[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 175 (Friday, September 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54798-54799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20520]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-350-1430-PN]


Notice of Availability of Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (DPEIS) on Wind Energy Development on BLM-Administered Lands 
in the Western United States, Announcement of Public Review Period

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability of DPEIS, announcement of public review 
period.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) on 
Wind Energy Development on BLM-Administered Lands in the Western United 
States. The BLM has prepared this DPEIS to (1) assess the 
environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with wind energy 
development on public lands in 11 western states (excluding Alaska) and 
(2) evaluate a number of alternatives to determine the best management 
approach to mitigating potential impacts and facilitating wind energy 
development.

DPEIS AVAILABILITY: The DPEIS will be available on the Internet in a 
searchable and downloadable format (http://www.windeis.anl.gov). The 
DPEIS also will be available for review during normal business hours at 
BLM State Offices located in Arizona, 222 N. Central Ave., Phoenix; 
California, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1834, Sacramento; Colorado, 2850 
Youngfield St., Lakewood; Idaho, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise; Montana, 
5001 Southgate Dr., Billings; Nevada, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno; New 
Mexico, 1474 Rodeo Rd., Santa Fe; Oregon, 333 SW 1st Ave., Portland; 
Utah, 324 South State St., Salt Lake City; and Wyoming, 5353 
Yellowstone Rd., Cheyenne.
    In addition, the DPEIS will be available for review at Argonne 
National Laboratory, 1200 Internationale Parkway, Woodridge, IL 60517, 
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., except holidays. To ensure 
easy access to the document at Argonne's offices, we ask that you 
contact the Document Retrieval Center at (630) 252-4587 prior to your 
visit. Visitors to Argonne will be escorted at all times and will be 
issued a temporary badge; specific arrangements must be made for 
visitors who are not U.S. citizens.

DATES: The public will have 90 days to review and comment on the DPEIS

[[Page 54799]]

following publication of the required EPA Notice of Availability.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments in writing by the following methods: 
Via an electronic comment form on the project Web site: http://www.windeis.anl.gov. By mail to: BLM Wind Energy Programmatic EIS, 
Argonne National Laboratory EAD/900, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 
60439
    Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish BLM 
to withhold your name or street address, except for the city or town, 
from public view or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information 
Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written 
comment. We will honor requests to the extent allowed by law. All 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, including 
information on how to comment, you may contact Lee Otteni, Bureau of 
Land Management, Farmington Field Office, 1235 La Plata Highway, Suite 
A, Farmington, NM 87401, (505) 599-8911 or visit the Wind Energy 
Development Programmatic EIS Web site at http://www.windeis.anl.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Wind energy development on BLM-administered 
lands currently is managed in accordance with the terms and conditions 
of the Interim Wind Energy Development Policy (Instruction Memorandum 
2003-020), issued October 16, 2002. To further support wind energy 
development on public lands and minimize potential environmental and 
sociocultural impacts, the BLM is seeking to build upon the existing 
interim policy to establish a Wind Energy Development Program. Three 
alternatives were considered in the DPEIS: (1) The proposed action, 
which would implement a Wind Energy Development Program, establish Best 
Management Practices for wind energy authorizations, and amend a number 
of BLM land use plans; (2) the no action alternative, which would allow 
wind energy development under the existing terms and conditions of the 
interim policy; and (3) a limited wind energy development alternative, 
which would allow wind energy development only in selected locations. 
The DPEIS was prepared in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701), as amended; the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321), as amended; 
and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508).
    The BLM published a Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to Evaluate Wind Energy 
Development on Western Public Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management, on October 17, 2003 (Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 201). 
This initiated a 60-day public scoping period that ended on December 
19, 2003. Public scoping meetings were conducted in five locations 
(Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Las Vegas, and Boise) in 
November 2003. Written scoping comments were accepted by comment card, 
mail, fax, and the project Web site (http://www.windeis.anl.gov). The 
BLM published a scoping summary report and made copies of the 
individual letters, facsimiles, and electronic comments received during 
scoping available on the project Web site.
    The BLM seeks information and comments on the analysis of potential 
impacts of wind energy development on public lands discussed in the 
DPEIS and on the assessment of the management alternatives, in terms of 
their effectiveness at mitigating potential impacts and facilitating 
wind energy development. In particular, the BLM seeks comments on the 
conclusion that the proposed action appears to provide the best 
approach for managing wind energy development on BLM-administered 
lands. The BLM also seeks additional data or information that would 
improve the analysis in the DPEIS.

Ray Brady,
Group Manager, Lands and Realty.
[FR Doc. 04-20520 Filed 9-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P