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Notice of Reopening Scoping Period and Schedule for Public Scoping Meetings; Public Service Company of New Mexico
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: May 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 97)]
[Notices]
[Page 27638-27640]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18my01-27]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[FE Docket No. PP-197, DOE/EIS-0307]
Notice of Reopening Scoping Period and Schedule for Public
Scoping Meetings; Public Service Company of New Mexico
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: DOE announces that it is reopening the scoping period and will
hold additional public scoping meetings for the environmental impact
statement (DOE/EIS-0307) that is being prepared in connection with an
application for a Presidential permit field by Public Service Company
of New Mexico (PNM). PNM has applied for a Presidential permit to
construct electric transmission lines across the U.S.-Mexico border.
DOE is preparing an EIS, with the U.S. Forest Service as a cooperating
agency, because together they have determined that the issuance of a
DOE Presidential permit and/or issuance of a Forest Service ``Special
Use Permit'' would constitute major Federal actions that may have a
significant impact upon the environment within the meaning of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The purpose of this
notice is to open a new scoping period to obtain comments on the five
alternative corridors proposed to be analyzed in the EIS. These
alternative corridors have been derived from the eight study corridors
that were the subject of previous scoping periods.
DATES: DOE invites interested agencies, organizations, and members of
the public to submit comments or suggestions to assist in identifying
significant environmental issues not previously identified and in
determining the appropriate scope of the EIS. This new scoping period
starts with the publication of this notice in the Federal Register and
will continue until June 22, 2001. Written and oral comments will be
given equal weight and DOE will consider all comments received or
postmarked by June 22, 2001, in defining the scope of the EIS. Comments
received or postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent
possible.
Dates, times and locations for the public scoping meetings are:
1. June 12, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Rio Rico Resort, 1069 Camino
Caralampi, Rio Rico, Arizona.
2. June 13, 2001, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Marana High School, Marana,
Arizona.
Requests to speak at a public scoping meeting(s) should be received
by the NEPA Document Manager, Mrs. Ellen Russell, at the address
indicated below on or before June 7, 2001. Requests to speak may also
be made at the time of the scoping meeting(s). However, persons who
submitted advance requests to speak will be given priority if time
should be limited during the meeting.
ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions on the scope of the EIS and
requests to speak at the scoping meeting(s) should be addressed to:
Mrs. Ellem Russell, NEPA Document Manager, Office of Fossil Energy (FE-
27), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington DC 20585-0350; phone 202-586-9624, facsimile: 202-287-5736,
or by electronic mail at Ellen.Russell@hq.doe.gov. Comments that relate
exclusively to activities on or impacts to lands under the control of
the U.S. Forest Service may also be transmitted directly to Jerry
Conner, Coronado National Forest, 300 W.
[[Page 27639]]
Congress Street, Tucson, Arizona 85701; phone 520-670-4527 or via
electronic mail at jconner@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed
project or to receive a copy of the Draft EIS when it is issued,
contact Mrs. Russell at the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of
this notice.
For general information on the DOE NEPA review process, contact:
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-
42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585-0119; Phone: 202-586-4600 or leave a message at
800-472-2756; Facsimile: 202-586-7031.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Need for Agency Action
Executive Order 10485, as amended by Executive Order 12038,
requires that a Presidential permit be issued by DOE before electric
transmission facilities may be constructed, maintained, operated or
connected at the U.S. international border. The Executive Order
provides that a Presidential permit may be issued after a finding that
the proposed project is consistent with the public interest. In
determining consistency with the public interest, DOE considers the
impacts of the project on the reliability of the U.S. electric power
system and on the environment. The regulations implementing the
Executive Order have been codified at 10 205.320-205.329. Issuance of a
Presidential permit does not mandate that the project be completed; in
fact, prior to construction, the recipient must obtain approval from
all other Federal, state and local authorities with jurisdiction over
the project.
On December 28, 1998, PNM filed an application for a Presidential
permit with the Office of Fossil Energy of DOE. PNM proposed to
construct up to two transmission lines on a single right-of-way
extending approximately 210 to 250 miles from the electric switchyard
near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS), located
approximately 30 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, to the U.S.-Mexico
border. South of the border, PNM would extend the line(s) approximately
60 miles to the Santa Ana Substation, located in the City of Santa Ana,
Sonora, Mexico, and owned by the Commission Federal de Electricdad
(CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico.
In its December 28, 1998, Presidential permit application, PNM
identified three alternative corridors for construction of the two
cross-border transmission lines. These corridors were the subject of
public scoping meetings conducted in Nogales, Tucson, Patagonia, Sells,
Ajo, Gila Bend, and Casa Grande, Arizona, in March 1999. The initial
scoping period extended from February 12 to March 15, 1999 (64 FR 7173,
February 12, 1999), and was later extended to April 14, 1999 (64 FR
13553, March 19, 1999). Later, three additional alternative corridors
were developed and were the subject of public scoping meetings
conducted in Green Valley, Tubac, Sasabe, Three Points (Robles
Junction), and Tucson in June 1999, during a second scoping period that
extended from June 10 to July 14, 1999 (64 FR 31204, June 10, 1999). A
third scoping period was opened on July 20, 2000 (65 FR 45042, July 20,
2000), and, by an August 20, 2000, information letter to the public,
continued until October 2, 2000, to receive public comment on two
additional alternative corridors, one identified as the PNM ``Preferred
Alternative.'' Public scoping meetings on these two additional
alternative corridors were scheduled for Rio Rico and Tucson during
August but were later canceled when DOE became aware from comments by
the public that the quality of maps distributed and posted on the
project web site was not adequate. Also, the public pointed out to DOE
that during the month of August many residents of southern Arizona
vacation outside of the State and either would not be available for the
meeting or would not have received information on the proceeding.
When the third scoping period was opened on July 20, 2000, PNM had
identified a total of eight corridors, modified the path of several
from what had originally been presented to the public by DOE, and
eliminated the proposal to use direct current (DC) technology. Since
the close of the third scoping period, PNM has continued to identify,
eliminate and/or modify its proposed alternative corridors. For
example, initially, for each of its proposal corridors, PNM had assumed
a two-mile-wide study corridor. As its proposal has evolved, PNM has
more narrowly defined each alternative study corridor, reducing the
width of most to approximately one mile. PNM also has continued to
define corridor alternatives and consider multiple options to many
segments of these corridors.
Earlier this year DOE informed PNM that this proceeding and the
number of variations to proposed corridors had become too cumbersome
for DOE to adequately describe and analyze or for the public to
decipher. DOE requested PNM to identify the set of alternatives that
DOE would propose to analyze in the EIS. DOE then mapped PNM's set of
alternatives to provide the public with information to identify
potential impacts to their property and to their community during this
scoping period. In addition, DOE decided that it would not consider
corridors PNM had earlier proposed through the Tohono O'odham Nation in
light of the Nation's sovereignty and in response to its request that
DOE terminate the NEPA and Presidential permit processes as they
pertain to the Nation.
Each of the five corridors that DOE proposed to analyze in the EIS
has been named after distinguishing characteristics in the southern
part of the corridor within the United States: the East Valley
Corridor, the Sasabe Corridor, the Pipeline Corridor, the Cross-Over
Corridor (designated the PNM preferred corridor), and the Tucson
Corridor. The first four of these corridors have an optional routing in
the area near Picacho and Marana. A map and description of each of the
alternatives (and options) is being mailed to stakeholders who have
previously expressed an interest in this proposal. In addition, maps
are available on the project web site maintained for DOE by Battelle
Memorial Institute at http://projects.battelle.org/pnmeis/ or may be
received by mail by leaving a message at 1-888-806-3421. In addition,
from this web site interested persons can download other project-
related information.
The EIS is being prepared to satisfy the environmental review
requirements of any Federal agency having jurisdiction over the
proposed project or any segment of it. The U.S. Forest Service
(Coronado National Forest) has notified DOE that it will participate as
a cooperating agency in the preparation of this EIS; several of the
PNM-proposed corridors cross land under control of the Coronado
National Forest. PNM must obtain a ``Special Use Permit'' from the U.S.
Forest Service before a transmission line can be constructed on these
lands.
Scoping Process
Interested parties are invited to participate in the scoping
process. Public scoping meetings will be held at the locations, dates,
and times indicated above under DATES and ADDRESSES sections. These
scoping meetings will be informal but a transcript will be taken and
made available on the project web site. The DOE presiding officer will
establish only those procedures needed
[[Page 27640]]
to ensure that everyone who wishes to speak has a chance to do so and
that DOE understands all issues and comments. At this time DOE expects
to provide speakers with approximately 5 minutes for their oral
statements. Allotted time may change based on the number of speakers
who register. Persons who have not submitted a request to speak in
advance may register to speak at each scoping meeting, but advance
requests are encouraged. Should any speaker desire to provide for the
record further information that cannot be presented within the
designated time, such additional information may be submitted in
writing by the date listed in the DATES section. Both oral and written
comments will be considered and given equal weight by DOE. Oral and
written comments previously submitted in this proceeding have been
entered in the official record of this proceeding and need not be
resubmitted.
Issued in Washington, DC on May 15, 2001.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/
Ex, Office of Coal & Power System, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 01-12538 Filed 5-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M