Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Energy Gateway South Transmission Project and Approved Land Use Plan Amendments in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, 91187-91188 [2016-30346]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 242 / Friday, December 16, 2016 / Notices
proposal to eliminate one section of
snowmobile trail on Nulhegan Basin
Division. We determined that
recreational drone use is not
appropriate.
• Habitat Management—We
emphasize our intent to develop refuge
division-specific habitat management
plans with state agency and public
involvement.
Alternative C, with these changes, is
still our preferred alternative in the final
CCP/EIS for Conte NFWR for several
reasons. First, alternative C comprises a
mix of actions that, in our professional
judgment, work best towards achieving
the refuge’s purposes, vision, and goals,
NWRS policies, and the goals of other
state and regional conservation plans.
Second, we also believe that alternative
C most effectively addresses key issues
raised during the planning process.
Public Availability of Documents
See ADDRESSES, above.
Next Steps
We will document the final decision
in a record of decision, which will be
published in the Federal Register after
the 30-day ‘‘wait period’’ that begins
when EPA announces this final CCP/
EIS. For more information, see EPA’s
Role in the EIS Process.
Dated: December 1, 2016.
Deborah Rocque,
Deputy Regional Director, Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2016–30420 Filed 12–15–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWY920000.L51010000.ER0000.
LVRWK09K1000.15X; WYW174597;
COC72909; UTU87237]
Notice of Availability of the Record of
Decision for the Energy Gateway
South Transmission Project and
Approved Land Use Plan Amendments
in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) announces the
availability of the Record of Decision
(ROD) for the Energy Gateway South
Transmission Project (Project) and
approved land use plan amendments of
the Rawlins, Little Snake, Pony Express,
Price, and Vernal Resource Management
Plans (RMPs). The ROD constitutes the
BLM’s final decision regarding: granting
a right-of-way to PacifiCorp (doing
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:42 Dec 15, 2016
Jkt 241001
business as Rocky Mountain Power) to
construct and operate an extra-high
voltage alternating-current transmission
system; and amending certain BLM land
use plans. The decisions are effective
immediately.
ADDRESSES: The complete text of the
ROD along with the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
and supporting documents are available
for public viewing on the BLM Web site:
https://bit.ly/2eErxWA.
Copies of the ROD text will be placed
in all involved BLM offices for public
viewing as well as at public libraries in
Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. For a list
of these libraries, please see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tamara Gertsch, National Project
Manager, Bureau of Land Management,
Wyoming State Office, P.O. Box 21150,
Cheyenne, WY 82003; by telephone at
(307) 775–6115; or email to
GatewaySouth_WYMail@blm.gov.
Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf may call the Federal
Relay Service (FRS) at (800) 877–8339 to
contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FRS 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: Copies of
the ROD text are available at the
following public libraries:
• Carbon County Library, Rawlins,
WY;
• Carbon County Library-Little Snake
River Branch, Baggs, WY;
• Moffat County Library, Craig, CO;
• Rangely Regional Library District,
Rangely, CO;
• Mesa County Library, Grand
Junction, CO;
• Grand County Public Library, Moab,
UT;
• Uintah County Library, Vernal, UT;
• Duchesne County Library,
Duchesne, UT;
• Emery County Library, Castle Dale,
UT; and
• Nephi Public Library, Nephi, UT.
PacifiCorp (doing business as Rocky
Mountain Power), a regulated public
utility, filed an application for a rightof-way to construct, operate and
maintain a 500-kilovolt (kV) overhead,
alternating current transmission line
across public and private lands for the
Project on November 28, 2007.
Pacificorp amended the application on
December 17, 2008; October 11, 2010;
January 15, 2013; and April 8, 2015.
When completed, the Project will
transmit about 1,500 megawatts of
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
91187
electricity generated from renewable
sources at planned facilities in
Wyoming, as well as from existing
thermal sources.
The Project will begin in south central
Wyoming near Medicine Bow, at the
permitted Aeolus Substation, and
traverses from northeast to southwest
across northwestern Colorado to the
existing Clover Substation near Mona,
Utah, a distance of approximately 416
miles.
The facilities will include:
• Construction of a single-circuit,
alternating current 500kV overhead
transmission line (including associated
structures, shield wires, conductors, and
insulators) between the Aeolus
Substation and Clover Substation;
• Construction of two series
compensation stations, at points
between the Aeolus and Clover
substations, to improve the transport
capacity and efficiency of the
transmission line;
• Construction of communication
regeneration stations associated with the
transmission line (approximately every
55 miles);
• Rebuilding of two existing 345kV
transmission lines between the Clover
and Mona Substations (in the existing
rights-of-way);
• Rerouting of the Mona to
Huntington 345kV transmission line
through the Clover Substation; and
• Relocation of an approximate 2mile portion of an existing line (Bears
Ears to Bonanza 345kV transmission
line) to eliminate multiple line crossings
in a short distance and avoid the BLM
Raven Ridge Area of Critical
Environmental Concern.
The Selected Alternative is the
Agency Preferred Alternative identified
in the Final EIS. The EIS has been
developed in accordance with
applicable laws, regulations, policies,
and plans, and discloses the impacts of
the Project. The Selected Alternative
was identified as the route that best
meets the BLM’s purpose and need, and
the Applicant’s objectives, and that
avoids and minimizes minimized
impacts to sensitive resources to the
extent possible. The ROD addresses the
mitigation and monitoring requirements
applicable to the Project, including
identifying and requiring compensatory
mitigation where impacts to sensitive
resources cannot be avoided, as further
described in the ROD and its
appendices.
Based on the analysis in the Final EIS,
the ROD also amends five BLM RMPs,
as follows:
• Rawlins RMP (Wyoming)—modifies
21 acres of visual resource management
(VRM) Class III to Class IV;
E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM
16DEN1
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
91188
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 242 / Friday, December 16, 2016 / Notices
• Little Snake RMP (Colorado)—
modifies 18 acres of VRM Class III to
Class IV;
• Pony Express RMP (Salt Lake Field
Office, Utah)—establishes the 1.3 miles
of the Project right-of-way as a 250 foot
wide utility corridor;
• Price Field Office, Utah—widens a
portion of a utility corridor designated
in a land use plan from 1 mile to 1.5
miles in width, to include the Project
right-of-way; and
• Vernal Field Office, Utah—modifies
58 acres of VRM Class II to Class III.
The approved land use plan
amendments specifically amend the
RMPs to allow for the development of
the Project and ancillary facilities on
land managed by the BLM. NEPA
disclosure of these plan amendments
has been integrated with the EIS process
for the Project, including the scoping
and public availability periods for the
EIS. With these amendments, the
Selected Alternative will conform with
the applicable the BLM land use plan
along the project’s route (43 CFR
1610.5–3).
On May 13, 2016, the Notice of
Availability (NOA) for the Final EIS and
Proposed Land use Plan Amendments
for the Project was published in the
Federal Register (81 FR 29912). The
publication of the NOA initiated a 30day protest period for the proposed land
use planning decisions and a 60-day
Governors’ consistency review. At the
close of the 30-day protest period, five
protests were received and subsequently
resolved as explained in the Director’s
Protest Resolution Report, available
online at https://bit.ly/2eErxWA. The
proposed land use plan amendments
were not modified as a result of the
protests. Individual protest response
letters were sent to the protesting
parties.
Copies of the ROD are available for
public inspection during normal
business hours at the following
locations.
• BLM, Wyoming State Office, Public
Reading Room, 5353 Yellowstone Road,
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009;
• BLM, Colorado State Office, Public
Reading Room, 2850 Youngfield Street,
Lakewood, Colorado 80215–7093; and
• BLM, Utah State Office, Public
Reading Room, 440 West 200 South,
Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101–
1345.
Simultaneous with the protest period,
the Governors of Wyoming, Colorado,
and Utah conducted consistency
reviews for the proposed land use plan
amendments to identify any
inconsistencies with State or local
plans, policies, or programs. No
inconsistencies were identified.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:42 Dec 15, 2016
Jkt 241001
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.
Mary Jo Rugwell,
Wyoming State Director.
[FR Doc. 2016–30346 Filed 12–15–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLOR936000.L14400000.ET0000.
16XL1109AF; HAG 16–0075 ORE–03587]
Notice of Application for Extension of
Public Land Order No. 1144, as
Modified by PLO 7325, and
Opportunity for Public Meeting; Miller
Lake Recreational Area, Oregon
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The United States Forest
Service (USFS) has filed an application
with the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) requesting that the Secretary of
the Interior extend the duration of
Public Land Order (PLO) No. 1144, as
modified by PLO No. 7325, for an
additional 20-year term subject to valid
existing rights. PLO No. 1144, as
modified by PLO 7325, withdrew 949.43
acres of Forest System Lands in the
Fremont-Winema National Forest from
location and entry under United States
mining laws, but not from leasing under
the mineral leasing laws. The purpose of
the proposed withdrawal extension is to
protect the Miller Lake Recreational
Area. PLO No. 1144, as modified by
PLO No. 7325 will expire on May 20,
2018, unless extended. This notice also
gives the public an opportunity to
comment on the application and to
request a public meeting.
DATES: Comments and public meeting
requests must be received by March 16,
2017.
ADDRESSES: Comments and public
meeting requests should be sent to the
BLM Oregon/Washington State Director,
P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208–
2965.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jacob Childers, BLM Oregon/
Washington State Office, 503–808–6225
or Candice Polisky, USFS Pacific
Northwest Region, 503–808–2479.
Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Relay Service at 1–800–877–
8339 to contact either of the above
individuals. The Service is available 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. You will
receive a reply during normal business
hours.
PO 00000
Frm 00074
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
The USFS
has filed an application requesting that
the Secretary of the Interior extend PLO
No. 1144, as modified by PLO No. 7325,
for an additional 20-year term, subject to
valid existing rights. PLO No. 1144 (20
FR 3151 (1955)), as modified by PLO
No. 7325 (63 FR 19744 (1998)),
withdrew 949.43 acres of National
Forest System Lands from location and
entry under the United States mining
laws, but not from leasing under the
mineral leasing laws, to protect the
Miller Lake Recreational Area. The
withdrawal encompasses Digit Point
Campground and Miller Lake Trail. The
USFS would not need to acquire water
rights to fulfill the purpose of the
requested withdrawal extension.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Willamette Meridian
Fremont-Winema National Forest
T. 27 S., R. 61⁄2 E.,
Sec. 11, those portions of Lots 1, 2,
NE1⁄4NW1⁄4 lying outside the Mt.
Thielsen Wilderness Area boundary,
Lots 3 through 7, SE1⁄4SW1⁄4, and all of
unsurveyed Miller Lake lying within the
section;
PB 37, SW1⁄4, SW1⁄4SE1⁄4 lying outside the
Mt. Thielsen Wilderness area boundary,
and all of unsurveyed Miller Lake lying
within aforementioned parts of PB 37;
Sec. 13, Lots 1 through 7, NW1⁄4SW1⁄4;
PB 38.
The area described contains 949.43 acres in
Klamath County.
This legal description is identical in
size, shape, and location as the
description in PLO No. 7325, as
published in the Federal Register (63
FR 19745 (1998)).
Records related to the application
may be examined by contacting Jacob
Childers, Bureau of Land Management,
at the address or phone number listed
above.
For a period until March 16, 2017, all
persons who wish to submit comments,
suggestions, or objections in connection
with the proposed withdrawal extension
may present their views in writing to
the BLM Oregon/Washington State
Office State Director at the address
indicated above.
Comments, including names and
street addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the
address indicated above during regular
business hours. Be advised that your
entire comment, including your
personal identifying information may be
made publicly available. While you can
ask us to withhold your personal
identifying information from public
review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Notice is hereby given that an
opportunity for a public meeting is
E:\FR\FM\16DEN1.SGM
16DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 242 (Friday, December 16, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91187-91188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30346]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWY920000.L51010000.ER0000.LVRWK09K1000.15X; WYW174597; COC72909;
UTU87237]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Energy
Gateway South Transmission Project and Approved Land Use Plan
Amendments in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Energy Gateway South
Transmission Project (Project) and approved land use plan amendments of
the Rawlins, Little Snake, Pony Express, Price, and Vernal Resource
Management Plans (RMPs). The ROD constitutes the BLM's final decision
regarding: granting a right-of-way to PacifiCorp (doing business as
Rocky Mountain Power) to construct and operate an extra-high voltage
alternating-current transmission system; and amending certain BLM land
use plans. The decisions are effective immediately.
ADDRESSES: The complete text of the ROD along with the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and supporting documents are
available for public viewing on the BLM Web site: https://bit.ly/2eErxWA.
Copies of the ROD text will be placed in all involved BLM offices
for public viewing as well as at public libraries in Colorado, Utah,
and Wyoming. For a list of these libraries, please see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamara Gertsch, National Project
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, P.O. Box
21150, Cheyenne, WY 82003; by telephone at (307) 775-6115; or email to
GatewaySouth_WYMail@blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at (800)
877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours.
The FRS 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: Copies of the ROD text are available at the
following public libraries:
Carbon County Library, Rawlins, WY;
Carbon County Library-Little Snake River Branch, Baggs,
WY;
Moffat County Library, Craig, CO;
Rangely Regional Library District, Rangely, CO;
Mesa County Library, Grand Junction, CO;
Grand County Public Library, Moab, UT;
Uintah County Library, Vernal, UT;
Duchesne County Library, Duchesne, UT;
Emery County Library, Castle Dale, UT; and
Nephi Public Library, Nephi, UT.
PacifiCorp (doing business as Rocky Mountain Power), a regulated
public utility, filed an application for a right-of-way to construct,
operate and maintain a 500-kilovolt (kV) overhead, alternating current
transmission line across public and private lands for the Project on
November 28, 2007. Pacificorp amended the application on December 17,
2008; October 11, 2010; January 15, 2013; and April 8, 2015. When
completed, the Project will transmit about 1,500 megawatts of
electricity generated from renewable sources at planned facilities in
Wyoming, as well as from existing thermal sources.
The Project will begin in south central Wyoming near Medicine Bow,
at the permitted Aeolus Substation, and traverses from northeast to
southwest across northwestern Colorado to the existing Clover
Substation near Mona, Utah, a distance of approximately 416 miles.
The facilities will include:
Construction of a single-circuit, alternating current
500kV overhead transmission line (including associated structures,
shield wires, conductors, and insulators) between the Aeolus Substation
and Clover Substation;
Construction of two series compensation stations, at
points between the Aeolus and Clover substations, to improve the
transport capacity and efficiency of the transmission line;
Construction of communication regeneration stations
associated with the transmission line (approximately every 55 miles);
Rebuilding of two existing 345kV transmission lines
between the Clover and Mona Substations (in the existing rights-of-
way);
Rerouting of the Mona to Huntington 345kV transmission
line through the Clover Substation; and
Relocation of an approximate 2-mile portion of an existing
line (Bears Ears to Bonanza 345kV transmission line) to eliminate
multiple line crossings in a short distance and avoid the BLM Raven
Ridge Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
The Selected Alternative is the Agency Preferred Alternative
identified in the Final EIS. The EIS has been developed in accordance
with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and plans, and discloses
the impacts of the Project. The Selected Alternative was identified as
the route that best meets the BLM's purpose and need, and the
Applicant's objectives, and that avoids and minimizes minimized impacts
to sensitive resources to the extent possible. The ROD addresses the
mitigation and monitoring requirements applicable to the Project,
including identifying and requiring compensatory mitigation where
impacts to sensitive resources cannot be avoided, as further described
in the ROD and its appendices.
Based on the analysis in the Final EIS, the ROD also amends five
BLM RMPs, as follows:
Rawlins RMP (Wyoming)--modifies 21 acres of visual
resource management (VRM) Class III to Class IV;
[[Page 91188]]
Little Snake RMP (Colorado)--modifies 18 acres of VRM
Class III to Class IV;
Pony Express RMP (Salt Lake Field Office, Utah)--
establishes the 1.3 miles of the Project right-of-way as a 250 foot
wide utility corridor;
Price Field Office, Utah--widens a portion of a utility
corridor designated in a land use plan from 1 mile to 1.5 miles in
width, to include the Project right-of-way; and
Vernal Field Office, Utah--modifies 58 acres of VRM Class
II to Class III.
The approved land use plan amendments specifically amend the RMPs
to allow for the development of the Project and ancillary facilities on
land managed by the BLM. NEPA disclosure of these plan amendments has
been integrated with the EIS process for the Project, including the
scoping and public availability periods for the EIS. With these
amendments, the Selected Alternative will conform with the applicable
the BLM land use plan along the project's route (43 CFR 1610.5-3).
On May 13, 2016, the Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Final EIS
and Proposed Land use Plan Amendments for the Project was published in
the Federal Register (81 FR 29912). The publication of the NOA
initiated a 30-day protest period for the proposed land use planning
decisions and a 60-day Governors' consistency review. At the close of
the 30-day protest period, five protests were received and subsequently
resolved as explained in the Director's Protest Resolution Report,
available online at https://bit.ly/2eErxWA. The proposed land use plan
amendments were not modified as a result of the protests. Individual
protest response letters were sent to the protesting parties.
Copies of the ROD are available for public inspection during normal
business hours at the following locations.
BLM, Wyoming State Office, Public Reading Room, 5353
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009;
BLM, Colorado State Office, Public Reading Room, 2850
Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215-7093; and
BLM, Utah State Office, Public Reading Room, 440 West 200
South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1345.
Simultaneous with the protest period, the Governors of Wyoming,
Colorado, and Utah conducted consistency reviews for the proposed land
use plan amendments to identify any inconsistencies with State or local
plans, policies, or programs. No inconsistencies were identified.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.
Mary Jo Rugwell,
Wyoming State Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-30346 Filed 12-15-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P
