Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed North Plains Connector Project, Colstrip, Montana to Center/St. Anthony, North Dakota

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, and the Federal Power Act (FPA), as amended, the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), Department of Energy (DOE), in coordination with Federal cooperating agencies--the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Miles City Field Office, Miles City, MT; the United States Forest Service (USFS), an agency of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Dakota Prairie Grasslands, Bismarck, ND; and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT--intends to prepare jointly, with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (Montana DEQ), an environmental impact statement (EIS; DOE/EIS-0568) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of granting authorizations to North Plains Connector LLC for siting, constructing, operating, and maintaining the North Plains Connector Project ("the proposed Project"), an up to 525-kilovolt (kV) high- voltage direct-current (HVDC) electrical transmission line connecting the Eastern and Western Interconnections (also referred to as the eastern and western grids). By this notice, GDO is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues, impacts, and possible need for mitigation.