Only borrower actions that require the approval of financing assistance are subject to environmental review.  Specifically excluded are approvals pursuant to loan contracts and security instruments (e.g., approval of the use of general funds where no RUS reimbursement will be requested) and approvals of lien accommodations.

Environmental documents prepared by or for an electric borrower should use non-metric equivalents (British system) followed by metric units in parentheses or a metric conversion table as an appendix.  All numerical designations have been rounded to the nearest whole number.  This is a reversal of previous policy.

This is a new section that defines some of the terminology used in the regulation.  Note that the environmental document submitted by electric borrowers for projects that are normally categorically excluded or require an environmental assessment without scoping is now called an Environmental Report (ER).  In the previous rule the document was called a Borrower’s Environmental Report (BER).

The two environmental guide bulletins that were issued in November 1993 and April 1995, respectively, have been revised and updated to accompany the final rule. Both environmental guidance bulletins can be downloaded from the RUS web site under Electric Program Regulations and Bulletins. The two bulletins are now titled:

RUS Bulletin 1794A-600 – Guide for Preparing an Environmental Report for Categorically Excluded Projects.

RUS Bulletin 1794A-601 – Guide for Preparing the Environmental Report for Electric Projects Requiring an Environmental Assessment.

Where a proposed action normally requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), it is imperative that the borrower consults with RUS prior to obtaining the services of an environmental consultant.  The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations in §1506.5(c) stipulate when an EIS is to be prepared by a contractor, that contractor be chosen solely by the lead agency, with the cooperation of the cooperating agencies, or by a cooperating agency to avoid any conflict of interest.

It is also imperative that borrower’s notify and consult with the appropriate Branch within the Power Supply Division (PSD) of RUS on all Environmental Analysis (EA) with Scoping and EIS projects.  The Engineering and Environmental Staff needs authorization from PSD before staff can proceed with the environmental review for proposals in these two categories.

Subpart C – Classification of Proposals

§1794.21 Categorically excluded proposals without an ER.

(b) Electric and Telecommunications Programs

The following three actions were deleted in the new regulation and are no longer considered actions subject to environmental review:

(2)  Routine approvals made pursuant to loan security documents (e.g., contracts for bulk commodities, goods and services, capital credit retirements, and technical design or specifications).

(3)  Agreements for transmission, wheeling, interconnection with, power purchases from, or sale to other utilities where no associated borrower construction or financing of construction is involved.

(6)  Fuel or mineral contracts where the borrower does not have effective control over or responsibility to alter the development of the specific fuel or mineral source (e.g., the mine).

The following five actions that previously required a BER, normally do not require an ER under the new regulation:

(14)  Rebuilding of power lines or telecommunications cables where road or highway reconstruction requires the applicant to relocate the lines either within or immediately adjacent to the new road or highway easement or right-of-way.

(15)  Phase or voltage conversions, reconductoring or upgrading of existing electric distribution lines, or telecommunication facilities.

(17)  Participation by an applicant(s) in any proposed action where total applicant financial participation will be five percent or less.

(19)  Additional bulk commodity storage (e.g., coal, fuel oil, limestone) within existing generating station boundaries.  A certification attesting to the current state of compliance of the existing facilities and a description of the facilities to be added shall be provided to RUS.

(20)  Proposals designed to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment (e.g., precipitators, baghouse or scrubber installations, and coal washing equipment) which will have no other environmental impact outside the existing facility site.

The following six new actions have been added to this category:

(16)  Construction of new power lines, substations, or telecommunications facilities on industrial or commercial sites, where the applicant has no control over the location of the new facilities.  Related off-site facilities would be treated in their normal category.

(18)  Construction of a battery energy storage system at an existing generating station or substation site.

(21)  Construction of standby diesel electric generators (one megawatt or less total capacity) and associated facilities, for the primary purpose of providing emergency power, at an existing applicant headquarters or district office, telecommunications switching or multiplexing site, or at an industrial, commercial or agricultural facility served by the applicant.

(22)  Construction of onsite facilities designed for the transfer of ash, scrubber wastes, and other byproducts from coal-fired electric generating stations for recycling or storage at an existing coal mine (surface or underground).

(23)  Changes or additions to an existing water well system, including new water supply wells and associated pipelines within the boundaries of an existing well field or generating station site.

(24)  Repowering or uprating of an existing unit(s) at a fossil-fueled generating station in order to improve the efficiency or the energy output of the facility.  Repowering or uprating that results in increased fuel consumption or the substitution of one fuel combustion technology with another is excluded from this classification.

Note that a description of the facilities to be constructed shall be provided to RUS for Items (14), (15), (16), (18), (20), (21), (22), and (23).

§1794.22 Categorically excluded proposals requiring an ER.

(a) Electric and Telecommunications Programs

The following action that previously required an EA requires an ER under the final rule.

(7)  Construction of substations, switching stations, or telecommunications switching or multiplexing centers requiring no more than 5 acres (2 hectares) of new physically disturbed land or fenced property.

The following new actions have been added to this category:

(5)  Changes to existing transmission lines that involve less than 20 percent pole replacement, or the complete rebuilding of existing distribution lines within the same ROW.  Changes to existing transmission lines that require 20 percent or greater pole replacement will be considered the same as new construction

(8)  Construction of diesel electric generating facilities of 5 megawatts (MW) (nameplate rating) or less either at an existing generation or substation sites.  This category also applies to a diesel electric generating facility of 5 MW or less that is located at or adjacent to an existing landfill site and supplied with refuse derived fuel.  All new associated facilities and related electric power lines shall be covered in the ER.

(10)  Construction of new water supply wells and associated pipelines not located within the boundaries of an existing well field or generating station site.

The acreage threshold for new headquarters (item #4) has been increased from 5 acres (2 hectares) to 10 acres (4 hectares).

The capacity thresholds for diesel generation facilities (item #8) have been modified and the capacity thresholds for hydroelectric proposals have been eliminated.

§1794.23 Proposals normally requiring an EA.

(c) Electric Program

The following new action has been added to this category:

(4)  Repowering or uprating of an existing unit(s) at a fossil-fueled generating station where the existing fuel combustion technology of the affected unit(s) is substituted for another (e.g. coal or oil-fired boiler is converted to a fluidized bed boiler or replaced with a combustion turbine unit).

The acreage threshold for new headquarters (item # 7) has been increased to greater than 10 acres (4 hectares).

The capacity thresholds for combustion turbine or diesel generation have been modified to differentiate between new sites (50 MW or less) and existing sites (100 MW or less).

Capacity thresholds for hydroelectric proposals have been eliminated.

§§1794.24 and 1794.25

Acreage and capacity threshold changes within §1794.24, and a capacity threshold change within §1794.25 reflect changes that have been made in §§1794.22(a), and 1794.23(c).

Other Procedural Changes

Subpart D - Procedure for Categorical Exclusions

Each project must be sufficiently described to ensure its proper environmental classification.  Sufficient information for this purpose is normally provided in the project description included in the construction work plan.  There are 13 actions in §1794.21(b) that require additional information.  The purpose is to ensure that construction and operation of the facilities covered by these actions will not impact important resources.

Subpart E – Procedure for Environmental Assessments

The EA will be the subject document of the notice of availability requirements in §1794.42, where previously, the applicant’s BER or the Environmental Analysis (EVAL) was the subject document.  With this change, the notice requirements for all three programs will be consistent for both EA proposals and EA with scoping proposals.  This change will encourage more public involvement by allowing public review of EA proposals prior to the issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).  Normally, there will be no comment period following the issuance of the FONSI as was required for scoping proposals under the previous regulation.

Subpart F – Procedure for Environmental Assessments with Scoping

The notice requirements for Electric program projects that require scoping have been changed.  The timing of RUS Federal Register notice for public scoping meetings in §1794.52(b) has been reduced from 30 days to 14 days prior to the meeting. No appreciable benefit resulted from the earlier notice requirement.

Scoping documents must be made available to the public at least 10 days in advance of the meeting.  The meeting format can be either the traditional (formal presentation) style or the open house style.

The previous rule allowed RUS to accept the applicant’s BER as its EA but required RUS to prepare its own EA from the applicant’s EVAL where a proposed action requires scoping.  This requirement has been changed to allow RUS accept the EVAL as its EA.  (See §1794.53.)

Subpart G – Procedure for Environmental Impact Statements

The policy regarding the use of a contractor prepared EIS has been modified.  Under the previous rule, RUS was required to use agency funds if an independent contractor was chosen by RUS to prepare the EIS.  In accordance with the provisions of 7 CFR Part 1789, “Use of Consultants Funded by Applicants” and Section 759A of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, preparation of a draft or final EIS by an independent contractor can be funded by the applicant, provided the consultant is selected by RUS.

A new requirement, publication of a notice of availability by RUS and the applicant for a Record of Decision, is established in §1794.63.

If you would like more information or have any questions, please call Larry Wolfe, Senior Environmental Protection Specialist, Engineering and Environmental Staff, at (202) 720-5093, E-mail: lwolfe@rus.usda.gov.

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