The Department of Energy prepared an environmental assessment to analyze the potential environmental impacts of a proposed action to rebuild the existing North Loop transmission line, decommission and remove the deactivated portions of the existing North Loop line, and conduct ongoing operations and maintenance of the completed system. The Proposed Action would replace the components (conductors, hardware, and support structures), shorten the circuit length, separate the BPA circuit serving the Ashe substation from the circuit serving the A6, A8, and A9 substations, and would be a critical step in achieving long-term reliability of the system.