[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 17718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06673]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVSO3100 L51010000 ER0000 LVRWF12F8740.241A; 13-08807; MO 
4500048381; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision for the 
Searchlight Wind Energy Project, Clark County, NV

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 Searchlight Wind Energy 
Project. The Department of the Interior Secretary signed the ROD on 
March 13, 2013, which constitutes the final decision of the Department.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request and for public 
inspection at the Southern Nevada District Office, Bureau of Land 
Management, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV, 89130 or on the 
internet at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/energy/searchlight_wind_energy.html.

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 
18,949 acres of BLM-administered public lands adjacent to Searchlight, 
Nevada, about 60 miles southeast of Las Vegas, in Clark County, Nevada. 
An updated inventory of lands with wilderness characteristics was 
completed and no lands with wilderness characteritics were found within 
the project area. The area was segregated from mineral entry in the 
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Searchlight Wind Energy Project. In connection with the 
SWE proposal, Western Area Power Administration (Western) 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 that would interconnect the power 
generated from the wind facility to Western's electrical grid system. 
The Western application was also analyzed as part of the Searchlight 
Wind Energy Project Environmental Impact Statement. The proposed 
project is in conformance with the 1998 Las Vegas Resource Management 
Plan, pages 2-26 and 2-27 and the Record of Decision, October 5, 1998, 
pages 19 and 20.
    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the BLM published the 
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
concurrently in the Federal Register (77 FR 2979 and 77 FR 2999) on 
January 20, 2012, starting a 60-day comment period on the Draft EIS.
    The EPA published the Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register (77 FR 74479) on 
December 14, 2012 and the BLM notice (77 FR 74865) was published on 
December 18, 2012. Printed and electronic copies of the Draft EIS and 
Final EIS are available at the Southern Nevada District Office and 
posted on the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/energy/searchlight_wind_energy.html. Three alternatives were 
analyzed in the 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. The BLM received 6 comment submissions 
during the 30-day availability period following the release of the 
Final EIS. In response to those comments, the BLM incorporated 7 
additional mitigation measures and made minor editorial changes to 
clarify language in the ROD.
    The ROD approves, with all mitigation measures identified in the 
Final EIS and additional mitigation measures identified in the ROD, the 
87 wind turbine alternative, including associated infrastructure, and 
the switching station proposed by Western.
    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 and 40 CFR 1506.10.

Jamie Connell,
Acting Deputy Director for Operations Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-06673 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
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