Coordination of Federal Authorization for Electric Transmission Facilities

1910-5185 – Coordination of Federal Authorizations for Electric Transmission

(b) A Project Proponent electing to utilize the IIP Process must submit an Initiation Request to DOE to start the IIP Process. The timing of the submission of the Initiation Request for IIP Process is determined by the Project Proponent. The Initiation Request must include, based on best available information, a Summary of Qualifying Project, Affected Environmental Resources and Impacts Summary, associated Maps, Geospatial Information, and Studies (provided in electronic format), and a Summary of Early Identification of Project Issues. The Initiation Request must adhere to the page limits established by this part.

(c) Summary of the Qualifying Project is limited to a maximum length of ten (10) pages, single-spaced and must include:

1. A statement that the Project Proponent requests to use the IIP Process;

2. Primary contact information for the Project Proponent, including a primary e-mail address;

3. The legal information for the Project Proponent: legal name; principal place of business; whether the requester is an individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity; the state laws under which the requester is organized or authorized; and if the Project Proponent resides or has its principal office outside the United States, documentation related to designation by irrevocable power of attorney of an agent residing within the United States;

4. A description of the Project Proponent’s financial and technical capability to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission the Qualifying Project;

5. A statement of the Project Proponent’s interests and objectives;

6. To the extent available, regional electric transmission planning documents, including status of regional reliability studies, regional congestion or other related studies where applicable, and interconnection requests;

7. A brief description of the evaluation criteria and methods used by the Project Proponent to identify and develop the potential Study Corridors or potential Routes for the proposed Qualifying Project;

8. A brief description of the proposed Qualifying Project, including endpoints, voltage, ownership, justification for the line, intermediate substations if applicable, and, to the extent known, any information about constraints or flexibility with respect to the Qualifying Project;

9. Project Proponent’s proposed schedule, including timeframe for filing necessary Federal and state applications, construction start date, and planned in-service date if the Qualifying Project receives needed Federal Authorizations and approvals by Non-Federal Entities; and

(10) A list of potentially affected Federal and Non-Federal Entities.

(d) Affected Environmental Resources and Impacts Summary. The Affected Environmental Resources and Impacts Summary is limited to a maximum length of twenty (20), single-spaced pages, not including associated maps, and must include concise descriptions, based on existing, relevant, and reasonably-available information, of the known existing environment, and major site conditions in Project Area, including:

1. An overview of topographical and resource features that are relevant to the siting of electric transmission lines present;

2. Summary of known land uses, including Federal lands, Tribal lands, and state public lands of various types (e.g., parks and monuments), associated land ownership, where appropriate, and any land use restrictions;

3. Summary of known or potential adverse effects to cultural and historic resources;

4. Summary of known or potential conflicts with or adverse impacts on military activities;

5. Summary of known or potential impacts on the U.S. aviation system, including FAA restricted airspace;

6. Summary of known or potential impacts on the U.S. marine transportation system, including impacts on waterways under jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard;

7. Summary of known information about Federal- and state-protected avian, aquatic, and terrestrial species, and critical habitat or otherwise protected habitat, that may be present, as well as other biological resources information that is necessary for an environmental review;

8. Summary of the aquatic habitats (to include estuarine environments, and water bodies, including wetlands, as well as any known river crossings and potential constraints caused by impacts to navigable waters of the United States considered for the Qualifying Project);

9. Summary of known information about the presence of low-income communities and minority populations that could be affected by the Qualifying Project;

10. Identification of existing or proposed Qualifying Project facilities or operations in the Project Area;

11. Summary of the proposed use of previously-disturbed lands, existing, agency-designated corridors, including but not limited to corridors designated under section 503 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, transportation rights-of-way, and the feasibility for co-location of the Qualifying Project with existing facilities or location in existing corridors and transportation rights-of-way; and

12. Summary of potential avoidance, minimization, and conservation measures, such as compensatory mitigation (onsite and offsite), developed through the use of Regional Mitigation Approach or, where available, Regional Mitigation Strategies or Plans, and considered by the Project Proponent to reduce the potential impacts of the proposed Qualifying Project to resources warranting or requiring mitigation.

(e) Maps, Geospatial Information, and Studies. Maps, Geospatial Information and Studies in support of the information provided in the summary descriptions for the known existing environmental, cultural, and historic resources in the Project Area under paragraph (d) in this section must be included, and do not contribute to the overall page length of the IIP Initiation Request. Project Proponents must provide maps as electronic data files that may be readily accessed by Federal Entities and Non-Federal Entities, including:

1. A map of the Project Area showing the locations of potential Study Corridors or potential Routes;

2. Detailed maps that accurately show information supporting summaries of the known existing environmental resources within the potential Study Corridors or potential Routes;

3. Electronic access to existing data or studies relevant to the summary information provided as part of paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section; and

4. Citations identifying sources, data, and analyses used to develop the IIP Process Initiation Request materials.

(f) Summary of Early Identification of Project Issues. The Summary of Early Identification of Project Issues must not exceed ten (10), single-spaced pages in length and is intended to provide a summary of Stakeholder outreach or interactions conducted for the Qualifying Project prior to submission of the Initiation Request and to inform the development of issues and project alternatives for study in an environmental review document. The Summary of Early Identification of Project Issues must also:

1. Discuss the specific tools and actions used by the Project Proponent to facilitate Stakeholder communications and public information, including an existing, current Project Proponent website for the proposed Qualifying Project, where available, and a readily-accessible, easily-identifiable, single point of contact for the Project Proponent;

2. Identify how and when meetings on the location of potential Study Corridors or potential Routes have been and would be publicized prior to the submission of applications for Federal Authorization, as well as where and when those meetings were held and how many more meetings may be planned during the IIP Process;

2. Identify known Stakeholders and how Stakeholders are identified;

2. Briefly explain how the Project Proponent responds to requests for information from Stakeholders, as well as records Stakeholder requests, information received, and Project Proponent responses to Stakeholders;

2. Provide the type of location (for example, libraries, community reading rooms, or city halls) in each county potentially affected by the proposed Qualifying Project, where the Project Proponent has provided publicly-available copies of documents and materials related to the proposed Qualifying Project;

2. Describe the evaluation criteria being used by the Project Proponent to identify and develop the potential Study Corridors or potential Routes and that are presented by the Project Proponent to Stakeholders during its project planning outreach efforts prior to submission of applications for Federal Authorizations or non-Federal permits or authorizations;

2. Provide information collected as a result of the Project Proponent’s Stakeholder outreach efforts; and

2. Include a summary of issues identified, differing project alternative Corridors or Routes, and revisions to Routes developed as a result of issues identified by Stakeholders during the Project Proponent’s Stakeholder outreach efforts for the Qualifying Project.