Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed McIntosh Unit 4 Pressurized Circulating Fluidized Bed Demonstration Project

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for

the Proposed McIntosh Unit 4 Pressurized Circulating Fluidized Bed

Demonstration Project

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental

Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and the DOE

NEPA regulations (10 CFR Part 1021), to assess the potential

environmental and human health impacts of a proposed project to expand

the C. D. McIntosh, Jr. Power Plant in Lakeland, Florida. The proposed

project, selected under DOE's Clean Coal Technology Program, would

demonstrate both Pressurized Circulating Fluidized Bed (PCFB) and

Topped PCFB technologies. The proposed project would involve the

construction and operation of a nominal 238 MWe (megawatts of electric

power) combined-cycle power plant designed to burn a range of low- to

high-sulfur coals. The EIS will help DOE decide whether to provide 44%

of the funding for the currently estimated $440,000,000 proposed

project.

The purpose of this Notice is to inform the public about the

proposed action; present the schedule for the action; announce the

plans for a public scoping meeting; invite public participation in (and

explain) the scoping process that DOE will follow to comply with the

requirements of NEPA; and solicit public comments for consideration in

establishing the proposed scope and content of the EIS. The EIS will

evaluate the proposed project and reasonable alternatives.

DATES: To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposal

are addressed, DOE invites comments on the proposed scope and content

of the EIS from all interested parties. All comments must be received

by May 21, 1999, to ensure consideration. Late comments will be

considered to the extent practicable. In addition to receiving comments

in writing and by telephone, DOE will conduct a public scoping meeting

in which agencies, organizations, and the general public are invited to

present oral comments or suggestions with regard to the range of

actions, alternatives, and impacts to be considered in the EIS. The

scoping meeting will be held in the City of Lakeland's City Commission

Chambers, 228 South Massachusetts Avenue, Lakeland, Florida at 7 p.m.

on April 13, 1999. On the day of the meeting, from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m.

preceding the meeting, DOE will host an informational session for

interested parties in a conference room adjoining the City Commission

Chambers. Displays and other forms of information about the proposed

action and its location will be available, and DOE personnel will be

available to answer questions. The public is invited to this informal

session to learn more about the proposed action.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to participate in the public

scoping process should be addressed to:

Mr. Joseph Martin, Document Manager, Federal Energy Technology Center,

U.S. Department of Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV

26507-0880

Individuals who would like to provide comments and/or otherwise

participate in the public scoping process should contact Mr. Martin

directly at telephone 304-285-4447; toll free number 1-800-432-8330

(ext. 4447); fax 304-285-4469; or e-mail [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain additional information about

this project or to receive a copy of the draft EIS for review when it

is issued, contact Mr. Joseph Martin at the address provided above. For

general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact:

Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance

(EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC 20585-0119, 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-

472-2756

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Need for Agency Action

Under Public Law 102-154, the U.S. Congress authorized and funded

DOE to conduct cost-shared Clean Coal Technology Program projects for

the design, construction, and operation of facilities that

significantly advance the efficiency and environmental performance of

coal-using technologies and apply to either new or existing facilities.

DOE's purpose for this proposed action, which is known as the McIntosh

Unit 4 PCFB Demonstration Project, is to establish through successful

technology demonstration, the commercial viability of a Topped PCFB

combustion combined-cycle plant. Funding for this action would be made

available through the novation (substitution of a new obligation for an

old one) of two previous Clean Coal Technology Program awards: (1)

Cooperative Agreement DE-FC21-91MC27364, DMEC-1 Limited Partnership's

PCFB Demonstration Project; and (2) Cooperative Agreement DE-FC21-

94MC31261, Four Rivers Energy Modernization Project. The decision to

combine the two projects into one at a new location was made because of

diminished prospects for proceeding at their original sites due to

uncertainties regarding regional power requirements. The City of

Lakeland, however, is in an area experiencing substantial growth in

demand for electricity. In addition, combining the two projects would

save taxpayers more than $30,000,000 in Federal cost sharing (compared

to building two projects separately) without sacrificing the original

objectives.

Over the next several decades, increases in demand for electric

power and replacement of a significant amount of electric power

generating capacity that is approaching the end of its design service

life are expected to require the construction of new generating

stations. The most abundant domestic fuel, coal, continues to represent

an attractive energy source for new generating capacity. The proposed

McIntosh Unit 4 PCFB Demonstration Project would fulfill an established

DOE programmatic need to demonstrate advanced technology that may

improve the environmental performance and efficiency of coal-fired

power generation facilities.

Since the early 1970s, DOE and its predecessor agencies have

pursued research and development programs that include long-term, high-

risk activities through the proof-of-concept stage in developing

innovative concepts for a wide variety of coal technologies. However,

the availability of a technology at the proof-of-concept stage is not

sufficient to ensure its continued development and subsequent

commercialization. Before any technology can be considered seriously

for commercialization, it must be demonstrated. The financial risk

associated with technology demonstration generally is too high for the

private sector to assume without strong incentives. Congress

established the Clean Coal Technology Program to accelerate the

development of innovative technologies to meet the nation's near-term

energy and environmental goals, to reduce technological risk to the

business community to an acceptable level, and to provide incentives

for the private

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sector to pursue innovative research and development directed at

providing solutions to long-range energy supply problems.

Proposed Action

The proposed action is for DOE to provide, through a cooperative

agreement with the City of Lakeland, Florida, cost-shared financial

assistance for the design, construction, and operation of the proposed

McIntosh Unit 4 PCFB Demonstration Project, described below. The

proposed project would last 121 months after novation of prior

agreements (see Background and Need for Agency Action) and would cost a

total of approximately $440,000,000; DOE's share would be approximately

$195,000,000 (44%).

The proposed project would be constructed at the existing C.D.

McIntosh, Jr. Power Plant, which is located in the City of Lakeland,

Florida along the northeastern shore of Lake Parker. The current

McIntosh Plant is an industrial site encompassing about 530 acres. The

Plant includes three fossil-fuel-fired steam electric units, two

diesel-powered peaking units, and one simple-cycle gas turbine peaking

unit; water treatment facilities; fuel handling facilities (oil storage

and coal handling and storage); air pollution control facilities;

wastewater treatment facilities; by-product treatment and storage

facilities; and an ash disposal area. Further, the City of Lakeland is

adding to the McIntosh Plant a simple-cycle power generation unit that

will use a Siemans Westinghouse 501G turbine to generate a nominal 250

MWe. In addition to the McIntosh Plant, the City of Lakeland owns and

operates the Larsen Power Plant, which also is located on Lake Parker

approximately 2 miles south of the McIntosh facility. The Larsen Plant

provides 243 megawatts of electric power capacity and is fueled by oil

and natural gas.

The Lake Parker area has been extensively mined for phosphate;

several ponds and wetlands have formed in depressions left from these

past mining activities. Mud Lake, a small wetland, is located to the

north and adjacent to the fence line of the McIntosh Plant, but outside

the proposed footprint of the PCFB Demonstration. A significant natural

resource, the Class I Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, is

located approximately 55-60 miles northwest of Lakeland. The McIntosh

Plant site lies above the 100-year statistical flood frequency

elevation.

PCFB technology is a combined-cycle power generation system that is

based on the pressurized combustion of solid fuel to generate steam,

combined with the expansion of hot pressurized flue gas through a gas

turbine. The technology can be subdivided into the basic PCFB cycle

(first generation or ``Non-Topped'') and Topped PCFB cycle (second

generation or ``Advanced'').

In the basic PCFB cycle, hot pressurized flue gas is expanded

through a gas turbine at a temperature of less than 1400 deg.F. Tubes

contained in the PCFB generate, superheat, and reheat steam for use

with the most advanced steam turbines. Hot, pressurized combustion gas

leaving the PCFB can drive a gas turbine for additional power

generation. Combustion and fluidizing air is supplied from the

compressor section of the gas turbine to the PCFB combustor located

inside a pressure vessel. Dried coal and sorbent (usually limestone)

are fed to the combustor using a conventional pneumatic transport

system employing lock hoppers. The limestone sorbent captures sulfur in

situ as sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides are controlled by

temperature and pressure. Particulate matter is removed from the flue

gas exiting the combustor using cyclones and barrier filters located

between the PCFB and the gas turbine. The hot gas cleaned by the filter

system expands through the gas turbine, exhausts to a heat recovery

unit, and vents to a stack. The heat recovered from both the combustor

and the heat recovery unit is used to raise, superheat and reheat steam

for use in the steam turbine. Approximately 25% of the total power

produced is generated in the gas turbine, and the balance is generated

in the steam turbine.

The topped PCFB technology integrates a carbonizer island and gas

turbine topping combustor into the PCFB cycle. The carbonizer is an

air-blown jetting, fluidized bed operating at 1600 deg.F to 1800 deg.F.

Dried coal and sorbent are fed to the carbonizer using a conventional

pneumatic transport system employing lock hoppers. The coal is

devolatilized and partially gasified to produce a low-BTU synthesis gas

and a solid residue (called char) that is removed from the carbonizer

and transferred to the PCFB for combustion. The limestone sorbent

captures sulfur as calcium sulfide and also acts as a stabilizer to

prevent bed agglomeration and to aid in partial gasification. The

particulate matter (char plus reacted and unreacted sorbent) in the

synthesis gas is removed using a cyclone and hot gas particulate filter

system similar to that used for the PCFB. This collected material,

together with the main char flow from the carbonizer, is transferred to

the PCFB to complete combustion and sulfur removal. The hot clean

synthesis gas is burned in the topping combustor to raise the turbine

inlet temperature to the firing temperature of the gas turbine.

The planned project would involve two sequential demonstrations as

follows:

(1) The first demonstration would be a PCFB cycle that would come

on-line in July 2002 and would provide approximately 145 MWe of coal-

fired generating capacity. The system would have a gas turbine inlet

temperature under 1400 deg.F.

(2) The second demonstration, which would be constructed and

brought on-line approximately two years later, would convert the PCFB

system to a Topped PCFB system by adding a carbonizer island that

includes a topping combustor. The addition of the carbonizer system

would generate a coal-derived, low-BTU synthesis gas that would be

burned in the topping combustor to raise the turbine inlet temperature

to more than 1900 deg.F. In order to provide the total power that the

City of Lakeland needs from the project, an auxiliary coal-fired heat

recovery steam generator would provide the necessary steam superheating

and feedwater heating. The net effect would be an additional 93 MWe of

power output.

Under the proposed action, the McIntosh Unit 4 would be designed to

burn a wide range of coals including high ash-high sulfur coals that

are expected to become available in the future at substantially lower

prices than mid-to-low-sulfur bituminous coals. Further, limestone for

the circulating fluidized bed would be obtained from a number of nearby

Florida limestone quarries; ash produced during the processing would be

disposed of in an existing landfill or marketed to others after such

markets are identified.

The majority of the project's water makeup requirements would be

met by using secondary treated sewage effluent in the cooling tower.

Service water, which is potable water from the public water utility,

would be used only for boiler water makeup feed to the demineralizer

system. Wastewater from the PCFB Demonstration unit would be treated on

site, by neutralization and removal of heavy metals, before being

returned to the Glendale wastewater treatment facility, which is owned

by the City of Lakeland, for discharge.

To ensure that the PCFB technology meets applicable emissions

limits, gaseous emissions from the plant would be controlled, as

required, using state-of-the-art technology. For example, the amount of

high sulfur coal would be

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reduced or sulfur dioxide would be removed using limestone scrubbers;

the oxides of nitrogen would be controlled by managing combustion

temperature and pressure, or by using selective non-catalytic reduction

technology; and particulate matter would be removed by barrier filters

or electrostatic precipitators.

Alternatives

Section 102(2)(C) of NEPA requires that agencies discuss the

reasonable alternatives to the proposed action in an EIS. The purpose

for agency action determines the range of reasonable alternatives.

Congress established the Clean Coal Technology Program with a specific

purpose: to demonstrate the commercial viability of technologies that

use coal in more environmentally benign ways than conventional coal

technologies. Congress also directed DOE to pursue the goals of the

legislation by means of partial funding (cost sharing) of projects

owned and controlled by non-Federal government sponsors. This statutory

requirement places DOE in a much more limited role than if the Federal

Government were the owner and operator of the project. In the latter

situation, for example, DOE would be responsible for a comprehensive

review of reasonable alternatives. However, in dealing with an

applicant, the scope of alternatives is necessarily more restricted. It

is appropriate in such cases for DOE to give substantial weight to the

applicant's needs in establishing a project's reasonable alternatives.

An overall strategy for compliance with NEPA was developed for the

Clean Coal Technology Program that includes consideration of both

programmatic and project-specific environmental impacts during and

after the process of selecting a project. As part of the NEPA strategy,

the EIS for the proposed McIntosh Unit 4 demonstration project will

tier off the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)

that was issued by DOE in November 1989 (DOE/EIS-0146). Two

alternatives were evaluated in the PEIS: (1) the no-action alternative,

which assumed that the Clean Coal Technology Program was not continued

and that conventional coal-fired technologies with flue gas

desulfurization and nitrogen oxide controls, to meet New Source

Performance Standards, would continue to be used; and (2) the proposed

action, which assumed that the clean coal projects would be selected

and funded, and that successfully demonstrated technologies would

undergo widespread commercialization by the year 2010.

The range of reasonable alternatives to be considered in the EIS

for the proposed McIntosh Unit 4 demonstration project is narrowed in

accordance with the overall NEPA strategy. The EIS will include an

analysis of the no-action alternative as a reasonable alternative to

the proposed action of providing cost-shared funding support for the

proposed project. DOE will consider other reasonable alternatives that

may be suggested during the public scoping period.

Under the no-action alternative, DOE would not provide partial

funding for the design, construction, and operation of the project. In

the absence of DOE funding, the McIntosh Unit 4 facility probably would

not be constructed, although the City of Lakeland could construct the

proposed project without DOE cost-shared funding. If the proposed

McIntosh Unit 4 is not built, other alternative sources for electric

power would be necessary for the City of Lakeland to meet future

demands of its customers. Such alternatives could include purchasing

power from other sources, adding generation capacity that does not rely

on PCFB technology (e.g., natural gas), or using some other current

technology. Lakeland could also consider repowering old existing units

at the McIntosh site. In the EIS, DOE will consider these variations of

the no-action alternative.

Because of DOE's limited role of providing cost-shared funding for

the proposed McIntosh Unit 4 PCFB project, and because of advantages

associated with the proposed location, DOE does not plan to evaluate

alternative sites for the proposed project. An existing plant site is

preferred because the costs associated with a ``greenfield site'' in an

undisturbed area would be much higher and the environmental impacts

likely would be greater than at an existing facility.

Project activities would include engineering and design,

permitting, fabrication and construction, testing, and demonstration of

PCFB technology and Topped PCFB technology. The EIS will assume that

the proposed facility would continue its commercial operation after the

demonstration of Topped PCFB technology is completed. DOE plans to

complete the EIS and issue a Record of Decision within 15 months of

this Notice, assuming timely delivery of information from the City of

Lakeland necessary for development of the EIS.

Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

The following issues have been tentatively identified for analysis

in the EIS. This list, which is based on analyses of similar projects,

is not intended to be all-inclusive nor a predetermined set of

potential impacts, but is presented to facilitate public comment on the

scope of the EIS. Additions to or deletions from this list may occur as

a result of the scoping process. The issues include:

(1) Atmospheric resources: potential air quality impacts resulting

from air emissions during current and future operations of the McIntosh

Plant (e.g., effects of ground-level concentrations of criteria

pollutants and trace metals on surrounding residential areas and

sensitive areas (such as the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge,

(a Class I refuge located approximately 55-60 miles northwest of

Lakeland));

(2) Water resources: potential effects on surface water and

groundwater resources consumed and discharged, including any impacts on

wetlands;

(3) Infrastructure and land use: potential effects resulting from

the transport of additional coal and limestone required for the

proposed project;

(4) Solid waste: pollution prevention and waste management

practices, including impacts caused by generation, treatment,

transport, storage, and disposal of ash;

(5) Construction: impacts associated with noise, traffic patterns,

and construction-related emissions;

(6) Changes in the sources of coal for the overall plant;

(7) Environmental Justice issues with respect to the surrounding

community;

(8) Cumulative effects that result from the incremental impacts of

the proposed action when added to other past, present, and reasonably

foreseeable future actions.

Public Scoping Process

To ensure that all issues related to this proposal are addressed,

DOE will conduct an open process to define the scope of the EIS. The

public scoping period will run until May 21, 1999. Interested agencies,

organizations, and the general public are encouraged to submit comments

or suggestions concerning the content of the EIS, issues and impacts to

be addressed in the EIS, and the alternatives that should be analyzed.

Scoping comments should clearly describe specific issues or topics that

the EIS should address in order to assist DOE in identifying

significant issues.

Written, e-mailed, faxed, or telephoned comments should be

communicated by May 21, 1999 (see ADDRESSES). A public scoping meeting

to be conducted by DOE will be held in the City of Lakeland City

Commission

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Chambers on April 13, 1999, at 7 p.m. The address of the City

Commission Chambers is: 228 South Massachusetts Avenue, Lakeland,

Florida. In addition, DOE will hold an informational session at the

same location from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on April 13. Displays and other

materials and DOE personnel will be available to provide information

about the proposed action.

DOE requests that anyone who wishes to speak at this public scoping

meeting contact Mr. Joseph Martin, either by phone, fax, computer, or

in writing (see ADDRESSES in this Notice). Individuals who do not make

advance arrangements to speak may register at the meeting and will be

given the opportunity to speak after all previously scheduled speakers

have made their presentations. Speakers who wish to make presentations

longer than five minutes should indicate the length of time desired in

their request. Depending on the number of speakers, it may be necessary

to limit speakers to five minute presentations initially, with the

opportunity for additional presentations as time permits. Speakers can

also provide additional written information to supplement their

presentations. Oral and written comments will be given equal

consideration.

DOE will begin the meeting with an overview of the proposed

McIntosh Unit 4 demonstration project. A presiding officer will be

designated by DOE to chair the meeting. The meeting will not be

conducted as an evidentiary hearing, and speakers will not be cross-

examined.

However, speakers may be asked to clarify their statements to

ensure that DOE fully understands the comments or suggestions. The

presiding officer will establish the order of speakers and provide any

additional procedures necessary to conduct the meeting.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of March, 1999.

Peter N. Brush,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 99-7487 Filed 3-25-99; 8:45 am]

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