FSEC launches online transmission EIS tool and prepares tribal consultations for Cascade transmission project
Loading...
Summary
FSEC unveiled an online programmatic EIS route analysis tool and said letters requesting formal tribal consultation on the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project are prepared; the tool is live and staff scheduled workshops to help counties and the public use it.
The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council on March 18 announced that its electronic programmatic environmental impact statement and route‑analysis tool are now live, and council staff said they will soon request formal tribal consultation on the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project.
"The e programmatic and its associated route analysis tool are now live and available for public use," said Sean Green, CPIS specialist for FSEC, who demonstrated the online interface and noted it is accessible from FSEC's programmatic EIS landing page at fsec.wa.gov. FSEC completed a series of workshops with the Washington Department of Ecology and plans an in‑person workshop in Grant County on March 25 and a virtual follow‑up on April 2.
The tool is intended to help local planners and the public visualize route alternatives and support subsequent project‑specific SEPA reviews, Green said. He added that staff are coordinating the programmatic review with federal environmental review requirements to reduce duplicative work between NEPA processes and FSEC's CIPA (county/agency) processes.
Chair Kurt Beckett told the council that letters requesting formal government‑to‑government consultation on the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project are prepared and will be sent soon. "I was intending and recommending that we request consultation on the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project," Beckett said, inviting council members to flag any additional tribes to include.
Several council members urged broad tribal outreach. Councilor Pamplin said the outreach list should include treaty tribes and intertribal organizations such as the Yakama Nation, Warm Springs, Nez Perce, Umatilla and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission. Staff said they have already notified many Washington and relevant Oregon tribes during program development and that some tribes signaled they prefer to respond in writing rather than seek formal consultation immediately.
FSEC staff emphasized that the programmatic tool and workshops are an ongoing public‑engagement effort; the agency will use the tool to inform route analyses and to coordinate timing and scope of project‑level reviews. The next public steps are the scheduled workshops and distribution of the consultation letters for Cascade transmission; staff said they will report back to the council as consultation responses and scheduling emerge.
