Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Possible Resource Management Plan Amendments for the North Steens Transmission Line Project in Harney County, OR, 37052-37053 [E9-17780]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management
• Land Management Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 142 (Monday, July 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37052-37053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17780]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLORB06000 L14300000.ER0000.241A000; HAG 9-0188]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Possible Resource Management Plan Amendments for the North Steens 
Transmission Line Project in Harney County, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Burns District Office, 
Oregon, intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
to solicit public comments pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 in response to a 
right-of-way application filed by Echanis, LLC, for the proposed North 
Steens Transmission Line Project. The project will involve BLM-
administered public lands, private lands, and lands administered by the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 
Harney County, Oregon.

DATES: This notice initiates public scoping. Scoping comments shall be 
submitted on or before August 26, 2009.
    The BLM will announce public scoping meetings to identify relevant 
issues through local news media, newsletters, and the BLM Web site 
(https://www.blm.gov/or/districts/burns) at least 15 days prior to each 
meeting. Public meetings will tentatively be held in Burns, Bend, 
Diamond, and Frenchglen, Oregon, and other communities if the interest 
warrants. We will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation upon publication of the Draft EIS, including a public 
comment period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the North Steens Transmission 
Line Project Lead, BLM Burns District Office, 28910 Highway 20 West, 
Hines, Oregon 97738; Fax (541) 573-4411; or e-mail: OR_Burns_NS_Transmission_Line_EIS@blm.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact the North Steens 
Transmission Line Project Lead, BLM Burns District Office, 28910 
Highway 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738; (541) 573-4400; Fax (541) 573-
4411; or e-mail: OR_Burns_NS_Transmission_Line_EIS@blm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2008, Harney Electric 
Cooperative filed a preliminary application for a right-of-way with the 
BLM for construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of a 29-
mile long 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that would connect the 
Echanis Wind Energy Project with Harney Electric Cooperative's existing 
transmission system near Diamond Junction, Oregon. The application was 
subsequently assigned to Echanis, LLC, a subsidiary of Columbia Energy 
Partners, LLC, who proposes to fund, construct, and oversee the initial 
development and commissioning of the project. Upon commission, the 
transmission line would be deeded to Harney Electric Cooperative for 
long-term operation and maintenance as part of their electric 
transmission and distribution system in southeast Oregon and northern 
Nevada. The purpose of the project would be to transmit up to 
approximately 103.5 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from the Echanis 
Wind Energy Project to target service areas in the Pacific Northwest. 
The proposed transmission project would also be designed with 
additional capacity to conduct power generated from other possible 
renewable energy generation facilities that may be planned in the 
future. The proposed transmission line would begin at the Echanis Wind 
Energy Project southeast of Diamond, Oregon, on private lands, and end 
at Harney Electric Cooperative's existing 115 kilovolt (kV) line near 
Diamond Junction. The proposed line would cross approximately 19 miles 
of private land, 9 miles of public land administered by the BLM, and 
1.3 miles of land on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge managed by 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including a span over the Blitzen 
Valley of approximately 1,800 feet. Echanis, LLC, proposes to utilize 
steel structures approximately 90 to 140 feet in height with average 
spans between towers of 700 feet. The proposed right-of-way would be 
150 feet wide. Additional temporary work space would also be required 
during construction for material storage, line tensioning sites, and 
construction access.

[[Page 37053]]

    The Echanis Wind Energy Project is to be located entirely within 
private lands. A conditional use permit for the wind project was issued 
to Columbia Energy Partners by Harney County in April 2007. Although 
wind testing and project feasibility studies are currently ongoing on 
private, State, and Federal lands in several areas throughout Harney 
County, the Echanis project is the only wind energy project approved 
for development, to date, by Harney County or any other jurisdiction. 
Currently there are no transmission facilities available in the 
Diamond/North Steens area to transport electrical power produced from 
the Echanis Wind Energy Project to the existing transmission grid.
    Public scoping will aid in determining relevant issues influencing 
the scope of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and 
guide the process for developing the EIS. At present, the BLM has 
identified the following preliminary issues: sage-grouse, migratory 
birds, recreation, local and regional social/economic conditions, 
visual resource management, and special management areas including the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and 
the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area.
    An interdisciplinary approach will be used to develop the EIS in 
order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified through the scoping process. Resources addressed in the EIS 
process will include (but are not limited to) air quality, American 
Indian traditional practices, biological soil crusts, cultural 
heritage, fire management, fisheries, grazing management, migratory 
birds, minerals, noxious weeds, recreation, soils, social/economic 
values, special status species, transportation/roads, vegetation, 
visual resources, water quality, riparian zones, wildlife, and 
wilderness values. The BLM will analyze the proposed action and no 
action alternatives, as well as other reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed transmission line location, access routes, and construction/
design methods.
    Authorization of this proposal may require amendments to one or 
more Resource Management Plans (RMP). By this notice, the BLM is 
complying with requirements in 43 CFR 1610.2(c) to notify the public of 
potential RMP amendments, predicated on the findings of the EIS. If RMP 
amendments are necessary, the BLM will integrate the RMP process with 
the NEPA process for this project.
    Any authorization of the project on Malheur National Wildlife 
Refuge lands would require a formal determination by the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service that the proposal is compatible with Refuge purposes. 
This compatibility determination would be incorporated into the NEPA 
process for this project.
    The BLM is the lead Federal agency for the NEPA analysis process 
and preparation of the EIS. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Malheur 
National Wildlife Refuge and Harney County have agreed to be 
cooperating agencies in the EIS. Other potential cooperating agencies 
identified at this time include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Bend 
Field Office, Burns Paiute Tribe, and State of Oregon Department of 
Fish and Wildlife. Other cooperating agencies having specific expertise 
or interests in the project could also be invited to participate based 
on the outcome of scoping.
    You may submit comments on issues in writing to the BLM at any 
public scoping meeting, or you may submit them to the BLM using one of 
the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section above. Comments, including 
the names and addresses of respondents will be available for public 
review at the BLM Burns District Office during regular business hours 
7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may 
be published as part of the EIS. 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. All submissions from 
organizations and businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.

(Authority: 43 CFR part 2800)

Joan Suther,
Acting Burns District Manager.
[FR Doc. E9-17780 Filed 7-24-09; 8:45 am]
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