[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 126 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38823-38824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16005]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA-052537, LLCAD05000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB11B4520]


Notice of Availability of the Alta East Wind Project Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Proposed 
California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment, Kern 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, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Kern 
County, California, have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and a Draft 
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment (PA) for the 
Alta East Wind Project (AEWP), and by this notice the BLM is announcing 
the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR/PA 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 the AEWP by any of the 
following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/alta_east_wind_project.html.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 951 697-5299.
     Mail: ATTN: Jeffery Childers, Project Manager, BLM 
California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, 
Moreno Valley, California 92553-9046.
    Copies of the Draft EIS/EIR/PA are available in the California 
Desert District Office at the above address, in the BLM Ridgecrest 
Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, California 93555, and 
on the BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Jeffery Childers, 
telephone 951 697-5308; address BLM California Desert District Office, 
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553-
9046; email [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: Alta Windpower Development, LLC (AWD) has 
requested a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, 
maintain, and decommission the AEWP. The Project would be located on 
about 3,200 acres on the north and south sides of State Route 58 in 
southeastern Kern County, California. The project area is approximately 
3 miles northwest of the town of Mojave and approximately 11 miles east 
of the city of Tehachapi. The proposed project would include up to 106 
wind turbines, access roads, energy collection lines, and ancillary 
facilities on 3,200 acres, of which 2,083 acres are on public land 
under the jurisdiction of the BLM and 1,117 acres are on private land 
under the jurisdiction of Kern County. The Project could produce up to 
318 Megawatts (mW).
    The BLM's purpose and need for the AEWP is to respond to AWD'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 a ROW to 
AWD for the proposed AEWP. 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 (1980, as amended), 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 Plan be considered through the plan amendment process. If the BLM 
decides to grant a ROW for this project, the CDCA Plan would be amended 
as required.

[[Page 38824]]

    In addition to the proposed action and a no action alternative, the 
BLM is analyzing a reconfigured site layout alternative with up to 106 
turbines, an alternative that would allow up to 97 turbines, and an 
alternative that would allow up to 87 turbines. The Draft EIS/EIR/PA 
also analyzes two no-project alternatives that would deny a ROW for the 
project but amend the CDCA Plan to find the project area either (1) 
available for future wind energy generation projects; or (2) 
unavailable for future wind energy generation projects.
    The Draft EIS/EIR/PA evaluates the potential impacts of the 
proposed AEWP on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, biological 
resources including Golden Eagles and California Condors, special 
status species, cultural resources, geology and soils, hazards and 
hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use, noise, 
recreation, traffic, visual resources, wilderness characteristics, 
cumulative effects, and areas with high potential for renewable energy 
development.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/EIR/PA for the AEWP was 
published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2011 (FR 41817-41819). 
The BLM held one joint public scoping meeting with Kern County in 
Mojave on August 4, 2011. The formal scoping period ended on August 16, 
2011.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who 
submit comments will be available for public review at the above 
address during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, email 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.

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

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2012-16005 Filed 6-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P