Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Land-use Plan Amendments for the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project, 75834-75836 [2014-29770]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 244 (Friday, December 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75834-75836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29770]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLORV000.51010000.ER0000.LVRWH09H0480; OROR065375; IDI036029 HAG 14-
0196]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and Land-use Plan Amendments for the Boardman to Hemingway 
Transmission Line Project

AGENCIES:  Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Vale District 
Office announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and Land-Use Plan Amendments (LUPAs) for the Boardman 
to Hemingway Transmission Line Project (Project) and by this notice is 
announcing the opening of the public comment period.

DATES: The Draft EIS is now available for public review. To be 
considered in the Final EIS, written comments on the Draft EIS must be 
received within 90 days after the Environmental Protection Agency's 
publication in the Federal Register of a Notice of Availability (NOA) 
of this Draft EIS.
    All public meetings or other opportunities for public involvement 
related to the Project will be announced to the public by the BLM at 
least 15 days in advance through the public Web site at: https://www.boardmantohemingway.com, project mailings, and local media news 
releases.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Draft EIS have been sent to affected Federal 
agencies, state and local governments and public libraries in the 
Project area. The Draft EIS and supporting documents will be available 
electronically on the project Web site at: https://www.boardmantohemingway.com. Compact Disc copies of the document are 
available through request on this project Web site address. A list of 
locations where copies of the Draft EIS are available for public 
inspection can be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
    Written comments may be submitted by the following methods:
     email: comment@boardmantohemingway.com
     mail: Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project, 
P.O. Box 655, Vale, OR 97918
     courier or hand delivery: Bureau of Land Management, Vale 
District Office, 100 Oregon Street, Vale, OR 97918
     no faxed or anonymous comments will be accepted

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamara Gertsch, BLM National Project 
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Vale District Office, 100 Oregon 
Street, Vale, OR 97918, or by telephone at 307-775-6115. Any persons 
wishing to be added to the project mailing list of interested parties 
may write or call Ms. Gertsch at the address and phone number above.
    Persons who use telecommunication devices for the deaf may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 307-775-6115 to contact Ms. 
Gertsch during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or questions with the above 
individual regarding the project. You will receive a reply during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Idaho Power Company submitted applications 
to the BLM for a right-of-way (ROW) grant, the United States Forest 
Service (USFS) for a special use authorization, and the U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) for an authorization/permit, to use federal 
lands for portions of a proposed 300 mile 500-kilovolt (kV) single-
circuit, alternating-current transmission line and ancillary facilities 
between a new or existing substation near Boardman, Oregon, and the 
Hemingway Substation, near Melba, Idaho. Idaho Power Company filed its 
applications in December 2007 and then filed revised applications in 
November 2011 and May 2012 to reflect changes to the proposed action. 
Idaho Power Company's objective for the Project is to provide 
additional capacity to connect transmission between the Pacific 
Northwest and Intermountain Regions in order to alleviate existing 
transmission constraints and to ensure sufficient capacity that will 
enable Idaho Power Company to meet present and forecasted load 
requirements. The Project description includes a rebuild of two 
separate 138 and 69-kV lines into double circuit monopole structures 
for short distances. Electrical equipment to connect the 500 kV 
transmission line would be installed at the endpoint substations. The 
proposed ROW width is 250 feet for the 500 kV portion of the line and 
100 feet for two 138/69 kV rebuild sections of the line. The BLM's 
purpose and need for action is to respond to Idaho Power Company's ROW 
application.
    The BLM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an EIS on 
September 12, 2008 (73 FR 52944), and held public scoping meetings in 
October 2008. On July 27, 2010 (75 FR 44008), the BLM published a 
revised NOI to Prepare an EIS in response to substantive changes in 
Idaho Power Company's proposal as submitted in the revised application, 
and sought public input on the issues associated with the project. The 
issues brought forward from the scoping comments for analysis in the 
Draft EIS include:
     Use of Federal versus private property;
     Potential impacts to private agricultural operations and 
irrigated lands and other existing land use;
     Potential impacts to Greater Sage-grouse;
     Proximity to other protected wildlife and habitats (e.g., 
fish and water resources, plants, Washington ground squirrel);
     Potential impacts to Department of Defense operations;
     Potential impacts to lands with wilderness 
characteristics;
     Potential impacts to visual resources, including visual 
impacts to cultural resources;
     Potential impacts to historic properties (e.g., Oregon 
Trail) and paleontological resources;
     Native American concerns;
     Potential impacts to air quality;
     Potential impacts of noxious weeds and invasive species;
     Potential Socio-economic impacts;
     Potential health effects from electro-magnetic fields; and
     Noise and potential line interference with electronic 
devices.
    The scoping comments and preliminary alternatives, some of which 
were eliminated from further consideration are documented and discussed 
in the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Project Siting Study Report 
available online at: https://www.boardmantohemingway.com/documents/B2H_Siting_Study_8-17-10.pdf. The Draft EIS analyzes the environmental 
consequences of granting a ROW to Idaho Power Company to construct, 
operate, and maintain, the transmission project. The Draft EIS also 
analyzes: (1) The consequences of the

[[Page 75835]]

USFS issuing a special use authorization to construct, operate, and 
maintain those portions of the transmission line and ancillary 
facilities located on lands administered by the USFS; and (2) the 
consequences of amending the USFS's 1990 Land and Resource Management 
Plan (Forest Plan) necessary to implement the proposed Project (36 CFR 
219.13). Depending on the alternative selected, Reclamation and the 
U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy) may also need to issue 
authorizations for any route which may cross lands, easements or 
facilities administered by those agencies. The Draft EIS analyzes the 
environmental impacts associated with the alternatives that would 
require Reclamation and Navy authorizations. Additionally, the proposed 
Project may require BLM and USFS amendments to Resource Management 
Plans and Forest Plans. As required by 43 CFR 1610.2(c) and 36 CFR 
219.8, the BLM and USFS have provided public notices regarding the 
potential plan amendments through the two NOIs, and this notice. The 
BLM and USFS analyzed the impacts of the potential plan amendments in 
the Draft EIS alternatives.
    To the extent practicable, the proposed routes were located to 
within existing West Wide Energy corridors designated pursuant to 
Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other federally-
designated utility corridors, or were located in parallel existing 
linear infrastructure, unless precluded by resource or routing 
constraints or technical infeasibility. Due primarily to private land 
ownership patterns, particularly in the northern half of the project 
area, the average land ownership pattern for all the routes is 
approximately 67 percent private/state land and 33 percent Federal 
land. A total of 23 Federal, state, and local governmental agencies 
participated with the BLM in the preparation of this Draft EIS.
    The Cooperating agencies include: Bonneville Power Administration; 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. 
Forest Service; U.S. Air Force; U.S. Navy; Idaho Office of Energy 
Resources; Oregon Department of Energy; Oregon Department of Fish and 
Wildlife; Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Baker and Malheur Counties, Oregon; 
Canyon, Payette, and Washington Counties, Idaho; the cities of 
Boardman, Oregon and Parma, Idaho; Owyhee Irrigation District; and the 
Joint Committee of the Owyhee Project. The transmission line and 
ancillary facilities would affect lands in Morrow, Umatilla, Union, 
Baker, and Malheur Counties in Oregon, and Owyhee County in Idaho.
    In addition to the Proposed Action Alternative, the Draft EIS 
analyzes a No Action Alternative and 12 alternative routes (including a 
route variation) totaling approximately 550 miles for all routes. For 
this Draft EIS, the No Action Alternative means that the BLM and other 
Federal decision-making agencies would not grant or authorize the 
transmission line and ancillary facilities.
    The Proposed Action Alternative for the project extends from the 
Grassland substation in northeastern Oregon and initially heads west to 
the Horn Butte Substation and then continues to the south, before 
turning east on the south side of the Naval Weapons System Training 
Facility at Boardman, and continuing on a southeasterly path through 
Morrow, Umatilla, and Union Counties, east of La Grande. The route 
would continue on a southeasterly path to the northeast of North 
Powder, before entering Baker County. In Baker County, the route would 
continue southeast, passing east of Highway 30 and east of Baker City, 
towards Durkee and staying west of Weatherby. Within Malheur County, 
the route would then move back to the west towards Brogan and then 
resume southeasterly heading west of Vale, crossing Highway 20. 
Continuing to the southeast, the route would leave Oregon and move into 
southwestern Idaho, Owyhee County, ending at the Hemingway Substation, 
near Melba, Idaho.
    In addition to the Proposed Action, the following alternative 
routes are identified in the DEIS. The alternatives within Morrow 
County include two alternative substations Horn Butte (Portland General 
Electric, under construction) and the Longhorn Substation (Bonneville 
Power Administration), as well as two route alternatives and a route 
variation (Horn Butte, Longhorn and the Longhorn Variation). The Horn 
Butte Alternative provides an opportunity to connect to the Horn Butte 
Substation and combines with the Proposed Action Alternative. The 
Longhorn Alternative and Longhorn Variation Route provide an 
opportunity to connect to the Longhorn Substation and were developed to 
reduce impacts to the U.S. Department of the Navy military operations 
areas, the Oregon National Guard, and impacts to irrigated agriculture. 
Alternatives considered in Union County include the Glass Hill 
Alternative as well as the Proposed Action (however the Proposed Action 
more closely follows existing infrastructure). The Baker County 
alternatives include the Flagstaff, Burnt River Mountain and the Timber 
Canyon Alternatives, each of which combine with the Proposed Action 
into five separate alternatives; (all routes with the exception of 
Timber Canyon are approximately the same length, however the Timber 
Canyon route is approximately 15 miles longer than the other 
alternatives). These alternative routes were developed to address 
visual impacts to Baker City as well as impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse, 
to parallel existing infrastructure, and to reduce impacts to the 
National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretative Center as well as to 
agriculture. At the south end of Baker County and the northern section 
of Malheur County there are two alternatives in addition to the 
Proposed Action Alternative. The Willow Creek Alternative was developed 
to reduce impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse habitat and the Tub Mountain 
South Alternative was developed to use portions of the West Wide Energy 
Corridors (WWEC) and further reduce impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse 
habitat. The Proposed Action then travels southeasterly and connects 
with three additional alternatives, including the Double Mountain 
Alternative, a small alternative connected to the Proposed Action that 
was developed to reduce impacts to agriculture.
    The Malheur A Alternative was developed to address use of the 
existing WWEC and Resource Management Plan corridors and Malheur S was 
developed to reduce potential impacts to lands with wilderness 
characteristics and the Owyhee Below the Dam ACEC.
    The Agency Preferred Alternative (APA) starts at the north end of 
the project and includes the Longhorn Substation, the Longhorn 
Variation, and the Proposed Action route in Morrow County. The APA 
continues along the Proposed Action route through Umatilla and Union 
Counties, while within Baker County it includes sections of the 
Proposed Action route, and the Flagstaff and Burnt River Mountain 
Alternatives. In Malheur County, the APA route is comprised of the Tub 
Mountain South Alternative and the Proposed Action. Lastly, within 
Owyhee County, Idaho, the APA follows the Proposed Action route to the 
Hemingway Substation. Approximately 47 percent of the APA is within or 
adjacent to designated corridors (25% of which are West Wide Energy 
Corridors (WWEC) and 22% non-WWEC designated corridors).
    The BLM, in coordination with the other Federal, state, and local 
government agencies, developed the agency preferred alternative through 
a comparative evaluation of routing

[[Page 75836]]

opportunities and constraints and the relative potential impacts among 
the various alternate routes and route variations.
    The BLM, USFS, and other agencies worked together to develop 
alternative routes that would conform to existing Federal land-use 
plans. However, this objective was not reached for several of the 
alternative routes analyzed in the Draft EIS. The agencies identify and 
analyze proposed plan amendments alternatives in the Draft EIS. 
Decisions by the USFS to amend land management plans and to authorize 
special use authorizations are also subject to administrative review 
(36 CFR part 218 Subparts A and B). In accordance with 36 CFR 219.59, 
the USFS has elected to use the administrative review procedures of the 
BLM as described above.
    The following land-use plan amendments may be needed to bring the 
Project into conformance with the applicable Resource Management Plans 
(RMP) for BLM-managed land and Land and Resource Management Plans 
(LRMP) for National Forest System land crossed by the Project, 
depending on Project approval and on the final route selected.
     USFS's Wallowa-Whitman National Forest LRMP: Amendments 
related to Regional Forester Amendment #2 (i.e., ``Eastside Screens'') 
including removing trees larger than or equal to 21'' in diameter. 
Amendment to allow the Project to exceed prescribed visual quality 
objectives.
     BLM's Baker RMP: Amendments to Visual Resource Management 
(VRM) III classification near the National Historic Oregon Trail 
Interpretative Center.
     BLM's Southeast Oregon RMP: Amendments to VRM II segments 
across the Owyhee River Canyon (below the Owyhee Dam) and VRM III in 
limited areas.
     BLM's Owyhee RMP: No required plan amendments.
    The BLM will utilize and coordinate the National Environmental 
Policy Act comment process to satisfy the public involvement process 
for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
470(f)), as provided for in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). Ongoing consultations 
with Native American Tribes will continue in accordance with policy and 
Tribal concerns (including impacts on Indian trust assets) will be 
given due consideration. Federal, state, and local agencies, along with 
other stakeholders that may be interested or affected by the BLM's 
decision on this Project, are invited to participate. Copies of the 
Draft EIS are available for public inspection during normal business 
hours at the following locations:
     BLM--Idaho State Office, 1387 South Vinnell Way, Boise, ID
     BLM-Boise District Office, 3948 Development Avenue, Boise, 
ID
     Boise Public Library, 715 South Capitol Boulevard, Boise, 
ID,
     BLM-Owyhee Field Office, 201st Avenue West, Marsing, ID
     Owyhee County Planning Department, 17069 Basey Street, 
Murphy, ID
     Nampa Public Library, 101 11th Avenue South, Nampa, ID
     Baker County Planning Department, 1995 3rd Street, Baker 
City, OR
     Baker County Library, 2400 Resort Street, Baker City, OR
     BLM-Baker Field Office, 3285 11th Street, Baker City, OR
     Boardman City Library, 200 South Main Street, Boardman, OR
     Harney County Public Library, 80 West D Street, Burns, OR
     Hermiston Public Library, 235 East Gladys Avenue, 
Hermiston, OR
     Morrow County Planning Department, 205 N.E 3rd Street, 
Irrigon, OR
     Grant County Library, 507 South Canyon Boulevard, John 
Day, OR
     La Grande Public Library, 2006 4th Street, La Grande, OR
     Union County Planning Department, 1001 4th Street, Suite 
C, La Grande, OR
     USFS-Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Office, 3502 Highway 
30, La Grande, OR
     USFS-Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, 1550 Dewey Avenue, 
Baker City, OR
     Pendleton Public Library, 502 SW. Dorion Avenue, 
Pendleton, OR
     Umatilla County Planning Department, 216 SE. 4th Street, 
Pendleton, OR
     BLM-Prineville District Office, 3050 NE. 3rd Street, 
Prineville, OR
     Ontario Library, 388 SW. 2nd Avenue, Ontario, OR
     BLM-Vale District Office, 100 Oregon Street, Vale, OR
     Malheur County Planning Department, 251 B Street, West 
Vale, OR
     Oregon Dept. of Energy, 625 Marion Street, NE., Salem, OR
     BLM-Oregon State Office, 1220 SW Third Avenue, Portland, 
OR
     North Powder City Library, 290 East Street, North Powder
    Your input is important and will be considered in the environmental 
and land-use planning analysis processes. The BLM and USFS request that 
comments be structured to contain sufficient detail to allow the 
agencies to address them in the Final EIS. The BLM, USFS, and 
Reclamation will consider all timely filed comments and respond to them 
in the Final EIS. All comment submissions must include the commenter's 
name and street address. Comments, including the names and addresses of 
the commenter, will be available for public inspection at the locations 
listed above during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or any 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that 
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, 
may be publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your 
comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying 
information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Jerome E. Perez,
State Director, Oregon/Washington.
[FR Doc. 2014-29770 Filed 12-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P