{"id":908,"date":"2015-07-22T16:43:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T16:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/not-so-great-northern-transmission-line.org\/?p=908"},"modified":"2015-07-22T17:12:37","modified_gmt":"2015-07-22T17:12:37","slug":"greetings-from-grand-rapids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/not-so-great-northern-transmission-line.org\/?p=908","title":{"rendered":"Greetings from Grand Rapids – DOE EIS Hearings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20150722_112810_resized\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Live and in living color!\u00a0 Today is the final day on the DOE’s road show for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement — more correctly, the public hearings, and yes, public HEARINGS, not public meetings.\u00a0 And good treats too, excellent coffee, much needed.\u00a0 Hearings today are right now, starting at 11 a.m., and this evening beginning at 6 p.m.\u00a0 This is ONLY about environmental review.\u00a0 The substantive routing hearing is coming up in a couple weeks (more on that later).<\/p>\n

As usual, we’re in the intros.<\/p>\n

Comments are due August 10, 2015.\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span>Send to:<\/h3>\n

Julie Ann Smith, PhD, Electricity Policy Analyst<\/em>
\nDOE NEPA Document Manager<\/em>
\nNational Electricity Delivery Division (OE-20)<\/em>
\nU.S. Department of Energy<\/em>
\n1000 Independence Avenue SW<\/em>
\nWashington, DC 20585<\/em><\/p>\n

JulieA.Smith@hq.doe.gov<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

+++++++++++++++++<\/em><\/p>\n

William Cole Storm, Environmental Review Manager<\/em>
\nEnergy Environmental Review and Analysis<\/em>
\n85 7th Place East, Suite 500<\/em>
\nSaint Paul, Minnesota 55101<\/em><\/p>\n

bill.storm@state.mn.us<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve started on my comment, and I’ll post it here and send it via mailchimp at least a few days before comments are due, because it might be helpful to provide some ideas on what to comment about.\u00a0 They don’t particularly care about arguments why not on a particular parcel of land, but they do care if there are things about the area, environmental impacts, that they haven’t considered, taken into account.\u00a0 In this environmental review, the DOE is not taking “need” into account, which they should!\u00a0 They’re also not addressing the breadth or depth of alternatives necessary under NEPA<\/p>\n

What’s the DEIS?\u00a0 Read it here, this is cut and paste from DOE site:<\/p>\n

Table of Contents, Cover Sheet, Abstract, Summary (.PDF, 5.7 MB)<\/a><\/p>\n

Summary (.PDF, 6.0 MB)<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter 1 \u2013 Regulatory Framework<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 2.5 MB)<\/a>:Describes the regulatory framework associated with the proposed Project, including the purpose and need for agency action, major federal permits (including the U.S. DOE Presidential permit), federal consultation requirements, state permitting requirements (including the MN PUC Route Permit), other state and local permits, and a summary of agencies, tribes, and persons consulted.<\/p>\n

Chapter 2 \u2013 Proposed Project<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 2.8 MB)<\/a>: Describes the project as proposed by the Applicant including proposed routes, structures, objectives, route selection process, estimated costs, and proposed schedule. Chapter 2 also describes the Applicant\u2019s engineering, design, and construction plans, land acquisition processes, and Applicant proposed measures to avoid and minimize environmental impacts.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3 \u2013 No Action Alternative<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 1.2 MB)<\/a>: Describes the \u201cNo Action alternative,\u201d in which the DOE would not issue a Presidential permit and the proposed Project would not be built. The analysis of the No Action alternative summarizes the impacts of not constructing the project and provides a baseline for analyzing and comparing potential environmental impacts from DOE\u2019s proposed action and alternatives.<\/p>\n

Chapter 4 \u2013 Route and Alignment Alternatives Proposed during Scoping<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 19 MB)<\/a>: Describes the four border crossing alternatives, 22 route variations, and nine alignment modifications that were proposed by agencies and the public during scoping. Chapter 4 also summarizes the process used by DOE in coordination with the DOC-EERA to jointly determine which border crossings and routes to include in the scope of this EIS. Chapter 4 also describes how the selected routes, route variations, and alignments are analyzed by dividing the 220-mile long project area into the three major sections: the West Section, the Central Section, and the East Section.<\/p>\n

Chapter 5 \u2013 Affected Environment and Potential Impacts<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 32 MB)<\/a>: Describes the affected environment for the proposed Project, including descriptions of each resource, the region of influence (ROI) of the proposed Project on the resource, and impacts expected from the construction, operation, maintenance, and connection of the proposed Project. Chapter 5.0 first describes the impacts of the proposed Project that are common to all geographic sections and do not vary by route or route variation. Chapter 5.0 then describes the resources that do vary by geographic section and for which impacts vary by route and route variation\u2014the impacts and resources are carried forward for detailed analysis and comparison in Chapter 6.0.<\/p>\n

Chapter 6 \u2013 Comparative Environmental Consequences<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 65 MB)<\/a>: Presents detailed analysis and comparison of the potential human and environmental impacts of the proposed Project and alternative route variations, and describes mitigation measures by geographic section, route, and route variation.<\/p>\n

Chapter 7 \u2013 Cumulative and Other Impacts<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 4.8 MB)<\/a>: Describes reasonably foreseeable projects in the proposed Project area and assesses impacts of the proposed Project in the context of these reasonably foreseeable projects along with other past and present projects in the same area. Chapter 7 also describes unavoidable, irretrievable, and other impacts as required by federal and state regulations.<\/p>\n

Chapter 8 \u2013 List of Preparers<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 1.7 MB)<\/a>: Provides a list of the preparers of this EIS.<\/p>\n

Chapter 9 \u2013 References<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 1.8 MB)<\/a>: Provides references for resources used in development of this EIS.<\/p>\n

Chapter 10 \u2013 Acronyms and Abbreviations<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 1.7 MB)<\/a>: Lists of the acronyms and abbreviations used in this EIS.<\/p>\n

Chapter 11 \u2013 Index<\/a><\/strong> (PDF, 1.4 MB)<\/a>: Provides an index of terms used in this EIS.<\/p>\n

Appendices \u2013 Provides information to support the analysis in this EIS:<\/strong><\/p>\n