Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power have applied to the BLM for a right-of-way grant to use public lands for portions of the Gateway West Transmission Line Project. The companies have also applied for a special use permit to the Medicine Bow and Caribou-Targhee National Forests, as the proposed line also crosses these federally-managed lands.

The BLM and national forests use the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process (40 CFR 1500) to assist their decision-making. The BLM is the lead federal agency for the NEPA process and will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) in compliance with NEPA and other federal laws.

To learn more about the NEPA process, check out A Citizen's Guide to NEPA (PDF).

The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is tentatively scheduled for release in 2010. Please check back to this site for an announcement on when the draft EIS will be available for public comment. The BLM will also send an announcement of document availability through the U.S. mail to federal, state and local agencies as required by NEPA, and to anyone who has commented on the project to date or has requested to be added to the mailing list. If you would like to be added to this list, please contact the BLM Project Manager