Western Area Power Administration April 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), acting as joint lead agencies, issued the proposed TransWest Express Transmission Project (Project) Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS-0450) on May 1, 2015. The Agency Preferred Alternative developed by WAPA and the BLM through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and described in the Final EIS is summarized in this Record of Decision (ROD). Because the BLM and WAPA were joint lead agencies in the preparation of the EIS, each agency will issue its own ROD(s) addressing the overall Project and the specific matters within its jurisdiction and authority. This ROD constitutes WAPA's decision with respect to the alternatives considered in the Final EIS. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation Commission (URMCC) are cooperating agencies in the proposed Project based on their potential Federal action to issue use permits across lands under their respective management. These agencies also will issue their own decisions regarding their specific agency actions. Additional cooperating agencies include Federal, state, tribal, and local agencies. WAPA has selected the Agency Preferred Alternative identified in the Final EIS as the route for the Project. This decision on the route will enable design and engineering activities to proceed and help inform WAPA's Federal action(s) to consider any received or anticipated loan application permitted under its borrowing authority and/or exercise its options for participation in the Project. These considerations are contingent on the successful development of participation agreements as well as any and all documentation and commitments needed to satisfy financial underwriting standards.