[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48372-48373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19871]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[lsqb]LLAZ920000.19X.L51010000.ER0000.LVRWA19A3240[rsqb]


Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt Transmission Line Project 
and Proposed Amendments to the Yuma Field Office Resource Management 
Plan and the California Desert Conservation Area Plan; Maricopa and La 
Paz Counties, Arizona, and Riverside County, California

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 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
proposed Ten West Link 500-Kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project and 
Amendments to the Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP) and 
the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan and by this notice 
is announcing its availability.

DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the 
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's 
Proposed Plan Amendments. A person who meets the conditions and wishes 
to file a protest must do so within 30 days of the date that the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments are available on 
the BLM ePlanning project website at https://go.usa.gov/xU6Be. Hard 
copies of the Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments are available for 
public inspection at the BLM Arizona State Office, One North Central 
Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004, the BLM Yuma Field Office, 7341 
East 30th Street, Suite A, Yuma, AZ 85365, and the BLM Palm Springs-
South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 
92262. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed Plan Amendments may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.6-2.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lane Cowger, Project Manager, 
telephone: 602-417-9612; address: BLM, Arizona State Office, One North 
Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004; email: 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Cowger. The FRS is available 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with Mr. Cowger. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the Final EIS for the 
proposed Ten West Link 500-kV Transmission Line Project and proposed 
amendments to the Yuma Field Office RMP and the CDCA Plan to respond to 
DCR Transmission's request for a right-of-way (ROW) across public land 
to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 500kV transmission 
line between the Arizona Public Service Delaney Substation near Tonopah 
in Maricopa County, Arizona, and the Southern California Edison 
Colorado River Substation near Blythe in Riverside County, California. 
The BLM's purpose and need for the action is to respond to an 
application for a ROW and decide whether to approve, approve with 
modifications, or deny the ROW.
    Portions of the Proposed Action and/or Action Alternatives would 
not be in conformance with the Yuma RMP and the CDCA Plan. Therefore, 
the BLM considered amending these plans in connection with its 
consideration of DCR Transmission's ROW application.
    The Agency Preferred Alternative identified in the FEIS is 125.0 
miles long. This alternative is predominantly within BLM-designated 
utility corridors or adjacent to existing infrastructure and draws on 
the environmental analysis and stakeholder input to avoid sensitive 
environmental resources and important recreational uses on public 
lands. The Agency Preferred Alternative avoids the Kofa National 
Wildlife Refuge and Tribal lands. It minimizes impacts to local 
communities and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground, and provides 
interconnections for future energy development projects. The Agency 
Preferred Alternative includes an amendment to the Yuma RMP to allow 
ROWs outside of designated BLM utility corridors based on project-
specific analysis. The Agency Preferred Alternative would also require 
an amendment to the CDCA Plan to allow construction of the Ten West 
Link project within 0.25-mile of occurrences of Harwood's eriastrum, a 
BLM special status plant species.
    Issues identified as part of the NEPA and planning process and 
addressed in the Final EIS/Proposed Plan Amendments includes soil, 
biological, visual, and cultural resources, Tribal concerns, land use, 
recreation, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. Comments 
received from the public and internal BLM review, on the Draft EIS and 
Plan Amendments were considered and incorporated as appropriate into 
the Final EIS and Proposed Plan Amendments. Changes to the Final EIS 
include incorporation of more detailed project design and engineering 
information and clarification of the proposed Yuma and Lake Havasu 
Field Office RMP Amendments considered by the BLM for each alternative, 
including the Agency Preferred Alternative.
    The Final EIS analyzes in detail the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative impacts for a range of alternatives including the No Action, 
Proposed Action, Interstate 10, BLM Utility Corridor, Avoidance, and 
Public Lands Emphasis alternatives and includes the proposed RMP and 
Plan amendments described for the

[[Page 48373]]

Preferred Alternative, as well as amendments to the Yuma and Lake 
Havasu Field Office RMPs for visual resource management classes for 
some alternative route segments.
    DCR Transmission has filed an application for a Certificate of 
Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the California Public 
Utilities Commission (CPUC) to site the transmission infrastructure in 
California. The CPUC approval or denial of the CPCN application is a 
discretionary decision. Under California law, the CPUC would be 
required to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 
before issuing the CPCN. The CPUC is currently a cooperating agency in 
the BLM's NEPA analysis. Pursuant to the Public Resources Code 21083.5 
and the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, 
Division 6, Chapter 3) Section 15221, the CPUC may rely upon this EIS 
in lieu of all or any part of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). 
Furthermore, this Notice of Availability serves as the notice that the 
CPUC will consider the EIS in its decision-making process relevant to 
issuance of the CPCN (CEQA Guidelines, Section 15225).
    All protests must be in writing and submitted as set forth in the 
DATES and ADDRESSES sections above. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your protest, please be aware that your entire protest, including 
your personal identifying information, may be made publicly 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, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 
1610.5.

Raymond Suazo,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-19871 Filed 9-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P