Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt Transmission Line Project and Proposed Amendments to the Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan and the California Desert Conservation Area Plan; Maricopa and La Paz Counties, Arizona, and Riverside County, California, 48372-48373 [2019-19871]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
48372
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 178 / Friday, September 13, 2019 / Notices
(1) Liquefied Natural Gas pipeline
easement to Columbia Liquefied Natural
Gas along the northeastern boundary
(along Gunston Road); and
(2) Dominion Energy electrical
easement along the northeastern
boundary.
All areas not under a lease at the
SRMA are available for public use.
Submit comments on this proposal to
lease to the address listed in the
ADDRESSES section. Only written
comments will be considered properly
filed. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other
personally identifiable information in
your comment you should be aware that
your entire comment, including your
personally identifiable information may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personally identifiable
information from the public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Adverse comments will be evaluated
by the BLM Eastern State’s State
Director, 20 M Street SE, Washington,
DC 20003, who may sustain, vacate, or
modify this realty action. In the absence
of any adverse comment, this realty
action will become the final
determination of the BLM as to each one
of the two decisions stated above.
Authority: 43 CFR 2920.4.
Dean Gettinger,
District Manager, Northeastern States District.
[FR Doc. 2019–19634 Filed 9–12–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–GJ–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLAZ920000.19X.L51010000.
ER0000.LVRWA19A3240]
Notice of Availability for the Final
Environmental Impact Statement for
the Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt
Transmission Line Project and
Proposed Amendments to the Yuma
Field Office Resource Management
Plan and the California Desert
Conservation Area Plan; Maricopa and
La Paz Counties, Arizona, and
Riverside County, California
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:09 Sep 12, 2019
Jkt 247001
prepared the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt (kV)
Transmission Line Project and
Amendments to the Yuma Field Office
Resource Management Plan (RMP) and
the California Desert Conservation Area
(CDCA) Plan and by this notice is
announcing its availability.
DATES: The BLM planning regulations
state that any person who meets the
conditions as described in the
regulations may protest the BLM’s
Proposed Plan Amendments. A person
who meets the conditions and wishes to
file a protest must do so within 30 days
of the date that the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes its Notice
of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and Proposed
Plan Amendments are available on the
BLM ePlanning project website at
https://go.usa.gov/xU6Be. Hard copies
of the Final EIS and Proposed Plan
Amendments are available for public
inspection at the BLM Arizona State
Office, One North Central Avenue, Suite
800, Phoenix, AZ 85004, the BLM Yuma
Field Office, 7341 East 30th Street, Suite
A, Yuma, AZ 85365, and the BLM Palm
Springs-South Coast Field Office, 1201
Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA
92262. Instructions for filing a protest
with the Director of the BLM regarding
the Proposed Plan Amendments may be
found online at https://www.blm.gov/
programs/planning-and-nepa/publicparticipation/filing-a-plan-protest and
at 43 CFR 1610.6–2.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lane Cowger, Project Manager,
telephone: 602–417–9612; address:
BLM, Arizona State Office, One North
Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ
85004; email: blm_az_azso_10westlink@
blm.gov. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact Mr. Cowger. The FRS is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
to leave a message or question with Mr.
Cowger. You will receive a reply during
normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM
prepared the Final EIS for the proposed
Ten West Link 500-kV Transmission
Line Project and proposed amendments
to the Yuma Field Office RMP and the
CDCA Plan to respond to DCR
Transmission’s request for a right-ofway (ROW) across public land to
construct, operate, maintain, and
decommission a 500kV transmission
line between the Arizona Public Service
Delaney Substation near Tonopah in
Maricopa County, Arizona, and the
Southern California Edison Colorado
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
River Substation near Blythe in
Riverside County, California. The BLM’s
purpose and need for the action is to
respond to an application for a ROW
and decide whether to approve, approve
with modifications, or deny the ROW.
Portions of the Proposed Action and/
or Action Alternatives would not be in
conformance with the Yuma RMP and
the CDCA Plan. Therefore, the BLM
considered amending these plans in
connection with its consideration of
DCR Transmission’s ROW application.
The Agency Preferred Alternative
identified in the FEIS is 125.0 miles
long. This alternative is predominantly
within BLM-designated utility corridors
or adjacent to existing infrastructure and
draws on the environmental analysis
and stakeholder input to avoid sensitive
environmental resources and important
recreational uses on public lands. The
Agency Preferred Alternative avoids the
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and
Tribal lands. It minimizes impacts to
local communities and the U.S. Army’s
Yuma Proving Ground, and provides
interconnections for future energy
development projects. The Agency
Preferred Alternative includes an
amendment to the Yuma RMP to allow
ROWs outside of designated BLM utility
corridors based on project-specific
analysis. The Agency Preferred
Alternative would also require an
amendment to the CDCA Plan to allow
construction of the Ten West Link
project within 0.25-mile of occurrences
of Harwood’s eriastrum, a BLM special
status plant species.
Issues identified as part of the NEPA
and planning process and addressed in
the Final EIS/Proposed Plan
Amendments includes soil, biological,
visual, and cultural resources, Tribal
concerns, land use, recreation,
socioeconomics, and environmental
justice. Comments received from the
public and internal BLM review, on the
Draft EIS and Plan Amendments were
considered and incorporated as
appropriate into the Final EIS and
Proposed Plan Amendments. Changes to
the Final EIS include incorporation of
more detailed project design and
engineering information and
clarification of the proposed Yuma and
Lake Havasu Field Office RMP
Amendments considered by the BLM for
each alternative, including the Agency
Preferred Alternative.
The Final EIS analyzes in detail the
direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts
for a range of alternatives including the
No Action, Proposed Action, Interstate
10, BLM Utility Corridor, Avoidance,
and Public Lands Emphasis alternatives
and includes the proposed RMP and
Plan amendments described for the
E:\FR\FM\13SEN1.SGM
13SEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 178 / Friday, September 13, 2019 / Notices
Preferred Alternative, as well as
amendments to the Yuma and Lake
Havasu Field Office RMPs for visual
resource management classes for some
alternative route segments.
DCR Transmission has filed an
application for a Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with
the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) to site the
transmission infrastructure in
California. The CPUC approval or denial
of the CPCN application is a
discretionary decision. Under California
law, the CPUC would be required to
comply with the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
before issuing the CPCN. The CPUC is
currently a cooperating agency in the
BLM’s NEPA analysis. Pursuant to the
Public Resources Code 21083.5 and the
CEQA Guidelines (California Code of
Regulations, Title 14, Division 6,
Chapter 3) Section 15221, the CPUC
may rely upon this EIS in lieu of all or
any part of an Environmental Impact
Report (EIR). Furthermore, this Notice of
Availability serves as the notice that the
CPUC will consider the EIS in its
decision-making process relevant to
issuance of the CPCN (CEQA
Guidelines, Section 15225).
All protests must be in writing and
submitted as set forth in the DATES and
ADDRESSES sections above. Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your protest,
please 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 comment 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, 40 CFR 1506.10,
43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5.
Raymond Suazo,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019–19871 Filed 9–12–19; 8:45 am]
khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 4310–32–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:09 Sep 12, 2019
Jkt 247001
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLORV00400.L16100000.MQ0000.19X.HAG
19–0114]
Notice of Intent To Prepare the Louse
Canyon Geographic Management Area
Rangeland Health Management
Actions Environmental Impact
Statement To Analyze Rangeland
Health Management Actions in the
Louse Canyon Geographic
Management Area of the Malheur Field
Office, Vale District, Oregon
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) Malheur Field
Office, Vale District, Vale, Oregon,
intends to prepare an environmental
impact statement (EIS) and, by this
notice, is announcing the beginning of
the public scoping period for the
analysis of rangeland health
management actions in the Louse
Canyon Geographic Management Area
(LCGMA).
SUMMARY:
The BLM requests that
comments be submitted by October 15,
2019. The date(s) and location(s) of any
scoping meeting(s) will be announced at
least 15 days in advance through local
media and the BLM website,
www.blm.gov.
DATES:
You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Website: https://go.usa.gov/xQeac.
• Email: BLM_OR_VL_Louse_
Canyon_GMA@blm.gov.
• Fax: 541–473–6213.
• Mail: LCGMA, c/o Vale District
BLM 100 Oregon Street, Vale, OR 97918.
Attention: Todd Allai or Dustin Fowler.
Documents associated with this
proposal are available at the Malheur
Field Office, BLM Vale District Office,
100 Oregon Street, Vale, OR 97918, or
at https://go.usa.gov/xQeac.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Project leads Todd Allai, 541–473–6355,
or Dustin Fowler, 541–473–6250, via
phone or via email at: BLM_OR_VL_
Louse_Canyon_GMA@blm.gov. Please
contact Mr. Allai or Mr. Fowler to have
your name added to the project mailing
list. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact the above individual during
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00049
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
48373
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: The BLM
Vale District is initiating an EIS in order
to analyze alternative livestock
management and restoration actions that
would allow the district to make
progress toward meeting Oregon/
Washington (OR/WA) Standards for
Rangeland Health and Guidelines for
Livestock Grazing Management
(Standards and Guidelines) in the
LCGMA. The alternatives will consider
grazing practices, permit renewals, and
the implementation of rangeland
restoration and rangeland improvement
projects. Proposed rangeland
management actions include:
Alternative grazing systems and
schedules, upland sagebrush habitat
restoration, and riparian habitat
restoration.
The LCGMA is comprised of five
grazing allotments (536,434 acres) in
Malheur County, Oregon, and two
grazing allotments (11,262 acres) in
Humboldt County, Nevada. The Greater
Sage-grouse Approved Resource
Management Plan Amendment and
Record of Decision for Oregon identified
the entire planning area as habitat for
Greater Sage-grouse. Seventy-four
percent of the planning area is
identified as priority habitat, and the
remaining twenty-six percent of the
planning area is classified as general
habitat. Approximately twenty percent
of the LCGMA was impacted by the
2012 Long Draw fire.
An OR/WA Standards and Guidelines
evaluation of the area was completed in
2018 and can be found at https://
go.usa.gov/xQeac. The evaluation
determined that certain OR/WA
Standards and Guidelines are not being
met within the LCGMA. Preliminary
determinations of causal factors in not
meeting standards identify wildfire and
invasive annual grass species as likely
significant causal factors for not meeting
or making progress toward uplandrelated standards. Existing permitted
livestock grazing is identified as a likely
significant causal factor for not meeting
or making progress toward meeting
riparian and aquatic habitat-related
standards. The BLM is proposing to
analyze actions that support proper
livestock grazing management practices
and improve the ecological condition of
the LCGMA to address making progress
toward attainment of OR/WA Standards
and Guidelines.
Through the public scoping process,
the BLM is seeking input on issues,
E:\FR\FM\13SEN1.SGM
13SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48372-48373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19871]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[lsqb]LLAZ920000.19X.L51010000.ER0000.LVRWA19A3240[rsqb]
Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact
Statement for the Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt Transmission Line Project
and Proposed Amendments to the Yuma Field Office Resource Management
Plan and the California Desert Conservation Area Plan; Maricopa and La
Paz Counties, Arizona, and Riverside County, California
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the
proposed Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project and
Amendments to the Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP) and
the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan and by this notice
is announcing its availability.
DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's
Proposed Plan Amendments. A person who meets the conditions and wishes
to file a protest must do so within 30 days of the date that the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in
the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments are available on
the BLM ePlanning project website at https://go.usa.gov/xU6Be. Hard
copies of the Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments are available for
public inspection at the BLM Arizona State Office, One North Central
Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004, the BLM Yuma Field Office, 7341
East 30th Street, Suite A, Yuma, AZ 85365, and the BLM Palm Springs-
South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA
92262. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM
regarding the Proposed Plan Amendments may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.6-2.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lane Cowger, Project Manager,
telephone: 602-417-9612; address: BLM, Arizona State Office, One North
Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004; email:
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at
1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Cowger. The FRS is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with Mr. Cowger. You
will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the Final EIS for the
proposed Ten West Link 500-kV Transmission Line Project and proposed
amendments to the Yuma Field Office RMP and the CDCA Plan to respond to
DCR Transmission's request for a right-of-way (ROW) across public land
to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 500kV transmission
line between the Arizona Public Service Delaney Substation near Tonopah
in Maricopa County, Arizona, and the Southern California Edison
Colorado River Substation near Blythe in Riverside County, California.
The BLM's purpose and need for the action is to respond to an
application for a ROW and decide whether to approve, approve with
modifications, or deny the ROW.
Portions of the Proposed Action and/or Action Alternatives would
not be in conformance with the Yuma RMP and the CDCA Plan. Therefore,
the BLM considered amending these plans in connection with its
consideration of DCR Transmission's ROW application.
The Agency Preferred Alternative identified in the FEIS is 125.0
miles long. This alternative is predominantly within BLM-designated
utility corridors or adjacent to existing infrastructure and draws on
the environmental analysis and stakeholder input to avoid sensitive
environmental resources and important recreational uses on public
lands. The Agency Preferred Alternative avoids the Kofa National
Wildlife Refuge and Tribal lands. It minimizes impacts to local
communities and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground, and provides
interconnections for future energy development projects. The Agency
Preferred Alternative includes an amendment to the Yuma RMP to allow
ROWs outside of designated BLM utility corridors based on project-
specific analysis. The Agency Preferred Alternative would also require
an amendment to the CDCA Plan to allow construction of the Ten West
Link project within 0.25-mile of occurrences of Harwood's eriastrum, a
BLM special status plant species.
Issues identified as part of the NEPA and planning process and
addressed in the Final EIS/Proposed Plan Amendments includes soil,
biological, visual, and cultural resources, Tribal concerns, land use,
recreation, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. Comments
received from the public and internal BLM review, on the Draft EIS and
Plan Amendments were considered and incorporated as appropriate into
the Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments. Changes to the Final EIS
include incorporation of more detailed project design and engineering
information and clarification of the proposed Yuma and Lake Havasu
Field Office RMP Amendments considered by the BLM for each alternative,
including the Agency Preferred Alternative.
The Final EIS analyzes in detail the direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts for a range of alternatives including the No Action,
Proposed Action, Interstate 10, BLM Utility Corridor, Avoidance, and
Public Lands Emphasis alternatives and includes the proposed RMP and
Plan amendments described for the
[[Page 48373]]
Preferred Alternative, as well as amendments to the Yuma and Lake
Havasu Field Office RMPs for visual resource management classes for
some alternative route segments.
DCR Transmission has filed an application for a Certificate of
Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) to site the transmission infrastructure in
California. The CPUC approval or denial of the CPCN application is a
discretionary decision. Under California law, the CPUC would be
required to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
before issuing the CPCN. The CPUC is currently a cooperating agency in
the BLM's NEPA analysis. Pursuant to the Public Resources Code 21083.5
and the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14,
Division 6, Chapter 3) Section 15221, the CPUC may rely upon this EIS
in lieu of all or any part of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Furthermore, this Notice of Availability serves as the notice that the
CPUC will consider the EIS in its decision-making process relevant to
issuance of the CPCN (CEQA Guidelines, Section 15225).
All protests must be in writing and submitted as set forth in the
DATES and ADDRESSES sections above. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information
in your protest, please 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 comment 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, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR
1610.5.
Raymond Suazo,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-19871 Filed 9-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P
