Garrison-Spokane 500-KV Transmission Project. Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Appendix B. Index to Environmental Factors Considered under State Major Facility Siting Acts

摘要

Of the three states encountered by this proposal, only two - Washington and Montana - have Acts governing energy facility siting. Idaho has none. The Washington State Facility Siting Act, recognizing both the increased need for energy and the necessity to protect the environment, maintains three goals: (1) to provide operational safeguards at least as stringent as those required by the Federal government; (2) to ''preserve and protect the quality of the environment; to enhance the public's opportunity to enjoy the esthetic and recreational benefits, water, and land resources; to promote air cleanliness; and to pursue beneficial changes in the environment''; and (3) to ''provide abundant energy at reasonabe cost...'' (Sec. 80.50.010). The Montana Major Facility Siting Act aims ''to maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations, to protect the environmental life-support system from degradation and prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources,..'' (Sec. 75-20-102). Both Acts are designed to regulate construction and operation of power facilities in order to minimize adverse effects upon the people and environment of the state. (ERA citation 11:002414)