The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have pushed back the date for a joint draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) Project. ...A 90-day comment period will follow the release of the draft EIS.
The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have pushed back the date for a joint draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) Project. ...A 90-day comment period will follow the release of the draft EIS.
Butte, Mont. -- The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have pushed back the date for a joint draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) Project.
The MSTI project is a proposed 500-kilovolt electric transmission line extending from a proposed substation south of Townsend, Montana to an existing substation north of Jerome, Idaho. Numerous alternative routes and local routing options are being evaluated as well as a No Action Alternative. If approved, the MSTI project would require amendments to BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land use plans.
The Draft EIS was originally scheduled to …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Butte, Mont. -- The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have pushed back the date for a joint draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) Project.
The MSTI project is a proposed 500-kilovolt electric transmission line extending from a proposed substation south of Townsend, Montana to an existing substation north of Jerome, Idaho. Numerous alternative routes and local routing options are being evaluated as well as a No Action Alternative. If approved, the MSTI project would require amendments to BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land use plans.
The Draft EIS was originally scheduled to be released in April 2010. Because of public interest in the project, the agencies have opted to take additional time to consider further agency and public input on the project prior to releasing the document for public review. The Draft EIS is now expected to be released in early June 2010. The preliminary, agency-preferred alternative will be identified in the draft EIS.
Public and agency comments, as well as input from Native American Tribes, have been considered both in the development of alternatives to the proposed action and in the analysis of the potential effects of the proposed project.
A 90-day comment period will follow the release of the draft EIS. Copies of the draft EIS will be available for review at several BLM and USFS office locations, MDEQ, public libraries, and online. Timely comments will be evaluated and responded to in the final EIS, currently scheduled for release in fall 2010.
More information about the MSTI project is available at the BLM web site, https://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/prog/lands_realty/projects.html; the MDEQ web site, https://deq.mt.gov/MFS/MSTI/MSTIindex.asp; and the Northwestern Energy web site, https://www.msti500kv.com. For additional information, call Tom Ring at 406-444-6785.