Withdrawal of Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Minnesota Agri-Power Plant and Associated Facilities

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Withdrawal of Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement for the Proposed Minnesota Agri-Power Plant and Associated

Facilities

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1998 (63 FR 53885), U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE) and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board [MEQB, a Minnesota

State agency] announced its intent to prepare a joint Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) regarding a proposal by the Minnesota Valley

Alfalfa Producers (MnVAP) to construct and operate a 75-103 megawatt

biomass fueled gasifier and electric generating facility, known as the

Minnesota Agri-Power Plant (MAPP), and associated transmission lines

and alfalfa processing facilities. After careful review of this

proposed biopower gasification project, DOE has determined that it will

no longer participate in the cooperative agreement with MnVAP. This

determination terminates DOE's financial support for the MAPP project,

thus DOE will not provide funding toward the cost of constructing the

proposed biomass power plant and the associated alfalfa processing

facilities. As a result of DOE's decision not to fund the construction

of the power plant and the associated processing facilities, there is

no longer a federal requirement to conduct an EIS. Accordingly, DOE is

withdrawing its notice of intent to prepare an EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE's

NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of

NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119, Phone: 202-586-4600

or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

For general information about the NEPA process relating to MnVAP's

proposed biopower gasification project, please contract Mr. Tim Howell,

Acting NEPA Compliance Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field

Office, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401; Telephone: 303-275-4700 or

toll-free 1-800-644-6735 extension 4700; Fax: 303-275-4790; E-mail:

[email protected].

For information regarding the MEQB process please contact: Mr. John

Hynes, Permit Compliance Officer, Minnesota Environmental Quality

Board, 300 Centennial Building, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155, Phone: 651-

296-4095, Fax: 651-296-2871, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MnVAP is a farmer-owned cooperative,

incorporated in 1994 to increase the value of farm products grown in

and near the State of Minnesota. In response to a joint Department of

Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Solicitation for Financial

Assistance for Biomass Power for Rural Development (DE-PS36-95GO10052),

MnVAP submitted a proposal to establish Minnesota Agri-Power as a

limited liability corporation, with MnVAP as the majority stock holder,

for the purposes of siting, constructing, and operating a 75-103

megawatt power plant fueled with gasified alfalfa stems. DOE selected

the MnVAP project as one of several promising efforts to meet the goals

of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to develop and ultimately

commercialize biomass energy systems for the purposes of positively

affecting global climate change and the revitalization of rural

America. Under the terms of the solicitation, MnVAP and DOE would each

share the financial burden of taking a biomass gasification technology

from the demonstration phase to full commercial production.

The proposed power plant was to partially meet the Minnesota

``Biomass Power Mandate,'' Minnesota State Law, 216B.2424, which

requires that:

A public utility * * * that operates a nuclear-powered electric

generating plant within this state must construct and operate,

purchase, or contract to construct and operate (1) by December 31,

1998, 50 megawatts of electric energy installed capacity generated

by farm-grown closed-loop biomass scheduled to be operational by

December 31, 2001; and (2) by December 31, 1998, an additional 75

megawatts of installed capacity so generated scheduled to be

operational by December 31, 2002.

The MAPP project, as proposed, was to use an ``integrated gasification

combined-cycle'' or IGCC system where the gasifier would process

approximately 1,100 tons of alfalfa stems per day (i.e., this would

produce approximately 750 million British thermal units per hour). As

proposed, the gross output of the power plant could be as high as 103

megawatts. The alfalfa stems were to be rapidly heated in the gasifier

to approximately 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit to produce alfalfa gas,

cooled to 1,020 degrees Fahrenheit, and then cleaned to meet air

quality standards and the requirements for the combustion turbine. The

combustion turbine was to be designed to operate efficiently on the low

energy biomass fuel produced by the gasifier unit with

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a gross electric power output of 66 megawatts (the alfalfa gas was to

be supplemented with natural gas as needed). Another 37 megawatts were

to be generated from the super-heated, high-pressure steam recovered

from the hot combustion gases leaving the combustion turbine. Since the

biomass gasification technology proposed for MAPP has yet to be

successfully demonstrated at full commercial scale, DOE was proposing

to fund $44 million (up to 30%) of the cost of construction of the

plant and associated facilities (approximately $140 to $200 million) as

part of the Department's mission to support biomass technology

commercialization. Other key participants in the MAPP project have

included the University of Minnesota, Stone and Webster Engineering

Corporation, Kvaerner/Carbona Corporation, Enron Capital and Trade

Resources Corporation, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and

the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Enron Capital and Trade Resources

Corporation, however, terminated its co-development participation in

the MAPP project in early 1999.

In the event that MnVAP elects to proceed with the MAPP project

without funding from DOE, an analysis of the relative impact of the

proposed project on the environment would still be required under

applicable Minnesota laws and regulations. In such an event, the MEQB,

in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, would be the lead

agency for the environmental analysis. While DOE may be asked by the

MEQB to assist by providing relevant information to any Minnesota led

environmental analysis, DOE would no longer participate as a lead

agency or as a co-preparer.

Issued in Golden, Colorado, on September 10, 1999.

Frank M. Stewart,

Manager, Golden Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy.

[FR Doc. 99-24457 Filed 9-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P