[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 115 (Friday, June 13, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33802-33805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13365]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

U.S. Forest Service

[WO-300-9131-PP]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources in 11 Western 
States and Alaska and Notice of Public Hearings

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; and U.S. Forest Service, 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources in 
11 Western States and Alaska and Notice of Public Hearings.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on 
Environmental Quality's regulations implementing the NEPA (40 CFR 1500-
1508), and applicable agency guidance, a Draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) has been prepared on the leasing 
of geothermal resources in 11 Western States and Alaska. The Department 
of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department 
of Agriculture, the Forest Service (FS) are co-lead agencies for the 
PEIS, and the Department of Energy (DOE) is a cooperating Federal 
agency.
    In accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58, 
August 8, 2005), the agencies' goal is to make geothermal leasing 
decisions on pending lease applications submitted prior to January 1, 
2005, and to facilitate geothermal leasing decisions on other existing 
and future lease applications and nominations for geothermal leasing on 
Federal lands. The planning area encompasses about 530 million acres of 
land with the potential for geothermal development in Alaska, Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, 
Washington, and Wyoming.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft PEIS within 90 days following the date 
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. Public hearings will be held in 
13 cities during June and July 2008. See the Supplementary Information 
section for meeting dates and locations.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 1-866-625-0707.
     US Mail: Geothermal Programmatic EIS, c/o EMPSi, 182 
Howard Street, Suite 110, San Francisco, California 94105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, including 
information on how to comment, contact Jack G. Peterson, Bureau of Land 
Management at (208) 373-4048, [email protected] or Tracy 
Parker, Forest Service at (703) 605-4796, [email protected], or visit 
the PEIS Web site at http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of the Draft PEIS is available for 
review via the Internet from a link at http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS. Hardcopies are available for review at the BLM State and Field 
Offices. Electronic (on CD-ROM) and paper copies may also be obtained 
by contacting Jack Peterson at the aforementioned address and phone 
number.
    The PEIS consists of three volumes: Volume I contains the PEIS and 
associated programmatic analyses; Volume II provides the additional 
site-specific environmental analysis for the pending lease 
applications; and Volume III contains the appendices.
    The public is encouraged to provide comments on the Draft PEIS. In 
addition to the written comment period, the BLM and the FS will host 13 
public meetings to collect additional comments. The public meeting 
dates and addresses are as follows:
    1. June 16, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Denver, Colorado; PPA Event 
Center, 2105 Decatur Street.
    2. June 17, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Cheyenne, Wyoming; Laramie 
County Main Library, Willow Room, 200 Pioneer Avenue.
    3. June 18, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Helena, Montana; Lewis and 
Clark Main Library, 120 S. Last Chance Gulch.
    4. June 19, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Boise, Idaho; Boise Public 
Library, 715 South Capitol Blvd.
    5. June 23, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Seattle, Washington; Seattle 
Public Library, University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way, NE.
    6. June 24, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Portland, Oregon; Multnomah 
County Library, Hillsdale Branch, 1525 SW Sunset Blvd.
    7. June 25, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Davis, California; University 
of

[[Page 33803]]

California Davis Walter A. Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, Mrak 
Hall Road.
    8. July 8, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska 
Energy Authority, 813 W. Northern Lights Blvd.
    9. July 9, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Fairbanks, Alaska; Fairbanks 
North Star Borough Library, 1215 Cowles Street.
    10. July 14, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Reno, Nevada; Washoe County 
Library--Spanish Springs Branch, 7100 Pyramid Highway.
    11. July 15, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Salt Lake City, Utah; Main 
Library, 210 East 400 South.
    12. July 16, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tucson, Arizona; Pima County 
Public Library, Dusenberry River Branch, 5605 E. River Road.
    13. July 17, 2008, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Albuquerque, New Mexico; 
University of New Mexico, Conference Center, Room G, 1634 University 
NE.
    Any changes to these dates or locations, and any other public 
involvement activities, will be announced at least 10 days in advance 
through local media and on the project Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.
    The Notice of Intent to prepare the PEIS was published on June 13, 
2007, in the Federal Register (72 FR 32679). In accordance with the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005, the BLM and the FS propose to facilitate 
geothermal leasing on lands administered by the BLM (termed ``public 
lands'') and by the FS (National Forest System (NFS) lands) that have 
geothermal potential in the 11 western states and Alaska. Under the 
proposal, the BLM and the FS would do the following: (1) Identify 
public and NFS lands with geothermal potential for which geothermal 
leases may be issued, statutorily open lands, and for which issuance of 
geothermal leases is barred by operation of law, legally closed lands; 
(2) identify public lands that are administratively closed or open, and 
under what conditions; (3) develop a comprehensive list of 
stipulations, best management practices, and procedures to serve as 
consistent guidance for future geothermal leasing and development on 
public and NFS lands; (4) amend the BLM Resource Management Plans 
(RMPs) to adopt the resource allocations and procedures; and (5) issue 
or deny geothermal lease applications pending as of January 1, 2005.
    The need for the action is to (1) Issue decisions on pending lease 
applications in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005; (2) 
address other provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, respond to 
other policy directives calling for clean and renewable energy (such as 
state renewable portfolio standards), and meet the increasing energy 
demands of the nation; and (3) facilitate geothermal leasing decisions 
on other existing and future lease applications and nominations on the 
Federal mineral estate. The purpose of the action is to (1) Complete 
the processing of active pending geothermal lease applications; (2) 
amend BLM land use plans to allocate lands with geothermal potential as 
being closed or open with minor to major constraints to leasing; and 
(3) provide suitable information to the FS to facilitate its subsequent 
consent decisions for BLM leasing on NFS lands.
    Over 530 million acres of the western United States and Alaska have 
been identified as potentially containing geothermal resources suitable 
for commercial electrical generation and other direct uses, such as 
heating. Much of the resource base is held in the Federal mineral 
estate, for which the BLM has the delegated authority for processing 
and issuing geothermal leases. Some units or portions of the areas 
identified as having geothermal resource potential will not be 
developed because they are unavailable for leasing, either by statute, 
regulation or other authority. These designations are described at 43 
CFR 3201.11, and include, but are not limited to: lands where the 
Secretary has determined that issuing a lease would cause unnecessary 
or undue degradation to public lands and resources; lands contained 
within a unit of the National Park System, for example, the geothermal 
features in and around Yellowstone National Park; wilderness areas; 
wilderness study areas; fish hatcheries; wildlife management areas; 
Indian trust lands; and other areas referred to in the above 
regulation.
    Under the Proposed Action, the BLM and the FS would also apply 
discretionary closures to (1) Areas of Critical Environmental Concern 
(ACEC) where the BLM determines that geothermal leasing and development 
would be incompatible with the purposes for which the ACEC was 
designated, or those whose management plans expressly preclude new 
leasing; (2) National Conservation Areas, except the California Desert 
Conservation Area; (3) other lands in the BLM's National Landscape 
Conservation System, such as historic and scenic trails; and (4) 
military reservations where geothermal development would conflict with 
the military mission.
    Approximately 142 million acres of public (BLM) lands and 106 
million acres of NFS lands have geothermal potential. Based on the 
proposed closures, the BLM and the FS are proposing to allocate 
approximately 117 million acres of public lands and 75 million acres of 
NFS lands to geothermal leasing subject to existing laws, regulations, 
formal orders, stipulations attached to the lease form, and terms and 
conditions of the standard lease form. To protect special resource 
values, the BLM and the FS have developed a comprehensive list of 
stipulations, conditions of approval, and best management practices 
(BMPs).
    In addition, a reasonably foreseeable development scenario (RFD) 
was prepared to predict future geothermal development trends. The RFD 
estimates a potential for 5,500 megawatts (MW) of new electrical 
generation capacity by 2015 through 110 new geothermal power plants, 
and an additional 6,600 MW from an additional 132 power plants by 2025. 
The RFD also recognizes the great potential for direct uses, including 
up to 270 communities being able to develop geothermal resources for 
heating buildings to offset the use of conventional energy sources.
    The BLM and the FS administrative units that have geothermal 
resources within their boundaries and are included in the planning area 
for the PEIS are provided in Table 1. In order for geothermal resource 
leasing and development to take place on the public lands that the BLM 
manages, such activities must be provided for in the land use plan for 
the affected administrative unit. Therefore, land use plans for the 
affected BLM administrative units may be amended by this PEIS to 
address geothermal leasing. Adoption of the appropriate allocations, 
development scenarios, stipulations, and BMPs for specific 
administrative units will be done through the plan maintenance process; 
thereby allowing future leasing decisions to be made based on the 
amended plans. The FS will evaluate their land use plans and amend them 
as needed through a separate environmental review process.

[[Page 33804]]



    Table 1.--BLM and Forest Service Administrative Units Within the
                              Planning Area
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                        BLM Field Office (or
        State                 District)              National Forest
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Alaska..............  Anchorage, Central        Tongass National Forest.
                       Yukon, Eastern
                       Interior, Glennallen.
Arizona.............  Arizona Strip,            Apache-Sitgreaves
                       Hassayampa, Kingman,      National Forests,
                       Lake Havasu, Lower        Coronado National
                       Sonoran, Safford,         Forest, Tonto National
                       Tucson, Yuma.             Forest.
California..........  Alturas, Arcata,          Angeles National Forest,
                       Bakersfield, Barstow,     Cleveland National
                       Bishop, Eagle Lake, El    Forest, Eldorado
                       Centro, Folsom,           National Forest,
                       Hollister, Needles,       Humboldt-Toiyabe
                       Palm Springs, Redding,    National Forest, Inyo
                       Ridgecrest, Surprise,     National Forest,
                       Ukiah.                    Klamath National
                                                 Forest, Lassen National
                                                 Forest, Los Padres
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Mendocino National
                                                 Forest, Modoc National
                                                 Forest, Plumas National
                                                 Forest, San Bernardino
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Sequoia National
                                                 Forest, Shasta Trinity
                                                 National Forest, Sierra
                                                 National Forest, Tahoe
                                                 National Forest.
Colorado............  Columbine, Del Norte,     Arapaho and Roosevelt
                       Dolores, Glenwood         National Forests, Grand
                       Springs, Grand            Mesa, Uncompahgre and
                       Junction, Gunnison,       Gunnison National
                       Kremmling, La Jara,       Forests, Medicine Bow-
                       Little Snake, Pagosa      Routt National Forest,
                       Springs, Royal Gorge,     Pike-San Isabel
                       Saguache, Uncompahgre,    National Forest, Rio
                       White River.              Grande National Forest,
                                                 San Juan National
                                                 Forest, White River
                                                 National Forest.
Idaho...............  Bruneau, Burley,          Boise National Forest,
                       Challis, Cottonwood,      Caribou-Targhee
                       Four Rivers, Jarbridge,   National Forest,
                       Owyhee, Pocatello,        Clearwater National
                       Salmon, Shoshone, Upper   Forest, Nez Perce
                       Snake.                    National Forest,
                                                 Payette National
                                                 Forest, Salmon-Challis
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Sawtooth National
                                                 Forest.
Montana.............  Billings, Butte, Dillon,  Beaverhead-Deerlodge
                       Lewistown, Malta, Miles   National Forest,
                       City, Missoula.           Bitterroot National
                                                 Forest, Clearwater
                                                 National Forest, Custer
                                                 National Forest, Dixie
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Gallatin National
                                                 Forest, Helena National
                                                 Forest, Lewis and Clark
                                                 National Forest, Lolo
                                                 National Forest.
New Mexico..........  Carlsbad, Farmington, N/  Carson National Forest,
                       A, Rio Puerco, Roswell,   Cibola National Forest,
                       Soccoro, Taos.            Gila National Forest,
                                                 Lincoln National
                                                 Forest, Santa Fe
                                                 National Forest.
Nevada..............  Battle Mountain, Carson   Humboldt-Toiyabe
                       City, Elko, Ely, Las      National Forest.
                       Vegas, Winnemucca.
Oregon..............  Burns, Eugene, Lakeview,  Deschutes National
                       Medford, Prineville,      Forest, Fremont-Winema
                       Roseburg, Salem, Vale.    National Forests,
                                                 Malheur National
                                                 Forest, Mt. Hood
                                                 National Forest, Ochoco
                                                 National Forest, Rogue
                                                 River-Siskiyou National
                                                 Forests, Umatilla
                                                 National Forest, Umpqua
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Wallowa-Whitman
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Willamette National
                                                 Forest.
Utah................  Cedar City, Fillmore,     Dixie National Forest,
                       Kanab, Richfield, Salt    Fishlake National
                       Lake, St. George,         Forest, Uinta National
                       Vernal.                   Forest, Wasatch-Cache
                                                 National Forest.
Washington..........  Spokane.................  Gifford Pinchot National
                                                 Forest, Mt Baker-
                                                 Snoqualmie National
                                                 Forest, Okanogan-
                                                 Wenatchee National
                                                 Forests, Umatilla
                                                 National Forest.
Wyoming.............  Buffalo, Casper, Cody,    Ashley National Forest,
                       Kemmerer, Lander,         Bridger-Teton National
                       Newcastle, Pinedale,      Forest, Caribou-Targhee
                       Rawlins, Rock Springs,    National Forest,
                       Worland.                  Medicine Bow-Routt
                                                 National Forest,
                                                 Shoshone National
                                                 Forest, Wasatch-Cache
                                                 National Forest.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the Proposed Action, the PEIS evaluates two other 
alternatives: The No Action Alternative and an alternative termed 
Leasing Near Transmission Lines. The No Action Alternative would allow 
the processing of pending geothermal lease applications; however, no 
land use plans would be amended. Therefore, lease applications would be 
evaluated on a case-by-case basis and would require additional 
environmental review and possible land use plan amendments.
    The Leasing Near Transmission Lines Alternative was developed based 
on input from scoping. Under this alternative the scope of lands 
considered for leasing for commercial electrical generation would be 
limited to those lands that are near transmission lines.
    This alternative also considers a larger buffer around Yellowstone 
National Park. While this alternative minimizes the potential footprint 
of tie-in transmission lines from power plants to distribution lines, 
it would limit the potential for geothermal energy generation.
    In addition to the programmatic analysis, the PEIS provides site-
specific environmental analysis for seven lease applications in Alaska, 
California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington that were pending as of 
January 1, 2005. The alternatives evaluated for this analysis are 
issuing the lease or denying the lease (no action conditions).
    Comments may be submitted in writing on the stated planning 
criteria using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. 
Please note that public comments and information submitted including 
names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of respondents will be 
available for public review and disclosure at the above address during 
regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
except holidays. Comments will be available for review at the following 
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
request in your comment that we withhold your personal identifying 
information from

[[Page 33805]]

public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Jeff O. Holdren,
Acting Assistant Director, Minerals and Realty Management.
Gloria Manning,
Associate Deputy Chief for National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. E8-13365 Filed 6-12-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-10-P