Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Associated Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Esmeralda Seven Solar Projects, Esmeralda County, Nevada, 60653-60654 [2024-16280]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60653-60654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16280]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500178495]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Associated Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Esmeralda Seven Solar Projects, Esmeralda County, Nevada

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) Nevada 
State Director has prepared a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
Amendment with an associated Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PEIS) for seven adjacent solar photovoltaic projects 
proposed on BLM-administered public lands in Esmeralda County, Nevada. 
This notice announces the opening of the 90-day comment period and 
provides the planning criteria for public review.

DATES: All comments on the draft RMP Amendment and PEIS must be 
received by October 24, 2024 or 15 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the RMP Amendment and associated PEIS by any of the 
following methods:
     BLM's National NEPA Register (ePlanning) at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020804/510.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (775) 635-4034.
     Mail: BLM, Battle Mountain District Office, 50 Bastian 
Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at: 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020804/510.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to the mailing list, please send requests to: Scott 
Distel, Supervisory Project Manager, at telephone (775) 635-4093; 
address: 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820; or 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. 
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 with an 
associated PEIS for the Esmeralda Seven Solar Projects in Esmeralda 
County, Nevada, announces the beginning of the draft PEIS review 
process, and seeks public input on issues and planning criteria. The 
RMP Amendment would change the existing 1997 Tonopah Field Office 
Record of Decision and Approved RMP. The RMP Amendment is being 
considered to change the management direction for visual resources and 
slope to allow for the consideration of the proposed solar development 
projects.
    The planning area is in Esmeralda County, Nevada, and encompasses 
approximately 118,630.9 acres of BLM-administered public lands.

Purpose and Need

    The BLM's purpose for this Federal action is to respond to the 
solar projects' FLPMA right-of-way applications submitted under Title V 
of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761) and to amend the visual and slope management 
direction in the Tonopah RMP in compliance with the FLPMA BLM right-of-
way regulations (43 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 2800) and other 
applicable Federal and State laws and policies. In accordance with 
FLPMA, there is a need to consider the long-term needs of future 
generations for renewable and non-renewable resources in the context of 
the multiple resource objectives in the Tonopah RMP planning area.

Preliminary Alternatives

    Under Alternative A, the Proposed Action, there would be the 
potential for the development of seven utility-scale photovoltaic solar 
facilities within the planning area. The proposed projects include the 
development of photovoltaic solar facilities, including solar arrays, 
energy storage, roads, and electric generation intertie (gen-tie) lines 
within the seven solar ROWs, as outlined in each project's plan of 
development.
    Alternative B, the Soils and Vegetation Conservation Alternative, 
would be the same as the Proposed Action; however, there would be no 
amendment to the Tonopah RMP to change the slope requirement for the 
planning area to a maximum of 10 percent. Development on slopes greater 
than 5 percent would be based on the additional slope criteria outlined 
in the 2012 Solar PEIS Record of Decision (ROD). In addition, 
applicants would limit traditional construction grading methods, which 
remove all vegetation and compact the soil, to a maximum of 35 percent 
of the proposed development area. Applicants would use mowing in the 
rest of the development area to leave vegetation intact. In mowed 
areas, vegetation would be mowed to a height of 24 inches but no less 
than 18 inches, where justified.
    Under Alternative C, the No Action Alternative, the BLM would not 
authorize the RMP Amendment or select an action alternative. Future 
solar development in the planning area would require separate NEPA 
analyses and reviews that would not tier to this PEIS or ROD. In 
addition, future development could be constrained by the existing 
visual resources management classifications or slope requirements.

Planning Criteria

    The planning criteria serve as a guide for the planning effort and 
lay the groundwork for effects analysis by identifying the preliminary 
issues and their analytical frameworks. The planning criteria are 
available for public review and comment on the BLM's National NEPA 
Register (ePlanning) website (see ADDRESSES).

Summary of Expected Impacts

    Through the RMP Amendment and PEIS, the BLM would change the visual 
and slope management direction in the Tonopah RMP and consider best 
management practices for use in future analyses of the individual 
projects. Prior to decisions on the individual solar projects, 
subsequent site-specific NEPA analysis would be required. Preliminary 
issues for the planning area have been identified by BLM personnel and 
from feedback received during early engagement conducted for this 
planning effort with Federal, State, and local

[[Page 60654]]

agencies; Tribes; and stakeholders; as well as through the public 
scoping process. The PEIS analyzes the effects of the proposed changes 
in RMP management direction, the cumulative effects of the seven 
proposed solar projects, and the implementation of design features on:

 Air Resources
 Biological Resources
 Cultural and Native American Concerns
 Hydrologic Resources
 Socioeconomics and Environmental Justice
 Visual Resources

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM will provide opportunities for public participation 
consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes for a 90-day 
comment period on the draft RMP Amendment and PEIS. The Final PEIS is 
anticipated to be available for public protest in the last quarter of 
2024, with an Approved RMP Amendment and Record of Decision in the 
first quarter of 2025.

Public Process

    One in-person and one virtual public meeting will be held. The 
location and dates of the meetings and information on how to 
participate will be announced at least 15 days in advance through the 
BLM's National NEPA Register (ePlanning) web page (see ADDRESSES) and 
applicable local newspapers.
    This notice of availability initiates the public review of the 
planning criteria, draft RMP Amendment, and draft PEIS.
    Through the review process, the BLM is requesting input on the 
environmental analysis, alternatives, and issues that are analyzed, 
including measures to minimize and/or avoid adverse environmental 
impacts, and any other information relevant to the proposed area of 
effect.

Lead and Cooperating Agencies

    The BLM Battle Mountain District Office is the lead agency for this 
RMP Amendment and PEIS. The Nevada Department of Wildlife, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service--Ecological Services, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service--Migratory Birds Program, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, and the Esmeralda County Board of County 
Commissioners have agreed to participate in this environmental analysis 
as cooperating agencies. Several Tribes, including the Moapa Band of 
Paiutes, have also requested to participate in the environmental 
analysis and may potentially agree to become cooperating agencies. 
Additional agencies and organizations may be identified as potential 
cooperating agencies to participate in the environmental analysis for 
the RMP Amendment and PEIS.

Responsible Official

    The BLM Nevada State Director is the deciding official for this 
planning effort.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The nature of the decision to be made will be the BLM Nevada State 
Director's selection of land use planning decisions for managing BLM-
administered public lands under the principles of multiple use and 
sustained yield in a manner that best addresses the purpose and need.

Interdisciplinary Team

    The BLM has used an interdisciplinary approach to develop the RMP 
Amendment to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines 
were involved in this planning effort: geology and soils, vegetation 
and noxious and invasive species, wildlife, hydrology, air quality, 
minerals, paleontology, visual resources, cultural resources, 
socioeconomics and environmental justice, public health and safety, 
land use and recreation, special designations, and others deemed 
necessary based on the results of the scoping process.

Additional Information

    The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address 
the reasonably foreseeable effects to resources from the proposed RMP 
Amendment and all analyzed reasonable alternatives and, in accordance 
with 40 CFR 1502.14(e), include appropriate mitigation measures not 
already included in the draft RMP Amendment or alternatives. Mitigation 
may include avoidance, minimization, rectification, reduction or 
elimination over time, and compensation; and may be considered at 
multiple scales, including the landscape scale.
    The BLM is utilizing and coordinating the NEPA and land use 
planning processes for this planning effort to help support compliance 
with applicable procedural requirements under the Endangered Species 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1536), as well as section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108) as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), 
including public involvement requirements of section 106. The 
information about threatened and endangered species and historic and 
cultural resources within the area potentially affected by the proposed 
plan assists the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such 
resources.
    The BLM has consulted and will continue to consult with Native 
American Tribes 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, are being given due consideration. 
Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Native American Tribal 
Nations and other stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by 
the draft RMP Amendment and PEIS that the BLM is evaluating, have been 
invited to participate in the environmental review process and, if 
eligible, have been requested by the BLM to participate in the 
development of the environmental analysis as a cooperating agency.
    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 1501.7, 43 CFR 1610.2, and 43 CFR 2800)

Kimberly Prill,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-16280 Filed 7-25-24; 8:45 am]
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