Spar Canyon-Round Valley Service Road Project and Right-of-Way Amendment (DOE/EA-1980)

Custer County, Idaho

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the Spar Canyon-Round Valley Service Road Project and Right-of-Way Amendment and has made a decision to proceed with the project. BPA will construct a service road along about 5 miles of its existing Spar Canyon-Round Valley transmission line located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Custer County, Idaho. The project will provide BPA with continued safe and reliable access for operation and maintenance of the BPA transmission system.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

To understand the potential environmental impacts of this proposal, BPA and BLM prepared an environmental assessment (EA) following the procedures of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EA considered constructing the service road and a no-action alternative under which no road construction would occur. The EA describes anticipated impacts to the natural and human environment and includes mitigation measures that would enable BPA to avoid or minimize impacts. The EA was released for public review and comment in July 2018; and two comments were received.

The proposed schedule for the environmental review is as follows:

Scoping comment period         August 1, 2014 - September 2, 2014
EA comment period July 24, 2018 - August 9, 2018
Finding of No Significant Impact (if warranted) September 24, 2018
If decision to build, construction start Summer 2019

CURRENT STATUS

BPA has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI includes a Mitigation Action Plan to help avoid or lessen potential impacts. Separately, BLM plans to make available its environmental findings and a decision notice through the BLM ePlanning website. Project construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2019 and continue through early fall 2019.

CONTACT

For environmental-related information, contact:
Jeffrey J. Maslow Toll-free: 800-622-4519
Environmental Protection Specialist  Direct line: 502-230-3928
Bonneville Power Administration - ECT-4  Email: jjmaslow@bpa.gov 
P.O. Box 3621
Portland, OR 97208-3621

For project information, contact:
Todd Wehner         Toll-free: 800-622-4519
Transmission Project Manager Direct line: 360-619-6234
ACS Group, Inc.                   Email: tawehner@bpa.gov 
Bonneville Power Administration - TEP-TPP-1
P.O. Box 61409
Vancouver, WA 98666-1409

For project information, contact:
Becky Lazdauskas         Direct line: 208-524-7521
BLM Realty Specialist Email: rlazdauskas@blm.gov 
U.S. Dept of Interior, Bureau of Land Management
Idaho Falls District BLM
1405 Hollipark Drive
Idaho Falls, ID 83401

DOCUMENTS

FONSI
Public letter  (10/5/2018)
FONSI  (09/24/2018)
MAP  (09/24/2018)
EA Errata Sheet  (09/24/2018)

EA
EA comments received
Environmental Assessment  (07/24/2018)
Public Letter  (07/24/2018)
Comment Form  (07/24/2018)

SCOPING
Scoping comments received
Public Letter  (08/01/2014)
Project Map  (07/10/2014)
Comment Form  (08/01/2014)