[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52737-52738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20418]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-660-1430-ER-CACA-44491]


Proposed Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact 
Report (EIS/EIR) for the Imperial Irrigation District's Proposed New 
California Desert Southwest Transmission Line Project, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Imperial Irrigation 
District (IID).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a joint EIS/EIR addressing a 
proposed 230 or 500kV transmission line project and possible California 
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with regulations at 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 
1610.2, notice is hereby given that the BLM, together with the IID, 
propose to prepare a joint EIS/EIR for the IID's proposed 230 or 500 
kilovolt (kV) ``California Desert Southwest'' Transmission Line 
Project. The BLM is the lead Federal agency for the preparation of this 
EIS/EIR in compliance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations 
[CFR] 1500-1508), and the Department of the Interior's manual guidance 
on NEPA; and the IID is the lead State of California agency for the 
preparation of this EIS/EIR in compliance with the requirements of the 
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code 
Section 21000 et seq), and implementing guidelines (California Code of 
Regulations [CCR] Title 14, Section 15000 et seq), and IID's rules and 
regulations to implement CEQA. This notice initiates the public 
participation process for planning, initiates public scoping for the 
EIS and also serves as an invitation for other cooperating agencies. 
Potential cooperating agencies include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Western Area Power Administration, the Department of Defense, 
the State Historic Preservation Officer, and the California Department 
of Fish and Game.

DATES: For scoping meetings and comments: Two public scoping meetings 
will be held during 2002 on the following dates:
    1. August 14, from 7-9 p.m., at the Blythe City Council 
Multipurpose Room, Blythe, CA.
    2. August 15, from 7-9 p.m., at the IID Board Room, La Quinta, CA.
    Written comments must be postmarked no later than 30 days from the 
date of this notice in order to be included in the draft EIS/EIR. 
Please submit any comments to the address listed below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to Mr. James G. Kenna--
Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Palm Springs-South Coast 
Field Office, 690 West Garnet Ave, PO Box 581260, North Palm Springs, 
California 92258-1260.
    The meeting locations are:
    1. Blythe City Council Multipurpose Room, 235 N. Broadway, Blythe, 
CA.
    2. Imperial Irrigation District, 81-600 Ave. 58, La Quinta, CA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kalish, Bureau of Land 
Management, Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office, 690 West Garnet Ave, 
PO Box 581260, North Palm Springs, California 92258-1260, (760) 251-
4849.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is a 
community owned utility providing power to more than 90,000 customers 
in Imperial County and parts of Riverside and San Diego Counties, all 
in California. The IID is experiencing an increase in electrical demand 
at an estimated rate of 20 to 30 megawatts annually. In an effort to 
meet electrical power demand, the IID is proposing to construct a 230 
or 500 kilovolt (kV) electrical transmission line located parallel and 
adjacent to Interstate Highway 10 between North Palm Springs and 
Blythe, California, a distance of approximately 118 miles. The proposed 
Project will operate at either 230-kV or 500-kV and will provide 
increased transmission line capabilities from the existing Devers 
substation at North Palm Springs, to the proposed Hobsonway substation 
located west of Blythe.
    The proposed transmission line is located within the designated 
Utility Corridor ``H'' under the California Desert Conservation Area 
(CDCA) Plan of 1980, as amended. This utility Corridor directly 
parallels Interstate Highway 10. An amendment to the CDCA Plan would be 
required if an alternative to this proposed project, analyzed in the 
EIS/EIR, is ultimately chosen that is not within one of the 16 utility 
corridors designated in the CDCA Plan. The CDCA Plan states that new 
utility needs which do not conform to the adopted corridor system will 
be processed by means of a Plan Amendment in conjunction with necessary 
permit hearings required by other agencies. Under the CDCA Plan, the 
BLM may either authorize installation of a 161kV or larger transmission 
line within existing utility corridors, deny the proposed project or 
amend the CDCA Plan to accommodate an alternative alignment that is 
outside of existing designated utility corridors. Any proposed 
amendments to the CDCA Plan would be analyzed in this EIS/EIR.
    BLM has identified a preliminary list of issues which will need to 
be addressed in this analysis. Members of the public are invited to 
identify additional issues and concerns to be addressed. The 
preliminary list of issues includes potential impacts to the habitat of 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as 
amended, including the desert tortoise, Coachella Valley fringed toed 
lizard, Coachella Valley milkvetch, as well as to several BLM 
administered areas including the Coachella Valley Preserve, Alligator 
Rock Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), Chuckwalla Valley 
Dune Thicket ACEC and Camp Young of the WWII Desert Training Center, 
California-Arizona Maneuver Area.
    Planning criteria (43 CFR 1610.4-2) are parameters, generally based 
on applicable law, which guide development of a plan amendment to 
ensure the planning process is tailored to the issues and unnecessary 
data collection is avoided. The BLM has put together the following 
preliminary list of planning criteria and also invites the public to 
provide written comments on these criteria.
    1. The Proposed Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert (NECO) Plan/
Final EIS and the draft California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment for the Coachella Valley/EIS shall be considered to ensure 
that there are no inconsistencies between either of these plans and the 
IID proposal. This is critical as these plans

[[Page 52738]]

are being prepared to address the recovery of Federally listed species 
under the ESA.
    2. The IID proposal itself will be subject to Section 7 
consultation in accordance with the ESA to address potential impacts to 
listed species, including cumulative impacts.
    The planning process and environmental review analysis for a CDCA 
Plan Amendment shall be conducted from an interdisciplinary perspective 
to ensure all issues are adequately addressed. At a minimum, input 
shall be sought from the following disciplines: biological resources, 
cultural resources, visual resource management, recreation, wilderness 
and lands and realty.
    Interested members of the public are now invited to participate in 
a NEPA scoping process, and are requested to help identify new issues 
or concerns and alternatives to be considered related to this proposed 
Project. Written comments must be submitted no later than 30 days from 
the date of this notice to ensure that your comments are included in 
the draft EIS/EIR. When available, the public will be provided a 60-day 
public review period on the draft EIS/EIR and a 30-day protest period 
on the final EIS/EIR. These documents will be made available on the 
Internet at BLM's Web site: www.ca.blm.gov and at local public 
libraries in the cities of Blythe, Niland, La Quinta and Palm Springs, 
California. Contact the BLM if you would like to be included in the 
mailing list to receive copies of all public notices relevant to this 
project.

James G. Kenna,
Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-20418 Filed 8-12-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P