[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 93 (Friday, May 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22960-22961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11297]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLUT01000-09-L51010000-ER0000-24-1A00]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Mona to Oquirrh Transmission Corridor Project and Draft Pony 
Express Resource Management Plan Amendment, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for 
the Mona to Oquirrh Transmission Corridor Project and Draft Pony 
Express Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and by this Notice is 
announcing the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Mona to Oquirrh Transmission Corridor Project 
DEIS within 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The 
BLM will announce future meetings or hearings and any other public 
involvement activities at least 15 days in advance through the Utah BLM 
Web site (http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/planning/mona_to_oquirrh_transmission.html), public notices, media news releases, and/
or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (801) 977-4397 or (435) 743-3135.
     Mail: Mike Nelson, Realty Specialist, BLM Salt Lake Field 
Office, 2370 South 2300 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119, or Clara 
Stevens, Realty Specialist, BLM Fillmore Field Office, 35 East 500 
North, Fillmore, UT 84631.
    Copies of the Mona to Oquirrh Transmission Corridor Project DEIS 
are available in the Salt Lake Field Office and Fillmore Field Office 
at the above addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
     Mike Nelson at the BLM Salt Lake Field Office, 2370 South 
2300 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119; by phone: (801) 977-4300; or
     Clara Stevens at the BLM Fillmore Field Office, 35 East 
500 North, Fillmore, UT 84631; by phone: (435) 743-3100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rocky Mountain Power has submitted a right-
of-way application for a double-circuit 500/345 kilovolt (kV) 
transmission line from the existing Mona Substation, located in Juab 
County, to the existing Oquirrh Substation and Terminal Substation 
located in Salt Lake County, Utah. The Mona to Oquirrh Transmission 
Corridor Project also includes the siting of two new future substations 
and a Salt Lake Field Office (SLFO) Pony Express RMP Amendment for 
utility corridors. The corridor to be established by this amendment 
would be wide enough to accommodate potential future utility rights-of-
way, including a possible second future double-circuit 500kV line, if 
and when needed. The estimated length of the proposed transmission line 
route is approximately 140 miles. A right-of-way of up to 300 feet in 
width would be required to construct, operate, and maintain the 
transmission line and structures. The proposed project would take 
approximately 18 months to construct.
    To simplify the analysis of alternatives, the project area has been 
divided into three major areas: (1) From the future Mona Annex 
Substation to the future Limber Substation, (2) from the future Limber 
Substation to the existing Oquirrh Substation, and (3) from the future 
Limber Substation to the existing Terminal Substation.
    Mona Annex to Limber: There are six alternative transmission line 
routes that connect the future Mona Annex Substation to the future 
Limber Substation with a double-circuit 500kV transmission line, 
ranging from 65.3 to

[[Page 22961]]

67.7 miles in length. The routes cross portions of Juab, Utah and 
Tooele Counties.
    Limber to Oquirrh: There are six alternative transmission line 
routes that connect the future Limber Substation to the existing 
Oquirrh Substation with a double-circuit 345kV transmission line, 
ranging from 28.9 to 49.0 miles in length. The routes cross portions of 
Tooele and Salt Lake Counties.
    Limber to Terminal: There are two alternative transmission line 
routes that connect the future Limber Substation to the existing 
Terminal Substation with a double-circuit 345kV transmission line, 
ranging from 40.0 to 45.1 miles in length. The routes cross portions of 
Tooele and Salt Lake counties.
    The proposed transmission line(s) right-of-way (ROW) alignment 
would fall outside of current utility corridors designated by the BLM 
in the SLFO Pony Express RMP. For the project to be in conformance with 
the Pony Express RMP, this RMP would be amended to designate a new 
utility corridor. The DEIS addresses the establishment of a new utility 
corridor that would accommodate the proposed transmission line ROW.
    The planning issues for the RMP amendment include:
     Access to and transportation on the public lands.
     Existing and planned land uses, including recreation, 
transportation, agriculture, grazing, rights-of-way, and other 
authorized land uses.
     Wildlife habitat and management of summer and winter 
ranges and migration corridors for antelope, mule deer, and elk.
     Cumulative effects of land uses and human activities on 
threatened, endangered, candidate, and sensitive species and their 
habitats.
     Vegetation, including impacts of invasive non-native 
species.
     Cultural, historic and paleontological resources and 
tribal values.
     Management objectives in the North Oquirrh Management 
Area.
     Visual resource management.
     Air, soil, and water resources.
     Sociology and economics.
     Human health and safety.
    An interdisciplinary approach was used to develop the DEIS, in 
order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. An amendment to the Pony Express RMP would be based upon 
the following planning criteria:
     The amendment will be completed in compliance with the 
Federal Land Policy Management Act, NEPA, and all other relevant 
Federal law, Executive Orders, and management policies of the BLM;
     Where existing planning decisions are still valid, those 
decisions will remain unchanged and be incorporated into the new 
amendment; and
     The amendment will recognize valid existing rights.
    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. 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 can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

Selma Sierra,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E9-11297 Filed 5-14-09; 8:45 am]
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