The proposed changes make…

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019-3937

Comment ID

58455

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The proposed changes make almost everything into a Class EA. There is a very big difference between a 50-75 km long transit corridor than a 2km one. It does not make sense to consider them in the same category. Perhaps it makes sense to transition all those up to 2-10km to Class EAs and the lowest voltage of each listed length (2-50, 50-75, and >75) to Class EAs. But greater than this, they were set as individual EAs for a reason, and that is because when you reach such long distances the probability of environmental damage rises substantially. Perhaps a hybrid system makes the most sense for longer distances, where they will begin as class EAs, but certain criteria, such as passing though a certain length of sensitive habitats or hydrological features triggers an individual environmental assessment. Otherwise, it makes more sense to take the precautionary approach and keep the longer length (>50km) and higher voltage (>115kV) as individual environmental assessments.