Environmental Impact Statement; Integrated Resource Plan, 28322-28325 [E9-13986]

Agencies

• Tennessee Valley Authority

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 113 (Monday, June 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28322-28325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13986]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement; Integrated Resource Plan

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is conducting a 
comprehensive study of its energy, resource and sustainability choices 
called TVA's Environmental and Energy Future. The purpose of this study 
is to evaluate TVA's portfolio of resource options for achieving a 
sustainable future and meeting the future electrical energy and 
resource stewardship needs of the Tennessee Valley. As part of the 
study, TVA will prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement 
(EIS). TVA will use the EIS process to elicit and prioritize the values 
and concerns of stakeholders; identify issues, trends, events, and 
tradeoffs affecting TVA's policies; formulate, evaluate and compare 
alternative portfolios of resource options; provide opportunities for 
public review and comment; and ensure that TVA's evaluation of future 
resource portfolios reflects a full range of stakeholder input. Public 
comment is invited concerning both the scope of the EIS and 
environmental issues that should be addressed as a part of this EIS.

DATES: Comments on the scope of the EIS must be received on or before 
August 14, 2009. Public meetings will be held to obtain comments on the 
scope of the EIS and to provide information about TVA's planning 
processes. The locations and times for these meetings will be announced 
later on the project Web site and in local and regional newspapers.

[[Page 28323]]


ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Charles P. Nicholson, 
Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D, 
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902. Comments also may be submitted on the 
project Web site at https://www.tva.gov/irp, by e-mail at IRP@tva.gov, 
or by fax at 865-632-2345.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randall E. Johnson, IRP Project 
Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street, LP 5U, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401, telephone 423-751-3520, or e-mail 
rejohnson1@tva.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    This notice is provided in accordance with the Council on 
Environmental Quality's Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 to 1503) and 
TVA's procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA).
    TVA is an agency and instrumentality of the United States, 
established by an act of Congress in 1933, to foster the social and 
economic welfare of the people of the Tennessee Valley region and to 
promote the proper use and conservation of the region's natural 
resources. One component of this mission is the generation, 
transmission, and sale of reliable and affordable electric energy. 
Another component of this mission is to manage the natural resources of 
the Valley for the benefit of the region and the nation. This is done 
through management of the Tennessee River system and associated public 
lands to reduce flood damage, maintain navigation, support power 
production and recreational uses, improve water quality and supply, and 
protect shoreline resources. TVA's mission also includes aiding the 
economic development of the Valley in order to benefit the people of 
the region and being a leader in technological innovation.

TVA Power System

    TVA operates the nation's largest public power system, producing 4 
percent of all the electricity in the nation. TVA provides electricity 
to most of Tennessee and parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. It serves about 9 million people in 
this seven-State region through 158 power distributors and 58 directly 
served large industries and Federal facilities. The TVA Act requires 
the TVA power system to be self-supporting and operated on a nonprofit 
basis and directs TVA to sell power at rates as low as are feasible.
    Dependable capacity on the TVA power system is about 37,000 
megawatts. TVA generates most of this with 3 nuclear plants, 11 coal-
fired plants, 9 combustion-turbine plants, 29 hydroelectric dams, a 
pumped-storage facility, a wind farm, a methane-gas cofiring facility, 
and several small solar photovoltaic facilities. A portion of delivered 
power is provided through long-term power purchase agreements. About 60 
percent of TVA's annual generation is from fossil fuels, predominantly 
coal; 30 percent is from nuclear; and the remainder is from hydro and 
other renewable energy resources. TVA transmits electricity from these 
facilities over 15,000 miles of transmission lines. Like other utility 
systems, TVA has power interchange agreements with utilities 
surrounding its region and purchases and sells power on an economy 
basis almost daily.

Energy Power Planning Activities

    In the mid-1990s, TVA developed an integrated resource plan with 
extensive public involvement. This process was completed with 
publication of the Energy Vision 2020 IRP/Final EIS in 1995 and the 
associated Record of Decision in 1996. Based on the extensive 
evaluation, TVA decided to adopt a flexible portfolio of supply- and 
demand-side energy resource options to meet the growing demand for 
electricity in the region and achieve the goals of the TVA Act and 
other congressional directives. This portfolio of energy resource 
options, as amended through subsequent EISs, will be a baseline for 
evaluations conducted as part of this EIS process. As appropriate, TVA 
expects to continue to implement the existing portfolio of resource 
options during this EIS process.

Environmental Stewardship Planning Activities

    The management of the Tennessee Valley reservoirs and the lands 
adjacent to them, and the manner in which TVA complies with 
environmental laws and regulations, have long been integral components 
of TVA's mission. In carrying out its mandate, TVA developed an 
integrated reservoir system that includes 49 dams and reservoirs. TVA 
originally acquired approximately 1.3 million acres of land for these 
projects. The construction and operation of the reservoir system 
inundated approximately 470,000 acres with water. TVA has transferred 
or sold approximately 508,000 acres, the majority of which was 
transferred to other Federal and State agencies for public uses. TVA 
retains a role in the management of much of this land through deed 
restrictions. TVA currently owns approximately 293,000 acres which 
continue to be managed for a variety of purposes including recreation, 
wildlife habitat, and resource protection. TVA recognizes that these 
resources and their management are important for the region's quality 
of life.
    In 2006, the TVA Board of Directors approved the TVA Land Policy 
which states that it is TVA's policy to preserve reservoir lands 
remaining under its control in public ownership except in those rare 
instances where the benefits to the public will be so significant that 
transferring lands from TVA control to private ownership or another 
public entity is justified.
    TVA has addressed environmental stewardship policies and activities 
in two programmatic EISs. In 2004, TVA completed the comprehensive 
Reservoir Operations Study which supported the adoption of robust 
policy for the integrated operation of TVA's reservoir system. In 1998, 
TVA completed the Shoreline Management Initiative Final EIS which 
supported the adoption of a policy for the management of residential 
shoreline development on TVA reservoirs. As appropriate, TVA expects to 
continue to implement these policies and employ associated resource 
tools during this EIS process. These policies will help provide the 
baseline for the IRP EIS, and TVA does not plan to revisit them in this 
EIS. The IRP EIS will focus on stewardship activities mainly occurring 
on TVA's lands across the Valley.

Existing TVA Policies

    In 2007, the TVA Board adopted its current strategic plan which 
sets the following broad objectives: (1) Maintain power reliability, 
provide competitive rates, and build trust with TVA's customers; (2) 
build pride in TVA's performance and reputation; (3) adhere to a set of 
sound financial guiding principles to improve TVA's fiscal performance; 
(4) use TVA's assets to meet market demand and deliver public value; 
and (5) improve performance to be recognized as an industry leader. In 
2008, the TVA Board approved the current environmental policy which 
sets forth broad environmental goals for TVA in the six major 
categories of climate change mitigation, air quality improvement, water 
resource protection and improvement, waste minimization, sustainable 
land use, and natural resource management. The IRP will use these goals 
and objectives as guidance to help formulate alternative resource 
portfolios and determine their value. TVA would appreciate stakeholder 
input on the value of these goals and objectives.

[[Page 28324]]

Proposed Issues To Be Addressed

    Based on both internal and external stakeholder discussions, TVA 
anticipates that the major issues to be addressed in the IRP EIS will 
be the cost and reliability of power, the effects of power production 
on the environment, including climate change, the effects of climate 
change on the Valley, the availability and use of renewable power 
resources, the effectiveness and implementation of demand side 
management options, including energy efficiency, handling waste and 
byproducts of TVA's power operations, selecting and prioritizing 
techniques for the management of ecological and cultural resources, 
meeting the future recreational needs of the Valley, and the 
relationship of the economy to all of these activities. Generic 
resource options will be the primary focus of the EIS.
    Because of the programmatic nature of this study, TVA anticipates 
that the environmental effects which are examined will primarily be 
those at a regional level with some extending to a national or global 
level. This would include such potential environmental effects and 
issues as emissions of greenhouse gases, air quality, water quality and 
quantity, waste generation and disposal, and ecological and cultural 
resources. Socioeconomic impacts within the region that may result from 
alternative energy and stewardship strategies will also be considered. 
The more site-specific effects will not be addressed in detail and 
would be addressed in later tiered assessments of specific implementing 
activities.
    This list of issues is preliminary and is intended to facilitate 
public comment on the scope of this EIS. TVA invites suggestions 
concerning the list of issues which should be addressed. TVA also 
invites specific comments on the questions that will begin to be 
answered by IRP:
    * How should TVA measure its success in the future?
    * Should the current power generation mix (e.g., coal, nuclear 
power, natural gas, hydro, renewables) change? If so, how?
    * Should renewable power be available and added in the Valley at a 
significant scale? If so, how?
    * How should energy efficiency and demand response be considered in 
planning for future energy needs and how can TVA directly affect 
electricity usage by consumers?
    * What stewardship activities should TVA focus on over the next 10-
20 years?
    * And how will all of this affect reliability and the price we pay 
for electricity?

Analytical Approach

    The IRP/EIS will address the demand for power and stewardship in 
the TVA service area, the value of various resource options to the 
public served by TVA, the means of meeting that demand, and the 
potential environmental, economic, and operating effects of those 
means. The IRP/EIS will project future resource demands over at least a 
10-20-year period.
    Generally speaking, TVA will conduct the following steps in the IRP 
process:
    1. Demand forecasting for both power and stewardship resources in 
the Valley.
    2. Resource characterization to define the resource options and 
their physical, cost, and environmental characteristics.
    3. Implementation strategy building by creating alternative 
resource portfolios.
    4. Risk characterization to determine various types of risk for 
different resources.
    5. A multi-attribute tradeoff analysis which will help show 
tradeoffs that may have to be made in the selection of competing 
resource options.
    6. Finally, and most importantly, the study will evaluate how the 
various options help TVA meet its legislated mission and the 
constraints imposed by Congress and the Administration through various 
laws and regulations, both specific to TVA and for our society in 
general.
    These steps would be conducted in an iterative manner to test 
alternative portfolios or strategies with the goal of identifying a 
number of alternative strategies that are robust in the sense that they 
perform reasonably well under a number of scenarios.

Scoping Process

    While most people value reliable, affordable, and environmentally 
friendly electricity along with resource protection and recreation 
opportunities, different people place different weight on these values. 
Some are more concerned about energy prices, some on reliability of 
energy services, while others are more concerned about environmental 
quality. Ultimately, it is TVA's responsibility to balance all of these 
factors as it plans for the future. We believe strongly that if we get 
a diverse group of interested people to participate, our plans for the 
next 10-20 years will best serve the Valley.
    Scoping, which is integral to the process for implementing NEPA, 
provides an early and open process to ensure that (1) issues are 
identified early and properly studied; (2) issues of little 
significance do not consume substantial time and effort; (3) the draft 
EIS is thorough and balanced; and (4) delays caused by an inadequate 
EIS are avoided.
    With the help of the public, TVA will identify the most effective 
energy and resource stewardship portfolio that will meet TVA's mission 
and serve the people of the Valley for the next 10-20 years. To ensure 
that the full range of issues and a comprehensive portfolio of energy 
resources and environmental stewardship activities are addressed, TVA 
invites members of the public as well as Federal, State, and local 
agencies and Indian tribes to comment on the scope of the IRP EIS. As 
part of the EIS process, TVA anticipates asking representatives from 
key stakeholder groups to participate in a public review group which 
will meet several times over the course of the study to learn about the 
issues, discuss tradeoffs association with different resource options, 
and work with TVA on what a model resource portfolio will look like. It 
is important that Valley residents and all of those interested in 
planning the energy and stewardship future of the Tennessee Valley 
region participate in this process. As part of both the scoping and 
draft EIS review processes, TVA intends to seek out the views of and 
meet regularly with members of the public, representatives of various 
stakeholder groups, and the public review group.
    TVA will hold public information meetings about the IRP EIS. The 
dates and locations of the information meetings will be posted on the 
IRP EIS Web site and published in local and regional newspapers.
    Comments on the scope of this EIS should be submitted no later than 
the date given under the DATES section of this notice. Any comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record and will be available for public inspection.
    After consideration of the comments received during this scoping 
period, TVA will develop and distribute a document which will summarize 
public and agency comments that were received and identify the issues 
and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS and identify the schedule 
for completing the EIS process. Following analysis of the issues, TVA 
will prepare a draft EIS for public review and comment. Notice of 
availability of the draft EIS will be published by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register. TVA will 
solicit comments on the draft EIS and hold

[[Page 28325]]

public meetings to address it. TVA expects to release the draft EIS in 
early 2010.

    Dated: June 8, 2009.
Anda A. Ray,
Senior Vice President, Office of Environment and Research.
[FR Doc. E9-13986 Filed 6-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P