[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 131 (Friday, July 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40390-40391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17159]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA-051552, LLCAD0700 L51010000 FX0000 LVRWB10B3980]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Land Use Plan Amendment, 
Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report for the 
Pattern Energy Group Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Project, Imperial 
County, CA

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), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Draft California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment (PA)/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Draft 
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy 
Project (OWEF) and by this notice is announcing the opening of the 
comment period on the Draft CDCA PA and EIS/EIR.

DATES: To ensure that your comments will be considered, the BLM must 
receive written comments on the Draft PA/EIS/EIR within 90 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its 
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 public notices, media releases, 
and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to OWEF by any of the 
following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro.html.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (760) 337-4490.
     Mail: Cedric Perry, Project Manager, California Desert 
District (CDD), BLM, 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, 
California 92553.
    Copies of the Draft PA/EIS/EIR are available on the BLM Web site 
at: http://www.ca.blm.gov/elcentro and at the CDD at the above address 
and in the BLM El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, 
California 92243.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Cedric Perry, BLM Project 
Manager, telephone (951) 697-5388; address 22835 Calle San Juan De Los 
Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553; e-mail [email protected]. 
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call 
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to 
contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question 
with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal 
business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pattern Energy, Inc. through Ocotillo 
Express, LLC (OE LLC) has submitted a right-of-way (ROW) application to 
construct, operate, maintain, and decommission an approximate 12,436-
acre, 474 megawatt (MW) wind energy project including 158 wind turbine 
generators, a substation, administration, operations and maintenance 
facilities, transmission lines, access roads, and temporary 
construction lay down areas.
    The proposed wind energy project would be located on BLM-
administered lands and a small portion of land under the jurisdiction 
of Imperial County, approximately 5 miles west of Ocotillo, Imperial 
County, California. The proposed OWEF would be constructed in 2 phases. 
Phase I is anticipated to total approximately 315 MW, with the 
installation of up to 137 turbines ranging from 1.6 to 3 MW in 
generating capacity. Phase II would include the construction of 21 
turbines (also ranging 1.6 to 3 MW in capacity) generating up to 159 
MW.
    The BLM has invited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to be 
a cooperating Federal agency in the preparation of the Draft PA/EIR/EIS 
because the Corps has jurisdiction by law under its delegated authority 
in

[[Page 40391]]

section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended (33 U.S.C. 
Section 1344), as well as special expertise in aquatic ecosystems that 
could be affected by the Ocotillo Project. The BLM and Corps agree that 
it will be beneficial to create a more streamlined, coordinated 
approach in developing the OWEF Draft PA/EIS/EIR. The two Federal 
agencies will be developing a Memorandum of Understanding for this 
purpose.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the Draft PA/EIS/EIR is to respond 
to OE LLC's application for a ROW grant to construct, operate, 
maintain, and decommission a wind energy facility on public lands in 
compliance with FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable 
Federal laws. The BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with 
modification, or deny the ROW application for the proposed OWEF. 
Concurrently with its action on the ROW request, the BLM is also 
proposing to amend the CDCA Plan by designating the project area as 
either available or unavailable for wind energy projects. The CDCA 
Plan, while recognizing the potential compatibility of wind energy 
generation facilities with other uses on public lands, requires that 
all sites proposed for power generation or transmission not already 
identified in the CDCA Plan be considered through the plan amendment 
process. If the BLM decides to amend the CDCA Plan, a ROW for this 
project could be granted. If not, the ROW could not be granted.
    In addition to the proposed action and a no action alternative, the 
BLM is analyzing a 137-turbine alternative and a 105-turbine 
alternative. The Draft PA/EIS/EIR also analyzes two ``no project'' 
alternatives that reject the project but amend the CDCA Plan to make 
the project area either (1) available to future wind energy generation 
projects; or (2) unavailable to future wind energy generation projects.
    The Draft PA/EIS/EIR evaluates the potential impacts of the 
proposed OWEF on air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, 
water resources, geological resources and hazards, land use, noise, 
paleontological resources, public health, socioeconomics, soils, 
traffic and transportation, visual resources, wilderness 
characteristics, and other resources.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/EIR for the OWEF project was 
published in the Federal Register on December 13, 2010 (75 FR 77654). 
The BLM held 2 public scoping meetings in El Centro and Ocotillo, 
California, on January 5th and 6th, 2011, respectively. The formal 
scoping period ended on February 4, 2011.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of persons who 
submit comments will be available for public review at the above 
address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your phone number, e-mail address, or other 
personal identifying information in your comments, 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.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, and 1610.5.

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2011-17159 Filed 7-7-11; 8:45 am]
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