[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 212 (Thursday, November 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27215]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 3, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 11367-001]

 

Peak Power Corp., Kvaerner Venture, Inc., and Las Vegas Energy 
Storage Limited Partnership; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Conduct Public Scoping 
Meetings and a Site Visit

October 28, 1994.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received an 
application to construct and operate the proposed Sheep Mountain Pumped 
Storage Project, FERC Project No. 11367. The off-stream project would 
be located approximately 19 miles south of Las Vegas in Clark County, 
Nevada. This proposed project would involve 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. 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 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. 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 will conduct two scoping meetings on November 15 and 16, 
1994. A scoping meeting oriented towards the public will begin at 7:30 
p.m. on November 15, 1994, at the Clark County Library located at 1401 
E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada. A scoping meeting oriented towards 
the agencies will begin 1:30 p.m. on November 16, 1994, at the BLM 
offices located at 4765 Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. (The public and 
the agencies may attend either or both meetings, however.)
    Objectives: At the scoping meetings FERC 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 
on the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written 
statements for inclusion in the public 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 December 12, 1994. All written 
correspondence should clearly show the following caption on the first 
page: Sheep Mountain Pumped Storage Project, FERC No. 11367-000.
    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 Sheep Mountain Project is planned 
for November 15, 1994. Attendees will meet at the parking lot of the 
Gold Strike Casino, located in Jean, Nevada (east side of route 15) at 
9 a.m. Those who wish to attend should contact Mike Strzelecki at (202) 
219-2827.
    For Further Information Contact: Mike Strzelecki, FERC-OHL, (202) 
219-2827 or Roy Lee, BLM Las Vegas Resource Area, (702) 647-5040.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-27215 Filed 11-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M