[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9921-9922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03685]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVSO3100 L51010000 ER0000 LVRWF1304100.241A; 14-08807; MO 
4500060501; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and the Proposed Resource 
Management Plan Amendment for the Silver State Solar South 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 Silver State Solar South 
Project and Proposed Las Vegas Field Office Resource Management Plan 
(RMP) amendment. The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and 
Minerals Management signed the ROD on February 14, 2014, which 
constitutes the final decision of the Department.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg 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 Mr. 
Helseth during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question for Mr. Helseth. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Silver State Solar Power South, LLC, 
submitted a right-of-way (ROW) application for the construction, 
operation, maintenance, and termination of a 250-350 megawatt (MW) 
solar energy generation facility within a 13,184-acre area of public 
land east of Primm, Nevada. The BLM prepared a Draft and Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and proposed RMP 
amendment in consultation with cooperating agencies, taking into 
account public comments received during the National Environmental 
Policy Act process. The Final Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP amendment 
provides a framework for the future management direction and 
appropriate use of the project area, located in Clark County, Nevada. 
Because the BLM would need to amend the October 1998 Las Vegas RMP to 
address proposed changes in land and resource use within the project 
area, the Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP amendment considered land use 
planning decisions and implementation decisions to guide the BLM's 
management of the project area. The implementation decision to be made 
was whether to approve, approve with modifications, or deny the 
issuance of ROW grant applied for by Silver State Solar Power South, 
LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Solar, Inc. The planning 
decisions to be made were to: (1) Reduce the size of the Jean Lake/
Roach Lake Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) to ensure that the 
proposed ROW grant is in conformance with the Las Vegas Field Office 
RMP and to ensure a balanced use of the public lands and the resources 
affected by those uses; (2) Revise the Visual Resource Management 
classification of lands within the project footprint to ensure 
management is in conformance with Las Vegas Field Office RMP decisions; 
and (3) Designate an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and 
identify management prescriptions for a portion of the proposed ACEC 
nomination area. The BLM Preferred Alternative for the implementation 
decision was developed after release of the Draft Supplemental EIS/
proposed RMP amendment to address public and agency concerns related to 
desert tortoise demographic connectivity within the Ivanpah Valley, and 
agency and public interest in a reduced-scale project. The BLM 
Preferred Alternative is smaller in area and electricity generation 
capacity is reduced to 250 MW. The BLM Preferred Alternative would 
disturb up to 2,427 acres of Federal land entirely within the footprint 
of alternatives analyzed in the Draft and Final Supplemental EIS/
proposed RMP amendment, and thus involves no new areas of effect. The 
BLM Preferred Alternative for the RMP amendment identified in the Draft 
Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP amendment was to: (1) Reduce the acreage 
of the SRMA by the project footprint (if approved); and (2) Change the 
Visual Resource Management (VRM) class from VRM Class III to IV for the 
project footprint (if approved). In the Final Supplemental EIS/proposed 
RMP amendment, the BLM Preferred Alternative also included a 31,859-
acre area for designation as an ACEC for desert tortoise protection and 
management prescriptions that would be required for the designated 
ACEC.
    The Environmental Protection Agency and the BLM published the 
Notice of Availability for the Final Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP 
amendment concurrently in the Federal Register (78 FR 57849 and 78 FR 
57880) on Friday, September 20, 2013, initiating a 30-day protest 
period and a 60-day Governor's consistency review. The BLM received 12 
timely protests, which were resolved prior to the issuance of the ROD. 
The protest resolution is summarized in the ROD and is addressed in the 
separate Director's Protest Summary Resolution Report attached to the 
ROD. The proposed amendment to the Las Vegas Field Office RMP was not 
modified as a result of the protests received or the resolution. The 
Governor of Nevada conducted a consistency review of the proposed 
amendment to the Las Vegas Field Office RMP to identify any 
inconsistencies with State or local plans, policies or programs. No 
inconsistencies were identified by the Governor's office.
    The ROD approves the BLM Preferred Alternative for the Silver State 
Solar South project and all mitigation measures identified in the Final 
Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP amendment. The ROD also approves the BLM 
Preferred Alternative for the RMP amendment to: (1) Remove the SRMA 
designation within the ROW grant area; (2) Change the VRM 
classification from Class III to Class IV within the ROW grant area; 
and (3) Designate a 31,859-acre ACEC adjacent to the ROW grant area and 
adopt the management prescriptions for the ACEC identified in the Final 
Supplemental EIS/proposed RMP amendment.
    Because this decision is approved by the Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior, it is not subject to administrative appeal 
(43 CFR 4.410(a)(3)).


[[Page 9922]]


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

Neil Kornze,
Principal Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department 
of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2014-03685 Filed 2-20-14; 8:45 am]
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