Notice of Public Hearings for the Proposed Bangor Hydro-Electric Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability Interconnect

Résumé

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces two public hearings on the "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Bangor Hydro- Electric Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability Interconnect" (DOE/EIS- 0372). The Draft EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations, 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and the DOE NEPA regulations, 10 CFR part 1021. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) are cooperating agencies in the preparation of this Draft EIS. The proposed DOE action in the Draft EIS is to amend BHE's existing Presidential permit to allow construction along the Modified Consolidated Corridors Route of a single-circuit, 345,000-volt, electric transmission line that would cross the U.S. international border in the vicinity of Baileyville, Maine. DOE has prepared this Draft EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts in the United States of the proposed action and the range of reasonable alternatives, including the No Action alternative.