Moore County Solar Environmental Impact Statement, 8330-8332 [2023-02679]

Agencies

• Tennessee Valley Authority

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8330-8332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02679]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Moore County Solar Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Record of decision.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has decided to adopt the 
preferred alternative identified in its final environmental impact 
statement (Final EIS) for the Moore County Solar Project. The Final EIS 
was made available to the public on December 9, 2022. A Notice of 
Availability (NOA) of the Final EIS was published in the Federal 
Register on December 16, 2022. TVA's preferred alternative, analyzed in 
the Final EIS as the Proposed Action Alternative, consists of TVA 
executing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SR Tullahoma, LLC (SR 
Tullahoma), a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Ranch Corporation 
(SRC), to purchase power generated by the proposed 200-megawatt (MW) 
alternating current (AC) solar photovoltaic (PV) facility, which would 
occupy approximately 1,873 acres of a 3,463-acre Project Site, two 
miles west of the city of Tullahoma, within the metropolitan limits of 
Lynchburg in Moore County, Tennessee. The Project would connect to 
TVA's existing adjacent Franklin-Wartrace No. 2 161-kilovolt (kV) 
transmission line (TL) that extends north-south through the Project 
Site. To interconnect to TVA's existing electrical grid, SR Tullahoma 
and TVA would build an on-site 161-kV substation and switchyard, 
respectively, and TVA would replace the existing overhead ground wire 
with new fiber-optic overhead ground wire along an approximately 9.8-
mile portion of the TL. This alternative would achieve the purpose and 
need of the Project to meet the demand for increased renewable energy 
generation established in TVA's 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

ADDRESSES: To access and review the Final EIS, this Record of Decision 
(ROD), and other project documents, go to TVA's website at https://www.tva.gov/nepa.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Pilakowski, NEPA Project 
Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B 
Knoxville, TN 37902; telephone 865-632-2256; or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is provided in accordance with 
the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations (40 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) 1500 through 1508) and TVA's procedures (18 CFR 1318) 
for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). TVA is a 
corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for 
business customers and local power distributors serving 10 million 
people in the Tennessee Valley--an 80,000-square-mile region comprised 
of Tennessee and parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
Mississippi, and Kentucky. TVA receives no taxpayer funding and derives 
virtually all revenues from the sale of electricity. In addition to 
operating and investing revenues in its power system, TVA provides 
flood control, navigation, and land management for the Tennessee Valley 
watershed and provides economic development and job creation assistance 
within the Service area.
    In June 2019, TVA completed its 2019 IRP and associated EIS. The 
2019 IRP, which updated the 2015 IRP, identified the various resources 
that TVA intends to use to meet the energy needs of the TVA region over 
a 20-year planning period, while achieving TVA's objectives to deliver 
reliable, low-cost, and cleaner energy with fewer environmental 
impacts. The 2019 IRP recommends the expansion of solar generating 
capacity of up to 14,000 MW by 2038.
    TVA has prepared an EIS pursuant to NEPA to assess the 
environmental impacts of the Proposed Action to execute a PPA with SR 
Tullahoma to purchase power generated by the proposed 200-MW AC solar 
PV facility, which would occupy an approximately 1,873-acre portion of 
the Project Site, include the construction of an on-site 161-kV 
substation and switchyard, and include the interconnection of the solar 
PV facility to the existing adjacent Franklin-Wartrace No. 2 161-kV TL 
and associated network upgrades.

Alternatives Considered

    TVA considered a no action and one action alternative in the Draft 
EIS and Final EIS.
    No Action Alternative. Under the No Action Alternative, TVA would 
not implement the PPA with SR Tullahoma to purchase the power generated 
by Moore County Solar, and SR Tullahoma would not develop a solar PV 
facility at this location. TVA would pursue other actions to meet its 
renewable energy goals established in the 2019 IRP.
    Proposed Action Alternative. Under the Proposed Action Alternative, 
TVA would execute the PPA with SR Tullahoma to purchase power generated 
by the proposed 200-MW AC solar PV facility known as Moore County 
Solar, which would occupy approximately 1,873 acres of a 3,463-acre 
Project Site, two miles west of the city of Tullahoma, within the 
metropolitan limits of Lynchburg in Moore County, Tennessee. The 
Project would connect to TVA's existing adjacent Franklin-Wartrace No. 
2 161-kV TL that extends north-south through the Project Site. To 
interconnect to TVA's existing electrical grid, SR Tullahoma and TVA 
would build an on-site 161-kV substation and switchyard, respectively, 
and TVA would replace the existing overhead ground wire with new fiber-
optic overhead ground wire along an approximately 9.8-mile portion of 
the TL extending eastward from the Project Site. Under the PPA, SR 
Tullahoma would construct, operate, and maintain Moore County Solar for 
a 20-year period. At the end of the 20-year PPA, SR Tullahoma would 
assess whether to cease operations at the solar facility or to replace 
equipment, if needed, and attempt to enter into a new PPA with TVA or 
make some other arrangement to sell the power.
    Purpose and Need. The purpose and need of the Proposed Action is to 
meet the demand for increased renewable energy generation and partially 
fulfill the renewable energy goals established in the 2019 IRP. TVA's 
preferred alternative for fulfilling its purpose and need is the 
Proposed Action Alternative, which would generate renewable energy for 
TVA and its customers with only minor to moderate environmental impacts 
due to the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) and 
minimization and mitigation efforts. Implementation of the Project 
would help meet TVA's renewable energy goals and would help TVA meet 
customer-driven energy demands on the TVA system.

Environmentally Preferred Alternative

    The No Action Alternative would result in the lowest level of 
environmental impacts as the impacts associated with construction and 
operation of the solar facility would not occur. However, the No Action 
Alternative does not meet the purpose and need for the project. 
Overall, environmental consequences associated with the Proposed Action 
Alternative would be minor to moderate with the implementation of BMPs 
and

[[Page 8331]]

minimization and mitigation efforts. During construction, minor, 
temporary increases to noise, traffic, and health and safety risks, as 
well as minor, temporary effects to air quality, greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions, visual aesthetics, and utilities would occur. Construction 
and operations would have minor, localized effects on soil erosion and 
sedimentation and minor, beneficial, and indirect effects to surface 
waters and wetlands, floodplains, and aquatic life. Adverse impacts 
would be minimized or mitigated by implementation of BMPs and specific 
measures designed to mitigate effects, such as clearing select areas of 
vegetation by hand to reduce disturbance to West Fork Rock Creek, North 
Fork Blue Creek, and Spring Creek. SR Tullahoma will also avoid siting 
Project components and the management of SRC's regenerative energy 
program in identified sensitive plant and animal resource areas (except 
for buried or overhead electrical lines within 50 feet of Raysville and 
Cumberland Springs roads) in accordance with an Avoidance Agreement 
between TVA and SR Tullahoma. Following construction, the Project Site 
would be revegetated and maintained as a meadow with a mix of perennial 
and annual grasses and forbs to attract pollinators and serve as fodder 
for grazing sheep in the fenced areas of the Project. Beneficial 
effects on socioeconomics would also occur with construction and 
operation of the Project.
    Construction of the Project would result in minor impacts to U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)-jurisdictional ephemeral streams and 
wetlands, non-USACE-jurisdictional ditches and open waters, and 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)-regulated 
wetlands for road crossings, solar panel arrays and solar panel blocks. 
These impacts would be permitted by Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404/
401 permits through USACE and TDEC, as applicable to the jurisdiction 
of these waters. In accordance with TVA requirements, 50-foot buffers 
surrounding wetlands and non-impaired perennial and intermittent 
streams and 60-foot buffers surrounding impaired perennial and 
intermittent streams on the Project Site would be maintained as 
avoidance measures.
    The Project land use would change from primarily forest management, 
including timbering operations, and some agricultural activities to 
industrial uses. Regenerative agricultural practices planned in 
association with the Project (i.e., sheep operations) would allow for 
some agricultural uses to continue to occur on site. These would 
partially offset the primary change of land use to industrial uses.
    Approximately 850 acres of forest that potentially provide high- to 
low-quality summer roosting habitat for endangered and threatened bats 
would be cleared during winter months as much as feasible, when bats 
are not likely to be present on the Project Site. The TL upgrade work 
would be carried out in a manner to avoid impacts to endangered 
species. TVA has consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS) under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, and USFWS 
concurred with TVA's determination that the Project may affect but is 
not likely to adversely affect the federally listed gray bat, Indiana 
bat, and northern long-eared bat. Impacts to the two state listed 
reptile species, eastern slender glass lizard and northern pine snake, 
and the two bird species, Bachman's sparrow and common barn owl, would 
be localized and minor. The Project would have no effect on the other 
federally listed species that were identified as having the potential 
to occur on or near the Project Site.
    The Project would not adversely affect the National Register of 
Historic Places-eligible Motlow House, located adjacent to the Project 
Site due to forested screening and its distance of 0.2 to 0.5 miles 
from the Project. The Project would avoid the Old Jabel Ray Homeplace 
Cemetery by a minimum 250-foot avoidance buffer and, thus, not visually 
affect the cemetery. TVA consulted with the Tennessee Historical 
Commission and federally recognized Indian tribes under section 106 of 
the National Historic Preservation Act regarding these findings and 
avoidance measures.

Public Involvement

    On May 3, 2021, TVA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the 
Federal Register (86 FR 23484) announcing plans to prepare either an 
EIS or an environmental assessment (EA) to assess the potential 
environmental effects associated with constructing, operating, 
maintaining, and decommissioning the Moore County Solar PV facility in 
Moore County, Tennessee. The NOI initiated a 30-day public scoping 
period that concluded on June 4, 2021. The NOI solicited public input 
on the scope of the EIS and the environmental issues that should be 
considered in the EIS. During the public scoping period, TVA received 
comments from the U.S. Geological Survey; U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (USEPA); Tennessee Natural Heritage Program, part of TDEC; 
Southeastern Grasslands Initiative; and two private individuals. 
Comments were related to purpose and need, agency coordination, 
alternatives, mitigation measures, land use, water resources, 
biological resources, air quality and GHG emissions, socioeconomics, 
and environmental justice. Based on the comments received, as well as 
the results of field surveys and other considerations, TVA decided that 
the appropriate level of review for the Project was an EIS.
    TVA released the Draft EIS for public review in April 2022. The NOA 
for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 22, 
2022 (87 FR 24158) initiating a 45-day public comment period, which 
ended on June 6, 2022. To solicit public input, the availability of the 
Draft EIS was announced in regional and local newspapers serving the 
project area and on TVA's social media accounts. A news release was 
issued to the media and posted on TVA's website. The Draft EIS was 
posted on TVA's website, and hard copies were made available by 
request. During the public comment period, on May 23, 2022, TVA held a 
live virtual public meeting to describe the Project and address 
questions in a live question-and-answer session. A recording of the 
session was made available following the meeting for public viewing. 
TVA accepted comments submitted through mail, email, a comment form on 
TVA's public website, and during the virtual public meeting. TVA 
received a total of 32 comments from 16 comment submittals. Comments 
were received from Arnold Air Force Base, Southeastern Grasslands 
Initiative, TDEC, USEPA, and 14 individuals (with some combining 
comment submittals) on the Draft EIS. TVA carefully reviewed the 
comments received and, where appropriate, revised text in the Final 
EIS. The NOA for the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on 
December 16, 2022 (87 FR 77106).

Decision

    TVA certifies, in accordance with 40 CFR 1505.2(b), that the agency 
has considered all of the alternatives, information, analyses, material 
in the record determined to be relevant, and submitted by State, 
Tribal, and local governments and public commenters for consideration 
in developing the Final EIS. TVA has decided to implement the preferred 
alternative of the EIS, which would result in the construction, 
operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of the proposed 
solar PV facility, as well as the construction, operation, and 
maintenance of a

[[Page 8332]]

substation and associated facilities to interconnect the solar PV 
facility to TVA's existing electrical transmission network. This 
alternative would achieve the purpose and need of the Project.

Mitigation Measures

    SR Tullahoma and TVA would employ standard practices and routine 
measures and other project-specific measures to avoid, minimize, and 
mitigate adverse impacts from implementation of the Proposed Action 
Alternative. SR Tullahoma and TVA would also implement minimization and 
mitigation measures based on BMPs, permit requirements, and adherence 
to erosion and sediment control plans. Non-routine mitigation measures 
associated with land use and soils, biological, visual and public 
health, safety and transportation are included below:

 Land Use and Soils

    [cir] Utilize SRC's regenerative energy program, including 
perennial and annual, non-invasive pollinator-attractive plantings, 
biological vegetation management (e.g., grazing sheep), and other 
measures that improve the land within the Project Site;

 Biological Resources

    [cir] Avoid siting Project components and managing SRC's 
regenerative energy program in identified sensitive plant and animal 
resource areas (except for buried or overhead electrical lines within 
50 feet of Raysville and Cumberland Springs roads) in accordance with 
an Avoidance Agreement between TVA and SR Tullahoma (Appendix A of the 
Final EIS), and
    [cir] Install signage and/or temporary construction fencing around 
avoidance areas and identify avoidance areas on site plans and 
constraints maps;

 Visual Resources

    [cir] Install and maintain 60-foot-wide vegetative buffer along the 
Project fence perimeter where the facility would otherwise be visible 
from public rights-of-way and residences in accordance with A 
Resolution to Amend the Text of the Metropolitan Lynchburg and Moore 
County Zoning Ordinance Establishing Regulations for Solar Energy 
Systems as Permitted Use in the A-1-Agriculture-Forestry District and 
Establishing Regulations Governing the Development of Solar Energy 
Systems, as approved or amended by the Board of Zoning Appeals prior to 
construction start; and

 Public Health and Safety and Transportation

    [cir] In accordance with Federal Aviation Administration 
recommendations, file Form 7460-2, Notice of Actual Construction or 
Alteration, any time the Project is abandoned or within five days after 
the construction reaches its greatest height.

    Dated: January 19, 2023.
Christopher W. Hansen,
Vice President, Origination and Renewables, Tennessee Valley Authority.
[FR Doc. 2023-02679 Filed 2-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P