[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71696-71697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25132]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
Dairyland Power Cooperative: Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement and Hold Public Scoping Meetings
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
and Hold Public Scoping Meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) intends to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and hold public scoping meetings
in connection with possible impacts related to the Cardinal-Hickory
Creek Transmission Line Project proposed by Dairyland Power Cooperative
(DPC). Other utilities participating in the Project are American
Transmission Company LLC, by its corporate manager ATC Management Inc.
and ITC Midwest LLC.
The proposal consists of the construction of a 345-kilovolt (kV)
transmission line and associated infrastructure connecting the Hickory
Creek Substation in Dubuque County, Iowa, with the Cardinal Substation
in the Town of Middleton, Wisconsin (near Madison, Wisconsin). The
Project also includes a new intermediate 345/138-kV substation near the
Village of Montfort in either Grant County or Iowa County, Wisconsin.
The total length of the 345-kV transmission lines associated with the
proposed project will be approximately 125 miles. DPC and the other
project participants have identified proposed and alternate segments
and locations for transmission lines and associated facilities and for
the intermediate substation. Dairyland Power Cooperative is requesting
RUS to provide financing for its portion of the proposed project.
DATES: RUS will conduct four public scoping meetings in an open-house
format at the following locations:
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Date Location Time Venue
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October 31, 2016................... Peosta, Iowa.......... 3:00-6:00 p.m......... Peosta Community Center,
7896 Burds Road, Peosta,
IA 53068.
November 1, 2016................... Cassville, Wisconsin.. 4:00-7:00 p.m......... Cassville Middle School
Cafeteria, 715 E. Amelia
Street, Cassville, WI
53806.
November 2, 2016................... Dodgeville, Wisconsin. 4:00-7:00 p.m......... Dodgeville Middle School
Cafeteria, 951 Chapel St.,
Dodgeville, WI 53533.
November 3, 2016................... Middleton, Wisconsin.. 4:00-7:00 p.m......... Madison Marriott West, 1313
John Q Hammons Dr.,
Middleton, WI 53562.
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ADDRESSES: To send comments or for further information, contact Dennis
Rankin, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW.,
Room 2244, Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250-1571 Email:
[email protected] Washington, DC 20250-1571.
An Alternative Evaluation Study (AES) and Macro Corridor Study
(MCS), prepared by Dairyland Power Cooperative, will be presented at
the public scoping meetings. The reports are available for public
review at the RUS address provided in this notice and at Dairyland
Power Cooperative, 3251 East Avenue, South, La Crosse, WI 54602. In
addition, the reports will be available at RUS' Web site, http://www.rd.usda.gov/publications/environmental-studies/impact-statements
and at local libraries in the project area.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Preliminary proposed transmission line
corridors, the siting area for the intermediate substation, and the two
existing end-point substations have been identified. The EIS will
address the construction, operation, and
[[Page 71697]]
management of the proposed project, which includes the following: A new
345-kV terminal within the existing Hickory Creek Substation in Dubuque
County, Iowa; a new intermediate 345/138-kV substation near the Village
of Montfort in either Grant or Iowa County, Wisconsin; a new 345-kV
terminal within the existing Cardinal Substation in the Town of
Middleton in Dane County, Wisconsin; a new 45- to 65-mile (depending on
the final route) 345-kV transmission line between the Hickory Creek
Substation and the intermediate substation; a new 45- to 60-mile
(depending on the final route) 345-kV transmission line between the
intermediate substation and the existing Cardinal Substation; a short,
less than one-mile, 69-kV line in Iowa; facility reinforcement needed
in Iowa and Wisconsin; construction and maintenance of access roads for
all proposed transmission lines and rebuild of the Turkey River
Substation in Dubuque County, Iowa with two 161/69 kV transformers,
four 161-kV circuit breakers, and three 69-kV circuit breakers.
Total length of the transmission lines for the proposed project
will be approximately 125 miles. The project study area includes part
or all of the following counties in Iowa: Clayton and Dubuque. In
Wisconsin, the project area includes parts of the following counties:
Dane, Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette.
Among the alternatives RUS will address in the EIS is the No Action
alternative, under which the project would not be undertaken. In the
EIS, the effects of the proposed project will be compared to the
existing conditions in the area affected. Alternative transmission line
corridors and the intermediate substation location will be refined as
part of the EIS scoping process and will be addressed in the Draft EIS.
RUS will carefully study public health and safety, environmental
impacts, and engineering aspects of the proposed project and all
related facilities.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) are participating in the environmental review
process as cooperating agencies, with RUS as the lead Federal agency.
RUS will use input provided by government agencies, private
organizations, and the public in the preparation of the Draft EIS. The
Draft EIS will be available for review and comment for 45 days. A Final
EIS that considers all comments received will subsequently be prepared.
The Final EIS will be available for review and comment for 30 days.
Following the 30- day comment period, RUS will prepare a Record of
Decision (ROD). Notices announcing the availability of the Draft EIS,
the Final EIS, and the ROD will be published in the Federal Register
and in local newspapers.
Any final action by RUS related to the proposed project will be
subject to, and contingent upon, compliance with all relevant federal,
state, and local environmental laws and regulations and completion of
the environmental review requirements as prescribed in the RUS
Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1970).
Dated: October 12, 2016.
Kellie Kubena,
Director, Engineering and Environmental Staff, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-25132 Filed 10-17-16; 8:45 am]
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