[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22699]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 14, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 10756-001]

 

Blue Diamond Power Partners; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Conduct Public Scoping 
Meetings and a Site Visit

September 8, 1994.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received an 
application to construct and operate the proposed Blue Diamond South 
Pumped Storage Project, FERC Project No. 10756-001. The off-stream 
project would be located approximately five miles west of Las Vegas in 
Clark County, Nevada. This proposed project would involve both private 
lands and federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
    The FERC staff has determined that licensing this project would 
constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality 
of the human environment. Therefore, the FERC staff intends to direct a 
third-party contractor in the preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on the hydroelectric project in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (Pub. L. 91-190, 
42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, January 1, 1970, as amended by Pub. L. 94-52, July 
3, 1975, Pub. L. 94-83, August 9, 1975, and Pub. L. 97-258, Sec. 4(b), 
September 13, 1982). The EIS will objectively consider both site-
specific and cumulative environmental impacts of the project and 
reasonable alternatives, and will include an economic, financial, and 
engineering analysis. The BLM will be a cooperating agency on the EIS.
    The DRAFT EIS (DEIS) will be circulated for review and comment by 
all interested parties, and FERC will hold a public meeting for the 
DEIS. FERC and the BLM will consider and respond to comments received 
on the DEIS in the Final EIS. The FERC staff's conclusions and 
recommendations will then be presented for the consideration of the 
Commission in reaching its final licensing decision. The BLM will use 
the information in the EIS to make its decision on issuing a right-of-
way grant for the project.
    Scoping: Affected landowners, concerned citizens, special interest 
groups, local governments, and any other interested parties are invited 
to comment on the scope of the environmental issues that should be 
analyzed in the EIS. Scoping will help ensure that all significant 
issues related to this proposal are addressed in the EIS, and also will 
identify significant or potentially significant impacts that may result 
from the proposed project.
    The FERC and BLM will conduct two scoping meetings on October 5, 
and 6, 1994. A scoping meeting oriented toward the agencies will begin 
at 2 p.m. on October 5th at the BLM offices located at 4765 Vegas 
Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. A scoping meeting oriented toward the public 
will begin at 7 p.m. on October 6th at the West Charleston Branch 
Public Library located at 6301 West Charleston Street, Las Vegas, 
Nevada. (The public and the agencies may attend either or both 
meetings, however.)
    Objectives: At the scoping meetings FERC and BLM staff will (1) 
Identify preliminary environmental issues related to the proposed 
project; (2) identify preliminary resource issues that are not 
important and do not require detailed analysis; (3) identify reasonable 
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS; (4) solicit from the meeting 
participants all available information, especially quantified data, on 
the resource issues; and (5) encourage statements from experts and the 
public on issues that should be analyzed in the EIS, including points 
of view in opposition to, or in support of, the staffs' preliminary 
views.
    Procedures: The meetings will be recorded by a court reporter and 
all statements (oral and written) thereby become a part of the official 
record of the Commission proceedings for the Blue Diamond South 
Project. Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be 
asked to clearly identify themselves for the record.
    To help focus discussions at the scoping meeting, FERC will mail a 
Scoping Document I, outlining subject areas to be addressed in the EIS, 
to agencies and interested individuals on the project mailing list. 
Copies of the scoping document will also be available at the scoping 
meetings.
    Persons choosing not to speak at the meetings, but who have views 
of the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written 
statements for inclusion in the pubic record at the meetings. In 
addition, written scoping comments may be filed with Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426 until November 6, 1994. All written correspondence 
should clearly show the following caption on the first page: Blue 
Diamond South Pumped Storage Project, FERC No. 10756-001.
    Intervenors--those on the Commission's service list for this 
proceeding (parties)--are reminded of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, requiring parties filing documents with the 
Commission, to serve a copy of the document on each person whose name 
appears on the official service list. Further, if a party or interceder 
files comments or documents with the Commission relating to the merits 
of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a particular 
resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document on that 
resource agency.
    Site Visit: A site visit to the Blue Diamond South Project is 
planned for October 6th. Due to limited access, those who wish to 
attend must contact Randy Schroeder, Greystone, at (800) 338-9396 by 
September 30th to sign up and receive further information and 
directions. Attendees will meet at the BLM Red Rocks Conservation Area 
Visitors Center at 8 a.m.
    For Further Information Contact: Dianne Rodman, FERC-OHL, (202) 
219-2830 or Larry Sip, BLM Las Vegas Resource Area, (702) 647-5000.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-22699 Filed 9-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M