[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30740-30741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13114]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[5298-AM43-EXR]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Acquisition of Land Currently Owned by Florida Power and Light 
Company in Everglades National Park, Florida

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for the acquisition of land currently owned by Florida Power and Light 
Company in Everglades National Park, Florida.

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SUMMARY: In June 2009, the National Park Service (NPS) initiated public 
scoping for an environmental assessment (EA) that was being prepared in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 
as amended, to evaluate the environmental impacts of a potential land 
acquisition or exchange between NPS and Florida Power and Light Company 
(FPL) in Everglades National Park (Park). The NPS decision to be made 
at the conclusion of the process was to have been whether to exchange 
NPS lands for FPL's lands within the boundary of the Park or to acquire 
FPL's lands by purchase or eminent domain. After careful consideration 
of the issues and analysis developed during the EA process, the NPS has 
determined that there is potential for significant impacts to the human 
environment from this decision, and NPS therefore intends to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS). This notice initiates the public 
scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues 
regarding the potential land acquisition or land exchange in the Park.

DATES: Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are 
encouraged to provide written comments or suggestions to assist the NPS 
in determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS, 
identifying significant issues related to the potential land 
acquisition or exchange, identifying conditions for the exchange, and 
identifying other reasonable alternatives. The NPS will conduct a 
public scoping meeting to be held in Miami-Dade County. When the public 
scoping meeting has been scheduled, its location, date, and time will 
be published in local media and on the NPS's Planning, Environment and 
Public comment Web site: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ever. The scoping 
meeting will also be announced via a park press release and through e-
mail notification to the individuals and organizations on the park's 
mailing list. Written comments must be received prior to the close of 
the scoping period or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever 
is later. The NPS will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation upon publication of the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to provide scoping comments or suggestions, you 
may submit your comments by any one of several methods. The preferred 
method for submitting comments is via the internet at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ever. Select ``Acquisition of Florida Power and 
Light Company Lands in the East Everglades Expansion Area'' to reach 
the comment site. Written comments may also be sent to: National Park 
Service, Denver Service Center--Planning Division, Attn: FPL Project 
Planning Team, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287.
    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. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses, 
available for public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Everglades National Park was established on 
December 6, 1947. Subsequently the Everglades National Park Protection 
and Expansion Act of 1989 (the 1989 Act): (1) Expanded the boundaries 
of the Park to include approximately 107,600 acres, and through the 
1989 Act and additional legislation, authorized the NPS and U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to acquire lands within the designated area, 
which is known as the Everglades National Park Expansion Area (ENP 
Expansion Area); and (2) authorized the Secretary of the Army to modify 
the Central and Southern Florida Project to provide for the restoration 
of more natural water flow and habitat to and within the Park. The ENP 
Expansion Area includes property owned by FPL since the 1960's and 
early 1970's (FPL Property). The FPL Property is approximately 7.4 
miles in length (North-South), 330 feet to 370 feet wide, and 
encompasses

[[Page 30741]]

approximately 320 acres. More recently, the Omnibus Public Land 
Management Act of 2009 specifically authorized the Secretary of 
Interior to acquire the FPL Property in exchange for other lands in the 
Park. The property proposed for the exchange consists of approximately 
260 acres within and along the eastern boundary of the ENP Expansion 
Area with an additional easement over approximately 90 acres in the 
Park for the control of non-native vegetation.
    To implement the land acquisition provisions of the 1989 Act, the 
Park developed a Land Protection Plan in 1991 (the LPP). The LPP 
determined the need for acquisition of lands necessary to assure the 
enhancement and restoration of natural hydrologic conditions in the 
area and to manage the area to maintain natural abundance, diversity, 
and ecological integrity of native plants and animals. To implement the 
restoration of flow provisions of the 1989 Act, the ACOE issued a 1992 
General Design Memorandum and related updates concerning the project 
modifications necessary to achieve more natural water flow. The latest 
of these modifications is the construction of a one-mile bridge on the 
Tamiami Trail, which is scheduled to be complete in 2013. Related to 
the construction of the one-mile bridge and the broad restoration 
objectives in the Act, the ACOE will develop an operational plan to 
provide a more natural flow of water to the ENP Expansion Area. The 
additional water flow that will result from implementation of this plan 
cannot be achieved until lands that FPL owns in Everglades National 
Park are acquired.
    As a related but distinct matter, FPL is seeking approval, through 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), ACOE, and the State of 
Florida, to construct two additional nuclear reactors at its Turkey 
Point facility, immediately adjacent to Biscayne National Park in south 
Florida. The NRC is currently preparing an EIS for a new FPL license 
for the proposed reactors. The FPL is also seeking certification from 
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection of new transmission 
corridors, including a West Preferred Corridor, for transmission of 
electricity from the Turkey Point Facility to destinations in south 
Florida. The current FPL proposal for the West Preferred Corridor 
includes the potential construction of three electrical transmission 
lines on the FPL Property in the ENP Expansion Area or on the NPS lands 
that would be conveyed to FPL by the proposed exchange.
    Having determined that utilization of the FPL property for an 
electrical transmission corridor in its current location is contrary to 
the LPP and intended purposes of the ENP Expansion Area, the NPS began 
an analysis of the potential land acquisition or exchange in an EA in 
June 2009. Following public scoping and review of the preliminary EA 
findings, NPS identified potential environmental impacts associated 
with the reasonably foreseeable construction of transmission lines on 
the exchange lands. After careful consideration of the issues and 
analysis developed during the EA process, the NPS has determined that 
implementation of a land exchange with FPL could result in potential 
significant impacts to the human environment and that an EIS will be 
prepared. The EIS will examine the environmental impacts of 
transmission lines on the proposed exchange property as well as the 
foreseeable environmental impacts of the alternative actions.
    The NPS has identified three potential alternatives for analysis in 
the EIS. The first alternative, land exchange with conditions, would 
evaluate the effects of the statutorily-authorized land exchange and 
consider appropriate conditions for the exchange. Direct effects of the 
changes in land ownership would probably be minimal, but the cumulative 
effects analysis would evaluate the potential effects of power line 
construction and maintenance for utility corridor purposes on the 
exchange lands. The second alternative, acquisition/condemnation, would 
evaluate the effects of acquiring or condemning FPL's property in the 
park, and thereby removing the potential for power line construction on 
the FPL property or on the proposed exchange property. Inclusion of 
this alternative will assist in determining a baseline of existing 
impacts for comparison with the impacts of other alternatives. The 
third alternative, no acquisition or exchange, would evaluate the 
effects as if there were no change in the status of the FPL Property 
and would assume that the status quo of FPL ownership is maintained. 
The cumulative effects analysis would evaluate the foreseeable effects 
if power lines were constructed on the FPL Property through the Park.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information about the proposed action, 
the EIS, and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Brien Culhane 
at Everglades National Park by phone at 305-242-7717 or via e-mail at 
[email protected]. Additional information, including maps of the 
FPL Property and proposed transmission corridors, can be found on the 
NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site, http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ever. Select ``Acquisition of Florida Power and 
Light Company Lands in the East Everglades Expansion Area.''

    Authority: The authority for publishing this notice is contained 
in 40 CFR 1506.6

    The responsible official for this Notice of Intent is the Regional 
Director, Southeast Region, NPS, 100 Alabama Street, SW., 1924 
Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

    Dated: May 19, 2011.
Gordon Wissinger,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2011-13114 Filed 5-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-XH-P