Siting a new transmission line is a challenge, no two ways about it. But when Idaho Power proposed the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project (B2H) - a new transmission line designed to connect the Intermountain West and Northwest grids - they saw a need for new infrastructure.
The new 300-mile transmission line will cross two states, multiple counties and public and private land in Oregon and Idaho. Undergoing both national (NEPA) and state (Oregon EFSC) environmental review processes, the process requires constant coordination between Idaho Power, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Oregon Department of Energy.
A good public involvement process - especially one that is part of the NEPA process - involves engaging thousands of citizens in a complicated and sometimes difficult conversation about the tradeoffs involved in any energy siting process. That's why EnviroIssues was asked to create a system through EnviroLytical that collected comments, tracked them to ensure that responses were timely and appropriate, and analyzed them so that patterns and trends in public response were clear to everyone involved.
BLM also needed to ensure compliance with the public involvement requirements involved in preparing an EIS. The system EnviroIssues created using EnviroLytical assists with providing the necessary information to BLM and other agencies involved.