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Title: Environmental Assessment for Electrical Power System Upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - Final Document

Abstract

The ''National Environmental Policy Act of 1969'' (NEPA) requires Federal agency officials to consider the environmental consequences of their proposed actions before decisions are made. In complying with NEPA, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) follows the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR 1021). The purpose of an Environmental Assessment (EA) is to provide Federal decision makers with sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or issue a Finding of No Significant Impact. In this case, the DOE decision to be made is whether to construct and operate a 19.5-mile (mi) (31-kilometer [km]) electric transmission line (power line) reaching from the Norton Substation, west across the Rio Grande, to locations within the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Technical Areas (TAs) 3 and 5 at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The construction of one electric substation at LANL would be included in the project as would the construction of two line segments less than 1,200 feet (ft) (366 meters [m]) long that would allow for the uncrossing of a portion of two existing power lines. Additionally, a fiber opticsmore » communications line would be included and installed concurrently as part of the required overhead ground conductor for the power line. The new power line would improve the reliability of electric service in the LANL and Los Aktrnos County areas as would the uncrossing of the crossed segments of the existing lines. Additionally, installation of the new power line would enable the LANL and the Los Alamos County electric grid, which is a shared resource, to be adapted to accommodate the future import of increased power when additional power service becomes available in the northern New Mexico area. Similarly, the fiber optics line would allow DOE to take advantage of future opportunities in enhanced communications services. The objectives of this EA are to (1) describe the baseline environmental conditions at the proposed power line location, (2) analyze the potential effects to the existing environment from construction, operation, and maintenance of a new power line, and (3) compare the effects of the Proposed Action and the four action alternatives to the No Action Alternative. In addition, the EA provides DOE with environmental information that could be used in developing mitigative actions to minimize or avoid adverse effects to the integrity of the human environment and natural ecosystems should DOE decide to proceed with construction and operation of the new power line. Ultimately, the goal of NEPA and this EA is to aid DOE officials in making decisions based on understanding the environmental consequences of their decision.« less

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
U.S. Department of Energy, Los Alamos Area Office, Los Alamos, NM (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42) (US)
OSTI Identifier:
768506
Report Number(s):
DOE/EA-1247
TRN: US200417%%155
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 9 Mar 2000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; COMMUNICATIONS; CONSTRUCTION; ECOSYSTEMS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; FIBER OPTICS; IMPORTS; MAINTENANCE; METERS; POWER SYSTEMS; POWER TRANSMISSION LINES; REGULATIONS; RELIABILITY; US CEQ; EA; NM; LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY; TRANSMISSION LINES; BLM; USFS

Citation Formats

. Environmental Assessment for Electrical Power System Upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - Final Document. United States: N. p., 2000. Web. doi:10.2172/768506.
. Environmental Assessment for Electrical Power System Upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - Final Document. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/768506
. 2000. "Environmental Assessment for Electrical Power System Upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - Final Document". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/768506. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/768506.
@article{osti_768506,
title = {Environmental Assessment for Electrical Power System Upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - Final Document},
author = {},
abstractNote = {The ''National Environmental Policy Act of 1969'' (NEPA) requires Federal agency officials to consider the environmental consequences of their proposed actions before decisions are made. In complying with NEPA, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) follows the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR 1021). The purpose of an Environmental Assessment (EA) is to provide Federal decision makers with sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or issue a Finding of No Significant Impact. In this case, the DOE decision to be made is whether to construct and operate a 19.5-mile (mi) (31-kilometer [km]) electric transmission line (power line) reaching from the Norton Substation, west across the Rio Grande, to locations within the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Technical Areas (TAs) 3 and 5 at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The construction of one electric substation at LANL would be included in the project as would the construction of two line segments less than 1,200 feet (ft) (366 meters [m]) long that would allow for the uncrossing of a portion of two existing power lines. Additionally, a fiber optics communications line would be included and installed concurrently as part of the required overhead ground conductor for the power line. The new power line would improve the reliability of electric service in the LANL and Los Aktrnos County areas as would the uncrossing of the crossed segments of the existing lines. Additionally, installation of the new power line would enable the LANL and the Los Alamos County electric grid, which is a shared resource, to be adapted to accommodate the future import of increased power when additional power service becomes available in the northern New Mexico area. Similarly, the fiber optics line would allow DOE to take advantage of future opportunities in enhanced communications services. The objectives of this EA are to (1) describe the baseline environmental conditions at the proposed power line location, (2) analyze the potential effects to the existing environment from construction, operation, and maintenance of a new power line, and (3) compare the effects of the Proposed Action and the four action alternatives to the No Action Alternative. In addition, the EA provides DOE with environmental information that could be used in developing mitigative actions to minimize or avoid adverse effects to the integrity of the human environment and natural ecosystems should DOE decide to proceed with construction and operation of the new power line. Ultimately, the goal of NEPA and this EA is to aid DOE officials in making decisions based on understanding the environmental consequences of their decision.},
doi = {10.2172/768506},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/768506}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 09 00:00:00 EST 2000},
month = {Thu Mar 09 00:00:00 EST 2000}
}