[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 3 (Thursday, January 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 514-515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33810]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-65891, L51010000 ER0000 LVRWH09H0560 LLORB00000]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the North 
Steens 230 Kilovolt Transmission Line, Harney County, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the North Steens 230 kilovolt (kV) 
Transmission Line Project. The Secretary of the Interior approved the 
ROD on December 28, 2011, which constitutes the Department's final 
decision.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request from the 
District Manager, BLM Burns District Office, 28910 Hwy 20 West, Hines, 
Oregon 97738, or at the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/burns/plans/index.php.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Skip Renchler, Realty Specialist, 
telephone; (541) 573-4443; address; BLM Burns District Office, 28910 
Hwy 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant, Echanis, LLC, a subsidiary of 
Columbia Energy Partners, LLC, filed right-of-way (ROW) applications 
for ROWs with the BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 
construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of a 29-mile-
long, 230kV transmission line that would connect the proposed Echanis 
Wind Energy Project, located on private land on the north end of Steens 
Mountain, with Harney Electric Cooperative's existing transmission 
system near Diamond Junction, Oregon.
    The ROD approves the BLM-preferred Alternative, now the Selected 
Alternative, and will result in the grant

[[Page 515]]

of ROWs for construction, operation, maintenance and termination of a 
230-kV transmission line, tensioning sites and related access across 
lands administered by the BLM. The route for the Selected Alternative 
would originate at the Echanis Wind Energy Project substation, south of 
Diamond, Oregon and connect to Harney Electric Cooperative's existing 
115-kV transmission line near Crane, Oregon. The Selected Alternative 
would not cross the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge administered by 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This alternative will enable the 
construction of the Echanis Wind Energy Project on private land. The 
effects of the wind project on private land are analyzed in the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) because they are ``connected 
actions'' under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
    This BLM-preferred Alternative was evaluated in the Final EIS. The 
Notice of Availability of the Final EIS for the North Steens 230kV 
Transmission Line Project was published in the Federal Register on 
October 21, 2011 (76 FR 65509).
    Because this decision is approved by the Secretary of the Interior, 
it is not subject to administrative appeal (43 CFR 4.410(a)(3)).

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.

Mike Pool,
Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-33810 Filed 1-4-12; 8:45 am]
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