Agenda - Council - 06/25/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Enterprise Park to Crooked Lake 115 kV Transmission Line March 2012 Environmental Assessment A court reporter was present at the public meetings and transcribed questions asked and comments made by the public, as well as responses from EFP staff and the Applicant. Approximately 20 members of the public attended the two meetings. A public comment period, ending on December 19, 2011, provided the public an opportunity to submit comments to EFP staff on issues and alternative routes and alignments for consideration for the scope of the EA. EFP staff received four comment letters by the close of the comment period. After consideration of the public comments the deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce issued the scope of the EA on January 5, 2011. The EA scoping decision document is included in Appendix B. Included in the scope of the EA were the Applicant's proposed route and an alternative route segment proposed by the public, known as Route Segment Alternative A. The following issues were determined to be outside the scope of the EA: • No -build alternative • Issues related to project need, size, type, or timing • Any route or substation alternatives not specifically identified in the scoping decision document. • Policy issues surrounding whether utilities or local -government should be liable for the cost to relocate utility poles when roadways are widened • The manner in which land owners are paid for transmission rights -of -way easements, as that is outside the jurisdiction of the Commission. 2.5. Environmental Assessment An EA must be prepared for all high -voltage transmission projects being reviewed under the alternative permitting process. The procedures EFP staff must follow in preparing the EA are described in Minnesota Rule 7850.3700. The EA contains information on the human and environmental impacts of the proposed project as identified in the scoping decision document. It also addresses required methods to mitigate such impacts for all routes considered. The EA is the only state environmental review document required to be prepared for this project. Upon completion of the EA, continuing procedural steps include: providing notice on the availability of the EA, scheduling and providing notice of a public hearing in the area where the project is located, and bringing the matter to the Commission for a final decision. An example of a route permit issued by the Commission for a high -voltage transmission line is provided in Appendix C. Copies of the route permit application and other documents relevant to the process are available for viewing and downloading on the eDockets website at: httns://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFilinn/search.isn, enter "11" for Year and "915" for Number, under search criteria. 7