. Second Street, Norborne, MO 64668, Phone: 660–593–3514. Oregon Public Library, 103 S. Washington Street, Oregon, MO 64473, Phone: 660/446–3586. Ray County Library, 215 E. Lexington Street, Richmond, MO 64085, Phone: 816/776–5104. Rolling Hills Consolidated Library: Eastside, 1904 N. Belt Highway, St. Joseph, MO 64506, Phone: 816/232– 5479. Rolling Hills Consolidated Library: Savannah, 514 W. Main Street, Savannah, MO 64485, Phone: 816/ 324–4569. Robertson Memorial Library, 19 W. 20th Street, Higginsville, MO 64037, Phone: 660/584–2880. Sedalia Public Library, 311 W. Third Street, Sedalia, MO 65301, Phone: 660/826–1314. Sweet Springs Public Library, 217 Turner Street, Sweet Springs, MO 65351, Phone: 660/335–4314. Washington Park Library, 1821 N. Third Street, St. Joseph, MO 64505, Phone: 816/232–2052. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: AECI is contractually obligated to provide all the electric power needs of the cooperative member systems it serves and does not have the capacity to cost effectively meet all of its members’ power needs beyond about 2013. More information on the purpose and need for the proposal is in Chapter 1 of the Final EIS. On August 10, 2005, Rural Development published in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent to prepare an E:\FR\FM\13JYN1.SGM 13JYN1 pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES 38560 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 134 / Friday, July 13, 2007 / Notices EIS for the Norborne Plant. 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, land use, waste management, human health and safety, the socioeconomic environment, environmental justice, and cumulative effects. On January 11, 2007, 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 March 12, 2007. Several hundred comments were received on the Draft EIS; a comment/response summary is appended to the Final EIS. Alternatives evaluated in the Final EIS 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, fuel cells, SCPC, circulating fluidized bed coal, integrated gasification combined cycle coal, oil), nuclear power, and adding capacity at an existing facility. Site screening and selection was an iterative process that began with identification of avoidance areas, then identifying eight potential sites that met various criteria including proximity to water supply and rail. Several same-site alternatives for railroad spur and transmission line alignments were evaluated. Alternatives assessed in detail include the: (1) No Action Alternative; (2) Proposed Action (construction/ operation of the Norborne Plant); (3) Big Lake Site (construction/operation of a plant similar to the Norborne Plant but in a different location); and (4) integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) (a technology alternative). 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 AECI would have to purchase power if unable to generate its own. Potential impacts on floodplains, wetlands, public lands, recreation, visual resources, fisheries and wildlife, threatened and endangered species, cultural resources and environmental justice would be expected to be greater with the Big Lake Site than with the Norborne Site. Other impacts would be expected to be similar. Impacts VerDate Aug<31>2005 19:05 Jul 12, 2007 Jkt 211001 associated with the use of IGCC would be expected to be similar to those of the Proposed Action. AECI’s Proposed Action has been identified as Rural Development’s Preferred Alternative. Rural Development has concluded that, with actions that have been incorporated into the Preferred Alternative to reduce or avoid impacts, no impacts of the Preferred Alternative meet the CEQ threshold criteria for significant impacts. Any final action by Rural Development related to the proposed project will be subject to, and contingent upon, compliance with all relevant federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, and completion of the environmental review requirements as prescribed in the USDA Rural Utilities Services’ Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1794). Dated: June 29, 2007. James R. Newby, Assistant Administrator, USDA/Rural Development/Utilities Programs. [FR Doc. E7–13299 Filed 7–12–07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–15–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service KAMO Power: Notice of Intent To Hold Public Scoping Meetings and Prepare an Environmental Assessment Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Notice of Intent to Hold Public Scoping Meetings and Prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA). AGENCY: ACTION: SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an Agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development and/or Agency, intends to hold public scoping meetings and prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) related to possible financial assistance to KAMO Power (KAMO) of Vinita, Oklahoma, for the proposed construction of approximately 100 miles of 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line in Cherokee and Crawford Counties, Kansas; portions of Jasper, Newton, and McDonald Counties, Missouri; and Ottawa, Delaware, Craig, and Mayes Counties, Oklahoma. KAMO is requesting USDA Rural Development to provide financial assistance for the proposal. DATES: Rural Development will hold two scoping meetings in an open house format in order to provide information and solicit comments for the preparation of an EA. The first meeting PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 will be held on July 24, 2007, at Cowboy Junction, 27544 South 4380 Road, Vinita, Oklahoma 74301. The second meeting will be held at the Baxter Springs Community Center, 1101 E Avenue, Baxter Springs, Kansas 66713. Both meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the EA, or for further information, contact: Dennis Rankin, Environmental Protection Specialist, USDA, Rural Development, Utilities Programs, Engineering and Environmental Staff, 1571, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250– 1571, telephone (202) 720–1953, or email: dennis.rankin@wdc.usda.gov. A Macro Corridor Study will be available for public review at USDA Rural Development, Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250–1571; at Rural Development’s Web site https:// www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/ea.htm; and at KAMO’s headquarters office, 500 South KAMO Drive, Vinita, Oklahoma 74301. The document will also be available for review in the public libraries in Langley, Pryor, Miami, and Vinita, Oklahoma, and Pittsburg, Galena, and Baxter Springs, Kansas. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: KAMO proposes to construct a 345 kV transmission line between its new Blackberry Substation in western Jasper County, Missouri and the new Chouteau 345/161 kV Substation and the existing Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA) Coal-Fired Complex in Mayes County, Oklahoma. A single-circuit 161 kV transmission line will also be constructed from the Chouteau Substation to the Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI), Chouteau Gas Plant. The Blackberry Substation will be located 3.5 miles north of Asbury, Missouri. The transmission line will terminate at the GRDA Coal-Fired Complex located east of the City of Chouteau, Oklahoma. The Chouteau Substation will be located approximately two miles east of the AECI’s gas plant. Transmission structures will be steel H-frame for the 345 kV transmission line and wood or steel H-frame for the 161 kV transmission line. The transmission line would require a right-of-way of 150 feet. Government agencies, private organizations, and the public are invited to participate in the planning and analysis of the proposal. Representatives from Rural Development and KAMO will be available at the scoping meeting to discuss Rural Development’s environmental review process, describe the purpose and need of the proposal, E:\FR\FM\13JYN1.SGM 13JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 134 (Friday, July 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38559-38560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13299]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Norborne Baseload Plant: Notice of Availability of Final 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency delivering the 
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development 
Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development, is 
issuing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Norborne 
Baseload Plant (Norborne Plant). 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). The U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers is a cooperating agency for this Final EIS. 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 Associated Electric Cooperative, 
Inc. (AECI) application for Rural Development financing to construct 
the proposed 660 megawatt (MW) net supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) 
fired power plant in Carroll County, Missouri, near the town of 
Norborne. AECI also proposes to construct new and modified substations, 
approximately 134 miles of new 345-kV transmission lines, a utility 
waste landfill, new rail access from existing mainline railroads, and a 
water supply system consisting of groundwater wells and associated 
pipeline.

DATE: Written comments on this Final EIS will be accepted on or before 
August 9, 2007.

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the Final EIS or for further 
information, contact: Stephanie A. Strength, USDA, Rural Development 
Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 1570, Room 
2244, Washington, DC 20250-1570, telephone (202) 720-0468, fax (202) 
720-0820, or e-mail: Stephanie.strength@wdc.usda.gov.
    A copy of the Final EIS has been sent to affected federal, state, 
and local government agencies and to interested parties and can be 
viewed online at: https://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/eis.htm.
    Copies of the Final EIS will also be available for public review at 
the following locations (hours vary; contact individual repositories 
for available times):

Boonslick Regional Library Sedalia Branch, 219 W. 3rd Street, Sedalia, 
MO 65301, Phone: 660/827-7323.
Boonslick Regional Library, 950 E. Main Street, Warsaw, MO 65355, 
Phone: 660/438-5211.
Cameron Public Library, 312 N. Chestnut Street, Cameron, MO 64429, 
Phone: 816/632-2311.
Carnegie Library, 316 Massachusetts Street, St. Joseph, MO 64504, 
Phone: 816/238-0526.
Carrollton Public Library, 1 N. Folger Street, Carrollton, MO 64633, 
Phone: 660/542-0183.
Concordia Library, 709 S. Main Street, Concordia, MO 64020, Phone: 660/
463-2277.
DeKalb County Public Library, 105 N. Polk Street, Maysville, MO 64469, 
Phone: 816/449-5695.
Dulany Memorial Library, 501 S. Broadway, Salisbury, MO 65281, Phone: 
660/388-5712.
Downtown Library, 927 Felix Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501, Phone: 816/
232-7729.
East Hills Library, 502 N. Woodbine Road, Suite A., St. Joseph, MO 
64506, Phone: 816/236-2136.
Hale Library & Museum, 321 Main Street, Hale, MO 64643, Phone: 660/565-
2617.
Lexington Library, 1008 Main Street, Lexington, MO 64067, Phone: 660/
259-3071.
Little Dixie Regional Library, 111 N. 4th Street, Moberly, MO 65270, 
Phone: 660/263-4426.
Macon Public Library, 210 N. Rutherford Street, Macon, MO 63552, Phone: 
660/385-3314.
Marshall Public Library, 214 N. Lafayette, Marshall, MO 65340, Phone: 
660/886-3391.
Maryville Public Library, 509 N. Main Street, Maryville, MO 64468, 
Phone: 660/582-5281.
Mid-Continent Public Library, Excelsior Springs Branch, 1460 Kearney 
Road, Excelsior Springs, MO 64024-1746, Phone: 816/630-6721.
Mid-Continent Public Library, Kearney Branch, 100 S. Platte-Clay Way, 
Kearney, MO 64060-7640, Phone: 816/628-5055.
Mound City Public Library, 205 E. 6th Street, Mound City, MO 64470, 
Phone: 660/442-5700.
Norborne Public Library, 109 E. Second Street, Norborne, MO 64668, 
Phone: 660-593-3514.
Oregon Public Library, 103 S. Washington Street, Oregon, MO 64473, 
Phone: 660/446-3586.
Ray County Library, 215 E. Lexington Street, Richmond, MO 64085, Phone: 
816/776-5104.
Rolling Hills Consolidated Library: Eastside, 1904 N. Belt Highway, St. 
Joseph, MO 64506, Phone: 816/232-5479.
Rolling Hills Consolidated Library: Savannah, 514 W. Main Street, 
Savannah, MO 64485, Phone: 816/324-4569.
Robertson Memorial Library, 19 W. 20th Street, Higginsville, MO 64037, 
Phone: 660/584-2880.
Sedalia Public Library, 311 W. Third Street, Sedalia, MO 65301, Phone: 
660/826-1314.
Sweet Springs Public Library, 217 Turner Street, Sweet Springs, MO 
65351, Phone: 660/335-4314.
Washington Park Library, 1821 N. Third Street, St. Joseph, MO 64505, 
Phone: 816/232-2052.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: AECI is contractually obligated to provide 
all the electric power needs of the cooperative member systems it 
serves and does not have the capacity to cost effectively meet all of 
its members' power needs beyond about 2013. More information on the 
purpose and need for the proposal is in Chapter 1 of the Final EIS.
    On August 10, 2005, Rural Development published in the Federal 
Register a Notice of Intent to prepare an

[[Page 38560]]

EIS for the Norborne Plant. 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, land use, waste management, human health and 
safety, the socioeconomic environment, environmental justice, and 
cumulative effects. On January 11, 2007, 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 March 12, 
2007. Several hundred comments were received on the Draft EIS; a 
comment/response summary is appended to the Final EIS.
    Alternatives evaluated in the Final EIS 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, 
fuel cells, SCPC, circulating fluidized bed coal, integrated 
gasification combined cycle coal, oil), nuclear power, and adding 
capacity at an existing facility. Site screening and selection was an 
iterative process that began with identification of avoidance areas, 
then identifying eight potential sites that met various criteria 
including proximity to water supply and rail. Several same-site 
alternatives for railroad spur and transmission line alignments were 
evaluated.
    Alternatives assessed in detail include the: (1) No Action 
Alternative; (2) Proposed Action (construction/operation of the 
Norborne Plant); (3) Big Lake Site (construction/operation of a plant 
similar to the Norborne Plant but in a different location); and (4) 
integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) (a technology 
alternative). 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 
AECI would have to purchase power if unable to generate its own. 
Potential impacts on floodplains, wetlands, public lands, recreation, 
visual resources, fisheries and wildlife, threatened and endangered 
species, cultural resources and environmental justice would be expected 
to be greater with the Big Lake Site than with the Norborne Site. Other 
impacts would be expected to be similar. Impacts associated with the 
use of IGCC would be expected to be similar to those of the Proposed 
Action. AECI's Proposed Action has been identified as Rural 
Development's Preferred Alternative.
    Rural Development has concluded that, with actions that have been 
incorporated into the Preferred Alternative to reduce or avoid impacts, 
no impacts of the Preferred Alternative meet the CEQ threshold criteria 
for significant impacts. Any final action by Rural Development related 
to the proposed project will be subject to, and contingent upon, 
compliance with all relevant federal, state and local environmental 
laws and regulations, and completion of the environmental review 
requirements as prescribed in the USDA Rural Utilities Services' 
Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1794).

    Dated: June 29, 2007.
James R. Newby,
Assistant Administrator, USDA/Rural Development/Utilities Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-13299 Filed 7-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P
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