Oliver Delivery Project

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration

Oliver Delivery Project

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS), and notice of floodplain and wetland involvement.

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SUMMARY: To meet the obligation of the Columbia River Treaty (Treaty)

between Canada and the United States of America (U.S.), BPA on behalf

of the U.S. Entity proposes to construct a single-circuit 500-kilovolt

(kV) transmission line from either the Grand Coulee Switchyard or Chief

Joseph Substation to a point on the U.S.-Canada border near Oliver,

British Columbia (B.C.). According to the Treaty and subsequent

agreements, all power to which Canada is entitled under the Treaty is

due to be delivered by April 1, 2003.

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Potential Federal cooperating agencies with expertise and/or

jurisdiction within the north central Washington study area include the

U.S. Department of Interior--Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of

Reclamation (BOR), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and National Park

Service (NPS); U.S. Department of Agriculture--Forest Service, Okanogan

National Forest (ONF); and the Department of Defense--U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers (COE).

BPA and those Federal agencies wishing to participate as

cooperating agencies will prepare an EIS on this action to fulfill

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. As the lead

agency, BPA will consult with the Colville Confederated Tribes, the

State of Washington, Okanogan County, Douglas County, other local

governments, interested individuals and groups, and affected landowners

to identify feasible routing alternatives and to analyze and select a

suitable route. The State of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation

Council will review the EIS to assure that the analysis contains

sufficient information to determine consistency with pertinent state

and local environmental standards and guidelines.

To ensure that the full range of issues, concerns, and

opportunities relating to this proposal are addressed, BPA is

establishing a 4-month public scoping period to identify suitable

transmission line routes and to define the environmental issues and

studies that will be addressed in the EIS. BPA has not identified

specific proposed or alternative routes at this time. Public workshops

will be held in early spring of 1996 to gather information needed for

locating suitable transmission line routes through the Okanogan County

and Douglas County, Washington, study area. Interested and affected

citizens, interest groups, local governments, and civic organizations

are encouraged to participate in identifying alternatives and issues to

be evaluated in the EIS. People are particularly encouraged to identify

areas that may or may not be suitable for transmission line

development; sensitive resources that the EIS preparers may be unaware

of; and any other issues that will assist in identifying and evaluating

viable transmission line routes. Once alternative routes for the

proposed transmission line have been identified, a second series of

public workshops will be held, possibly in early to mid-summer. These

meetings will focus on more detailed issues, including the scope of

environmental studies and site-specific issues and concerns that should

be addressed in the EIS.

DATES: Because planning and consultation with other Federal agencies,

Okanogan County, Douglas County, and Colville Tribal officials has only

recently been initiated, the number, location, and dates of public

involvement activities including meetings or workshops has not been

determined. All future public meeting times and locations, however,

will be publicized by advertisements, by news releases in local media,

and by written notice to all known interested parties. All comments,

whether oral or written, will be given equal consideration. Comment

deadlines will be announced during initial meetings and through project

fact sheets.

ADDRESSES: To receive a copy of any current or future project

documents, such as the System Operation Review (SOR) EIS, Canadian

Entitlement EIS, the Oliver Delivery Project scoping report, or the

draft EIS, when they become available, call toll free 1-800-622-4520,

or 230-3478 (Portland). To have your name placed on the mailing list

for this project, call 1-800-622-4519; to submit comment letters, write

to the Public Involvement Manager, Bonneville Power Administration--

CKP, P.O. Box 12999, Portland, OR 97212. Comments may also be sent to

the BPA Internet address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mike Johns, Project Manager, at 1-

800-662-6963; or write him at Bonneville Power Administration--TE, P.O.

Box 3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 17, 1961, the United States

signed a Treaty with Canada (which was ratified in 1964) regarding

international cooperation in the water resource development of the

Columbia River Basin. The Treaty provided for Canada to construct three

storage dams on the Columbia River in Canada, and gave the United

States the option of constructing Libby Dam in Montana (which backs up

into Canada). The dams help control floods in both countries and enable

dams downstream in the United States to produce additional power,

defined as the ``downstream power benefits,'' which Canada and the

United States share equally under the Treaty. Canada sold its half of

the downstream power benefits (the ``Canadian Entitlement'') to a

consortium of U.S. utilities for a 30-year period. The 30-year sales

will begin to expire in 1998. In 1992, an Interim Agreement was signed

that provides for the Canadian Entitlement to be delivered to Canada

over existing facilities during the period from April 1, 1998, to March

31, 2003. After this interim agreement expires, the Treaty requires

that the Entitlement shall be delivered ``to Canada at a point on the

Canada-United States of America boundary near Oliver, British Columbia,

or at such other place as the entities may agree upon'' (Article V(2)).

The U.S. Entity's Delivery of the Canadian Entitlement Final EIS

(January 1996) analyzed the effects in Canada and the United States of

various options to deliver the Canadian Entitlement to British

Columbia. After several years of negotiations, the U.S. and Canadian

Entities were unable to mutually agree on an alternative to the Treaty-

specified delivery at Oliver. Because no agreement was reached, BPA

must begin the environmental and engineering studies necessary to meet

the U.S. Treaty obligation to deliver the full Entitlement (between

1200 to 1500 megawatts (MW) of capacity and 550 to 600 average

megawatts (aMW of energy) by April 1, 2003. The purpose of the proposed

transmission line is to:

Fulfill the U.S. obligation under the Treaty;

Limit the adverse environmental effects of locating,

operating, and maintaining a new single-circuit 500-kV line; and

Minimize the costs for construction, operation, and

maintenance of a new single-circuit 500-kV line.

Proposed Action. BPA proposes to construct a single-circuit 500-kV

transmission line from Grand Coulee Switchyard or Chief Joseph

Substation in north central Washington to the U.S.-Canada border near

Oliver, B.C. The project would consist of:

135 to 155 kilometers (85 to 95 miles) of transmission

line;

New and expanded right-of-way up to 38 to 49 meters (125

to 160 feet) wide;

New and upgraded access roads at a ratio of one to two

kilometers of roads for each kilometer of line (one to two miles of

roads for each mile of line); and

Improvement or expansion of existing substations.

Upon completion, the line would be capable of carrying between 1200

to 1500 MW of capacity and 550 to 600 aMW of energy as required to meet

the U.S. obligation of delivering the full Entitlement to Canada. Any

construction north of the border would be the responsibility of the

Canadian Entity.

Related Actions. Two other decision making processes in which BPA

is engaged are related to Oliver Delivery decisions: the SOR and the

BPA Business Plan.

The SOR Final EIS (November 1995) evaluated the environmental

impacts of a variety of river operations and

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constraints for all uses of the system including Treaty obligations.

The SOR process also considered new allocation agreements that specify

how the Canadian Entitlement costs will be allocated to each of the 11

Federal and non-Federal projects of Treaty storage following expiration

of existing agreements.

BPA's Business Plan (September 1995) defined the basic business

direction BPA intends to pursue as it responds to the challenges of the

dynamic electric utility industry. The Business Plan Final EIS (June

1995) provides the information on current electric utility market

conditions, loads, resources, and costs used for development,

evaluation, and potential amendment of alternatives for the Delivery of

the Canadian Entitlement Final EIS (January 1996).

Alternatives. Alternatives other than the physical return of the

downstream benefits at the Canadian border near Oliver, B.C., will not

be addressed in the site-specific Oliver Delivery Project EIS because

they were previously analyzed in the U.S. Entity's Delivery of The

Canadian Entitlement Final EIS (January 1996). The alternative to the

proposed action identified for possible evaluation in the Oliver

Delivery Project EIS includes the No-Action Alternative (not to build a

500-kV transmission line). As various transmission line routing options

between either Grand Coulee Switchyard or Chief Joseph Substation to

the U.S.-Canada border near Oliver, B.C., are developed, one route will

become the agency's preferred alternative. Because the Oliver Delivery

Project EIS is tiered directly to the Delivery of the Canadian

Entitlement Final EIS and Record of Decision (March 1996), any future

negotiated alternatives to delivery at Oliver would necessarily require

the U.S. Entity to revisit the programmatic EIS to determine whether it

adequately covers the environmental inputs of that alternative, or

whether a supplement to the programmatic EIS needs to be prepared.

Copies of any of the above-referenced documents may be obtained by

calling BPA's toll-free document request line at 1-800-622-4520.

Identification of Environmental Issues. Significant issues

presently identified relating to this proposal include: (1) potential

impacts to land uses, including agricultural lands, residential areas,

and recreational resources; (2) potential impacts to endangered

species, wildlife, and vegetation; (3) visual impacts from the addition

of a new 500-kV transmission line to the landscape; (4) potential

impacts to soils (erosion), aquatic habitats, wetlands, and

floodplains; (5) potential impacts on cultural resources and Native

American sacred sites; (6) socioeconomic effects including property

value impacts arising from the construction of the new line; (7)

potential public concern with health and safety effects associated with

electric and magnetic fields, fire, or hazardous materials; (8)

concerns with requirements for new road and transmission line rights-

of-way and potential acquisition of land for associated facilities; and

(9) consistency with Tribal reserved rights, and Tribal, State, and

local environmental and land-use plans, policies, and regulations.

These issues, together with any additional significant issues

identified through the public scoping process, will be examined in

detail and documented in the EIS.

Issued in Portland, Oregon, on March 25, 1996.

Randall W. Hardy,

Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-7858 Filed 3-29-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P