Economic Development Grant Proposal for Hunt Property

Jefferson County, Tennessee

The Industrial Development Board (IDB) of Jefferson City, Tennessee purchased approximately 69 acres of available property, known as the Hunt Property, just northeast of Jefferson City, Tennessee, for potential industrial development with funding assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) Program. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proposes to provide funding to the IDB of Jefferson City to assist with industrial site preparation at the Hunt Property. TVA funds would be used for 1.1 acres of tree clearing, the rough grading of 25 acres, and construction of an access road and stormwater facilities.

The USDA reviewed the potential impacts of providing a REDLG grant to the IDB of Jefferson City for the purchase and industrial development of the Hunt Property in an Environmental Assessment prepared in April 2019. Although TVA’s action differs from the USDA’s action, the environmental impacts associated with TVA’s proposed action is contained within the same property boundary that was analyzed in the USDA EA, with the exception of minor tree clearing areas closest to the railroad, Slate Road and Odyssey Road. TVA has critically reviewed the USDA EA and determined that in reviewing the impacts of the proposed USDA grant, the scope, alternatives considered, and content of the EA are adequate in identifying the environmental issues related to TVA’s action for most resource areas with the exception of terrestrial zoology, threatened and endangered species, surface water, solid and hazardous waste, floodplains and cultural resource impacts. Therefore, TVA decided to address these issues more fully with supplemental analysis to the EA provided in the Finding of No Significant Impact located at the link below.