[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37163-37164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14888]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Torres Martinez-Calpine Power Generating Facility, Riverside
County, CA
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, with the cooperation of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla
Indians and Calpine Corporation, intends to gather information
necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the
proposed Torres Martinez-Calpine Power Generating Facility that Calpine
would construct and operate on a 40-acre parcel within the Torres
Martinez Indian Reservation, Riverside County, California. The purpose
of the proposed action is to help Calpine Corporation meet the
electrical power needs of southern California. Details on the project
location, proposed action and initial areas of environmental concern to
be addressed in the EIS follow as supplementary information. This
notice also announces a public scoping meeting for the content of the
EIS.
DATES: Comments on the scope and implementation of this proposal must
arrive by July 14, 2000. The public scoping meeting will be held on
June 28, 2000, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any
one of several methods. You may mail or hand carry written comments to
Ronald M. Jaeger, Regional Director, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California, 95825-1846. You may
also comment via the Internet to [email protected]. Please submit
Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. If you do not receive
confirmation from the system that your Internet message was received,
contact us directly at (916) 978-6043.
Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will
be available for public review at the above address during regular
business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you
wish us to withhold your name and/or address from public review or from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. We will not, however,
consider anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be
made available for public inspection in their entirety.
The public scoping meeting will be held at the Tribal Hall, Torres
Martinez Indian Reservation, 66-725 Martinez Road, Thermal, California.
[[Page 37164]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Allan, (916) 978-6043, or
Bobbi Fletcher, (760) 397-9850.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Calpine Corporation, through an agreement
with the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, plans to construct,
own and operate a 600 megawatt natural gas-fired power plant on a 40-
acre parcel of tribal trust land in Riverside County, California,
northeast of the town of Mecca. The parcel is located along 62nd
Avenue, east of Johnson Street in proximity to the Coachella Canal.
Natural gas is proposed to be supplied to the plant by a new 10 to
12 mile gas line extending northward to a connection point north of the
I-10 Freeway. Electricity produced by the plant would be routed through
an on-site substation to nearby electrical transmission lines.
Improvements to several miles of off-site transmission lines may also
be required. Cooling water for the plant is proposed to be obtained
from on-site wells. The water would be cycled, then possibly discharged
for beneficial re-use at fish farms and/or vineyards on nearby Torres
Martinez tribal lands.
The areas of environmental concern so far identified include air
quality, biological and botanical resources, aesthetics, water
resources and cultural resources. This range of issues may be expanded
based on comments received during the scoping process.
This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through
1508), implementing the procedural requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian
Affairs by 209 DM 8.
Dated: June 5, 2000.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 00-14888 Filed 6-12-00; 8:45 am]
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