82 FR 35133 - Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 144 (July 28, 2017)

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is announcing an extension of the public comment period on its proposed amendments to procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The amendments also address implementation of the Executive Order 13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Considering Stakeholder Input. A notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2017, announcing a 60-day comment period closing on August 7, 2017. This document serves to extend the comment period by 30 days until September 6, 2017. TVA is extending the comment period because of the timely requests we received to do so.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 35133]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15983]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

18 CFR Part 1318


Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is announcing an 
extension of the public comment period on its proposed amendments to 
procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 
The amendments also address implementation of the Executive Order 
13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a 
Process for Considering Stakeholder Input. A notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2017, 
announcing a 60-day comment period closing on August 7, 2017. This 
document serves to extend the comment period by 30 days until September 
6, 2017. TVA is extending the comment period because of the timely 
requests we received to do so.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published June 8, 2017, 
at 82 FR 26620, is extended. Comments must be received or postmarked on 
or before September 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments can be submitted by one of the following methods:
    1. TVA's NEPA Web site: http://www.tva.gov/nepa. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments electronically on the Web site.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Mail comments to: NEPA Rule Comments, Tennessee Valley 
Authority, 400 W. Summit Hill Drive 11D-K, Knoxville, TN 37902.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, please note 
that any comments received, including names and addresses, will become 
part of the project administrative record and will be available for 
public inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Higdon, NEPA Specialist, 
Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 W. Summit Hill Drive #11D-K, Knoxville, 
Tennessee 37902. Telephone: 865-632-8051. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 8, 2017, TVA published a notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register (82 FR 26620) to revise 
TVA's implementing procedures for assessing the effects of TVA's 
actions in accordance with NEPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
TVA requested comments from the public during a 60-day public review 
period. As discussed in that earlier document, the proposed amendments 
include: (1) Updates to organizational references to clarify roles and 
responsibilities within TVA; (2) acknowledgement of the use of modern 
notification and communication methods to improve public participation; 
(3) revisions to TVA's list of categorical exclusions to include common 
actions that have been demonstrated to have little effect on the human 
environment and to remove categorical exclusions for actions which TVA 
rarely or no longer undertakes; (4) instructions to incorporate 
Executive Order 13690; and (5) revisions to improve the clarity of the 
procedures and remove redundant and outdated information. TVA proposes 
to publish the amended procedures as rules to be codified in Chapter 
XIII (Tennessee Valley Authority) as part 1318 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (18 CFR part 1318). The key changes to the procedures 
proposed by TVA are described in detail in the notice.
    After publication of the notice, TVA received several requests by 
stakeholders to extend the comment period to allow for additional time 
to review the amendments. TVA determined that extending the period by 
30 days is appropriate. The TVA Web site listed above contains relevant 
information relating to the proposed amendments, and TVA urges the 
public to review this information prior to submitting comments.

Jacinda B. Woodward,
Senior Vice President, Resources and River Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-15983 Filed 7-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8120-08-P