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BLM releases final EIS on Gateway West project
The Bureau of Land Management released a final document last Friday outlining the environmental impact on a large-scale powerline upgrade project that's expected to run through Elmore County.
The BLM released the environmental impact statement on the Gateway West Transmission Line Project more than a year after it released public comments regarding the proposed project.
A joint venture between Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power, the Gateway West Transmission Line Project includes building a series of 145- to 180-foot towers capable of carrying up to 500 kilovolts of power across 1,150 miles.
Idaho Power plans to run two sets of power lines through the county and across southern Idaho. The first set would run north of Mountain Home with the second route expected to skirt around several communities, including Glenns Ferry, Hammett and Bruneau.
Construction of Gateway West is expected to add 3,000 megawatts of transmission capacity, according to a spokesperson with the BLM during a previous interview with the Mountain Home News. The transmission line would serve present and future needs of customers, enhance electric system reliability and transmit electricity generated from new and existing resources, including wind power.
Because these power lines cross federally-managed public land, the project became subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The federal law required the BLM to put together an environmental impact statement to gather public comments.
Bureau officials will host a series of open house meetings in Wyoming and Idaho to answer questions about the final version of the environmental impact statement. The first is scheduled to run from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Boise Hotel and Conference Center at 3300 South Vista Avenue.
The bureau doesn't plan to host this type of public forum in Mountain Home or communities in Elmore County.
People have the option to comment or file protests regarding an amendment to the project's land use plan. According to the BLM, 18 proposed amendments were needed for the preferred route to remain consistent with seven of the bureau's land-use plans.
Those wanting to comment must submit them electronically or in writing to the BLM headquarters in Washington, D.C., by May 27. Details on the protest process are posted online on the bureau's website at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/planning/planning_overview/protest_resolution.h....
In addition, people have until June 28 to file comments on the final environmental impact statement. The bureau's response to those comments would appear in the final record of decision -- the bureau's final decision on how those transmission lines would be routed across Idaho and Wyoming.
A draft version of the Gateway West environmental impact statement was held up for nearly 18 months as the BLM addressed a "significant number" of comments from various bureau departments during an internal review, officials said. Those comments prompted the bureau to hold off on releasing the draft document.
Among those comments were concerns over Sage Grouse, one of the ground-dwelling birds common in places like Wyoming. While not listed as a threatened or endangered species, this power line project has the potential to affect their status, bureau officials indicated.