[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 242 (Friday, December 16, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91189-91191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30345]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWY920000/L51010000.ER0000.16X/LVRWK09K1160/241A; WYW-177893, WYW-
177893-01; COC-72929, COC-72929-01; UTU-87238, UTU-87238-01; NVN-86732, 
NVN-86732-01]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the 
TransWest Express Transmission Project in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and 
Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) 
approving the TransWest Express 600-kilovolt (kV) Direct Current 
Transmission Project (Project) right-of-way in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, 
and Nevada and associated amendments to the Rawlins Field Office (FO) 
Resource Management Plan (RMP) in Wyoming, the Little Snake FO RMP in 
Colorado, the Vernal FO and Pony Express RMPs in Utah, and the Ely 
District RMP in Nevada.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are being sent to Federal, State and local 
governments, public libraries in the Project area, and interested 
parties who previously requested a copy. Copies of the ROD and support 
documents are also available for public inspection at the locations 
identified in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice and 
electronically on the following Web site: http://bit.ly/TransWestExpress.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Knowlton, Project Manager, BLM 
Wyoming State Office, P.O. Box 20879, Cheyenne, WY 82003, by telephone 
at 307-775-6124, or by email at [email protected]. Any persons wishing 
to be added to a mailing list of interested parties may write or call 
the Project Manager at this address or phone number. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service at 1-800-877-8339. The Service 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: In November 2007, National Grid filed a ROW 
application with the BLM to construct and operate an extra high voltage 
transmission line between Wyoming and delivery points in the 
Southwestern United States. An amended application was filed on 
September 2, 2008, and the Project application was transferred to 
TransWest Express LLC (TransWest), a subsidiary of the Anschutz 
Corporation. TransWest submitted additional amended applications to the 
BLM in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015 to reflect minor changes 
and refinements to the proposed Project.
    In April 2010, the BLM and Western Area Power Administration 
(Western) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which the 
BLM and Western agreed to act as joint lead agencies in the preparation 
of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Project. The BLM's 
status as a joint lead agency is based on the BLM's potential Federal 
action to grant a ROW across BLM lands. Western's status as a joint 
lead agency is based on its potential Federal action to provide Federal 
funds for the proposed Project. Western and TransWest entered into a 
development agreement (executed in September 2011, amended in June 
2014) wherein Western agreed to support Project development by 
providing technical assistance and/or financing.
    The U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and 
Utah Reclamation Mitigation Conservation Commission are cooperating 
agencies in the proposed Project, based on their potential issuance of 
permits authorizing the use of lands under their management. Additional 
cooperating agencies include Federal, State, tribal, and local 
agencies. On January 4, 2011, the BLM and Western jointly published in 
the Federal Register (76 FR 379) a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS 
in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act (FLPMA) and the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). To allow the public an opportunity to review information 
associated with the proposed Project, the BLM held public scoping 
meetings from January through March 2011 in Baggs, Rawlins, and Rock 
Springs, Wyoming; Craig, Grand Junction, and Rangely, Colorado; 
Castledale, Cedar City, Central, Delta, Duchesne, Enterprise, Milford, 
Moab, Nephi, Pine Valley, Richfield, and St. George, Utah; and 
Caliente, Henderson, Las Vegas, and Overton, Nevada. Issues and 
potential impacts to specific resources were identified during the 
scoping period and the preparation of the Draft EIS.
    The BLM and Western, in coordination with the USFS and other 
federal, state, and local governments and agencies, considered all 
public scoping comments received, as well as TransWest's refinements to 
the Proposed Action, when they identified the Agency Preferred 
Alternative in the Draft EIS. The Agency Preferred Alternative was 
developed through a comparative evaluation of routing opportunities and 
constraints and the relative impacts among the various alternative 
segments.
    The Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice of 
Availability (NOA) for the Draft EIS/Draft RMP Amendments on June 28, 
2013 in the Federal Register (78 FR 38975), which began a 90-day public 
comment period. The BLM and Western published their NOA for the Draft 
EIS/Draft RMP Amendments on July 3, 2013 in the Federal Register (78 FR 
40163). To help facilitate the public review of and comment on the 
Draft EIS, the agencies held public meetings in July, August, and 
September 2013 in Baggs and Rawlins, Wyoming; Craig, Colorado; Cedar 
City, Delta, Duchesne, Fort Duchesne, Nephi, Price, St. George, and 
Vernal, Utah; and Henderson and Panaca, Nevada.
    On December 6, 2013, the USFS published an additional NOA in the 
Federal Register (78 FR 73524) to initiate an additional 30-day public 
comment period specific to the USFS decision whether to authorize the 
Project across USFS-managed lands. Similarly, the USFS will publish 
their own NOA to notify the public of their decision whether to 
authorize the Project.
    The agencies received over 1,800 comments, contained in 457 
submissions, during the Draft EIS public comment periods. All submitted

[[Page 91190]]

comments were addressed in the Final EIS.
    As a result of cooperating agency input and public comments, 
refinements were made to the Agency Preferred Alternative presented in 
the Final EIS. These refinements include:
     Reduction in the separation distance from existing 
transmission to reflect updated Western Electricity Coordinating 
Council guidance;
     Removal of or adjustment to portions of the proposed 
Project to address resource impacts or conflicts; and
     Reduction in the width of the study area and refinements 
to the transmission alignment to reflect preliminary engineering 
designed to reduce resource impacts and conflicts.
    In addition to these refinements, the agencies also developed a 
suite of hierarchical mitigation requirements for application on an on-
site, regional and compensatory basis, including landscape-level 
conservation and management actions to reduce resource impacts and 
achieve planning objectives across the area impacted by the Project. 
Project linear mileage lengths of the Agency Preferred Alternative by 
agency jurisdiction are found in the Final EIS, Chapter 2.0, Tables 2-
23 through 2-26 and also below. The Final EIS and proposed RMP 
Amendments were made available for a 30-day protest period and a 60-day 
Governors' Consistency Review on May 1, 2015. Six protest letters were 
received and considered. The Director determined that the BLM followed 
applicable laws, regulations and policies; therefore, all protests were 
denied or dismissed. The Governors of Wyoming and Utah provided 
Consistency Review letters, which the BLM reviewed and considered in 
developing the route alignment approved in the ROD (referred to as the 
Selected Alternative).
    The Selected Alternative approved by the BLM's ROD is a 728 mile, 
600-kilovolt direct current transmission system centered within a 250 
foot wide corridor, and includes access roads and ancillary permanent 
facilities. Approximately 275 miles (38 percent) of the Selected 
Alternative are located within designated federal utility corridors. It 
is also co-located with existing transmission lines for a distance of 
398 miles (55 percent of the total length).
    In Wyoming, the Selected Alternative crosses 58 miles of federal, 4 
miles of state, and 29 miles of private land. In Colorado, the Selected 
Alternative crosses 63 miles of Federal, 13 miles of State, and 15 
miles of private land. In Utah, the Selected Alternative crosses 210 
miles of Federal, 27 miles of State, and 153 miles of private land. In 
Nevada, the Selected Alternative crosses 137 miles of Federal, 14 miles 
of tribal, and 5 miles of private land. The Selected Alternative 
largely follows the Agency Preferred Alternative, in the Final EIS, 
except for two minor modifications.
    The Final EIS' analysis of the Project was organized into four 
geographic regions based on region-specific topographical or other 
resource constraints and issues (Southern Wyoming, Northwestern 
Colorado; Northwestern Colorado, Eastern Utah, and Central Utah; 
Central Utah, Southwestern Utah, and Southern Nevada; Southern Nevada-
Apex to the Marketplace Hub). The approximately 728-mile Selected 
Alternative is discussed below, by region.
    BLM Decision--ROW Grant: The ROD approves, subject to mitigation 
measures identified in the ROD, a ROW grant as outlined below by EIS 
Region:
     Region I: (Southern Wyoming, Northwestern Colorado). Final 
EIS Alternative I-B with the Tuttle Micro-siting Option 4 and the 
Bolten Ranch ground electrode system siting. The Selected Alternative 
transmission line route would extend approximately 157 miles from the 
vicinity of Sinclair, Carbon County, Wyoming to the vicinity of U.S. 
Highway 40 southwest of Maybell in western Moffat County, Colorado.
     Region II: (Northwestern Colorado, Eastern Utah, and 
Central Utah). Final EIS Alternative II-G. The Selected Alternative 
transmission line route would extend approximately 252 miles from 
Maybell Colorado, through eastern Utah, to the vicinity of the 
Intermountain Power Project (IPP) near Delta, Millard County, Utah.
     Region III: (Central Utah, Southwest Utah, and Southern 
Nevada). Final EIS Alternative III-D with the Halfway Wash-Virgin River 
ground electrode system siting. The Selected Alternative transmission 
line route would extend approximately 282 miles from the vicinity of 
the IPP, Millard County, Utah, to the vicinity of Apex on Interstate 
15, northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.
     Region IV: (Southern Nevada--Apex to the Marketplace Hub). 
Final EIS Alternative IV-A. The Selected Alternative transmission line 
route would extend approximately 37 miles from Apex on Interstate 15 to 
the Marketplace Hub in the Eldorado Valley, southeast of Las Vegas.
    In addition to approving the configuration identified above, the 
ROD also affirmatively recognizes two design options that provide minor 
variations to the approved route. The Applicant has the option of 
construction either one of these design options with prior notification 
and approval by the BLM.
    BLM Decision--Land Use Plan Amendments: The BLM planning 
regulations (43 CFR 1610) require authorized uses of public lands to 
conform to approved land use plans. To bring the Project into 
conformance, the ROD approves the following amendments to BLM RMPs in 
the Project area:
     Rawlins Field Office RMP (Wyoming): Amendment designates 
new utility corridor and expands an existing corridor to allow for 
overhead utilities and exceptions to other resource stipulations if 
avoidance measures or mitigation are not feasible.
     Little Snake Field Office RMP (Colorado): Amendment 
designates a new utility corridor to allow for overhead utilities and 
exceptions to other resource stipulations if avoidance measures or 
mitigation are not feasible.
     Vernal Field Office RMP (Utah): Amendment designates a new 
aboveground utility corridor. This corridor will allow for exceptions 
to other resource stipulations if avoidance measures or impact 
mitigation are not feasible.
     Pony Express RMP (Salt Lake Field Office, Utah): Amendment 
designates a new aboveground utility corridor to accommodate future 
high voltage transmission lines.
     Ely RMP (Caliente Field Office, Nevada): Amendment 
provides a one-time exception to accommodate one high-voltage 
transmission line through the ROW exclusion area adjacent to the 
existing utility corridor through the Mormon Mesa-Ely ACEC.
    All plan amendments comply with applicable Federal laws and 
regulations and apply only to Federal lands and mineral estates 
administered by the BLM.
    Approval of the ROW grant is subject to the terms and conditions 
laid out in the ROD and ROD appendices, and construction cannot begin 
until TransWest completes satisfies all terms and conditions identified 
in the ROD necessary to receive a written Notice to Proceed from the 
BLM (43 CFR 2805).
    Copies of the ROD are available for public inspection during normal 
business hours at the following locations.
     BLM, Wyoming State Office, Public Reading Room, 5353 
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009;
     BLM, Colorado State Office, Public Reading Room, 2850 
Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215-7093;

[[Page 91191]]

     BLM, Utah State Office, Public Reading Room, 440 West 200 
South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1345; and
     BLM, Nevada State Office, Public Reading Room, 1340 
Financial Blvd., Reno, Nevada 89502.
    The Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management, Department 
of the Interior, has approved the ROD. That approval constitutes the 
final decision of the Department and, in accordance with the 
regulations at 43 CFR 4.410, is not subject to appeal under 
Departmental regulations at 43 CFR part 4.
    Any challenge to these decisions must be brought in the Federal 
District Court and is subject to 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6.

Mary Jo Rugwell,
Wyoming State Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-30345 Filed 12-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-22-P