[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64660-64662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29227]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Draft Tropic to Hatch 138 kV Transmission Line Project 
Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument Management Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, USDI and 
National Park Service, USDI.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Forest Service (FS), with the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM)

[[Page 64661]]

and National Park Service (NPS) as cooperating agencies, has prepared a 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Tropic to Hatch 138 
kV Transmission Line Project and a Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment (DRMPA) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 
and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the FS must receive 
written comments on the DRMPA and DEIS within 90 days following the 
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes this Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. The FS will announce future 
meetings or hearings and any other public involvement activities at 
least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or 
mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Tropic-to-Hatch 
Transmission Line by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/dixie/projects/tropic2hatch/index.shtml.
     E-mail: [email protected] (e-mail comments must be in MS Word [*.doc] or rich 
text format [*.rtf]).
     Fax: (435) 865-3791.
     Mail: Ms. Susan Baughman, Dixie National Forest, USDA 
Forest Service, Tropic to Hatch 138 kV Transmission Line Project, 1789 
N. Wedgewood Lane, Cedar City, Utah 84721.

Copies of the Draft Garkane Energy Tropic to Hatch 138 kV Transmission 
Line and Draft Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management 
Plan Amendment are available at the above address or at the following 
BLM offices: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Headquarters, 
190 E. Center Street, Kanab, UT; Kanab Field Office, 318 N 100 E, 
Kanab, UT; Utah State Office, 440 W 200 S, Salt Lake City, UT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Susan Baughman, Dixie National 
Forest, USDA Forest Service, Tropic to Hatch 138 kV Transmission Line 
Project EIS Project Leader, 1789 N. Wedgewood Lane, Cedar City, Utah 
84720 or; Drew Parkin, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 
Project Coordinator, 190 E Center, Kanab, Utah 84741/phone (435) 826-
5629.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed 138 kV transmission line would 
originate at a proposed East Valley Substation, located near Tropic, 
Utah and terminate at the existing Hatch Substation near Hatch, Utah, 
along U.S. Route 89. There are four alternatives being considered, 
including interconnect options and identification of the Agency 
Preferred Alternative.
    A plan amendment for the Grand Staircase/Escalante Monument 
Management Plan would be needed to implement Alternatives A or C 
because the proposal occurs in an area identified as a Primitive 
Management Zone and Visual Resource Management (VRM) Class II zone as 
described in the MMP. While the entire project involves lands 
administered by BLM, both the Kanab Field Office and GSENM, Dixie 
National Forest, Bryce Canyon National Park, and State and private 
lands, the resource management plan amendment area involves only a 
corridor on the Monument.
    Issues that have been identified to date and are addressed in the 
DEIS include potential impacts to: Paleontological resources; soil 
resources; water resources; vegetation resources; wildlife resources; 
threatened, endangered and sensitive species; land uses; timber and 
rangeland resources; special designations (including Wilderness Study 
Areas, Non-WSA lands with wilderness character), recreation resources, 
visual resources, cultural resources, and socioeconomics.
    Alternative A would extend 30.41 miles and cross 17.35 miles of 
United States Forest Service (USFS), 3.31 miles of Kanab Field Office 
(KFO), 3.68 miles of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument 
(GSENM), 4.23 miles of State, and 1.84 miles of private lands. 
Approximately 16.23 miles of an existing 69 kV line would be removed. 
This alternative would amend the GSENM Management Plan (2000) by 
designating a 100-foot wide Passage Zone corridor through an area 
currently designated as Primitive Zone in the Management Plan, and to 
change the existing VRM Class designation from Class II to Class III 
within this corridor.
    Alternative B would extend 29.11 miles and cross 5.58 miles of 
USFS, 8.29 miles of KFO, 2.81 miles of National Park Service (NPS), 
3.63 miles of State, and 8.80 miles of private lands. Approximately 
21.57 miles of an existing 69 kV line would be removed. This 
alternative requires the building of an additional substation in Bryce 
Valley.
    Alternative C would extend 29.78 miles and cross 13.58 miles of 
USFS, 3.43 miles of KFO, 3.68 miles of GSENM, 2.06 miles of State, and 
7.03 miles of private lands. Approximately 16.23 miles of an existing 
69 kV line would be removed. This alternative would also amend the 
GSENM Management Plan (2000) by designating a 300-foot wide Passage 
Zone corridor through an area currently designated as Primitive Zone in 
the Management Plan, and to change the existing VRM Class designation 
from Class II to Class III within this corridor. The 300-foot Passage 
Zone corridor would encompass an existing Rocky Mountain Power/
PacifiCorp 230 kV transmission line, and would allow for future 
upgrades if necessary.
    Alternative D, the No Action Alternative is considered to be the 
continued operation of the existing 69 kV line and future circumstances 
that would occur without federal approval of Garkane Energy's proposal 
to construct and operate a 138 kV electric transmission line from 
Tropic to Hatch, Utah. Under the ``no action'' alternative, any or all 
of the federal agencies would decline to grant Garkane a right-of-way 
within the agency's respective jurisdiction.
    Interconnect Route Options: The purpose of the interconnect route 
options is to provide flexibility to decision makers when selecting and 
approving a final alternative. The north-south interconnect option 
extends 1.84 miles across USFS and would connect a segment of 
Alternative A to a segment of Alternative C. The east-west interconnect 
option extends 3.70 miles across USFS and would connect a segment of 
Alternative C to a segment of Alternative A.
    The Agency Preferred Alternative is Alternative C, but it 
incorporates components from the east-west interconnect option and 
Alternative A. The total length of the preferred route would be 29.41 
miles. Approximately 16.23 miles of the existing 69 kV transmission 
line infrastructure would be removed. The Agency Preferred Alternative 
would also amend the GSENM Management Plan (2000) by designating a 300-
foot wide Passage Zone corridor through an area currently designated as 
Primitive Zone in the Management Plan, and to change the existing VRM 
Class designation from Class II to Class III within this corridor.
    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.


[[Page 64662]]


(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, 40 CFR 1500-1508, and 36 CFR 220)

    Dated: December 2, 2009.
Robert G. MacWhorter,
Forest Supervisor-Dixie National Forest.
[FR Doc. E9-29227 Filed 12-7-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P