Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project in Clark County, NV, 2239-2240 [2024-00393]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2239-2240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00393]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500176465]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rough Hat Clark 
Solar Project in Clark County, NV

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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rough Hat Clark Solar 
Project and by this notice is providing information announcing the 
opening of the comment period on the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS.

DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 90-day comment period for 
the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS beginning with the date following the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register.
    To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments on the Draft 
RMP Amendment/EIS, please ensure your comments are received prior to 
the close of the 90-day comment period or 15 days after the last public 
meeting, whichever is later.
    The BLM will be holding one in-person public meeting and one 
virtual public meeting during the public comment period.

 In-Person Meeting
    [cir] Date and Time: January 30, 2024, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific 
standard time (PST)
    [cir] Location: Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino, 681 NV Highway 
160, Pahrump, Nevada 89048
 Virtual Meeting
    [cir] Date and Time: February 1, 2024, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. PST
    [cir] Registration information: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510

    Details on public meetings will be provided on the National NEPA 
Register project website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510.

ADDRESSES: The Draft RMP Amendment/EIS is available for review on the 
BLM National NEPA Register project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510. Additionally, a 
copy of the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS is physically available at the 
following locations:

 BLM Southern Nevada District Office, Pahrump Field Office, 
4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130
 Pahrump Community Library, 701 East Street, Pahrump, NV 89408
 Tecopa Branch Library, 408 Tecopa Hot Springs Road, Tecopa, CA 
92389

    Written comments related to the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS for the 
Rough Hat Clark Solar Project in Clark County, NV may be submitted by 
any of the following methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: BLM Southern Nevada District Office, Attn: Rough Hat 
Clark Solar Project, 4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130.
     Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined 
online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510 
and at the locations above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Whitney Wirthlin, Project Manager, 
telephone (725) 249-3318; address 4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, 
NV 89130; email [email protected]. 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 Whitney Wirthlin. 
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: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Nevada State Director has prepared a Draft RMP Amendment/EIS and 
provides information announcing the opening of the comment period on 
the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS. The RMP Amendment is being considered to 
allow the BLM to evaluate the effects of modifying the Visual Resource 
Management (VRM) Class III designated lands south of State Route 160 
and west of Tecopa Road to the Town of Pahrump, Nevada to VRM Class IV, 
which would require amending the existing 1998 Las Vegas RMP.
    The planning area in Clark and Nye Counties, Nevada encompasses 
approximately 9,890,365 acres within the Southern Nevada District area. 
The total acreage for the VRM Class I through IV areas designated under 
the 1998 Las Vegas RMP is approximately 3,297,016 acres.
    The RMP Amendment would encompasses approximately 9,960 acres of 
BLM-administered land currently designated as VRM Class III. An 
amendment to the Las Vegas RMP is being considered to update the BLM's 
VRM management objectives in this area to VRM Class IV. The amendment 
area would include the proposed Rough Hat Clark Solar Project area 
along with other constructed projects and proposed solar applications 
within the Pahrump Valley.
    The BLM is utilizing the NEPA substitution process to comply with 
the requirements of section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act, 54 U.S.C. 306108, consistent with 36 CFR 800.8(c). The BLM, as 
lead Federal agency, has incorporated information and the steps of the 
section 106 process into the Draft EIS, and publication of the

[[Page 2240]]

Draft EIS will allow the consulting parties and the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on the process as provided in 36 CFR 
800.8(c)(2).

Purpose and Need

    The need for the BLM's action (processing the Applicant's 
application) is to respond to the Applicant's request for a right-of-
way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, maintain, and 
decommission the proposed Project in accordance with the BLM's 
responsibility under title V of FLPMA and 43 CFR part 2800. The BLM's 
action of considering the ROW application also would meet the BLM's 
obligation to contribute towards the legislative and administrative 
goals of advancing the development of renewable energy production on 
Federal public lands as directed by section 3104 of the Energy Act of 
2020 and Executive Order 14057.
    The Project as proposed would not conform to the 1998 Las Vegas RMP 
as required by 43 CFR 1610.5-3(a). The BLM would need to amend the RMP 
to bring it into compliance. In particular, the Applicant's proposed 
Project does not conform with the management objectives of the Project 
area's VRM classification (Class III).
    The purpose of the BLM's action is to determine if the Applicant's 
Project and alternatives are consistent with relevant laws, 
regulations, and policies, and to consider whether to grant, grant with 
modifications, or deny the ROW. The purpose of the RMP Amendment is to 
ensure that any development of renewable energy production in the 
general vicinity of the Applicant's proposed Project area conforms with 
the RMP's provisions, as provided for in 43 CFR 1610.5-3(c), 
specifically by reclassifying this geographic area as VRM Class IV.
    The Draft EIS addresses the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and alternatives. 
Alternatives to the Proposed Action were developed by the BLM to avoid 
or reduce various resource conflicts. Key resource constraints include 
habitat for and presence of Mojave desert tortoise, which is listed as 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act, presence of waters of the 
United States, limited groundwater resources, vegetation at the Project 
site, and generation of dust.

Alternatives Including the Preferred Alternative

    The BLM has analyzed three alternatives in detail, including the no 
action alternative. These are the Applicant Proposed Action, 
Alternative Action 1, and the No Action Alternative.
    Alternative Action 1 (referred to as the Resources Integration 
Alternative) was identified in response to issues raised by the public 
and agency considerations. The intent of the Resources Integration 
Alternative is to minimize disturbance to vegetation and soils within 
the solar facility by setting maximum allowable disturbance thresholds 
to vegetation during construction, setting restoration goals, and 
utilizing topography-spanning technologies for solar panel array 
installation. Setting a disturbance cap would ensure a consistent 
comparison of alternatives and outcomes for NEPA analysis purposes. 
Specifically, Alternative Action 1--Resources Integration Alternative 
would implement non-traditional development methods (overland travel), 
as this construction method is less intensive than traditional methods 
and is expected to improve the retention of native vegetation, wildlife 
habitat, soils, seed banks, and biological soil crusts while minimizing 
water quality impacts and air quality impacts from fugitive dust.
    The No Action Alternative would be a continuation of existing 
conditions and no new action would be taken.
    The BLM further considered seven additional alternatives but 
dismissed these alternatives from detailed analysis as explained in the 
Draft RMP Amendment/EIS.
    The State Director has identified Alternative Action 1--Resources 
Integration Alternative as the Preferred Alternative. Alternative 
Action 1--Resources Integration Alternative was found to best meet the 
State Director's planning guidance and is designed to be a Project 
lifecycle alternative to not only address the impacts of construction, 
but also operations, maintenance, and decommissioning of the solar 
facility. Alternative Action 1--Resources Integration Alternative 
minimizes disturbance to vegetation and soils within the solar 
facility, thereby minimizing impacts to wildlife habitat, soils, air 
quality, and water quality.

Mitigation

    The BLM included seven mitigation measures: dust control and 
stabilization (MM AIR-1), reducing the Project footprint (MM WILD-1), 
holding a job fair in a nearby community (MM EJ-1), facilitating Tribal 
consultation (MM NA-1), fire prevention and safety (MM PS-3), reducing 
cumulative transportation effects (MM TRAF-1), and advanced 
notification to Clark County Department of Aviation (MM V-1). These 
mitigation measures, along with required Solar Programmatic EIS 
Programmatic Design Features (PDFs), Southern Nevada District Office 
PDFs, and required management plans, are described in appendix B of the 
Draft RMP Amendment/EIS.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes, 
including a 30-day public protest period and a concurrent 60-day 
Governor's consistency review on the Proposed RMP Amendment. The 
Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS is anticipated to be available for 
public protest by August 2024 with an Approved RMP Amendment and Record 
of Decision by October 2024.
    The BLM will continue to consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a 
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 
13175, BLM MS 1780 and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, 
including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to 
cultural resources, will be given due consideration.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--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)

Jon K. Raby,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-00393 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
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