Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Environmental Impact Report for the Pattern Energy Group's Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project and Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Land Use Plan Amendment, Imperial County, CA, 14416-14417 [2012-5703]

Download as PDF 14416 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 47 / Friday, March 9, 2012 / Notices (including tribal), archeology, recreation, fire and fuels management, energy, roads, grazing and wild horses, and geographic information systems. As part of this RMP process, the BLM will analyze areas for potential designation as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in accordance with 43 CFR 1610.7–2. Public nominations for potential ACECs to be considered in these revisions must be made by June 7, 2012. Edward W. Shepard, State Director, Oregon/Washington, Bureau of Land Management. [FR Doc. 2012–5641 Filed 3–8–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–33–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [CACA–051552, LLCAD0700 L51010000 FX0000 LVRWB10B3980] Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Environmental Impact Report for the Pattern Energy Group’s Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project and Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Land Use Plan Amendment, Imperial County, CA Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability. AGENCY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment (PA)/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Facility (OWEF) and by this notice is announcing the availability of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR. DATES: BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM’s Proposed PA. A person who meets the conditions and files a protest must file the protest within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its notice in the Federal Register. The Record of Decision (ROD) on the OWEF and PA will be issued no sooner than 30 days after the release of the Final EIS. ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR have been sent to srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:21 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 226001 affected Federal, state, and local government agencies and to other stakeholders. Copies of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR are also available for public inspection at the BLM El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, California 92243 and the BLM California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553. Interested persons may also review the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR at the following Web site: https://www.ca.blm.gov/ elcentro. All protests of the BLM’s Proposed PA must be in writing and mailed to one of the following addresses: Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024–1383. Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 20 M Street SE., Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cedric Perry, BLM Project Manager, telephone (951) 697–5388; address 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553; email Cedric_Perry@ca.blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877–8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ocotillo Express, LLC (Applicant), a subsidiary of Pattern Energy Group, LP, has submitted an application for a right-ofway (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission an approximately 12,436 acre, up to 456 megawatt (MW), wind energy project including up to 155 wind turbine generators; a substation; administration, operations and maintenance facilities; transmission lines; and temporary construction lay down areas. The BLM’s purpose and need for the OWEF is to respond to the Applicant’s application under Title V of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) for a ROW grant to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a wind energy facility on public lands in compliance with FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable Federal laws. The BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with modification, or deny a ROW to the Applicant for the proposed OWEF. In connection with its processing of the ROW application for the OWEF, the PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 BLM will also amend the CDCA Plan as applicable, depending on its decision on the ROW grant. The CDCA Plan, while recognizing the potential compatibility of wind energy generation facilities with other uses on public lands, requires that all sites proposed for power generation or transmission not identified in the CDCA Plan be considered through the plan amendment process. Therefore, in connection with its review of the OWEF, the BLM is also proposing to amend the CDCA Plan to designate the project area as either available or unavailable for wind energy development, as appropriate. In addition to the proposed action and a no action alternative, the BLM analyzed a 137-turbine alternative, a 105-turbine alternative, and ‘‘no project’’ alternatives that reject the ROW application for the OWEF but amend the CDCA Plan to make the project area either: (1) Available for future wind energy generation projects; or (2) Unavailable for future wind energy generation projects. Based on information developed during the government-to-government and National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 consultations for the OWEF, the Applicant proposed that BLM consider a new project configuration that eliminates 43 of the 155 turbines proposed under the Proposed Action (the ‘‘Refined Project’’). Under the Refined Project configuration, only 112 wind turbines generators would be approved and installed. Those 112 turbines would be located on a subset of the 155 turbines sites evaluated under the Proposed Action in the Draft EIS/ EIR. The Refined Project is identified as the preferred alternative in the Final EIS/EIR. The BLM has determined that it is within the range of alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR. The Final EIS/EIR evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed OWEF and alternatives on air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, water resources, geological resources and hazards, land use, noise, paleontological resources, public health, socioeconomics, soils, traffic and transportation, visual resources, wilderness characteristics, and other resources. A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/ EIR for the OWEF project was published in the Federal Register on December 13, 2010 [75 FR 77654]. The BLM held two public scoping meetings in El Centro and Ocotillo, California, on January 5 and 6, 2011, respectively. The formal scoping period ended on February 4, 2011. A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS/EIR was published in the E:\FR\FM\09MRN1.SGM 09MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 47 / Friday, March 9, 2012 / Notices Federal Register on July 8, 2011, and the BLM along with Imperial County held two public meetings on the Draft EIS/EIR on August 24, 2011, in El Centro, and on August 25, 2011, in Ocotillo. Comments on the Draft PA and EIS/ EIR received from the public and internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text and modification of the preferred alternative but did not significantly change the analysis. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM regarding the Proposed PA may be found in the ‘‘Dear Reader’’ letter of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR and at 43 CFR 1610.5–2. Emailed and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the email or faxed protest as an advance copy and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of the BLM protest coordinator at (202) 912–7212, and emails to Brenda_HudgensWilliams@blm.gov. All protests, including the follow-up letter to emails or faxes, must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section above. Before including your phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware that your entire protest—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10; 43 CFR 1610.2 and 1610.5 Thomas Pogacnik, Deputy State Director, California. [FR Doc. 2012–5703 Filed 3–8–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–40–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Land Management [LLMT922200–12–L13100000–FI0000– P;NDM 90965 and NDM 90966] [LLIDT03000 LF20000ES.JS0000 LFESFTF60000] Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas leases NDM 90965 and NDM 90966 Notice of Temporary Closure on Public Lands in Gooding and Elmore Counties, ID AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice. Per 30 U.S.C. 188(d), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC timely filed a petition for reinstatement of competitive oil and gas leases NDM 90965 and NDM 90966, McKenzie County, North Dakota. The lessee paid the required rentals accruing from the date of termination. No leases were issued that affect these lands. The lessee agrees to new lease terms for rentals and royalties of $10 per acre and 162⁄3 percent. The lessee paid the $500 administration fee for the reinstatement of each lease and $163 cost for publishing this Notice. The lessee met the requirements for reinstatement of the leases per Sec. 31 (d) and (e) of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 188). We are proposing to reinstate the leases, effective the date of termination subject to: • The original terms and conditions of the leases; • The increased rental of $10 per acre; • The increased royalty of 162⁄3 percent; and • The $163 cost of publishing this Notice. SUMMARY: Teri Bakken, Chief, Fluids Adjudication Section, Bureau of Land Management Montana State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana 59101–4669, 406–896–5091, Teri_Bakken@blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teri Bakken, Chief, Fluids Adjudication Section. [FR Doc. 2012–5709 Filed 3–8–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:21 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 226001 14417 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of temporary closure. AGENCY: Notice is hereby given that the Blair Fire closure to motorized vehicle use is in effect on public lands administered by the Four Rivers and Shoshone Field Offices, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). DATES: The closure will be in effect on the date this notice is published in the Federal Register and will remain in effect until September 5, 2013, or until rescinded or modified by an authorized officer. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Humphrey, Four Rivers Field Manager, at 3948 Development Avenue, Boise, Idaho 83705, via email at thumphrey@blm.gov, or phone (208) 384–3430 or Ruth Miller, Shoshone Field Manager, at 400 West F St., Shoshone, Idaho 83352, via email at ramiller@blm.gov, or phone (208) 732– 7227. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877–8339 to contact the above individuals during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individuals. You will receive a reply during normal hours. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Blair Fire motorized closure affects public lands burned August 15, 2011, by the Blair Fire, 1 mile north of King Hill, Idaho. The legal description of the affected public lands is: SUMMARY: Boise Meridian, Idaho T. 3 S., R. 10 E., Sec. 35. T. 4 S., R. 10 E., Secs. 1 and 2; Secs. 12 to 15, inclusive; Sec. 17; Secs. 20 to 28, inclusive; Secs. 33 to 35, inclusive. T. 5 S., R. 10 E., Secs. 3 and 4. T. 3 S., R. 11 E., Secs. 31 and 33. T. 4 S., R. 11 E., Secs. 3 to 15, inclusive; Secs. 17 to 35, inclusive. E:\FR\FM\09MRN1.SGM 09MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 47 (Friday, March 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14416-14417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5703]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA-051552, LLCAD0700 L51010000 FX0000 LVRWB10B3980]


Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
and Final Environmental Impact Report for the Pattern Energy Group's 
Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project and Proposed California Desert 
Conservation Area Land Use Plan Amendment, Imperial County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Proposed California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment (PA)/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Final 
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy 
Facility (OWEF) and by this notice is announcing the availability of 
the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR.

DATES: BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the 
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's 
Proposed PA. A person who meets the conditions and files a protest must 
file the protest within 30 days of the date that the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its notice in the Federal Register. 
The Record of Decision (ROD) on the OWEF and PA will be issued no 
sooner than 30 days after the release of the Final EIS.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR have been sent 
to affected Federal, state, and local government agencies and to other 
stakeholders. Copies of the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR are also 
available for public inspection at the BLM El Centro Field Office, 1661 
S. 4th Street, El Centro, California 92243 and the BLM California 
Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno 
Valley, California 92553. Interested persons may also review the 
Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR at the following Web site: https://www.ca.blm.gov/elcentro.
    All protests of the BLM's Proposed PA must be in writing and mailed 
to one of the following addresses:

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 
71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383.
Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 20 M 
Street SE., Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cedric Perry, BLM Project Manager, 
telephone (951) 697-5388; address 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, 
Moreno Valley, CA 92553; email Cedric_Perry@ca.blm.gov. Persons who 
use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339 to contact the above 
individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours 
a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above 
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ocotillo Express, LLC (Applicant), a 
subsidiary of Pattern Energy Group, LP, has submitted an application 
for a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, maintain, 
and decommission an approximately 12,436 acre, up to 456 megawatt (MW), 
wind energy project including up to 155 wind turbine generators; a 
substation; administration, operations and maintenance facilities; 
transmission lines; and temporary construction lay down areas. The 
BLM's purpose and need for the OWEF is to respond to the Applicant's 
application under Title V of the Federal Lands Policy and Management 
Act of 1976 (FLPMA) for a ROW grant to construct, operate, maintain, 
and decommission a wind energy facility on public lands in compliance 
with FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable Federal laws. The 
BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with modification, or deny a 
ROW to the Applicant for the proposed OWEF. In connection with its 
processing of the ROW application for the OWEF, the BLM will also amend 
the CDCA Plan as applicable, depending on its decision on the ROW 
grant. The CDCA Plan, while recognizing the potential compatibility of 
wind energy generation facilities with other uses on public lands, 
requires that all sites proposed for power generation or transmission 
not identified in the CDCA Plan be considered through the plan 
amendment process. Therefore, in connection with its review of the 
OWEF, the BLM is also proposing to amend the CDCA Plan to designate the 
project area as either available or unavailable for wind energy 
development, as appropriate.
    In addition to the proposed action and a no action alternative, the 
BLM analyzed a 137-turbine alternative, a 105-turbine alternative, and 
``no project'' alternatives that reject the ROW application for the 
OWEF but amend the CDCA Plan to make the project area either:
    (1) Available for future wind energy generation projects; or
    (2) Unavailable for future wind energy generation projects.
    Based on information developed during the government-to-government 
and National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 consultations for 
the OWEF, the Applicant proposed that BLM consider a new project 
configuration that eliminates 43 of the 155 turbines proposed under the 
Proposed Action (the ``Refined Project''). Under the Refined Project 
configuration, only 112 wind turbines generators would be approved and 
installed. Those 112 turbines would be located on a subset of the 155 
turbines sites evaluated under the Proposed Action in the Draft EIS/
EIR. The Refined Project is identified as the preferred alternative in 
the Final EIS/EIR. The BLM has determined that it is within the range 
of alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR.
    The Final EIS/EIR evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed 
OWEF and alternatives on air quality, biological resources, cultural 
resources, water resources, geological resources and hazards, land use, 
noise, paleontological resources, public health, socioeconomics, soils, 
traffic and transportation, visual resources, wilderness 
characteristics, and other resources.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/EIR for the OWEF project was 
published in the Federal Register on December 13, 2010 [75 FR 77654]. 
The BLM held two public scoping meetings in El Centro and Ocotillo, 
California, on January 5 and 6, 2011, respectively. The formal scoping 
period ended on February 4, 2011. A Notice of Availability of the Draft 
EIS/EIR was published in the

[[Page 14417]]

Federal Register on July 8, 2011, and the BLM along with Imperial 
County held two public meetings on the Draft EIS/EIR on August 24, 
2011, in El Centro, and on August 25, 2011, in Ocotillo.
    Comments on the Draft PA and EIS/EIR received from the public and 
internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as appropriate 
into the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR. Public comments resulted in the 
addition of clarifying text and modification of the preferred 
alternative but did not significantly change the analysis.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed PA may be found in the ``Dear Reader'' letter of 
the Proposed PA and Final EIS/EIR and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Emailed and 
faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the 
protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or 
overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under 
these conditions, the BLM will consider the email or faxed protest as 
an advance copy and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to 
provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed 
protests to the attention of the BLM protest coordinator at (202) 912-
7212, and emails to Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov.
    All protests, including the follow-up letter to emails or faxes, 
must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth 
in the ADDRESSES section above.
    Before including your phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10; 43 CFR 1610.2 and 1610.5

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2012-5703 Filed 3-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P

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