ML20087B136

Discusses Review of Environ Rept Re Transmission Lines Crossing Indian Reservations.Tribal Council Consent Should Be Obtained for right-of-way Before Environ Rept Published. Related Info Encl

ML20087B136
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	12/11/1974
From:	INTERIOR, DEPT. OF, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
To:	Regan W US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC)
Shared Package
ML20083L542	List: ML20087B136 ML20087B150 ML20087B159
References
FOIA-84-47 NUDOCS 8403080400
Download: ML20087B136 (5)

Text

*

(

/- .

1

. , a .y x

i United States Departrnent of the Interior e ,

b

~

'J llGRI',AU OF INDIAN ' AFFAIRS l'HOENIX AREA OFFICE [bj j,.

4 I

l P O. Box 7007 Phix nix, Arizona 85011 .]9

-k$gg a.s.

.s....,........

RSc1 Prop. Mgmt. December 11, 1974 C3 . s 300.1 - (ER 74/1336)

F .

(J W. H. Regan, Jr., Chief .

g Environmental Projects Branch 4 -

Directorate of Licensing 8 Ig f O - l.)

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Washington, D.C, 20545 l

Dear Mr. Regan,

Jr.: I

Subject:

Review of Applicant's Environmental Report, Volumes 1 - 5, Including Supplements 1 and 2, for Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, Maricopa County, .[

Arizona (AEC 50528, 529, 530) (ER 74/1336) }

s j-This office has reviewed those portions of the subject report only t dealing with transmission 'line crossings of Indian reservations, inasmuch as other aspects of the project do not appear to directly affect Indian lands.

The information contained in parts 3.9.1.1.2 and 3.9.1.1.3 is extremely presumptive in assuming that the tribal governments will consent to the granting of rights-of-way across tribal lands. The Papage Tribe has not been contacted, and if past precedence holds, the Gila River Indian Community is not interested, t

This procedure whereby the utility companies merely assume they will obtain Indian rights-of-way creates a great deal of difficulty for the j Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribes. Once the company publishes '

a report depicting transmission line corridors across Indian lands, -

the public assumes the Indians are in agreement on the alignment when [

t they usually are not. This public exposure moreover places a certain j

amount of pressure on the Indians to con..ent to the alignment, for to do otherwise may lead to criticism and charges that the Indians are l causing expensive and time consuming realignment problems.

It places the BIA in the position of' reviewing and furnishing assistance j in the compilation of an environmental statement and violating'its trust l responsibilities in so doing because no tribal consent has been 'obtained j for the rights-of-way. ' '

j l

t  ;

CONSERVE memers 1 I

.!, ENE "

e[403%%O0g40213 [

PDR f s ANO4-47 s-5875 -

Save Energy and You Serve America!'

j l t'  !

(- .

t ,

(l' 2 '

i j

A third consideration is that if no off-reservation alternative corridors .

are selected in the statement, the statement itself may require extensive reworking or revision in case a tribe refuses consent.

The report also illustrates one other important consideration; the fact chat a tribe has granted one transmission line right-of-way does not necessarily mean they will grant others in the same corridor, and yet- l it is becoming easier to assume this because of the prior use concept.

A probable sol ation to this problem is to obtain tribal council consent to a right-of-way before publishing an enviromnental report or statement depicting transmission lines crossing Indian land. This,_of course, ,

l will require early negotiations on the part of the utility companies, but will uitbnately ensure that the environmental and right-of-way (

prdcessing can proceed with greater efficiency because all uncertainties will have been eliminated in the process.

Ot. sges 12.1-10 and 12.1-11, Table 12.1-2 requires correction. In the

" Agency" column, the proper tribe identifications should be " Gila River Indian Community," and "Ak-Chin Indian Community" instead of % ricopa Indian Tribe."

In the " Authorization Required" column, the entry opposite the BIA should read, " Grant of easement for rights-of-way on lands held in ,

trust or restricted status for the Papago Indian Tribe and the Gila -

River and Ak-Chin Indian Communities." For the other entries in that column, substitute the word " Consent" for " Acquisition" where it is used opposite the three tribe designations.

In the " Statutory Authority" column, none of the present entries are correct. For the BIA a'nd the tribes, the statutory authority for the

. granting of or consenting to rih g ts-o f-way across Indian lands is the ,

Act of February 5,1948 (62 Stat. 17; 25 U.S.C. 323-328). NEPA provides }

statutory authority for preparation of bnpact statements, but there is no t provision for approvs1 of bnpact statements. The 'ina'jor Federal action"  !

is approved under its own statutory authority which we have cited above.

Pursuant to the last column, we suggest that negotiations with the tribes begin immediately and the column' entry changed accordingly,  ;. v Sincerely yours, Akd?8 Dire r

. . .c J

s 4g

. V. ;.Si.

. ..n. . . - . . . .

. , - - ~,

g4 - CITY OF TUCSON x.w+

$h k'. T h . .s i. .. , h . .. en , wcson. wzoNA 85703

$p A. J. Krause Program Manager <

Box 1899 Pittsburg, Pa 15230

Dear Mr. Krause:

Thank you for letti;ng us know of the changes -

in the corridor areas for the proposed 500 kv line from the APS Saguaro Generating Sta-tion to the proposed Willcox Substation.

The City of Tucson owns and leases land in the San Pedro River Valley around Cascabel, and we've enclosed a copy of a map to show you -

how much and where.

There is the possibility of some conflict be-tween the proposed line and the City's plans for the property,'out a lot of that would '"

depend on the specific location of the pro-posed line, its physical design, etc.

The plans for the property are not detailed at this time, but we'd like for you to keep in touch with us as the location selection process continues.

Sincerely,

/ 1

.anK Sortel i Planning Director Monday, July 1, 1974 Enc.

I l

~

FS:JDB/jb 1

5 1

I -

. 148 _

i s

a, , _ _ .

. y, R.19E'~R 2OI F '

f

• r.

.u-

? . .

, . . . , - '- . w* ..%. . (. e '. - .,,, . v, w 1 r.:t .ei.,:.4->.

---

* o A/.Jv. . ;. r.l. :

y ' .

. ~,.'

. ~e; ,. .. ,.c. < f ,.'=., 'd .'..d.el;-). ' -

..;;r . . n.

. % 't ?-

.. , s ,n, <* ., ,

}, f. i

, h'* {'

.: .f ,' g s } *. .

- If ,

d. .

' *; ' Yp. ; . G .; . '. ,

. . . .. ,,y .:

N. .i% %;a ! .. hl f** y

. . R.l.,e. . r.-- MW- ' - . %4 ..-* ** :;' ;' ,6,i.3,f, :q., e ;,., '3,?*3- , ,' c.S - . _: f@e . f,y - ..T - R. ,,d;f  : .';; "f- I ' .a .:s Q:,y%; c- 17., .u . .- a - . ?...v ..w, ,. . ... g , , i,:- <c: _ <r..... , .wr. e.

~- . ,_ " .,:,;;. - . :..

<-  : + i)p -:. 5 .N :,3 v v. . ;. . -

. va 4 r . .- ; v .. .-W

~.

~J

.~. ,. ,-. . ~ . '!

g, .;. ,. . n. . . . a r y.

.. y, ,i.gl1.w _. a.v> _7,, ,./ ,,c - ef. zo,,.y D ,.,)zi T

• r .

. . 22::s%y i ~:*: i '., ~ : '.3s??,,f,C ;'?..) . Q,.fi:= : i ! ~ * .:;.:Q.{ K -- J -. - \. . y,  :- . . '. . .s:. ^ P.. .:.. , . . P(/APS 500-kv.- TRANSMIS,..SION . . .. . ..e . .. , . __e.=,.- LINE . .. . , W- .a, ,. f.- ,.  ; c '_ - '.. . - x;. .-.4 -- 3 .g lm:. x y?,.f.:*'.15.....[ .,w .2 .:'.? Ii'$ 5 ' ~. f,. ,,._.,,.;;q.. :.? 2?i.h. t~.$ . ' . . . ..A ~ _. ? ob : .:, & . m'T:. . ' f J, .. 'f/ . ;.y:y5' ,. . '. - W. .-- ..t s... f .m , , :.a .q':.yk. .g (f') .

• 33 .

/ N ,3" f 7 *,. ' C ~' a ,, [ ' *== -:- . ,&.s.' t.' r l55 .M [ '% ^,.'. g .- v-s: ; 2 . .jJ , .. d.,Sa. . 7L

/.

., /g ,.I't''""../ . . N. ,*. x. T.,.yg.v M....eg;Q,,3.f>.. . s.g:.W ' .

r. p'.

irr-k'3.; f 3 h A's, ' .': 'N / /, Ah N'f h ] I //V ) , ifs f// / / Y z u v ,,, ,, , % hh,cp,fM. ~ W,h /< . A, . . A h;.. ,., h .,,ff,/l//f W

• h, .;-k?. kw Uh '

f, ,/s/ /// % '..$.h&4 r 1 hiG.,hgyk. - - g kh..~ . [ &.. / 7 /,o /['iY-I$ &s .s&, M s% w% . % "3 -~  ;.....:.~ &v% ,, nW ,,//y/,',/,'/A A'n.. ,- 2, / . n. \ 3?.5'?f.f{;?).!$ ff Wffl,5 4 / : -Qk ' 5 .!.h . S. / / I ? .Y l - l +1,w.j. 7-y. bh 1.l?$.k < $' m., ..,,l YhV/h ' $. 97 .ifllgXM rl.: m%::.:c.D:o':L v - , :.... /dL,U/c?3 // k.. %. c? .

e. c. .. . .A, . .%;t .

. i .- . L,.r, r. ~3 . . lfl-*,,...' *w.~ .yl L'" c.. .q:,

,h::g.

.. 7, aco

n ,t-" -L w r,s

' u,g(:i, rarm _ l.,. ,.- M.?s.., ..- . f * - . R.19 E N cigopyacsoiv.x rse.ocos;- 0;' tmw c/w ofs' ness 4.cnto f.' A/VDS OM'A/ED AA/D ' , g5.s755,9 gy c7yy op . yg(f,gg/) / DV'C/7'/*smr.c omvco,uwe &cksto - 7(_/cSCA/x.y y/c/A//7Y . r.m.p:.l us. uno cowoc.e es rse Q#CASCAddf.' Ad'CAG "'" S,4N AF 'WO ,G/!M~~e e * . / o ( I - l FEE l ^ * . ~ A"3TZDIS.A . ~ IFJJJEUC simTD72C #3 CDTEPA?.7?l j

p. O. Bo x 216 6 6 pM O Ei.IX, ARIZ ON A 8 5036 February 24, 1975 Mr. Thomas W. Green .

$ 7f d g o - $ 2 $/S 3 9 M 30 Argonne National Laboratory 9700 S. Cass Avenue - Argonne, Illinois 60439 Dear Tom-Enclosed is a copy of our Environmental Analysis on Project 2 of the PVNGS transmission system, prepared by Westinghouse Electric Corporation Environmental Systems Department. Also enclosed is the information you requested on the City of - Tucson's land holdings in the San Pedro River Valley. s If you need any additional information, please let me know. Very truly yours, omas J. S livan Environmen 1 Scientist TJS/dd , Enc. , ,. p cc: J. Rassi <. . B. Petro  ? ' C,,J t, i id  ;., \...\,n {.7.Y . Z 'j k 13 5 " Y4: .r>w. < n..pa .s ~ 'h l[ - '- *O F ./ %l t t ,a . l !I-MAY.? 5: 'E75 - brs ..u. 5 5870 - .s ' j . c.,-m - g a,s. N / - .