Analysis continues public engagement, highlights priority energy development,
mitigation strategies and protection of National Conservation Area
BOISE, ID – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (Draft SEIS) analyzing the effects of building portions of the proposed Gateway West power transmission line on public lands in southwest Idaho.
Gateway West is a national-level priority project of President Obama’s initiative to transform the Nation’s power grid and spur development of renewable energy. The Draft SEIS analyzes new information on route alignments and mitigation measures that became available after the original EIS for the project was completed in 2013.
Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power proposed the line as 10 segments originating at the Windstar substation near Glenrock, Wyoming and terminating at the Hemingway substation near Melba, Idaho, 20 miles southwest of Boise. After extensive environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the BLM approved eight of the ten segments (Segments 1 through 7 and 10) in November 2013.
With respect to the remaining two segments, the BLM determined that new information in a revised right-of-way application that the companies submitted in August 2014 would require additional NEPA analysis of potential environmental effects to supplement the analysis in the 2013 Final EIS for the original, ten-segment project.
The BLM developed the range of alternatives in the Draft SEIS and selected co-preferred alternatives after weighing the impacts of the revised proposal against recent Greater sage-grouse land-use planning decisions, mitigation considerations for the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) and BLM policy guidance related to NCAs.
Comments received on the Draft SEIS published today will help the BLM prepare a final SEIS in support of a decision on whether to authorize construction of the final two segments of the project on public lands. That decision is expected by the end of 2016.
The Draft SEIS analyzes seven pairs of possible route combinations for segments 8 and 9 of the project, which would each span more than 125 miles between substations at Cedar Hill and Midpoint in south-central Idaho and the Hemingway substation in western Owyhee County. These segments are part of the larger project jointly proposed by Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power to deliver up to 1,500 megawatts of transmission capacity in southern Wyoming and southern Idaho.
All of the alternatives would have some impact on the Morley Nelson Snake River NCA by crossing portions of that Area. The Draft SEIS addresses the requirement that agencies establish a net-benefit goal or a no-net-loss goal for natural resources that are important, scarce, or sensitive by analyzing various mitigation strategies. It analyzes the companies’ proposed mitigation plan for this Area and presents the BLM’s framework for mitigation, including avoidance, minimization, and compensation measures that would be necessary under each Alternative.
“In 2013, we deferred a decision on these two segments of the project so we could conduct additional stakeholder outreach and public engagement,” said BLM Idaho State Director Tim Murphy. “Reviewing and commenting on the draft supplemental EIS are crucial to that effort, and we look forward to hearing comments and feedback on the analysis presented.”
The BLM will hold the following public meetings in Boise, Murphy, Kuna, and Twin Falls, Idaho, during the public comment period:
- Tuesday, April 19, 2016
10am-1pm Boise, Best Western Vista Inn at the Airport, 2645 W Airport Way, Boise, ID 83705
4pm-7pm Kuna, Kuna Senior Center, 229 N Ave. A, Kuna, ID 83634 - Wednesday, April 20, 2016
4pm-7pm Twin Falls, BLM District Office, 2878 Addison Avenue East, Twin Falls, ID 83301 - Thursday, April 21, 2016
4pm-7pm Murphy, Owyhee County Historical Society Museum, 17085 Basey St., Murphy, ID 83650
The BLM welcomes comments on the Draft SEIS. To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments by June 9, 2016.