Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Public Hearings for the Proposed York County Energy Partners Cogeneration Project at North Codorus Township, PA

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement

and Public Hearings for the Proposed York County Energy Partners

Cogeneration Project at North Codorus Township, PA

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(Draft Statement), Notice of Public Hearings on the Draft Statement,

and Floodplains/Wetlands Notification.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (Department) announces the

availability of the York County Energy Partners Cogeneration Project's

Draft Statement (EIS-0221) prepared to assess the environmental and

human health effects of the design, construction, and operation of a

proposed 250 (gross) megawatt electric (MWe) atmospheric circulating

fluidized bed cogeneration facility, to be located in North Codorus

Township, York County, Pennsylvania. As one of the proposals selected

under Round I of the Clean Coal Technology Program, the Cogeneration

Project would demonstrate the applicability of atmospheric circulating

fluidized bed combustion and cogeneration technology at a utility

scale. This technology, when compared to conventional coal burning

technologies, would result in a cost effective reduction in emissions

of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, and particles from a nominal 250-MWe

(227 MWe net) coal-fired power plant. The proposed action is the cost-

shared Federal funding of the project by the Department of

approximately $75 million (about 20 percent of the total cost of

approximately $350 million). The industrial partner for this proposed

project is York County Energy Partners, L.P., a project company of Air

Products and Chemicals, Inc. The proposed project would be a

cogeneration facility, supplying steam to be purchased by P.H.

Glatfelter Company, and electricity that would be purchased by

Metropolitan Edison Company. As a result of the purchase of steam, P.H.

Glatfelter Company's No. 4 power boiler would be placed on hot-standby

status and operated up to 720 hours per year in parallel with the

proposed project. This would result in a net reduction in emissions of

sulfur dioxide and particles within York County, Pennsylvania. In

addition, emission reduction credits for oxides of nitrogen emissions

would be transferred, in part, from the No. 4 power boiler to the

proposed project in order to generate the 1.15 to 1 offsets required by

law.

The Draft Statement assesses the environmental impacts of the

atmospheric circulating fluidized bed combustion and cogeneration

technology at a large utility scale and setting. The technologies to be

demonstrated include a Foster Wheeler 2,500 MMBtu/hr single-train

atmospheric circulating fluidized bed boiler, incorporating selective

non-catalytic reduction for reducing emissions of oxides of nitrogen,

limestone injection for reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, and fine

particle filters for reducing particulate emissions.

DATES: The Department invites comments on the Draft Statement from all

interested parties. Written comments or suggestions regarding the

adequacy, accuracy, and completeness of the Draft Statement will be

considered in preparing the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final

Statement) and should be received by January 10, 1995. Written comments

received after that date will be considered to the degree practicable.

The Department will also hold public hearings on three consecutive

dates at which agencies, organizations, and the general public are

invited to present oral and/or written comments or suggestions on the

Draft Statement. Locations, dates, and times for the public hearings

are provided in the section of this notice entitled ``PUBLIC

HEARINGS.'' Written and oral comments will be given equal weight and

will be considered in preparing the Final Statement. Requests for

copies of the Draft Statement and/or Final Statement or questions

concerning the project should be sent to Dr. Suellen A. Van Ooteghem at

the address noted below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Draft Statement should be received

by January 10, 1995, for incorporation into the public hearing record.

Oral and written comments will be accepted at the public hearings.

Written comments, requests to speak at the hearings, or questions

concerning the York County Energy Partners Cogeneration Project, should

be directed to: Dr. Suellen A. Van Ooteghem, Environmental Project

Manager, Morgantown Energy Technology Center, 3610 Collins Ferry Road,

Morgantown, WV 26507-0880 Telephone: (304) 285-5443.

If you request to speak, please indicate at which hearing(s).

Envelopes should be labeled ``York County Energy Partners Draft EIS.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the

Department's Environmental Impact Statement process and other matters

related to the National Environmental Policy Act, please contact: Ms.

Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Oversight (EH-25), U.S.

Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC

20585. Telephone: (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Need for the Proposed Action

The Department proposes to provide cost-shared funding support for

the design, construction, and operation of a 250-MWe (gross) coal-fired

atmospheric circulating fluidized bed cogeneration power plant at North

Codorus Township, Pennsylvania, to demonstrate the cost effective

reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and

particulate matter. The proposed project was selected by the Department

for negotiation of a Cooperative Agreement for Federal assistance under

the Clean Coal Technology Program. Following a 24-month demonstration

period anticipated to conclude in December, 1999, the facility would

enter into commercial operation for a period of approximately 23 years.

The proposed project would be located in North Codorus Township in York

County, Pennsylvania, approximately 6 miles southwest of York,

Pennsylvania. The proposed project would be built on property currently

owned by P.H. Glatfelter Company, which would purchase approximately

400,000 lbs/hr of steam for industrial use from the proposed

cogeneration project.

In December 1985, Congress allocated funds to the Department for

conducting the first round of the cost-shared Clean Coal Technology

Program. On February 17, 1986, the Department issued a Program

Opportunity Notice soliciting proposals to conduct cost-shared projects

to demonstrate innovative, energy efficient, economically competitive

coal-based technologies that had potential for commercialization in the

1990s. In response to the solicitation, 51 proposals were received.

From these proposals, nine projects were selected by the Department in

July of 1986 for negotiation, and a list of alternate candidates was

established in the event that one or more of the initial nine projects

did not proceed. In June of 1989, the Arvah B. Hopkins Circulating

Fluidized Bed Repowering Project, proposed by the City of Tallahassee,

Florida, was selected from the alternate list. As originally

envisioned, this project would have repowered one of the City of

Tallahassee's municipally-owned natural gas boilers with atmospheric

circulating fluidized bed combustion technology.

In early September 1991, the City of Tallahassee indicated that it

no longer wished to proceed with the proposed project. The City

indicated its willingness to cooperate with the effort to relocate the

project, and other potential hosts for the project were then

considered. Subsequently, the Department agreed to reassign the project

to York County Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Air Products and

Chemicals, Inc., of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The new sponsors proposed

to relocate the project from Tallahassee, Florida, to an industrial

site adjacent to the J.E. Baker Company quarry and brick manufacturing

operations in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania, and

to operate the project as a cogeneration facility. Steam produced by

the project would have been purchased by the J.E. Baker Company and

electricity would have been purchased by Metropolitan Edison Company.

All other major aspects of the project would have remained essentially

unchanged from the original project.

During the summer of 1992, York County Energy Partners sought

opportunities for air emissions reductions from existing companies in

the vicinity of the proposed project as a means of acquiring air

emissions offsets. Discussions with P.H. Glatfelter Company indicated

that the desired level of air emissions reductions could be achieved by

relocating the project to P.H. Glatfelter Company's paper mill facility

in North Codorus Township, if the proposed York County Energy Partners

project could provide sufficient steam to largely displace an existing

P.H. Glatfelter Company coal-fired boiler. Additionally, it was

determined that the co-location of the proposed cogeneration project

with P.H. Glatfelter Company's paper mill facility would enable York

County Energy Partners to treat and recycle wastewater from the mill

for use as cooling water at the proposed cogeneration facility, thereby

greatly reducing the amount of fresh water used. Accordingly, on

February 1, 1993, York County Energy Partners and P.H. Glatfelter

Company issued a joint statement that they were evaluating the

feasibility of relocating the proposed York County Energy Partners

project to the North Codorus Township site. The Department was

requested to consider York County Energy Partners' proposed site

change. The Department issued its approval of the proposed site change

in a memorandum dated June 23, 1993.

Environmental Impact Statement Preparation

The Draft Statement has been prepared in accordance with Section

102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act, as implemented in

regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR

Parts 1500-1508) and by the Department's Implementing Procedures (10

CFR Part 1021). In accordance with the National Environmental Policy

Act, the Department determined that providing cost-shared funding for

the York County Energy Partners Cogeneration Project constitutes a

major Federal action that may significantly affect the quality of the

human environment. Therefore, the Department has prepared a Draft

Statement to assess the potential impacts of both the proposed action,

and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, on the human and

natural environment.

A Notice of Intent (Notice) to prepare an environmental impact

statement and hold public scoping meetings was published in the Federal

Register on July 29, 1993 (58 FR 40631). The Notice invited oral and

written comments and suggestions on the proposed scope of the

environmental impact statement, including environmental issues and

alternatives, and invited public participation in the National

Environmental Policy Act process. Scoping meetings were held on August

19, 1993 and October 5, 1993 in North Codorus Township and York,

Pennsylvania, respectively. Overall, the Department received 614

comments. As a result of the scoping process, the Department developed

an Environmental Impact Statement Implementation Plan to define the

scope and to provide further guidance for preparing the environmental

impact statement.

The Draft Statement provides an analysis of information prepared to

evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the proposed

construction and operation of the York County Energy Partners Project

at the proposed site. This Draft Statement also considers the proposed

action, an alternate site, and the no-action alternative, which

includes a scenario that reasonably could be expected to result as a

consequence of the no-action alternative. Impacts to human health,

atmospheric resources, surface water, groundwater, socioeconomic

resources (including environmental justice), noise, and traffic from

construction and operation of the proposed York County Energy Partners

Cogeneration Project have been analyzed. Impacts to biological

resources, biodiversity, floodplains, and wetlands are also considered.

Floodplains/Wetlands Notification

Pursuant to Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management) and the

Department's Procedures for Compliance with Floodplains/Wetlands

Environmental Review Requirements (10 CFR 1022), notification is

provided that portions of electric connections and pipeline corridors

proposed as components of the York County Energy Partners Cogeneration

Project would be constructed and operated in the 100-year floodplain

(as depicted on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Flood

Insurance Rate Map; Panel Number 422223 0005, 0010 and Panel Number

422227 0005, 0010). In addition, portions of ladder tracks and a rail

spur associated with the proposed project would also be located within

the 100-year floodplain. A total of approximately 1.1 acres would be

expected to be utilized for placement of these ancillary facilities

within the 100-year floodplain.

Small areas of the Codorus Creek's 100-year floodplain would be

unavoidably impacted by development to connect the proposed project

with utility (electric) substation facilities. Approximately 14 to 22

power line utility poles (required to provide a connection between the

York County Energy Partners Cogeneration Facility and Metropolitan-

Edison's existing Bair Substation) would be located within the 100-year

floodplain of Codorus Creek. This electric interconnect would intersect

the floodplain on property controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, and property owned by P.H. Glatfelter Company. It is

estimated that 4-8 utility poles would be located on land belonging to

P.H. Glatfelter Company, and 10-14 utility poles would be located on

land controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. Placement of these

utility poles would impact approximately 0.013 acres of the 100-year

floodplain. Construction and operation of these electrical connections

(and their rights-of way) would be conducted in accord with relevant

regulatory requirements and in consultation with appropriate regulatory

agencies.

Short segments of the proposed facility's steam supply pipeline to

P.H. Glatfelter Company and condensate return pipeline would also be

located within an identified 100-year floodplain, affecting

approximately 0.3 acres. A small area (approximately 0.8 acres) of the

Codorus Creek 100-year floodplain would be impacted by ladder tracks

and rail spur that would require an expansion of the existing YorkRail

right-of-way on P.H. Glatfelter Company property. The rail structures

would be similar to, and closely parallel, the existing YorkRail Main

line at the same elevation.

Impacts during construction would include equipment and vehicle

access, earth disturbance, sedimentation, erosion from exposed soils,

damaged vegetation, and placement and compaction of fill to support new

rail lines. In addition, the steam and condensate return pipelines to

P.H. Glatfelter Company would require permanent pipe supports to be

placed within the floodplain. During operation, there would be some

periodic minor disturbance due to personnel and equipment entry for

inspection and maintenance of the new ladder tracks, rail spur, and

above-ground steam and condensate return pipelines to P.H. Glatfelter

Company.

The potential impacts and mitigation measures associated with the

above proposed activities within identified floodplains are discussed

in Section 4 of the Draft Statement and constitutes the floodplains

assessment in accordance with 10 CFR Part 1022.

Comments regarding the effects of the proposed action on

floodplains may be submitted to the Department in accordance with the

procedures described below.

In accordance with Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands,

and the Department's Procedures for Compliance with Floodplains/

Wetlands Environmental Review Requirements (10 CFR Part 1022), wetlands

protection has also been considered in the Department's Draft

Statement. Above- and below-ground pipeline connections between the

proposed new facility and existing facilities would require

construction affecting approximately 0.5 acres of wetlands. These

wetlands would be temporarily disturbed as a result of construction and

excavation activities associated with pipeline installation.

Four identified wetlands, along with Codorus Creek, would be

potentially affected by the proposed project and utility corridors. A

fringe wetland bordering Mill Pond and Kessler Pond would be

unavoidably affected by placement of permanent pipe support foundations

for a pipe rack supporting the steam and condensate return pipelines to

the P.H. Glatfelter Company facility. This wetland impact is

unavoidable due to the proposed facility being sited on the opposite

side of Codurus Creek from the P.H. Glatfelter Company facility. Three

other wetlands would be traversed by supply and return pipelines for

the proposed project cooling tower. A total of approximately 0.20 acre

of these three wetlands would be impacted for excavation and

underground placement of cooling tower supply and return pipelines from

the proposed facility to P.H. Glatfelter Company facilities.

During construction of the pipeline interconnect, vegetation would

be selectively removed using manual labor whenever possible in order to

minimize potential impacts associated with mechanical clearing

techniques. York County Energy Partners would obtain regulatory

approval prior to construction or disturbance of wetlands. Potential

impacts during construction and operation, such as erosion and

sedimentation, would be controlled with appropriate mitigation measures

(such as silt fencing during construction).

It should be noted, however, that construction of the proposed

electrical interconnect corridor, the proposed rail spur, and ladder

track associated with this proposed project would not result in

incursion into wetland areas.

Potential environmental impacts to wetlands are discussed more

fully in Chapter 4 of the Draft Statement and constitutes the wetlands

assessment in accordance with 10 CFR Part 1022. Comments regarding the

effects of the proposed action on wetland areas may be submitted to the

Department in accordance with the procedures described below.

Comment Procedures

Availability of Draft Statement

Copies of the Draft Statement are being distributed to

organizations, environmental groups, and individuals known to be

interested in or affected by the proposed project. Additional copies of

the document or appendices to the main document may be obtained by

contacting the Department as provided in the section of this notice

entitled ADDRESSES.

Copies of the Draft Statement, including major documents referenced

in the Draft Statement, are available for inspection at the locations

identified below:

(1) U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room,

1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,

DC 20585.

(2) U.S. Department of Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology Center,

3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880.

(3) Glatfelter Memorial Library, 101 Glenview Rd., Spring Grove, PA

17362.

(4) York County Library, 118 Pleasant Acres Rd., York, PA 17401.

(5) York County Courthouse, 28 E. Market St., York, PA 17401.

Written Comments

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the content

of the Draft Statement to the Department as indicated in the section of

this notice entitled ADDRESSES. Envelopes should be labeled ``York

County Energy Partners Draft EIS.'' Comments should be received no

later than January 10, 1995, the close of the public comment period, to

ensure consideration in preparing the Final Statement. Comments

received after January 10, 1995 will be considered to the extent

practicable.

Public Hearings

Procedures

The public is invited to provide comments on the Draft Statement to

the Department in person at the scheduled public hearings. Advance

registration for presentation of oral comments at the hearings will be

accepted up to one week prior to the hearing date by telephone or by

mail at the office listed in the ADDRESSES section above. Envelopes

should be labeled ``York County Energy Partners Draft EIS.'' Requests

to speak at a specific time will be honored if possible. Registrants

are allowed to register only themselves to speak and must confirm the

time they are scheduled to speak at the registration desk the day of

the hearing. Persons who have not registered in advance may register to

speak when they arrive at the hearings to the extent that time is

available. To ensure that as many persons as possible have the

opportunity to present comments, 5 minutes will be allotted to each

speaker. Persons presenting comments at the hearings are requested to

provide the Department with written copies of their comments at the

hearing, if possible.

Hearing Schedules and Locations

Public hearings will be held at the following locations, times, and

dates:

1. Date: December 14, 1994

Time: 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm (Registration will commence at 6:00 pm)

Place: York Fairgrounds, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA 17404, (717)

848-2596

2. Date: December 15, 1994

Time: 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm (Registration will commence at 6:00 pm)

Place: York Fairgrounds, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA 17404, (717)

848-2596

3. Date: December 16, 1994

Time: 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm (Registration will commence at 6:00 pm)

Place: York Fairgrounds, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA 17404, (717)

848-2596

Conduct of Hearings

The Department's rules and procedures for the orderly conduct of

hearings will be announced by the presiding officer at the start of the

hearings. The hearings will not be of an adjudicatory or evidentiary

nature. Speakers will not be cross-examined, although the presiding

officer and the Department's members on the hearing panel may ask

clarifying questions. In addition, the Department's representatives

will be available to discuss the project in informal conversations. A

transcript of the hearings will be prepared, and the entire record of

each hearing, including the transcript, will be placed on file by the

Department for inspection at the public locations given above in the

COMMENT PROCEDURES section.

Signed in Washington DC, this 18th day of November 1994, for the

United States Department of Energy.

Peter N. Brush,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 94-29087 Filed 11-23-94; 8:45 am]

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