[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66431-66432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26211]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

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


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Ten West 
Link 500 Kilovolt Transmission Line Project and Land Use Plan 
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: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Ten West Link 500 Kilovolt 
Transmission Line Project and approved Resource Management Plan 
Amendments for the Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP) and 
the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan. The BLM Arizona 
and California State Directors signed the ROD on November 21, 2019. 
This constitutes the final decision of the BLM for the approved land 
use plan amendments and makes them effective immediately.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may review the ROD on the project website 
at: https://go.usa.gov/xU6Be. Copies of the ROD are available for 
public review upon request from the BLM Yuma Field Office, 7341 East 
30th Street, Suite A, Yuma, AZ 85365, the BLM Arizona State Office, One 
North Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004, and the BLM Palm 
Springs-South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, 
CA 92262.

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: DCR Transmission submitted a request for a 
right-of-way (ROW) across public land to construct, operate, maintain, 
and decommission a 500 kilovolt (kV) 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. Portions of the 
Proposed Action and/or Action Alternatives were not in conformance with 
the Yuma RMP and the CDCA Plan. Therefore, the BLM considered amending 
these plans in connection with its consideration of the DCR 
Transmission ROW application.
    The BLM analyzed impacts from the proposed ROW project and 
associated plan amendments in the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the proposed Ten West Link 500 Kilovolt Transmission Line 
Project and proposed Amendments to the Yuma Field Office RMP and the 
CDCA Plan released on September 13, 2019. Based on the environmental 
analysis and input from stakeholders, cooperating agencies, and tribes, 
the BLM has identified the

[[Page 66432]]

125-mile Agency Preferred Alternative described in the Final EIS as the 
Selected Alternative in the ROD. The Selected Alternative will allow 
authorization of a ROW grant to the Applicant to use public land 
administered by the BLM for the Project for 50 years.
    The Selected Alternative includes an amendment to the Yuma RMP to 
allow consideration of ROWs outside of designated BLM utility corridors 
based on project-specific analysis. The Selected Alternative also 
includes 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-identified sensitive plant species.
    Publication of the Notice of Availability of the Final EIS and 
Proposed Plan Amendments initiated a 30-day protest period for the plan 
amendments, which concluded on October 15, 2019. Simultaneously with 
the protest period, the Governors of Arizona and California conducted a 
60-day consistency review of the Final EIS and Proposed land use plan 
amendments to identify any inconsistencies with State or local plans, 
policies, or programs.
    During the 30-day protest period, the BLM Director received two 
protest letters. All protests were resolved prior to the issuance of 
the ROD. No comments regarding potential inconsistencies with State and 
local plans, programs, and policies were received from the Arizona or 
California Governor's Offices.
    An errata sheet has been prepared to make minor corrections and 
clarifications to information presented in the Final EIS. This is 
included as an attachment to the ROD.
    The decision to issue a ROW grant may be appealed to the Interior 
Board of Land Appeals (IBLA), Office of the Secretary, in accordance 
with regulations contained in 43 CFR, Part 4 and Form 1842-1. If an 
appeal is taken, your notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days 
from receipt of this decision. The appellant has the burden of showing 
the decision appealed is in error.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 
1610.5)

Raymond Suazo,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-26211 Filed 12-3-19; 8:45 am]
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