Final version of federal energy corridor plan released

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Federal agencies involved in designating the proposed West-Wide Energy Corridor have scaled back the number of national wildlife refuge and wilderness area crossings contained in the 2007 draft, but total acreage has increased from 2.9 million to 3.3 million acres in the final version released Thursday.

The four-volume Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement analyzes the environmental impacts of designating more than 6,112 miles of energy corridors on federal land in 11 western states, including New Mexico and Arizona. Maps previously released show the corridors come up to Navajo Nation boundaries and stop, indicating pathways across Navajo would be needed.

The final document indicates the total corridor length increased by less than 60 miles, the number of national wildlife refuge crossings dropped from 12 to two, wilderness area crossings decreased from 27 to zero, and roadless areas from 17 to five. The overall 12 percent increase in corridor area is due largely to an increase in the width of some corridor segments.

In Arizona, 16 corridors covering 650 miles would encompass 386,567 acres. Of that, 579 miles are located on existing utility or transportation rights of way. In New Mexico, four corridors encompass 293 miles and 121,064 acres, with 256 miles located on existing rights of way.
The agencies chose a standard corridor width of 3,500 feet as a starting point to provide flexibility for siting multiple rights of way, though some corridors could take in more or less footage depending on a specific project.

During a public meeting in Window Rock in February, Arvin Trujillo, executive director of the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources, said designation of the corridors on federal lands bordering the exterior boundaries of the Nation “places an undue burden” on Navajo to designate similar corridors to accommodate the federal plan.

“In order to connect lines developed through this process, the federal government and future developers must work with the Nation through its right-of-way process,” he said.
Trujillo also told DOE not to expect Navajo to accommodate a 3,500-foot-wide corridor — about three-quarters of a mile — across the Nation, as it would be very difficult and would not be considered as being in the best interest of the Nation.

Designation of the proposed corridors would require federal agencies to amend as many as 165 land use or equivalent plans.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005, crafted largely by U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, directs the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and the Interior to designate corridors in the 11 states for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines, and electricity transmission and distribution facilities.

The final document analyzes a No Action Alternative and a Proposed Action. Under the No Action Alternative, the corridors would not be designated. Under the Proposed Action, which is the preferred alternative, the agencies would designate federal energy corridors consisting of existing and newly designated corridors.

The Agencies will issue Records of Decisions within 30 days after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's notice of availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.

The proposed corridors do not designate specific projects.; instead, they are proposed locations where future projects could be sited. No direct environmental impacts are expected to occur as a result of implementing either alternative, with the possible exception of effects to property values adjacent to or between designated corridor segments.

Because many of the proposed corridors pass through areas managed my more than one agency, such as Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service or Forest Service lands, the agencies will create a virtual “one-stop-shop” process to expedite application procedures, according to the document.

Information:
http://corridoreis.anl.gov