DOE/EIS-0485 Draft Environmental Impact Statement Interconnection of the Grande Prairie Wind Farm Holt County, Nebraska June 2014 COVER SHEET LEAD FEDERAL AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Western Area Power Administration (Western) TITLE: Interconnection of the Grande Prairie Wind Farm, Holt County, Nebraska, DOE/EIS‐ 0485 CONTACT: For additional information on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement, For additional information on DOE National contact: Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Matt Marsh activities, contact: Environmental Protection Specialist Carol Borgstrom Western Area Power Administration Director of NEPA Policy and Compliance Upper Great Plains Region U.S. Department of Energy 2900 4th Avenue North 1000 Independence Avenue SW P.O. Box 35800 Washington, DC 20585 Billings, MT 59107-5800 Telephone: (800) 472-2756 Telephone: 406-255-2811 DOE NEPA Web Site: http://energy.gov/ E-mail: [email protected] nepa/office-nepa-policy-and-compliance ABSTRACT: Grande Prairie Wind, LLC (Grande Prairie Wind), a majority-owned subsidiary of Geronimo Wind Energy, LLC d/b/a Geronimo Energy, LLC1, is proposing to construct a commercial, utility‐scale wind energy generation facility near O’Neill, Nebraska, in Holt County. At full build‐out, the Grande Prairie Wind Farm (Project) would include up to 266 wind turbines with a combined generating capacity of up to 400 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. Other proposed Project facilities would include access roads, temporary crane paths, underground power collection lines, aboveground generation-tie (gen-tie) line, two collector substations, one interconnection switchyard, six or more permanent meteorological towers, temporary meteorological towers, and an operations and maintenance building. Grande Prairie Wind has applied to Western to interconnect the proposed Project to Western’s 345-kilovolt (kV) Fort Thompson to Grand Island transmission line at a new switchyard. The Draft EIS includes a description of Western’s proposed Federal action and an analysis of environmental effects that would occur as a result of proposed Project alternatives, including a No Action alternative. Western invites interested parties to comment on this Draft EIS during the 45-day comment period that will begin when the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a Notice of Availability of this Draft EIS in the Federal Register. 1 Midwest Wind Energy previously owned Grande Prairie Wind and made the original interconnection requests on August 22, 2007 (0117) and September 26, 2007 (0718) now being considered as a single request. Grande Prairie Wind Farm Draft Environmental Impact Statement This page intentionally left blank. Grande Prairie Wind Farm Draft Environmental Impact Statement TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 ES.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 ES.2 Purpose and Need for Agency Action ............................................................................ 1 ES.2.1 Western’s Purpose and Need ................................................................................. 1 ES.2.2 Applicant’s Purpose and Need .............................................................................. 1 ES.3 Proposed Action and Alternatives .................................................................................. 5 ES.3.1 Western’s Proposed Action ................................................................................... 5 ES.3.2 Grande Prairie Wind’s Proposed Action ............................................................... 5 ES.3.3 No Action Alternative ......................................................................................... 10 ES.4 Public Involvement, Consultation, and Coordination ................................................... 10 ES.4.1 Issues Raised During Public Scoping Period ...................................................... 11 ES.5 Comparison of Effects to Resources for Project Alternatives ...................................... 12 Chapter 1 Project Overview and Background ........................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Project Summary .......................................................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Purpose and Need for Agency Action ......................................................................... 1-5 1.4 Grande Prairie Wind’s Purpose and Need ................................................................... 1-5 1.5 Regulatory and Legal Framework ............................................................................... 1-6 1.5.1 Federal and State Statutes and Regulations ........................................................... 1-6 1.5.2 County Regulations ................................................................................................ 1-8 1.5.3 Consultation and Regulatory Compliance History .............................................. 1-10 1.6 Scoping ...................................................................................................................... 1-11 1.6.1 Issues Raised During Public Scoping Period ....................................................... 1-12 1.7 Draft EIS Public Review ............................................................................................ 1-13 Chapter 2 Proposed Action and Alternatives ....................................................................... 2-15 2.1 Western's Proposed Federal Action ........................................................................... 2-15 2.2 Grande Prairie Wind’s Proposed Action.................................................................... 2-15 2.2.1 Project Components ............................................................................................. 2-15 2.2.2 Construction ......................................................................................................... 2-24 2.2.3 Operations and Maintenance ................................................................................ 2-25 2.2.4 Decommissioning ................................................................................................ 2-25 2.3 No Action Alternative ................................................................................................ 2-26 Chapter 3 Affected Environment .......................................................................................... 3-27 Grande Prairie Wind Farm Draft Environmental Impact Statement i 3.1 Geology and Topography .......................................................................................... 3-27 3.1.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-27 3.1.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-27 3.2 Soils............................................................................................................................ 3-28 3.2.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-28 3.2.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-28 3.3 Surface Water and Groundwater ................................................................................ 3-29 3.3.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-29 3.3.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-29 3.4 Air Quality and Climate ............................................................................................. 3-30 3.4.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-30 3.4.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-30 3.4.3 Greenhouse Gases ................................................................................................ 3-31 3.5 Vegetation .................................................................................................................. 3-32 3.5.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-32 3.5.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-32 3.6 Wetlands .................................................................................................................... 3-37 3.6.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-37 3.6.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................. 3-37 3.7 Wildlife ...................................................................................................................... 3-38 3.7.1 Scope of Analysis ................................................................................................ 3-38 3.7.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................