Department of Energy December 21, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Plains & Eastern Clean Line Transmission Project (DOE/EIS-0486; Plains & Eastern EIS or EIS) to assess the potential environmental impacts of participating with Clean Line Energy Partners LLC (Clean Line) in the proposed Plains & Eastern Project (the proposed project). The proposed project would include an overhead 600 kilovolt (kV) high voltage direct current (HVDC) electric transmission system and associated facilities with the capacity to deliver approximately 3,500 megawatts (MW) primarily from renewable energy generation facilities in the Oklahoma Panhandle region to load-serving entities in the Mid-South and Southeast via an interconnection with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The proposed project would traverse Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee, a distance of approximately 700 miles between interconnection facilities in Texas County, Oklahoma, and Shelby County, Tennessee. The proposed project would require construction of a new alternating current (AC)/direct current (DC) converter station at each end of the transmission line. Portions of the proposed project may affect floodplains and/or wetlands. This NOI, therefore, also serves as a notice of proposed floodplain or wetland action in accordance with DOE floodplain and wetland environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022). The Plains & Eastern EIS will include a floodplain and wetland assessment. DOE plans to coordinate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and the Section 106 compliance process under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). DOE also intends to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), as appropriate, pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Nevada. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.