Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project in Clark County, NV, 87594-87596 [2024-25573]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87594-87596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25573]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500183047]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Final 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 (FLMPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rough Hat Clark Solar 
Project and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest 
period of the Proposed RMP Amendment to the BLM Director.

DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 30-day protest period for 
the Proposed RMP Amendment. Protests must be postmarked or 
electronically submitted on the BLM's National NEPA Register 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, Final EIS, and associated 
documents are available on the BLM National NEPA Register project 
website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019992/510. 
Documents pertinent to this proposal may also be examined at the 
Southern Nevada District Office, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701 N Torrey 
Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.
    Instructions, including addresses, for filing a protest with the 
BLM for the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project 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: Jessica Headen, Project Manager, 
telephone (702) 515-5206, address Bureau of Land Management, 4701 N 
Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130. 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

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contacting Ms. Headen. 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 Proposed RMP Amendment is being 
considered to allow the BLM to evaluate the effects of granting a 
right-of-way (ROW) for the Rough Hat Clark Solar Project. This process 
requires amending the existing 1998 Las Vegas Resource Management Plan 
(Las Vegas RMP) to modify the Visual Resource Management (VRM) Class of 
lands south of State Route 160 and west of Tecopa Road to the Town of 
Pahrump, Nevada. The Applicant's proposed Project does not conform with 
the management objectives of the Project area's current VRM 
classification (Class III), and therefore the designated lands would be 
modified from VRM Class III to VRM Class IV.
    The Proposed RMP Amendment covers a larger area than the Rough Hat 
Clark Solar Project application area. The Proposed RMP Amendment area 
would encompass approximately 9,960 acres of BLM-administered land. 
This area includes the location where the Yellow Pine Solar Project is 
currently under construction, as well as lands within the application 
areas for the Copper Rays, Mosey, and Purple Sage Solar Projects. Given 
the existing and proposed uses of this area, amending the VRM from 
Class III to Class IV is necessary to ensure activities conform with 
the Las Vegas RMP.

Purpose and Need

    The need for the BLM's action is to respond to the Applicant's 
request for a 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, as discussed above.
    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.

Alternatives Considered

    The Applicant, Candela Renewables, LLC, applied to the BLM's Las 
Vegas Field Office for a ROW grant to provide the necessary land and 
access for the construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual 
decommissioning of the proposed Rough Hat Clark Solar Project and 
interconnection to the regional transmission system. The Proposed 
Action would include up to a 400-megawatt (MW) alternating current 
solar photovoltaic power generating facility with up to 700 MW of 
battery energy storage on approximately 2,469 acres of BLM-managed 
public land. The Project area is located in the Pahrump Valley in Clark 
County, Nevada, immediately adjacent to the Clark/Nye county line, 
three miles southeast of the Town of Pahrump, and approximately 38 
miles west of the City of Las Vegas. The expected life of the Project 
is 30 years.
    Alternatives to the Proposed Action were developed by the BLM to 
avoid or reduce various resource conflicts. Key resource constraints 
include the habitat for and presence of the Mojave desert tortoise 
listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, along with 
limited groundwater resources, vegetation at the Project area, and the 
generation of dust.
    The BLM analyzed three alternatives in detail: the Applicant 
Proposed Action, Alternative Action 1, and the No Action Alternative.
    Alternative Action 1, referred to as the Resources Integration 
Alternative, was developed in response to issues raised by the public 
and agency considerations. The intent of the Resources Integrated 
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. The Resources Integration 
Alternative would implement overland travel for project construction as 
this method is less intensive than others 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 the ROW would not be approved.
    The BLM evaluated the alternatives in consultation with other 
Federal and State agencies, Tribes, the public, and cooperating 
agencies. The BLM's Preferred Alternative is Alternative 1, the 
Resources Integration Alternative.
    The BLM analyzed a combination of Project Design Features and Best 
Management Practices to eliminate or minimize impacts associated with 
the BLM Preferred Alternative. This includes required Solar PEIS 
Programmatic Design Features, Southern Nevada District Office Project 
Design Features, and required management plans, all of which are 
detailed in Appendix B of the Final EIS.
    The BLM published the NOA of the Draft EIS and RMP Amendment in the 
Federal Register on January 12, 2024. The publication of the NOA began 
a 90-day public comment period that ended on April 11, 2024. The BLM 
hosted two public meetings, held on January 30, 2024 (in-person in 
Pahrump, Nevada), and February 1, 2024 (virtual), to provide the public 
with the opportunity to speak with BLM representatives, ask questions, 
and submit comments.
    The BLM received a total of 207 substantive and non-substantive 
letters and verbally recorded comments from 7 Federal, State, and local 
agencies; 1 member of a Native American Tribe; 9 non-governmental 
organizations; 1 private company; and 189 individual members of the 
public. Detailed responses to comments can be found in Appendix G of 
the Final EIS. In response to the substantive comments received, the 
BLM made corrections to analyses or data in the EIS or explained why 
the comments did not warrant additional changes to the EIS. For 
example, the BLM updated the acreages of impacts for the Proposed 
Action and Alternative 1, added information regarding the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service Biological Opinion and impacts to desert tortoise, 
revised descriptions of Project infrastructure, updated the groundwater 
analysis, revised the cultural resources and recreation analysis, and 
included two new mitigation measures addressing the monarch butterfly 
and desert tortoise.

Protest of the Proposed RMP Amendment

    The 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

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affected by approval of the Proposed RMP Amendment may protest its 
approval to the BLM. Protest of 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 
(found in the instructions for filing a protest) or submitted 
electronically through the BLM National NEPA Register project website 
(see ADDRESSES). Protests submitted by any other means will be invalid. 
The BLM will render a written decision on each protest. The decision of 
the BLM on the protest 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 (2023), 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 
CFR 1610.5, and 43 CFR part 2800)

Jon K. Raby,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-25573 Filed 11-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-21-P