[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74865-74866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30537]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVSO3100 L51010000 ER0000 LVRWF12F8740.241A; 13-08807; 
MO450004530; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Searchlight Wind Energy Project, Clark County, NV

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 (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Searchlight Wind 
Energy Project and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: The BLM will not issue a final decision on the proposal for a 
minimum of 30 days from the date that the Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes its notice in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Printed or electronic copies of the Final EIS are available 
on request from the BLM Southern Nevada District Office, 4701 N. Torrey 
Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130, phone 702-515-5173, or email to: 
[email protected]. Interested persons may 
also review the Final EIS on the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/energy/searchlight_wind_energy.html. Copies 
of the Final EIS are available for public inspection at the BLM 
Southern Nevada District Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Helseth, Renewable Energy 
Project Manager, telephone 702-515-5173; address 4701 N. Torrey Pines 
Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89130; 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: Searchlight Wind Energy, LLC (SWE), a 
wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy, applied to the BLM for a right-
of-way (ROW) grant on public lands to develop a 200-megawatt (MW) wind 
energy facility. The ROW application area encompasses approximately 
18,790 acres of BLM-administered public lands adjacent to Searchlight, 
Nevada, about 60 miles southeast of Las Vegas, in Clark County, Nevada. 
In connection with the SWE proposal, the Western Area Power 
Administration (Western) has submitted a ROW application to the BLM for 
construction and operation of an electrical interconnection facility/
switchyard adjacent to the existing Davis-Mead transmission line. The 
Western application is also analyzed as part of the EIS. The proposed 
project is in conformance with the 1998 Las Vegas Resource Management 
Plan and Record of Decision.
    The proposed wind turbines located on the SWE project would be up 
to 262-feet tall from the ground to the hub with blades extending an 
additional 153 feet, for a total turbine height of up to 415 feet. In 
addition to the wind turbines, the proposed project would require the 
construction of pad mounted transformers at the base of each turbine, 
underground collection lines, new access roads, two electrical 
substations, an overhead transmission line

[[Page 74866]]

connecting the two substations, an electrical interconnection facility/
switchyard owned and operated by Western, an operations and maintenance 
building, and temporary and long-term laydown areas. Three 
meteorological towers would remain on the site to measure the wind 
speed and direction across the site over the life of the project.
    The applicant (SWE) has requested to interconnect its proposed 
project to the electrical transmission grid via Western's Davis-Mead 
230-kilovolt transmission line. Western, a Federal agency, is 
participating in the EIS process as a cooperating agency and may use 
the EIS to support its decision to approve or deny the SWE 
interconnection request.
    Three alternatives are analyzed in the Final EIS--a 96 wind turbine 
layout, an 87 wind turbine layout, and a no-action alternative. The 87 
wind turbine alternative is the BLM's preferred alternative. In 
identifying the preferred alternative, the BLM considered all 
information that has been received consistent with its environmental 
review and ROW permitting responsibilities. The Final EIS describes and 
analyzes the project's site-specific impacts on air quality, biological 
resources, cultural resources, environmental justice, geological 
resources, health and human safety, hazardous materials, lands and 
realty, noise, noxious weeds, paleontological resources, recreation, 
socioeconomic resources, transportation, visual resources and water 
resources. On January 20, 2012, the BLM published the Notice of 
Availability for the Draft EIS for this proposal in the Federal 
Register (77 FR 2999). The BLM accepted public comments at three public 
meetings in Searchlight, Laughlin, and Boulder City, Nevada and by 
email, mail, and fax during a 90-day comment period. Seventy nine 
comment submissions were received from individuals, organizations, and 
agencies. Comments primarily pertained to the NEPA process, project 
alternatives, project description, project need, air quality, 
biological resources (desert tortoise, birds, and plants), cultural 
resources, cumulative impacts, geology, health and human safety, land 
use, noise, mitigation measures, recreation, transportation, 
socioeconomics, visual resources, and water. The BLM also received 
statements in support of, or opposition to, the proposal.
    Comments on the Draft EIS received from the public and internal BLM 
review were considered and addressed as appropriate in the Final EIS. 
Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did 
not significantly change the proposed alternatives.

Vanessa Hice,
Assistant Field Manager, Division of Lands.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

[FR Doc. 2012-30537 Filed 12-14-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P