[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 248 (Friday, December 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71455-71457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27904]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVS01000.L51010000.ER0000.LVRWF1906190.19X; N-84631; MO#4500141706]


Notice of Availability for the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Gemini Solar 
Project in Clark County, NV

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), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of

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Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office has prepared a Proposed 
Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Gemini Solar Project and by this notice is 
announcing the opening of the protest period.

DATES: This notice initiates the protest period for proposed plan 
amendment. In accordance with CFR 1610.5-2 protests may be submitted in 
writing until January 27, 2020. Any person who participated in the 
planning process and has an interest which is or may be adversely 
affected by the approval or amendment of a RMP may protest such 
approval or amendment. A protest may raise only those issues which were 
submitted for the record during the planning process. The protest shall 
be in writing and shall be filed with the Director. The protest shall 
contain: (i) The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest 
of the person filing the protest; (ii) A statement of the issue or 
issues being protested; (iii) A statement of the part or parts of the 
plan or amendment being protested; (iv) A copy of all documents 
addressing the issue or issues that were submitted during the planning 
process by the protesting party, or an indication of the date the issue 
or issues were discussed for the record; and (v) A concise statement 
explaining why the State Director's decision is believed to be wrong. 
The BLM will issue a Record of Decision approximately 90 days after the 
protest period opens which will be announced in a Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: All protests must be in writing and mailed to one of the 
following addresses:

Regular Mail: Director (210), Attn: Protest Coordinator, P.O. Box 
71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383
Overnight Delivery: Director (210), Attn: Protest Coordinator, 20 M 
Street SE, Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003
    Electronic protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless 
the protesting party also provides the original letter by either 
regular mail or overnight delivery postmarked by the close of the 
protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the 
electronic protest as an advance copy and will afford it full 
consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance 
notification, you can submit your protest through the project's 
ePlanning page at https://go.usa.gov/xntTQ.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Pay, Acting Energy & 
Infrastructure Project Manager, telephone 702-515-5284; address 4701 
North Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130-2301; 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 the above individual during normal business 
hours. The FRS 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: The applicant, Solar Partners XI, LLC 
(Arevia) has proposed to construct, operate, maintain and decommission 
a 690 megawatt photovoltaic solar electric generating facility and 
associated generation tie-line and access road facilities on 
approximately 7,100 acres of federal lands administered by the BLM. The 
proposed solar facility would be located approximately 33 miles 
northeast of Las Vegas and directly south of the Moapa River Indian 
Reservation in Clark County, Nevada. The expected life of the project 
is 30 years.
    The Final EIS analyzed the direct, indirect and cumulative 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives. The 
Final EIS analyzed the Proposed Action, the Hybrid (BLM Preferred), All 
Mowing and the No Action Alternatives. All of the alternatives involve 
development on approximately 7,100 acres of land; however, each action/
alternative differs in how the facility is constructed. The Proposed 
Action would involve solar development utilizing traditional 
development methods, which include disk and roll that removes all 
vegetation in the solar array areas. The Hybrid (BLM Preferred) 
Alternative would involve solar development utilizing a combination of 
traditional development methods in solar array areas (on approximately 
2,500 acres) and mowing that leaves vegetation and natural land 
contours in place on the remaining solar array areas (on approximately 
4,600 acres). The All Mowing Alternative would involve development of 
the facility utilizing only mowing in solar array areas. Where mowing 
is utilized in each alternative, desert tortoise would be reintroduced 
into the solar array areas after completion of construction, since 
habitat would remain. The No Action Alternative would be a continuation 
of existing conditions.
    A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the proposed Gemini 
Solar Project was published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2018 
(83 FR 32681). The public scoping period closed August 27, 2018. The 
BLM held two public scoping meetings. The BLM received 34 public 
scoping comment letters during the 45-day scoping period. The scoping 
comments focused on biological resources (desert tortoise and 
threecorner milkvetch); visual resources; recreation and public access; 
and impacts to the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.
    A Notice of Availability (NOA) to prepare RMP Amendment and Draft 
EIS for the proposed Gemini Solar Project was published in the Federal 
Register on June 7, 2019 (84 FR 26701) The BLM held two public 
meetings. The public comment period closed September 5, 2019. The BLM 
received 114 substantive letters containing 1,147 individual 
substantive comments during the 90-day public comment period. The 
comments focused on range of alternatives; Mojave Desert Tortoise; 
bighorn sheep and migratory birds; threecorner milkvetch, other 
sensitive plants and native vegetation communities; Old Spanish 
National Historic Trail; change to Visual Resource Management Class; 
impacts to recreation; drainage impacts and hydrologic changes, 
erosion, and dust; and tribal concern. Comments on the Draft RMP 
Amendment and EIS were considered and incorporated as appropriate into 
the Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS. Public comments did not 
result in the addition of substantive revisions to the Draft RMP 
Amendment and EIS that were published in June of 2019. Responses to all 
comments are located in Appendix L of the Final EIS.
    The BLM has utilized and coordinated the NEPA scoping and comment 
process to help fulfill the public involvement requirements under the 
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 306108) as 
provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3.) The information about historic and 
cultural resources within the area potentially affected by the proposed 
project has assisted the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to 
such resources in the context of both NEPA and the NHPA.
    The BLM has consulted and will continue to consult with Indian 
tribes on a government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive 
Order 13175 and other policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts to 
Indian trust assets and potential impacts to cultural resources have 
been analyzed in the Final EIS.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your protest, be advised that 
your entire protest--including your personal

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identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you can ask us in your protest to withhold from public review 
your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will 
be able to do so.
    The BLM Director will make every attempt to promptly render a 
decision on each protest. The decision will be in writing and will be 
sent to the protesting party by certified mail, return receipt 
requested. The decision of the BLM Director shall be the final decision 
of the Department of the Interior on each protest. Responses to protest 
issues will be compiled and formalized in a Director's Protest 
Resolution Report made available following issuance of the decisions.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Jon K. Raby,
Nevada State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-27904 Filed 12-26-19; 8:45 am]
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