Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment, New Mexico and Arizona, 10373-10375 [2023-03299]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10373-10375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03299]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNM931000 L51010000.PQ0000 LVRWG22G0690 22XL5017AP]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the SunZia 
Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment, New Mexico and 
Arizona

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: 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 (FLMPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the SunZia Southwest 
Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment and by this notice is 
announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP 
Amendment.

DATES: This notice announces the beginning of a 30-day protest period 
to the BLM on the Proposed RMP Amendment. Protests must be postmarked 
or electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site within 30 days 
of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes 
its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA 
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.

ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is available on the 
BLM ePlanning project website at https://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG. Documents 
pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at https://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG and at the BLM New Mexico State Office, the BLM Arizona 
State Office, the BLM Las Cruces District Office, the BLM Socorro Field 
Office, the Safford BLM Field Office, the BLM Tucson Field Office, the 
Cibola National Forest Supervisor's Office, and the Sevilleta National 
Wildlife Refuge.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the SunZia 
Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment can be found at: 
https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Garcia, Project Manager, (505) 
954-2199, [email protected]; or Virginia Alguire, Assistant Field 
Manager, (575) 838-1290, [email protected]; 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa 
Fe, New Mexico 87508. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services 
for contacting Mr. Garcia. Individuals outside the United States should 
use the relay services offered within their country to make 
international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RMP amendment is being considered to 
allow the BLM to evaluate SunZia Transmission, LLC's application to 
amend its right-of-way grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission 
Project (Project), which would require amending the existing Socorro 
Field Office RMP.
    The proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project is composed of 
two planned 500-kilovolt transmission lines located across 
approximately 520 miles of Federal, state, and private lands between 
central New Mexico and central Arizona. The Project traverses Lincoln, 
Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, Hidalgo, Valencia, and Torrance counties 
in New Mexico and Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, Pinal, and Pima counties 
in Arizona.
    The proposed alternatives would not be in conformance with the 
Socorro RMP due to one of the following conditions: the right-of-way 
would cross an area designated in the RMP as right-of-way avoidance or 
exclusion, the right-of-way would cross a special designation, or the 
project would not comply with Visual Resource Management objectives. 
Plan amendments would be required for alternatives where no conforming 
alternatives could be developed that would meet the purpose and need of 
the project.
    In addition to the alternative transmission line routes, two plan 
amendment alternatives have been identified for each of the affected 
RMPs, as follows:
     No Action: If no action is taken, then the right-of-way 
for the project would not be granted and no amendment to the affected 
RMP would be granted.
     400-foot-wide right-of-way: The affected RMP would be 
amended to designate a 400-foot-wide right-of-way for the proposed 
project through the BLM right-of-way avoidance areas and one exclusion 
area associated with an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The 
Visual Resource Management

[[Page 10374]]

classes would be modified within the right-of-way. The Ladron Mountain-
Devil's Backbone Complex Area of Critical Environmental Concern could 
be reduced by up to 4.7 acres to accommodate the right-of-way.
    Minor deviations from the limits of the right-of-way may be 
required to accommodate site-specific considerations, and any new 
rights-of-way would be subject to case-by-case evaluations according to 
future project applications.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The BLM's purpose and need for Federal action is to respond to 
SunZia's application to amend its right-of-way grant (NM 114438) under 
title V of FLPMA consistent with applicable laws. In compliance with 
NEPA and FLPMA, the BLM New Mexico State Office has prepared an EIS to 
analyze the environmental impacts associated with SunZia's application. 
Proposed amendments to SunZia's right-of-way grant would require an 
amendment to the Socorro Field Office RMP, which the BLM has analyzed 
in the Final EIS. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's purpose and need 
for Federal action is to respond to requests to co-locate the SunZia 
transmission line with existing transmission line easements across the 
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Forest Service's purpose 
and need for Federal action is to respond to SunZia's application for a 
right-of-way to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 
transmission line on Federal lands. The Department of Energy's purpose 
and need for Federal action is to comply with its mandate under Title 
XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by selecting projects eligible 
for the Federal loan guarantee program established by the Act.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The proposed action is for the BLM to amend the current right-of-
way authorization to include proposed project components outside of the 
existing granted right-of-way for the construction, operation, 
maintenance, and decommissioning of the Project. The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service and Cibola National Forest may need to issue new 
authorizations, depending on the alternatives under proposed Component 
3, which includes a proposed, approximately 150-mile reroute of the 
2015 Selected Route in Socorro, Valencia, and Torrance Counties, New 
Mexico. The permitted route originates at a planned substation in 
Torrance County, New Mexico, and terminates at the existing Pinal 
Central Substation in Pinal County, Arizona. The Project traverses 
Lincoln, Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, Hidalgo, Valencia, and Torrance 
counties in New Mexico and Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, Pinal, and Pima 
counties in Arizona. The route has four segments:
     Segment 1: Pinal Central Substation to Willow 500-kilovolt 
Substation;
     Segment 2: Willow 500-kilovolt Substation to SunZia South 
Substation (Segment 2a in Arizona, Segment 2b in New Mexico);
     Segment 3: SunZia South Substation to New Mexico Institute 
of Mining and Technology; and
     Segment 4: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 
to SunZia East Substation.
    Prior environmental documents include a Final EIS in 2013, a 
subsequent Environmental Assessment and Finding of No New Significant 
Impact in 2015 to accommodate burial of approximately five miles of the 
transmission line in three locations within the White Sands Missile 
Range Northern Call-Up Area, and a Record of Decision in 2015. The BLM 
issued a right-of-way grant to SunZia in 2016, authorizing use of a 
400-foot-wide right-of-way across 183 miles of public lands 
administered by the BLM. Construction of the lines has not begun.
    SunZia is proposing to amend the existing grant in four components:
     Component 1--Localized Route Modifications: Consists of 
proposed modifications of the 2015 Selected Route in six localized 
areas in Segments 1, 2, and 3 in Pinal County, Arizona and Hidalgo, 
Luna, Sierra, and Socorro Counties, New Mexico. After the right-of-way 
grant was issued in September 2016, and pursuant to the requirements in 
the BLM's 2015 Record of Decision, subsequent ground-controlled surveys 
and engineering were conducted in conjunction with environmental 
resource surveys to refine locations of project facilities and refine 
the limits of the transmission line right-of-way alignment. Route 
Modifications 1-5 are located on public lands administered by the BLM 
and are proposed due to inability to obtain private rights-of-way or 
easements, changes in land use, or physical constraints. Route 
Modification 6 includes route modifications on private and state lands.
     Component 2--Access Roads and Temporary Work Areas Outside 
the Granted Right-of-Way: Includes access roads that are on public 
lands administered by the BLM outside the existing 400-foot-wide 
granted right-of way. Access roads for construction, operation, and 
maintenance of the transmission lines were planned within the 400-foot-
wide right-of-way as much as practicable. However, access to the right-
of-way, constraints due to steep or rugged terrain, and avoidance of 
sensitive resources may necessitate the use of roads outside the 400-
foot-wide granted right-of-way. In Segments 1, 2, and 3, temporary work 
areas, or portions of, are outside the 400-foot-wide granted right-of-
way for the 2015 Selected Route, requiring short-term rights-of-way for 
temporary use. Temporary work areas include structure work areas, 
construction yards, and wire pulling/tensioning/splicing areas.
     Component 3--Segment 4 Reroute: SunZia has opted to pursue 
potential alternative routes that would relocate the Project's proposed 
transmission line and associated facilities outside the White Sands 
Missile Range Northern Call-Up Area, take advantage of an opportunity 
to partially parallel the Western Spirit 345-kilovolt Transmission 
Project, and move the eastern substation closer to proposed wind-
generation projects. SunZia is considering three alternative routes.
    The three alternative routes are:
    [cir] Alternative Route 1: Crosses public lands administered by the 
BLM, Cibola National Forest lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, 
and private and state managed lands. All Alternative Route 1 sub routes 
would cross 0.1 mile of the Ladron Mountain-Devil's Backbone Complex 
Area of Critical Environmental Concern using Local Alternative 1A-7.
    [cir] Alternative Route 2: Crosses public lands administered by the 
BLM, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, and private and state managed lands. The 
Alternative would co-locate within existing transmission line corridors 
that pass north-south through National Wildlife Refuge System land. 
Where Alternative Route 2 would cross the Sevilleta National Wildlife 
Refuge, the easement width would be reduced to 100 feet to conform with 
the existing El Paso Electric 345-kilovolt transmission line easement. 
Alternative Routes 2A-1 and 2A-4 would cross the Rio Grande immediately 
to the south of the constructed Western Spirit Project 345-kilovolt 
transmission line.
    [cir] Alternative Route 3: Alternative Route 3 would cross public 
lands administered by the BLM, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge 
managed by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and private and state 
managed lands. The alternative would co-locate within existing 
transmission line corridors that pass north-south through National 
Wildlife Refuge System land. Where Alternative Route 3 would cross the

[[Page 10375]]

Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, the easement width would be reduced 
to 50 feet to conform with the existing Tri-State 115-kilovolt 
transmission line easement.
    Both Alternatives 2 and 3 would be required for the Project. 
Additionally, the BLM has considered and analyzed additional route 
alternatives identified through public scoping, Title 41 of the Fixing 
America's Surface Transportation Act, and Nation-to-Nation consultation 
with Indian Tribes.
     Component 4--SunZia West Substation: SunZia also 
identified the need for a high voltage direct current converter station 
(SunZia West Substation) at a newly identified alternate location for 
the west-end receiving terminal in Arizona east of Red Rock. The 
revised location of the high voltage direct current converter station 
is needed because operation and interconnection capabilities for the 
west-end high voltage direct current receiving terminal could be better 
served at a dedicated and separate site. The southern portion of the 
current siting area (20-22 acres) for the SunZia West Substation 
overlaps with the permitted 400-foot-wide right-of-way and is located 
entirely on Arizona State Trust Land just east of Red Rock, Arizona. No 
Federal authorization is needed for the southern portion. Adjustment of 
the permitted right-of-way would be addressed with the State of 
Arizona. The total siting area is approximately 80.7 acres.
    The BLM analyzed SunZia's proposed amendments and alternatives to 
the reroute of Segment 4 in the Final EIS. The BLM also considered a no 
action alternative in the Final EIS (i.e., the BLM and other Federal 
agencies would not approve the localized route modifications, access 
roads and temporary work areas outside the granted right-of-way, the 
Segment 4 reroute, and the new location for the SunZia West 
Substation).

Agency-Proposed Alternative

    The BLM has identified parts of the four proposed Project 
components as the agency's Proposed Alternative. The agency's Proposed 
Alternative is as follows:
     Component 1: Localized route modifications 1-5, and the 
2015 Selected Route (the no action alternative in the Final EIS) for 
local route modification 6 in the Pinal Central area;
     Component 2: All access roads and temporary workspaces 
outside the granted right-of-way;
     Component 3: Alternative Route 2 (Subroute 2A-1) and 
Alternative Route 3 (Subroute 3A-1), which include crossing the 
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge as well as co-locating the proposed 
SunZia Transmission Line with the Western Spirit 345-kilovolt 
Transmission Line at the Rio Grande crossing. For Subroute 3A-1, the 
agency Proposed Alternative includes Local Alternative 3B-2 to avoid 
two private residences near the Project; and
     Component 4: The 2015 Selected Alternative.

Public Input Received

    A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for the proposed Project 
was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2022 (87 FR 25653). 
Three virtual public meetings were held during the 90-day comment 
period. The BLM received 125 public comment documents during the 
comment period. The documents contained 609 individual comments with 36 
substantive comments.
    Comments on the Draft EIS received from the public and internal BLM 
review were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the Final 
EIS. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text but 
did not significantly change proposed decisions.

Protest of the Proposed RMP Amendment

    BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated in 
the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be 
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP Amendment may 
protest its approval to the BLM. Protest on the Proposed RMP Amendment 
constitutes the final opportunity for administrative review of the 
proposed land use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an 
approved RMP Amendment. Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM 
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment may be found online (see 
ADDRESSES). All protests must be in writing and mailed to the 
appropriate address or submitted electronically through the BLM 
ePlanning project website (see ADDRESSES). Protests submitted 
electronically by any means other than the ePlanning project website or 
by fax will be invalid unless a hard copy of the protest is also 
submitted. The BLM will render a written decision on each protest. The 
protest decision of the BLM shall be the final decision of the 
Department of the Interior. Responses to valid protest issues will be 
compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report made available 
following the protest resolution online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. Upon resolution of protests, the BLM will issue a Record of 
Decision and Approved RMP Amendment.
    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, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR 
1610.5.)

Melanie G. Barnes,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-03299 Filed 2-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-23-P