80 FR 24962 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the TransWest Express 600-kV Direct Current Transmission Project in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendments

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Western Area Power Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 84 (May 1, 2015)

In accordance 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), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation Commission (URMCC), Western Area Power Administration (Western) and the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) announce the availability of the TransWest Express Transmission Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and proposed land use plan amendments. The Final EIS analyzes the potential environmental consequences of granting a right-of-way (ROW) to TransWest Express, LLC (TransWest) to construct and operate an extra-high voltage (EHV) direct current (DC) transmission system (proposed Project).

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 84 (Friday, May 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24962-24965]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10248]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration

[LLWY920000.L51010000.ER0000-LVRWK09K1160; WYW177893; COC72929; 
UTU87238; N86732]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the TransWest Express 600-kV Direct Current Transmission 
Project in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, and Proposed Land Use 
Plan Amendments

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; and Western Area Power 
Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance 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), 
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation 
Commission (URMCC), Western Area Power Administration (Western) and the 
United States Forest Service (Forest Service) announce the availability 
of the TransWest Express Transmission Project Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) and proposed land use plan amendments. The Final 
EIS analyzes the potential environmental consequences of granting a 
right-of-way (ROW) to TransWest Express, LLC (TransWest) to construct 
and operate an extra-high voltage (EHV) direct current (DC) 
transmission system (proposed Project).

DATES: BLM planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any person 
who meets the conditions as described in the regulations may protest 
the BLM's Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS. A person who meets the 
conditions and files a protest must file the protest within 30 days of 
the date that the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice 
of Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final EIS have been sent to Federal, State, 
and local governments, public libraries in the area affected by the 
proposed Project, and to interested parties that previously requested a 
copy. The Final EIS and supporting documents will be available 
electronically on the following BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/
en/info/NEPA/documents/hdd/

[[Page 24963]]

transwest.html. Copies of the Final EIS are available for public 
inspection at the locations identified in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this notice.
    Protests on the BLM land use planning process must be in writing 
and mailed to one of the following addresses:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Regular mail:                     Overnight delivery:
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BLM Director, (210) Attention: Protest   BLM Director (210), Attention:
 Coordinator, P.O. Box 71383,             Protest Coordinator, 20 M
 Washington, DC 20024-1383.               Street SE., Room 2134LM,
                                          Washington, DC 20003.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Knowlton, Project Manager; 
Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office; P.O. Box 20678, 
Cheyenne, WY 82003; by telephone at 307-775-6124; or email to: 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf may call the Federal Information Relay Service 
(FIRS) at (800) 877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal 
business hours. The FIRS 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.
    For information about Western's involvement, contact Steve Blazek, 
Western NEPA Document Manager: Telephone 720-962-7265; email: 
[email protected]; address: Western Area Power Administration, P.O. Box 
281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213. For information about the Forest 
Service's involvement, contact Kenton Call, Forest Service Project 
Lead: Telephone 435-691-0768; email: [email protected]. The Forest 
Service will provide a mailing address in its TransWest Project Final 
EIS NOA. For general information on the Department of Energy's NEPA 
review procedures or on the status of a NEPA review, contact Carol M. 
Borgstrom, Director of NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-54, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20585; telephone 202-586-4600 or toll free at (800) 472-2756, or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In November 2007, National Grid filed a ROW 
application with the BLM to construct and operate an EHV transmission 
line between Wyoming and delivery points in the Southwestern U.S. An 
amended application was filed on September 2, 2008, and project 
sponsorship was transferred to TransWest Express LLC (TransWest), a 
subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation. TransWest submitted additional 
amended applications to the BLM in late 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 
to reflect minor changes and refinements in the proposed Project.
    In April 2010, the BLM and Western entered into a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) in which the BLM and Western agreed to act as joint 
lead agencies for the EIS. The BLM's status as a joint lead agency is 
based on its potential Federal action to grant a ROW across BLM lands. 
Western's status as a joint lead agency is based on its potential 
Federal action to provide Federal funds for the proposed Project. 
Western and TransWest entered into a development agreement (executed in 
September 2011, amended in June 2014) wherein Western agreed to support 
Project development by providing technical assistance and/or financing.
    The Forest Service is a cooperating agency in the proposed Project 
based on its potential Federal action to issue a special use permit 
across Forest Service lands. Additional cooperating agencies include 
Federal, State, tribal and local agencies. On January 4, 2011, the BLM 
and Western jointly published in the Federal Register (76 FR 379) a 
Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS in compliance with Federal 
requirements FLPMA and NEPA. To allow the public an opportunity to 
review information associated with the proposed Project, the BLM held 
public meetings from January through March 2011 in Rawlins, Rock 
Springs, and Baggs, Wyoming; Craig, Rangely, and Grand Junction, 
Colorado; Castledale, Duchesne, Nephi, Delta, Richfield, Milford, Moab, 
Cedar City, St. George, Pine Valley, Central, and Enterprise, Utah; and 
Caliente, Overton, Henderson, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Issues and 
potential impacts to specific resources were identified during scoping 
and preparation of the Draft EIS. The following issues were identified 
in the scoping process:
     Selection of corridor alternatives;
     Potential private and public land use conflicts;
     Impacts and mitigation to fish, wildlife, vegetation, 
special status species and habitat;
     Public health and safety;
     Impacts to areas with Special Management designations;
     Cumulative impacts;
     Socioeconomic impacts; and
     Noxious weed control and reclamation.
    The BLM and Western, in coordination with the Forest Service, other 
Federal, State, and local governments and agencies, considered all 
public scoping comments received as well as TransWest's refinements to 
identify the Agency Preferred Alternative. The Agency Preferred 
Alternative was developed through a comparative evaluation of routing 
opportunities and constraints and the relative potential impacts among 
the various alternative segments. The various alternative segments 
within regions were compared with each other in accordance with 
standard criteria. The primary criteria considered to select the Agency 
Preferred Alternative were:
    (1) Maximize the use of designated utility corridors;
    (2) Minimize requirements to amend agency land use plans;
    (3) Avoid and minimize resource impacts regulated by law (for 
example, the Endangered Species Act);
    (4) Avoid and minimize proximity to private residences and 
residential areas;
    (5) Avoid and minimize resource impacts to reduce the magnitude and 
duration of adverse (residual) impacts;
    (6) Minimize the use of private lands; and,
    (7) Minimize transmission system construction, operation and 
maintenance expense.
    The Environmental Protection Agency published a Draft EIS/Draft RMP 
Amendments NOA on July 3, 2013 in the Federal Register (78 FR 40163), 
which began a 90-day public comment period. To allow the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on the Draft EIS, the agencies held 
public meetings in July, August, and September 2013 in Rawlins and 
Baggs, Wyoming; Craig, Colorado; Vernal, Fort Duchesne, Duchesne, 
Price, Nephi, Delta, Cedar City, and St. George, Utah; Panaca and 
Henderson, Nevada. On December 6, 2013, the Forest Service published an 
additional NOA in the Federal Register (78 FR 73524) to initiate an 
additional 30-day public comment period specific to Forest Service 
decisions on the proposed Project. The agencies received over 1,800 
comments, contained in 457 submissions, during the Draft EIS public 
comment periods. Principle comment issues included:
     Mitigation;

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     Opposition to, or support for, specific routes;
     Effects to historic properties; and
     Effects to sensitive biological resources, including sage 
grouse.
    Other comments provided specific edits and corrections to EIS 
sections and general support or opposition to the proposed Project. All 
submitted comments were addressed in the Final EIS. In response to 
public comments on the Draft EIS, the agencies developed a suite of 
hierarchical mitigation strategies for application to onsite, regional 
and compensatory mitigation, as applicable, as well as landscape level 
conservation and management actions to reduce resource impacts and 
achieve planning resource objectives for the planning areas crossed by 
the project. Specific examples include offsite compensatory mitigation 
for impacts to greater sage grouse and National Historic Trails. 
TransWest project proposal refinements include:
     Reduced separation distance from existing transmission to 
reflect updated Western Electricity Coordinating Council guidance;
     Removed or adjusted portions of the proposed Project that 
presented conflicts and/or did not address resource impacts not already 
addressed by the existing range of alternatives; and
     Reduced the width of the study area and refined the 
transmission alignment to reflect preliminary engineering designed to 
reduce resource impacts and conflicts.
    As a result of cooperating agency input and public comments, 
refinements were made to the Agency Preferred Alternative presented in 
the Final EIS. The following discussions of proposed Project segments 
across various land ownerships and jurisdictions are specific to the 
Agency Preferred Alternative.
    Approximately 276 miles (38 percent) of the Agency Preferred 
Alternative is located within designated Federal utility corridors. The 
Agency Preferred Alternative is co-located with existing transmission 
lines for a distance of 408 miles (56 percent) of the total length.
    In Wyoming, the Agency Preferred Alternative crosses 59 miles of 
Federal, 4 miles of State, and 30 miles of private land. In Colorado, 
the Agency Preferred Alternative crosses 62 miles of Federal, 12 miles 
of State, and 15 miles of private land. In Utah, the Agency Preferred 
Alternative crosses 210 miles of Federal, 27 miles of State, and 153 
miles of private land. In Nevada, the Agency Preferred Alternative 
crosses 137 miles of Federal, 14 miles of tribal, and 5 miles of 
private land. Lengths of the Agency Preferred Alternative by agency 
jurisdiction are found in the Final EIS, Chapter 2 Tables 2-23 through 
2-26.
    Other proposed Project alternatives cross additional Federal land 
jurisdictions that include: Colorado--BLM Grand Junction Field Office, 
and National Park Service; Utah--BLM Moab, Richfield, Price, and St. 
George Field Offices and National Forest System land with the Fishlake, 
Ashley, and Dixie National Forests; Nevada--National Park Service and 
the Department of Energy. These alternatives also cross State and 
private lands in addition to the Federal lands.
    The requested ROW width would generally be 250 feet. The 
alternative segments were subdivided into four geographic regions to 
provide a better understanding of context for the impacts resulting 
from the proposed Project (Southern Wyoming and Northwestern Colorado; 
Northwestern Colorado, Eastern and Central Utah; Central and 
Southwestern Utah, Southern Nevada; Southern Nevada-Las Vegas 
metropolitan area). The approximately 728-mile Agency Preferred 
Alternative is discussed below, by region.
    Region I (Southern Wyoming, Northwestern Colorado). The Agency 
Preferred Alternative transmission line route would extend 
approximately 157 miles from the vicinity of Sinclair, Carbon County, 
Wyoming to the vicinity of U.S. Highway 40 southwest of Maybell in 
western Moffat County, Colorado.
    Region II (Northwestern Colorado, Eastern Utah, Central Utah). The 
Agency Preferred Alternative transmission line route would extend 
approximately 252 miles from Maybell Colorado, through eastern Utah, to 
the vicinity of the IPP near Delta, Millard County, Utah.
    Region III (Central Utah, Southwest Utah, Southern Nevada). The 
Agency Preferred Alternative transmission line route would extend 
approximately 282 miles from the vicinity of the IPP, Millard County, 
Utah to the vicinity of Apex on Interstate 15, northeast of Las Vegas, 
Nevada.
    Region IV (Southern Nevada--Apex to the Marketplace Hub). The 
Agency Preferred Alternative transmission line route would extend 
approximately 37 miles from Apex on Interstate 15 to the Marketplace 
Hub in the Eldorado Valley, southeast of Las Vegas.
    The BLM, Western, and cooperating agencies worked together to 
develop routes that would conform to existing Federal land use plans. 
However, this objective was not reached for a number of the alternative 
routes analyzed in the Final EIS. Plan amendments that would be 
necessary to implement each of the evaluated alternatives were 
identified by affected agencies and analyzed in Chapter 4 of the Final 
EIS. The specific land use plan amendments that are actually needed 
will depend upon which route is selected in the agencies' final 
decisions. In the Final EIS, the BLM and Western identify the Agency 
Preferred Alternative, and BLM and Forest Service identify the 
requisite proposed plan amendments necessary to implement that 
alternative.
    The proposed BLM plan amendments would: (1) Expand or extend an 
existing utility corridor that allows for overhead utilities; (2) 
Create a new utility corridor to allow for overhead utilities and 
exceptions to other resource stipulations if avoidance measures or 
impact mitigation are not feasible within the designated corridor; or 
(3) Create a one-time exception through a ROW exclusion area. Other BLM 
management plans could be amended depending upon the specifics of the 
route that is selected in the Record of Decision.
    Copies of the Final EIS are available for public inspection during 
normal business hours at the following locations:
     BLM, Wyoming State Office, Public Reading Room, 5353 
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009;
     BLM, Rawlins Field Office, 1300 North Third Street, 
Rawlins, Wyoming 82301;
     BLM, Colorado State Office, Public Reading Room, 2850 
Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215-7093;
     BLM, Little Snake Field Office, 455 Emerson Street, Craig, 
Colorado 81625;
     BLM, White River Field Office, 220 East Market Street, 
Meeker, Colorado 81641;
     BLM, Grand Junction Office, 2815 H Road, Grand Junction, 
Colorado 81506;
     BLM, Utah State Office, Public Reading Room, 440 West 200 
South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1345;
     BLM, Cedar City Field Office, 176 East DL Sargent Drive, 
Cedar City, Utah 84721;
     BLM, Fillmore Field Office, 95 East 500 North, Fillmore, 
Utah 84631;
     BLM, Moab Field Office, 92 East Dogwood, Moab, Utah 84532;
     BLM, Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah 
84501;
     BLM, Richfield Field Office, 150 East 900 North, 
Richfield, Utah 84701;
     BLM, St. George Field Office, 345 East Riverside Drive, 
St. George, Utah 84790;
     BLM, Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, Utah 
84078;
     BLM, Nevada State Office, Public Reading Room, 1340 
Financial Blvd., Reno, Nevada 89502;

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     BLM, Caliente Field Office, U.S. Highway 93, Building #1, 
Caliente, Nevada 89008;
     BLM, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701 North Torrey Pines 
Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130; and
     Forest Service (Lead Forest Office) Dixie National Forest, 
1789 North Wedgewood Lane, Cedar City, Utah 84721.
    A limited number of paper copies of the document will be available 
as supplies last. To request a copy, contact Sharon Knowlton, Project 
Manager, BLM Wyoming State Office, P.O. Box 20678, Cheyenne, WY 82003.
    BLM Land Use Plan Amendments and the Protest Process: Depending on 
the route alternative, potential plan amendments proposed by the BLM 
are needed for the portions of the proposed Project crossing BLM-
administered lands that do not conform to the respective land use plan. 
These include the following:
     Region I. Two plan amendments would be required. The BLM 
Rawlins and Little Snake Field Office plans would be affected.
     Region II. One to four plan amendments would be required. 
The BLM White River, Vernal, Price, and Salt Lake Field Office plans 
would be affected.
     Region III. One plan amendment would be required. The BLM 
Caliente Field Office plan would be affected.
     Region IV. No plan amendments would be required.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the proposed BLM land use plan amendments may be found in the 
``Dear Reader'' Letter of the Final EIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All 
protests must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as 
set forth in the ``ADDRESSES'' section above. Emailed protests will not 
be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides 
the original letter by either regular mail or overnight delivery 
postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, 
the BLM will consider the email as an advance copy and it will receive 
full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance 
notification, please direct emails to [email protected].
    Forest Service Land Use Plan Amendments: The following land use 
plan amendments are proposed by the Forest Service for the portions of 
the proposed Project crossing National Forest Lands to conform to the 
respective Forest Service Plans:
     Region II. The Uinta, Ashley, Manti-LaSal, Fishlake, and 
Dixie National Forest plans would be affected by one or more of the 
alternatives.
    Project-specific amendments for the Uinta and Manti La-Sal National 
Forest Plans are identified for the Agency Preferred Alternative.
    Agency Decisions on the proposed Project: Based on the 
environmental analysis in this Final EIS, the BLM Wyoming State 
Director will decide whether to authorize, authorize with 
modifications, or deny the application based on the proposed Project, 
Agency Preferred Alternative, alternatives, or any combination thereof 
on Public Lands. Based on the BLM decision, the Administrator for 
Western will decide whether it would use its borrowing authority to 
partially finance and hold partial ownership with TransWest in the 
resulting transmission facilities and capacity. The Forest Service will 
issue a separate ROD specific to its decision whether to authorize a 
Special Use Permit on National Forest System land.
    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.

Mark A. Gabriel,
Administrator, Western Area Power Administration.
Mary Jo Rugwell,
Acting BLM Wyoming State Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-10248 Filed 4-30-15; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 4310-22-P