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Vantage to Pomona Heights Executive Summary 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS October 2016 PAGE ES-i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Executive Summary provides a synopsis of both the Vantage to Pomona Heights 230 kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project (Project) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) included in this Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) document. On January 4, 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the DEIS for public review and comment, identifying an Agency Preferred Alternative paralleling an existing transmission line for approximately 77% of the total length in Benton, Grant, and Yakima counties. As a result of the comments received at public meetings and submitted in writing during the DEIS comment period, the BLM, Pacific Power, and the U.S. Department of the Army Joint Base Lewis-McChord Yakima Training Center (JBLM YTC) met and identified a new route that is located largely on JBLM YTC land. This new route is similar to a northern route, also located largely on JBLM YTC, that was considered and eliminated in the DEIS. This previously eliminated route was re-considered because of revised electrical regulatory requirements (i.e., reduction in transmission line separation). The revised separation requirements would also eliminate JBLM YTC aerial operating conflicts that had previously eliminated the route from consideration in the DEIS. The New Northern Route (NNR) Alternative was developed and analyzed in the SDEIS and Alternative D from the DEIS remained as the Agency Preferred Alternative for comparison. The SDEIS was published in January of 2015. This FEIS addresses public comments received on both the DEIS and SDEIS and considers the No Action Alternative and all nine of the Action Alternatives analyzed in the DEIS and SDEIS. The nine Action Alternatives considered in this FEIS range from 40.5 to 66.8 miles in length. The Action Alternatives cross federal land managed by BLM, JBLM YTC, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and state land managed by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Yakima, Kittitas, Benton, and Grant counties are crossed by the Action Alternatives considered in this FEIS. The information presented in the DEIS and the SDEIS have been combined in the FEIS for clarity, and resource data and analyses have been updated as necessary for full disclosure of anticipated impacts for all Action Alternatives. In order to provide maximum flexibility to the decision makers and incorporate all input from the public, Cooperating Agencies, tribes, and interested parties, all Action Alternatives are available for consideration up to the issuance of a decisions (i.e., Record of Decision [ROD]) by the BLM; Record of Environmental Consideration [REC] by JBLM YTC), and any other appropriate decision documents by other federal agencies who will issue their NEPA decisions. Pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 1502.14(e), BLM, as the lead federal agency, has identified an Agency Preferred Alternative in this FEIS. The Agency Preferred Alternative presented in the DEIS and the SDEIS (Alternative D) has been changed to the NNR Alternative – Overhead Design Option in this FEIS. The NNR Alternative – Overhead Design Option has been selected as the Agency Preferred Alternative based on the analysis contained in the DEIS and SDEIS, in consideration of all of the Action Alternatives and their relative impacts on resources, preferences of the Cooperating Agencies and Tribal Representatives, and input received from the public via comments. The NNR Alternative – Overhead Design Option has also been identified as the Environmentally Preferred Alternative. INTRODUCTION Pacific Power’s proposed Project would extend from the existing Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Vantage Substation located east of the Wanapum Dam in Grant County, Washington to Pacific Power’s existing Pomona Heights Substation located east of Selah in Yakima County, Washington. In October of 2008, Pacific Power, a regulated utility serving 730,000 customers in Oregon, Washington, and northern California, filed separate Standard Form 299 Application for Transportation and Utility Systems and Facilities on Federal Lands (SF- 299) with the BLM Spokane District Office and the JBLM YTC to request grants of right-of-way (ROW) across federal lands for the proposed Project. Updated SF-