Environmental Assis for Orono Substation Expansion

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4 FACILITY CONSTRUCTION Project construction would begin after the appropriate federal, state, and local permits and approvals are issued. Xcel Energy would need to acquire property rights-of-way, complete soil investigations, and develop the final detailed design. The precise timing of construction would take into account the required permits and their conditions, system loading issues, existing transmission line outage restrictions, construction constraints, weather, road restrictions, mitigation or impact minimization, and availability of work force and materials. Details regarding Xcel Energy's construction practices are provided in Section 5.0 of the Route Permit Application. As indicated in the route permit application, Xcel Energy designs and constructs transmission lines following construction and mitigation methods based on past experiences and in compliance with permit conditions, industry standards, and environmental factors. These practices address right-of- way clearance, staging, erecting transmission structures, and stringing transmission lines. Practices to mitigate potential construction impacts are established based on permit requirements, construction schedules, geology and topography, maintenance guidelines, inspection procedures, and encountering of sensitive environments or species and are discussed in Section 5 of this document. Xcel Energy states that the proposed transmission line would be designed to meet or exceed local and state codes, the NESC, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) requirements and Xcel Energy standards. This includes standards relating to clearances to ground, clearance to crossing utilities, clearance to buildings, clearances over roadways, and right-of-way widths. 4.1 Utility Right -of -Way Easement Acquisition Should the Commission select a route and issue a route permit, Xcel Energy's easement acquisition process would begin early in the detailed design phase. The Commission is not involved in the easement acquisition process. Two portions of the Project would not require acquisition of new rights-of-way. The reconstruction between structures 076 and 076-1 over the BNSF railroad and U.S. Highway 12 would follow existing rights-of-way. The replacement substation and the first 866 feet of the transmission line would be constructed on property currently owned by Xcel Energy. Where the transmission line would require new right-of-way, the easement acquisition process begins early in the detailed design phase. Utilities typically acquire easement rights, not fee title from landowners to accommodate transmission lines. The easement acquisition process can typically be broken down into the following steps: Title examination. Following identification of a route in a route permit, Xcel Energy will perform a public records search of the land involved in the project to identify all persons and entities that may have a legal interest in the real estate upon which the Project will be built. A title report is then developed for each parcel to determine the owner(s) of record of the property, and to gather information regarding easements, liens, restrictions, encumbrances, and other conditions of record. Initial contact. A right-of-way representative contacts each property owner or the property owner's representative along the route identified in the route permit to discuss the Project and how it may impact each parcel and also seeks information about any construction concerns specific to the landowner. Environmental Assessment PUC Docket E002/TL-11-223 Page 14