[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14530-14531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05479]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-122352; L51010000 ER0000 LVRWG10G0760 LLNMF01000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the San Juan Basin Energy Connect 230kV Transmission Line 
Project in New Mexico and Colorado

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), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the San Juan 
Basin Energy Connect Project (Project) and by this notice is announcing 
the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Project Draft EIS within 45 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 Draft EIS for the 
Project by any of the following methods:

 Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/sjbec.
 Email: [email protected].

[[Page 14531]]

 Fax: 505-564-7608.
 Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Farmington Field Office, 6251 
College Blvd., Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402

Copies of the Project EIS are available in the Farmington Field Office 
at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marcy Romero, Project Manager, 
telephone 505-564-7727; address Farmington Field Office, 6251 College 
Blvd., Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402; 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 Ms. Romero during normal business hours. The 
FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or 
question for Ms. Romero. You will receive a reply during normal 
business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Tri-State Generation and Transmission 
Association (Tri-State) submitted a right-of-way (ROW) application to 
construct, operate, and maintain a 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line 
from the Farmington, New Mexico area to Ignacio, Colorado. The proposed 
transmission project would be located on BLM-managed public lands, 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe (Southern Ute) tribal lands, New Mexico State 
lands, and private lands. Tri-State seeks approval from the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs (BIA), relating to the portion of the project that would 
cross Southern Ute tribal lands, and the New Mexico State Land Office. 
Tri-State is also requesting approval from La Plata County for the 
operation and construction of the transmission line on private 
properties located in La Plata County. Tri-State is requesting 
financial assistance for the Project from the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Tri-State is also 
requesting approval from the Western Area Power Administration 
(Western) to interconnect its proposed 230 kV transmission line to 
Western's Shiprock Substation and also to locate the new Three Rivers 
Substation on Western's reserved area within BLM lands.
    Before making a decision, Federal agencies, including the BLM, BIA, 
RUS, and Western, must comply with the requirements of NEPA, Section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and Section 7 of 
the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The BLM is the lead Federal agency 
for NEPA, NHPA, and ESA review and compliance. The EIS preparation is a 
joint process among the BLM and the cooperating agencies. The 
cooperating agencies include the BIA, RUS, Western, Southern Ute, La 
Plata County, the New Mexico State Land Office, and the Navajo Nation. 
The purpose and need for BLM's action is to respond to TriState's ROW 
application for access to BLM-managed lands for the construction and 
operation of the transmission line, substations, and access roads.
    The BLM published the Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on 
January 25, 2011 (76 FR 4371), and scoping continued to April 1, 2011. 
Three public scoping meetings and one agency scoping meeting were held 
on March 16 and 17, 2011, in Farmington and Aztec, New Mexico, and 
Ignacio, Colorado, to solicit comments on the scope of the EIS. The key 
issue topics resulting from scoping are: Lands and realty actions, 
processes, and effects; effects to visual resources, water and 
wetlands, air quality, cultural resources, the Old Spanish National 
Historic Trail, socioeconomics, and wildlife species and habitats; and 
public health and safety effects, and potential cumulative effects. 
Further details on scoping issues and comments received are in the 
scoping report available on the project Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/sjbec
    This Draft EIS analyzes a No Action Alternative and two action 
alternatives: The Preferred Alternative and the Proposed Action. The 
action alternatives were developed from a comprehensive process that 
considered a wide range of electrical system and transmission route 
alternatives. Both action alternatives are about 65 miles long. The 
action alternatives would originate from Western's Shiprock Substation 
and would interconnect to a new substation, the Three Rivers 
Substation. From the new Three Rivers Substation, the transmission 
lines would extend to a new 230 kV substation, the Kiffen Canyon 
Substation, located just north of the City of Farmington's existing 
Glade Tap Substation. The action alternatives would continue northeast 
and would terminate at the existing Iron Horse Substation near Ignacio, 
Colorado. The action alternatives also include constructing access 
roads by building new unpaved roads, improving existing access roads, 
and using existing roads in their current state. The action 
alternatives differ in their proposed alignment for the transmission 
line and the supporting access network.
    For this Draft EIS, the No Action Alternative indicates that the 
BLM would not grant Tri-State a ROW for the construction and operation 
of the proposed Project. The Project facilities, including transmission 
lines and substations, would not be built and existing land uses, and 
present activities in the Project study area would continue. The No 
Action Alternative does not consider the potential for additional 
actions that could occur if the action alternatives were denied.
    The BLM will use and coordinate the NEPA commenting process to 
satisfy the public involvement process for Section 106 of the NHPA (16 
U.S.C. 470f) as provided for in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). Ongoing tribal 
consultations will continue to be conducted in accordance with policy 
and tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets. Federal, 
State, and local agencies, along with other stakeholders that may be 
interested or affected by the BLM's decision on this Project, are 
invited to participate. 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 and disclosure at the above address during regular business 
hours (8 a.m. to 4 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 publicly be made 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.

Michael H. Tupper,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-05479 Filed 3-13-14; 8:45 am]
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