Department of Energy November 16, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) has applied for authority to transmit electric energy from the United States to Mexico pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

DOE and BLM of the DOI as co-lead agencies, and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) of the DOI as cooperating Federal Agencies (the Agencies) announce the availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Designation of Energy Corridors in the 11 Western States (Draft PEIS) (DOE/EIS0386) and the dates and locations for the public hearings to receive comments on the Draft PEIS. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the State of Wyoming, and the Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta counties and conservation districts in Wyoming are also cooperating agencies. The Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are consulting agencies. The Agencies prepared the Draft PEIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, the DOE NEPA regulations, 10 CFR part 1021, and 10 CFR part 1022, Compliance with Floodplain and Wetland Environmental Review Requirements, the BLM planning regulations, 43 CFR part 1600, and applicable FS planning regulations. Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Public Law 109-58, directs the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with FERC, States, tribal or local units of governments, as appropriate, affected utility industries, and other interested persons, to designate, under their respective authorities, corridors for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities on Federal land in the 11 contiguous Western States (as defined in section 103(o) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(o)), perform any environmental reviews that may be required to complete the designation of such corridors, and incorporate the designated corridors into relevant agency land use and resource management plans or equivalent plans. The 11 Western States are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.