Notices. Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement and notice of public meeting
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BILLING CODE 3410-11-M DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service Dry Fork Station and Hughes Transmission Project AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement and notice of public meeting. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency delivering the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA)Rural Development Utilities Programs, hereinafter referred to as Rural Development, is issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS)for the Dry Fork Station and Hughes Transmission Project. The Draft EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA)(U.S.C. 4231 *et seq.* ) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ)regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and RUS regulations (7 CFR part 1794). The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of and alternatives to the Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Basin Electric) application for a Rural Development loan guarantee to construct and operate a coal-fired electric generation facility referred to as the Dry Fork Station, consisting of a single maximum net 385 Megawatt
(MW)unit, at a site near Gillette, Wyoming, along with other proposed pollution controls collectively known as Best Available Control Technology (BACT). In addition, Basin Electric also proposes to construct and operate 136 miles of 230 kilovolt
(kV)transmission line in Campbell and Sheridan counties, referred to as the Hughes Transmission Project. Basin Electric is not requesting a loan guarantee from Rural Development for this action. However, the Hughes Transmission Project is evaluated as a connected action for this EIS because the Dry Fork Station would interconnect with it if the Station is built. DATES: With this notice, Rural Development invites any affected Federal, State, and local Agencies and other interested persons to comment on the Draft EIS. Written comments on this Draft EIS will be accepted for 45 days following publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability for this Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS)in the **Federal Register** . Rural Development will hold two
(2)public meetings, on September 25, 2007, at Sheridan College, Watt Agricultural Center, 3059 Coffeen Avenue, Sheridan, Wyoming 82801; and, on September 26, 2007 at the CAM-PLEX Multi-Event Center, Central Pavilion, 1635 Reata Drive, Gillette, Wyoming 82718. The public meetings will begin with an open house at 4:30 p.m., followed by a public hearing starting at 7 p.m. The hearing will include a presentation summarizing the findings of the DEIS and the opportunity for attendees to submit both oral and written comments. In accordance with 40 CFR Section 1503.1, Inviting Comments, the purpose of the meeting will be to solicit comments from interested parties on the Draft EIS for the Dry Fork Station and Hughes Transmission Project. ADDRESSES AND FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To send comments or for more information, contact: Richard Fristik, USDA, Rural Development, Utilities Programs, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 1571, Room 2240, Washington, DC 20250-1571, telephone
(202)720-5093, fax
(202)690-0649, or e-mail: *Richard.Fristik@wdc.usda.gov* . A copy of the DEIS can be obtained or viewed online at *http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/deis-dfs.htm* . The files are in a Portable Document Format (.pdf); in order to review or print the document, users need to obtain a free copy of Acrobat® Reader® (© 2003 Adobe Systems Incorporated). The Acrobat® Reader® can be obtained from *http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html* . Copies of the DEIS will also be available for public review during normal business hours at the following locations: Campbell County Public Library, 2101 South 4J Road, Gillette WY 82718-5205, Phone:
(307)687-0009, FAX:
(307)686-4009. Wright Branch Library—Campbell County Public Library System, 305 Wright Boulevard, Wright, WY 82732. Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library, 35 W. Alger Street, Sheridan, WY 82801. Clearmont Branch Library—Sheridan County Public Library, 1240 Front Street, Clearmont, WY 82835, Phone:
(307)758-4331. Crook County Library, 414 Main Street, Sundance, WY 82729. Moorcroft Public Library—Crook County Library System, 105 East Converse, Moorcroft, WY 82721. Johnson County Library, 171 North Adams, Buffalo, WY 82834. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Basin Electric is a regional electric generation and transmission cooperative, a non-profit utility owned by its members. As such, it provides wholesale electricity and related services to 124 member systems in parts of Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, and New Mexico. Basin Electric's service territory covers 430,000 square miles from the Canadian to the Mexican border. Under its charter, Basin Electric is required to meet the electric power needs of the cooperative member systems it serves. Due to the growing demand for power in the Powder River Basin (PRB), Basin Electric has determined that additional base load capacity is needed in the PRB. After considering various ways to meet those future needs, Basin Electric identified the construction of a new coal-fired power plant near Gillette, as its best course of action to meet its electric energy and related service needs. An Alternative Evaluation Study and Site Selection Study examined alternative means of responding to the identified purpose and need for the project. Multiple power generation technologies and potential sites were screened using various criteria, and those remaining were then evaluated in terms of cost-effectiveness, technical feasibility, and environmental soundness. A similar process was followed for the Hughes Transmission Project. Alternatives for power generation considered by Rural Development include no action, purchased power, load management, renewable energy sources, distributed generation, and alternative site locations. The three alternatives analyzed fully in the DEIS are the No Action Alternative, Proposed Action (Dry Fork Station at the Proposed Site, and the Hughes Transmission Line Proposed Alignment), and Alternative Action (building the power plant at the Alternative Site just over 1 mile from the Proposed Site, and routing the transmission line along the Alternate Alignment). Under the No Action Alternative, the Dry Fork Station would not be constructed or operated to meet the projected 385-MW base load needs of Basin Electric; there would be no facilities constructed at either the Proposed or Alternative Sites. The Hughes Transmission Project, however, would still be constructed as Basin Electric is not requesting Rural Development funding for this action. Basin Electric proposes to construct and operate a (maximum net rating) 385 MW (422 MW maximum gross) base load coal-fired power plant and transmission line interconnection near Gillette, Wyoming. Basin Electric proposes to construct a facility in this area due to the proximity of the fuel source in the PRB and delivery of the power to its membership. Basin Electric is requesting Rural Development to provide financing for the proposed project. The transmission line would consist of approximately 136 miles of 230-kV transmission line that will connect the Hughes Substation east of Gillette, Wyoming, to the Carr Draw Substation west of Gillette and a proposed substation northeast of Sheridan, Wyoming. The proposed schedule developed by Basin Electric would place the transmission line in operation by mid-2009, while the generating facility would be commercially operational by mid-2012. The Proposed Action would have adverse but non-significant impacts on soils, water, air, biological resources, noise, transportation, farmland and land use, visual resources, cultural resources, human health and safety, and environmental justice. The Proposed Action would result in moderately beneficial socioeconomic impacts, including increased employment opportunities, total purchases of goods and services, and an increase in the tax base. Utilizing the Alternative Dry Fork Station Site and Alternative Hughes Transmission Line Alignment would result in broadly similar impacts to those of the Proposed Action, with a slightly increased loss of vegetation, including 120 acres of good quality sagebrush habitat at the alternative power plant site, and slightly increased noise impacts due to the Alternative Site's proximity to a residential property. Adverse but non-significant impacts of the Alternative Site include those on soils, water, air, biological resources, noise, transportation, farmland and land use, visual resources, cultural resources, human health and safety, and environmental justice. Impacts to some biological resources would be minimally increased due to the slightly greater length of the Alternative Hughes Alignment. The Alternative Action would also result in moderately beneficial socioeconomic impacts, including increased employment opportunities, total purchases of goods and services, and an increase in the tax base. James R. Newby, Assistant Administrator, Electric Program, USDA/Rural Development/Utilities Programs. [FR Doc. E7-17048 Filed 8-28-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-15-P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Docket 40-2007] Foreign-Trade Zone 107 - Des Moines, Iowa, Application for Subzone Status, SACMI USA, Ltd. (Food-Processing and Packaging Equipment), Urbandale, Iowa An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Iowa Foreign-Trade Zone Corporation, grantee of FTZ 107, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the packaging and food-processing equipment manufacturing facility of SACMI USA, Ltd. (SACMI), located in Urbandale, Iowa. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the FTZ Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on August 23, 2007. The SACMI facility (3 acres/65,000 sq. ft.) is located at 3434 106th Circle, in Urbandale, Iowa. The facility (36 employees) will manufacture and warehouse machinery and parts used in the ceramics, plastics, packaging equipment and food-processing industries. SACMI will manufacture labeling machinery (HTSUS 8422.30, duty-free) and compression molding machinery for bottle caps (HTSUS 8477.51, 3.10%) under zone procedures. Components purchased from abroad (up to 80 percent of finished value) used in manufacturing include grease with/without additive, vulcanized rubber tube, conveyor belts, belting and transmission belts, gasket rings, pipe fit and flanges, screws and bolts, cotters and cotter pins, springs, wrenches, vices, clamps, end milling cutters, tools, stoppers, caps and lids, fans, other parts of machinery for working rubber, safety or relief valves, solenoid valves, appliances, radial ball bearings, cup/cone assembly sets, spherical roller bearings, needle roller bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, cam/crank shafts, gears and gearing, flywheels and pulleys, clutches, clutches and shaft couplings, transmission parts, electric motors under 18.65W, distributors, electric relays, switches for electric circuits, fuses, electrical equipment for switch circuits, coaxial cable, brake parts, other shock absorbers, drawing instruments, and electrical table lamps (duty rate range: free to 9 %). FTZ procedures could exempt SACMI from Customs duty payments on foreign components that are re-exported. Some 20 percent of the plant's shipments are exported. On domestic shipments, the company would be able to choose the duty rate during customs entry procedures that applies to the finished products (duty-free to 3.10%) for the foreign components listed above and would be able to defer payments until merchandise is shipped from the facility and entered for U.S. consumption. SACMI also plans to realize logistical benefits through the use of weekly entry procedures. The application indicates that all of the above-cited savings from FTZ procedures would help improve the facility's international competitiveness. In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and report to the Board. Public comment on the application is invited from interested parties. Submissions (original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is October 29, 2007. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period to November 13, 2007. A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for public inspection at each of the following locations: U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 210 Walnut Street, Suite 749, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 and, the Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 2111, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230. For further information, contact Kathleen Boyce at Kathleen_Boyce@ita.doc.gov or
(202)482-1346. Dated: August 23, 2007. Andrew McGilvray, Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. E7-17116 Filed 8-28-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security [06-BIS-14] Action Affecting Export Privileges; Spector International, Inc.; In the Matter of: Spector International, Inc. d/b/a Norsal Export Limited, 27 Bethpage Drive, Monroe Township, NJ 08831, Respondent Order Relating to Spector International, Inc. d/b/a Norsal Export Ltd. The Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”) has initiated an administrative proceeding against Spector International, Inc. doing business as Norsal Export Limited (“Norsal”) pursuant to Section 766.3 of the Export Administration Regulations (currently codified at 15 CFR Parts 730-774 (2007)) (the “Regulations”), 1 and Section 13(c) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (50 U.S.C. app. § 2401-2420 (2000)) (the “Act”), 2 through issuance of a charging letter to Norsal that alleged that Norsal committed 44 violations of the Regulations. Specifically, the charges are: 1 The violations charged occurred between 2000 and 2003. The Regulations governing the violation at issue are found in the 2000 through 2003 version of the Code of Federal Regulations (15 CFR parts 730-774 (2000-2003)). The 2007 Regulations govern the procedural aspects of this case. 2 Since August 21, 2001, the Act has been in lapse and the President, through Executive Order 13222 of August 17, 2001 (3 CFR, 2001 Comp. 783 (2002)), as extended by successive Presidential Notices, the most recent being that of August 3, 2006 (71 Fed. Reg. 44,551 (Aug. 7, 2006)), has continued the Regulations in effect under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. § 1701-1706 (2000)). Charges 1-14 15 CFR 764.2(a)—Export of Microwave Amplifiers Without the Required Licenses On 14 occasions, between on or about November 9, 2000 and January 9, 2003, Norsal engaged in conduct prohibited by the Regulations by exporting or causing to be exported microwave amplifiers, items subject to the Regulations and classified under Export Control Classification Number (“ECCN”) 3A001.b.4, to the People's Republic of China (“China”) without the Department of Commerce license required by § 742.4 of the Regulations. In so doing, Norsal committed 14 violations § 764.2(a) of the Regulations. Charge 15 15 CFR 764.2(c)—Attempted Export of Microwave Amplifiers Without the Required License On or about March 13, 2003, Norsal attempted a violation of the Regulations by attempting to export microwave amplifiers, items subject to the Regulations and classified under ECCN 3A001.b.4, to China without the Department of Commerce license required by § 742.4 of the Regulations. In so doing, Norsal committed one violation of § 764.2(c) of the Regulations. Charges 16-30 15 CFR 764.2(e)—Selling Microwave Amplifiers With Knowledge of a Violation of the Regulations With respect to the exports or attempted exports as described in Charges 1-15 above, Norsal sold microwave amplifiers with the knowledge that a violation was about to occur or was intended to occur in connection with the microwave amplifiers. At all times relevant hereto, Norsal knew or had reason to know that the microwave amplifiers in question required a Department of Commerce license for export to China, and that the required license had not been obtained. In so doing, Norsal committed 15 violations of § 764.2(e) of the Regulations. Charges 31-44 15 CFR 764.2(g)—False Statement on Shipper's Export Declarations as to Authority To Export With respect to the exports or attempted exports as described in Charges 1-11 and 13-15, above, Norsal filed or caused to be filed Shipper's Export Declarations (“SEDs”) with the United States Government that contained false statements of fact. Specifically, Norsal filed or caused to be filed 14 SEDs that stated that the microwave amplifiers that were the subjects of the SEDs did not require licenses (“NLR”). This representation is false as at all times relevant to this case a Department of Commerce license was required to export the microwave amplifiers in question in this case to China. In so doing, Norsal committed 14 violations of § 764.2(g) of the Regulations. *Whereas,* BIS and Norsal have entered into a Settlement Agreement pursuant to Section 766.18(b) of the Regulations whereby they agreed to settle this matter in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth therein, and *Whereas,* I have approved of the terms of such Settlement Agreement; *It is Therefore Ordered:* *First,* that a civil penalty of $462,00 is assessed against Norsal. Payment shall be suspended for a period of one year from the date of entry of this Order and thereafter shall be waived, provided that during the period of suspension, Norsal has committed no violation of the Act, or any regulation, order, or license issued thereunder. *Second,* for a period of twenty-five years from the date of entry of this Order, Spector International, Inc. doing business as Norsal Export Limited, 27 Bethpage Drive, Monroe Township, New Jersey 08831 (“Norsal”), its successors or assigns, and when acting for or on behalf of Norsal, its representatives, agents, officers or employees (“Denied Person”) may not participate, directly or indirectly, in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, software, or technology (hereinafter collectively referred to as “item”) exported or to be exported from the United States that is subject to the Regulations, or in any other activity subject to the Regulations, including, but not limited to: A. Applying for, obtaining, or using any license, License Exception, or export control document; B. Carry on negotiations concerning, or ordering, buying, receiving, using, selling, delivering, storing, disposing of, forwarding, transporting, financing, or otherwise servicing in any way, any transaction involving any item exported from the United States that is subject to the Regulations, or in any other activity subject to the Regulations; or C. Benefiting in any way from any transaction involving any item exported or to be exported from the United States that is subject to the Regulations, or in any other activity subject to the Regulations. *Third,* that no person may, directly or indirectly, do any of the following: A. Export or reexport to or on behalf of the Denied Person any item subject to the Regulations; B. Take any action that facilitates the acquisition or attempted acquisition by the Denied Person of the ownership, possession, or control of any item subject to the Regulations that has been or will be exported from the United States, including financing or other support activities related to a transaction whereby the Denied Person acquires or attempts to acquire such ownership, possession or control; C. Take any action to acquire from or to facilitate the acquisition or attempted acquisition from the Denied Person of any item subject to the Regulations that has been exported from the United States; D. Obtain from the Denied Person in the United States any item subject to the Regulations with knowledge or reason to know that the item will be, or is intended to be, exported from the United States; or E. Engage in any transaction to service any item subject to the Regulations that has been or will be exported from the United States and which is owned, possessed or controlled by the Denied Person, or service any item, of whatever origin, that is owned, possessed or controlled by the Denied Person if such service involves the use of any item subject to the Regulations that has been or will be exported from the United States. For purposes of this paragraph, servicing means installation, maintenance, repair, modification or testing. *Fourth,* that, after notice and opportunity for comment as provided in Section 766.23 of the Regulations, any person, firm, corporation, or business organization related to Norsal by affiliation, ownership, control, or position of responsibility in the conduct of trade or related services may also be made subject to the provisions of this Order. *Fifth,* that this Order does not prohibit any export, reexport, or other transaction subject to the Regulations where the only items involved that are subject to the Regulations are the foreign-produced direct product of U.S.-origin technology. *Sixth,* that the charging letter, the Settlement Agreement, this Order, and the record of this case as defined by Section 766.20 of the Regulations shall be made available to the public. *Seventh,* that the administrative law judge shall be notified that this case is withdrawn from adjudication. *Eighth,* that this Order shall be served on the Denied Person and on BIS, and shall be published in the **Federal Register.** This Order, which constitutes the final agency action in this matter, is effective immediately. Entered this 21st day of August, 2007. Wendy L. Wysong, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement. [FR Doc. 07-4226 Filed 8-28-07; 8:45 am]
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Traces to 3 documents
6 references not yet in our index
- 40 CFR 1500
- 7 CFR 1794
- 40 CFR 1503.1
- 19 USC 81a-81u
- 15 CFR 400
- 50 USC 1701-1706
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cites case law
Notices
Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement and notice of public meeting
Cite40 CFR 1500
Cite7 CFR 1794
Cite40 CFR 1503.1
Cite19 USC 81a-81u
Cite15 CFR 400
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