Notice of Availability of the Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project, 39982-39983 [E8-15943]
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39982
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 134 / Friday, July 11, 2008 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA–47658, CA–670–5101 ER B204]
[F–21984, F–22876, F–22889, F–22882, F–
21914, F–21885, F–21950; AK–962–1410–
HY–P]
Alaska Native Claims Selection
AGENCY:
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION:
As required by 43 CFR
2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an
appealable decision approving lands for
conveyance pursuant to the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act will be
issued to Bering Straits Native
Corporation for lands located in the
vicinity of Council and Shaktoolik,
Alaska. Notice of the decision will also
be published four times in the Nome
Nugget.
SUMMARY:
The time limits for filing an
appeal are:
1. Any party claiming a property
interest which is adversely affected by
the decision shall have until August 11,
2008 to file an appeal.
2. Parties receiving service of the
decision by certified mail shall have 30
days from the date of receipt to file an
appeal.
Parties who do not file an appeal in
accordance with the requirements of 43
CFR part 4, subpart E, shall be deemed
to have waived their rights.
DATES:
A copy of the decision may
be obtained from: Bureau of Land
Management, Alaska State Office, 222
West Seventh Avenue, #13, Anchorage,
Alaska 99513–7504.
ADDRESSES:
The
Bureau of Land Management by phone
at 907–271–5960, or by e-mail at
ak.blm.conveyance@ak.blm.gov. Persons
who use a telecommunication device
(TTD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–
8330, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, to contact the Bureau of Land
Management.
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dina L. Torres,
Land Transfer Resolution Specialist,
Resolution Branch.
[FR Doc. E8–15782 Filed 7–10–08; 8:45 am]
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:19 Jul 10, 2008
Jkt 214001
Bureau of Land Management.
Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
Notice of decision approving
lands for conveyance.
ACTION:
BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P
Notice of Availability of the
Recirculated Draft Environmental
Impact Report/Supplemental Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink
Project
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), together with the
California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC), in compliance with the
California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA, Pub. Res. Code § 21000 et seq.),
has prepared a Recirculated Draft EIR/
Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS)
to augment the analysis for the Sunrise
Powerlink Project proposed by San
Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E).
DATES: In order to comply with NEPA
regulations at 40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4),
comments on the RDEIR/SDEIS must be
postmarked or received within 45 days
following the date the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes its Notice
of Availability in the Federal Register.
You may submit comments by U.S.
mail, electronic mail, or fax. Only
written comments may be submitted.
There will be no opportunity to make
oral comments. Comments on the
RDEIR/SDEIS may only address the
topics included in this document, not
the contents of the original complete
Draft EIR/EIS.
In addition, an informational
workshop will be held during the
comment period to help the public
understand the RDEIR/SDEIS and to
explain how to participate in the CPUC
and BLM’s decision-making processes.
The workshop will be announced at
least 15 days in advance through local
news media, public notices, mailings,
and agency Web sites.
ADDRESSES: By Mail: Please use firstclass postage and be sure to include
your name and return address. Send
written comments to CPUC/BLM c/o
Aspen Environmental Group, 235
Montgomery Street, Suite 935, San
Francisco, CA 94104. By Electronic
Mail: E-mail communications are
welcome; but, please remember to
include your name and return address
in the e-mail message. E-mail messages
PO 00000
Frm 00045
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
should be sent to sunrise@aspeneg.com.
By Fax: You may fax your comments to
(866) 711–3106. Please remember to
include your name and return address
in the fax, write legibly, and use black
or blue ink.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Information concerning the BLM/NEPA
process may be obtained from Lynda
Kastoll, Project Manager, BLM, 1661 S.
4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243;
telephone (760) 337–4421; e-mail
lkastoll@ca.blm.gov. Information
concerning the CPUC/CEQA process
may be obtained from Billie Blanchard,
Project Manager, CPUC, 505 Van Ness
Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102;
telephone (415) 703–2068; e-mail at
BCB@cpuc.ca.gov.
The RDEIR/SDEIS will be available
for review at numerous area libraries
and on the project Web site: https://
www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/
aspen/sunrise/sunrise.htm. A compact
disc (CD) containing the document may
be requested by phone, fax at (866) 711–
3106, or by e-mail at
sunrise@aspeneg.com.
SDG&E
proposes to construct a new 91-mile,
500-kilovolt (kV) electric transmission
line from the Imperial Valley Substation
(in Imperial County, near the City of El
Centro) to a new Central East Substation
(in central San Diego County, southwest
of the intersection of County Highways
S22 and S2) and a new 59-mile, 230-kV
line that includes both overhead and
underground segments from the new
Central East Substation to SDG&E’s
˜
existing Penasquitos Substation (in the
City of San Diego). Portions of the
proposed 500-kV transmission line
would traverse approximately 35 miles
of federal lands managed by the BLM
within the California Desert
Conservation Area in Imperial County,
and approximately 1 mile of BLMadministered land in San Diego County.
The remainder of the proposed project
would cross lands owned by various
entities including the State of California,
local governments, and private parties.
On January 3, 2008, the CPUC and
BLM published a Draft EIR/EIS on the
Sunrise Powerlink Project. The Draft
EIR/EIS contained 7500+ pages in six
volumes. It included an analysis of the
proposed project’s effects, as well as an
analysis of future possible transmission
lines and ‘‘connected actions’’ that are
likely to be built if the Sunrise
Powerlink Project is built. The Draft
EIR/EIS also identified alternatives to
the proposed project (including the No
Action Alternative) and evaluated their
expected environmental impacts.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\11JYN1.SGM
11JYN1
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 134 / Friday, July 11, 2008 / Notices
A 90-day comment period on the
Draft EIR/EIS ended on April 11, 2008.
Nine workshops and five public
participation hearings were held during
the comment period, and over 2,500
pages of written comments were
submitted. After the comment period,
two additional public participation
hearing were held on May 12, 2008.
Under CEQA, recirculation is required
when significant new information
changes the EIR in a way that deprives
the public of a meaningful opportunity
to comment upon a substantial adverse
environmental effect of the project or a
feasible way to mitigate or avoid such
an effect. New information may include
changes in the project or environmental
setting as well as additional data or
other information. Under the regulations
implementing NEPA (40 CFR
1502.9(c)(2)(ii), a supplement to an EIS
is required when there are significant
new circumstances or information
relevant to the environmental concerns
related to the proposed project or its
impacts. In this case, the new
information involves changes to the
‘‘connected actions’’ analyzed in the
Draft EIR/EIS and route revisions
(‘‘reroutes’’) proposed by SDG&E in
comments on the Draft EIR/EIS. The
RDEIR/SDEIS includes the following
components:
1. Revision of components of the
Environmentally Superior Alternatives
for northern and southern transmission
lines. Because of Tribal opposition, the
Interstate 8 Alternative now bypasses
the Campo Reservation. Without Tribal
approval it was also necessary to modify
the Southern Environmentally Superior
Route to avoid all tribal lands, following
the BCD Alternative and BCD South
Option. The Northern Environmentally
Superior Route has been modified to
add consideration of an additional
underground segment in the Santa
Ysabel Valley.
2. New and Revised Analysis of the La
Rumorosa Wind Project. In December
2007, Sempra Generation submitted to
the U.S. Department of Energy an
Application for Presidential Permit,
proposing a 1,250 megawatt (MW) wind
project in Mexico that would include
the construction of transmission lines
into the United States, and a new
substation located northeast of the town
of Jacumba, California. The Draft EIR/
EIS, in its evaluation of ‘‘connected
actions’’ and ‘‘indirect effects’’,
analyzed a 250 MW wind project in
Mexico that included the construction
of a transmission line and a ‘‘Jacumba
Substation.’’ However, the wind project
considered in the Draft EIR/EIS was
much smaller than the actual project as
described by Sempra. As a result, the
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:19 Jul 10, 2008
Jkt 214001
RDEIR/SDEIS presents new ‘‘connected
action’’ and ‘‘indirect effects’’ analysis
of the Sempra project.
3. Description and Analysis of
Transmission Line Route Revisions. In
comments on the Draft EIR/EIS, SDG&E
proposed modifications to several
segments of the Proposed and
Alternative transmission line routes.
Some of these reroutes would affect new
landowners, change the potential effect
on already-affected landowners, or
otherwise change the environmental
impact described in the Draft EIR/EIS.
The RDEIR/SDEIS describes 13 reroutes.
The CPUC and BLM evaluated all
comments on the Draft EIR/EIS and
determined that other requests for a
recirculated/supplemental document
did meet the requirements defined
above. The Final EIR/EIS will respond
to each comment requesting
recirculation, explaining why this
determination was made.
An informational workshop will be
held to help the public understand the
RDEIR/SDEIS, and to explain how to
participate in the CPUC and BLM
decision-making processes. The
informal workshop is an opportunity to
speak with and ask questions of CPUC
and BLM representatives and some of
the specialists who prepared the RDEIR/
SDEIS. A brief presentation will
summarize the EIR/EIS process, the
information presented in the RDEIR/
SDEIS, and the decision makingprocess. Presentation notes will be
available on the project Web site for
those unable to attend. While written
comments may be submitted during the
workshop, there will be no facilities to
record oral comments.
Comments received may be published
as part of the EIR/EIS process. Before
including your address, phone number,
e-mail address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment, including your
personal identifying information, may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
At the end of the 45-day comment
period on the RDEIR/SDEIS, the CPUC
and BLM will prepare a Final EIR/EIS.
The Final EIR/EIS will respond to all
comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS
and on the RDEIR/SDEIS.
Tom Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. E8–15943 Filed 7–10–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–40–P
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39983
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[AK–910–1310PP–ARAC]
Notice of Public Meeting, BLM-Alaska
Resource Advisory Council
Bureau of Land Management,
Alaska State Office, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory
Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) Alaska
Resource Advisory Council will meet as
indicated below.
DATES: The meeting will be held August
12, 2008, at the Wiseman Community
Center, Wiseman, Alaska; Milepost 189
of the Dalton Highway. The meeting,
which will provide an opportunity for
residents of the Dalton Highway to meet
Resource Advisory Council members
and discuss local topics, will start at
2:30 p.m. and end at 4:30 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sharon Wilson, BLM-Alaska State
Office, 222 W. 7th Avenue #13,
Anchorage, AK 99513. Telephone (907)
271–4418 or e-mail
Sharon_Wilson@blm.gov.
The 15member Council advises the Secretary
of the Interior, through the Bureau of
Land Management, on a variety of
planning and management issues
associated with public land
management in Alaska. At this meeting,
BLM District Managers will give
updates on district activities and the
status of resource management
planning, discuss local issues
introduced by residents of the area and
receive public comment on BLM-related
matters.
Depending on the number of people
wishing to comment and time available,
the time for individual oral comments
may be limited, so please be prepared to
submit written comments if necessary.
Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Individuals who plan to attend and
need special assistance, such as sign
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\11JYN1.SGM
11JYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 134 (Friday, July 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39982-39983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15943]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA-47658, CA-670-5101 ER B204]
Notice of Availability of the Recirculated Draft Environmental
Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the
Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM), together with the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), in compliance with the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA, Pub. Res. Code Sec. 21000 et seq.), has prepared a
Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS) to augment
the analysis for the Sunrise Powerlink Project proposed by San Diego
Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E).
DATES: In order to comply with NEPA regulations at 40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4),
comments on the RDEIR/SDEIS must be postmarked or received within 45
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. You may submit
comments by U.S. mail, electronic mail, or fax. Only written comments
may be submitted. There will be no opportunity to make oral comments.
Comments on the RDEIR/SDEIS may only address the topics included in
this document, not the contents of the original complete Draft EIR/EIS.
In addition, an informational workshop will be held during the
comment period to help the public understand the RDEIR/SDEIS and to
explain how to participate in the CPUC and BLM's decision-making
processes. The workshop will be announced at least 15 days in advance
through local news media, public notices, mailings, and agency Web
sites.
ADDRESSES: By Mail: Please use first-class postage and be sure to
include your name and return address. Send written comments to CPUC/BLM
c/o Aspen Environmental Group, 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 935, San
Francisco, CA 94104. By Electronic Mail: E-mail communications are
welcome; but, please remember to include your name and return address
in the e-mail message. E-mail messages should be sent to
sunrise@aspeneg.com. By Fax: You may fax your comments to (866) 711-
3106. Please remember to include your name and return address in the
fax, write legibly, and use black or blue ink.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information concerning the BLM/NEPA
process may be obtained from Lynda Kastoll, Project Manager, BLM, 1661
S. 4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243; telephone (760) 337-4421; e-mail
lkastoll@ca.blm.gov. Information concerning the CPUC/CEQA process may
be obtained from Billie Blanchard, Project Manager, CPUC, 505 Van Ness
Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102; telephone (415) 703-2068; e-mail at
BCB@cpuc.ca.gov.
The RDEIR/SDEIS will be available for review at numerous area
libraries and on the project Web site: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/
environment/info/aspen/sunrise/sunrise.htm. A compact disc (CD)
containing the document may be requested by phone, fax at (866) 711-
3106, or by e-mail at sunrise@aspeneg.com.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SDG&E proposes to construct a new 91-mile,
500-kilovolt (kV) electric transmission line from the Imperial Valley
Substation (in Imperial County, near the City of El Centro) to a new
Central East Substation (in central San Diego County, southwest of the
intersection of County Highways S22 and S2) and a new 59-mile, 230-kV
line that includes both overhead and underground segments from the new
Central East Substation to SDG&E's existing Pe[ntilde]asquitos
Substation (in the City of San Diego). Portions of the proposed 500-kV
transmission line would traverse approximately 35 miles of federal
lands managed by the BLM within the California Desert Conservation Area
in Imperial County, and approximately 1 mile of BLM-administered land
in San Diego County. The remainder of the proposed project would cross
lands owned by various entities including the State of California,
local governments, and private parties.
On January 3, 2008, the CPUC and BLM published a Draft EIR/EIS on
the Sunrise Powerlink Project. The Draft EIR/EIS contained 7500+ pages
in six volumes. It included an analysis of the proposed project's
effects, as well as an analysis of future possible transmission lines
and ``connected actions'' that are likely to be built if the Sunrise
Powerlink Project is built. The Draft EIR/EIS also identified
alternatives to the proposed project (including the No Action
Alternative) and evaluated their expected environmental impacts.
[[Page 39983]]
A 90-day comment period on the Draft EIR/EIS ended on April 11,
2008. Nine workshops and five public participation hearings were held
during the comment period, and over 2,500 pages of written comments
were submitted. After the comment period, two additional public
participation hearing were held on May 12, 2008.
Under CEQA, recirculation is required when significant new
information changes the EIR in a way that deprives the public of a
meaningful opportunity to comment upon a substantial adverse
environmental effect of the project or a feasible way to mitigate or
avoid such an effect. New information may include changes in the
project or environmental setting as well as additional data or other
information. Under the regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR
1502.9(c)(2)(ii), a supplement to an EIS is required when there are
significant new circumstances or information relevant to the
environmental concerns related to the proposed project or its impacts.
In this case, the new information involves changes to the ``connected
actions'' analyzed in the Draft EIR/EIS and route revisions
(``reroutes'') proposed by SDG&E in comments on the Draft EIR/EIS. The
RDEIR/SDEIS includes the following components:
1. Revision of components of the Environmentally Superior
Alternatives for northern and southern transmission lines. Because of
Tribal opposition, the Interstate 8 Alternative now bypasses the Campo
Reservation. Without Tribal approval it was also necessary to modify
the Southern Environmentally Superior Route to avoid all tribal lands,
following the BCD Alternative and BCD South Option. The Northern
Environmentally Superior Route has been modified to add consideration
of an additional underground segment in the Santa Ysabel Valley.
2. New and Revised Analysis of the La Rumorosa Wind Project. In
December 2007, Sempra Generation submitted to the U.S. Department of
Energy an Application for Presidential Permit, proposing a 1,250
megawatt (MW) wind project in Mexico that would include the
construction of transmission lines into the United States, and a new
substation located northeast of the town of Jacumba, California. The
Draft EIR/EIS, in its evaluation of ``connected actions'' and
``indirect effects'', analyzed a 250 MW wind project in Mexico that
included the construction of a transmission line and a ``Jacumba
Substation.'' However, the wind project considered in the Draft EIR/EIS
was much smaller than the actual project as described by Sempra. As a
result, the RDEIR/SDEIS presents new ``connected action'' and
``indirect effects'' analysis of the Sempra project.
3. Description and Analysis of Transmission Line Route Revisions.
In comments on the Draft EIR/EIS, SDG&E proposed modifications to
several segments of the Proposed and Alternative transmission line
routes. Some of these reroutes would affect new landowners, change the
potential effect on already-affected landowners, or otherwise change
the environmental impact described in the Draft EIR/EIS. The RDEIR/
SDEIS describes 13 reroutes.
The CPUC and BLM evaluated all comments on the Draft EIR/EIS and
determined that other requests for a recirculated/supplemental document
did meet the requirements defined above. The Final EIR/EIS will respond
to each comment requesting recirculation, explaining why this
determination was made.
An informational workshop will be held to help the public
understand the RDEIR/SDEIS, and to explain how to participate in the
CPUC and BLM decision-making processes. The informal workshop is an
opportunity to speak with and ask questions of CPUC and BLM
representatives and some of the specialists who prepared the RDEIR/
SDEIS. A brief presentation will summarize the EIR/EIS process, the
information presented in the RDEIR/SDEIS, and the decision making-
process. Presentation notes will be available on the project Web site
for those unable to attend. While written comments may be submitted
during the workshop, there will be no facilities to record oral
comments.
Comments received may be published as part of the EIR/EIS process.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware
that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
At the end of the 45-day comment period on the RDEIR/SDEIS, the
CPUC and BLM will prepare a Final EIR/EIS. The Final EIR/EIS will
respond to all comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS and on the RDEIR/
SDEIS.
Tom Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. E8-15943 Filed 7-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P
