Department of Energy November 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

DOE announces its decision to issue a Presidential permit to Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. to construct, operate, maintain, and connect a new single-circuit 230,000-volt (230-kV) electric transmission line across the U.S.-Canada border near Cut Bank, Montana, along the preferred alternative identified in the EIS, with the environmental mitigation measures and electric reliability conditions noted below. The environmental impacts that would be associated with the line were analyzed in the Environmental Impact Statement for the Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) 230-kV Transmission Line (DOE/EIS-0399, MATL EIS). The transmission line, known as the MATL Project, would originate at an existing NorthWestern Energy (NWE) 230-kV Switchyard at Great Falls, Montana, and extend north to a new substation to be constructed northeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Approximately 130 miles of the 203-mile long transmission line would be constructed in the United States. In reaching this decision, DOE considered the low environmental impacts in the United States from constructing, operating, maintaining, and connecting the proposed international transmission line, the absence of adverse impacts to the reliability of the U.S. electric power supply system, the absence of major issues of concern to the public, and the favorable recommendations of the Departments of State and Defense. DOE has prepared this ROD in accordance with the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021).