[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 70 (Friday, April 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20297-20298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07533]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNMA00000 L51010000.ER0000 LVRWG19G1360 19XL5017AP; NMNM 136976]
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment for the Borderlands Wind
Project in Catron County, New Mexico
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the 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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
Borderlands Wind Project (Project) and proposed Socorro Field Office
Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for the BLM Socorro Field
Office, and by this Notice is announcing its availability.
DATES: This Notice initiates the 30-day protest period for a proposed
plan amendment. Protests may be submitted in writing until May 11,
2020.
ADDRESSES: All protests must be submitted in writing and mailed to one
of the following addresses:
Mail: Director (210), Attn: Protest Coordinator, P.O. Box 261117,
Lakewood, CO 80226; or Overnight Delivery: Director (210), Attn:
Protest Coordinator, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO 80215.
You may submit protests electronically through the BLM ePlanning
project website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=116245&dctmId=0b0003e88126486a and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Protests
submitted electronically by any means other than the ePlanning project
website protest section will be invalid unless a protest is also
submitted in hard copy. Protests submitted by fax will also be invalid
unless also submitted either through ePlanning project website protest
section or in hard copy. The Final EIS is available on line on the
ePlanning website at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=116245&dctmId=0b0003e88126486a. Hard copies are available for viewing
at the BLM Socorro field office and the BLM New Mexico State Office in
Santa Fe.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Virginia Alguire, BLM Socorro Field
Office, 901 S Hwy 85, Socorro, New Mexico 87801; phone 575-838-1290, or
email to [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device
for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FRS)
at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Alguire 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: Pursuant to BLM's planning regulations at 43
CFR 1610.5-2, any person who participated in the planning process for
this Proposed RMP and Integrated RMP and has an interest which is or
may be adversely affected by the planning decisions may protest
approval of the planning decisions contained therein.
The regulations specify the required elements of your protest. Take
care to document all relevant facts. As much as possible, reference or
cite the planning documents or available planning records (e.g. meeting
minutes or summaries, correspondence, etc.).
Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM
regarding the Final EIS/RMPA may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing
and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES
section.
Borderlands Wind, LLC, submitted an application to the BLM
requesting authorization to construct, operate, maintain, and terminate
an up-to-100 megawatt commercial wind energy generation facility, the
Borderlands Wind Project (NMNM136976), in Catron County, New Mexico,
within a boundary that encompasses land managed by the BLM, the New
Mexico State Land Office, and private landowners. The project would be
located south of U.S. Route 60 in Catron County near Quemado, New
Mexico, and the Arizona-New Mexico border. Authorization of this
proposal requires amendments to the 2010 Socorro Field Office RMP to
modify the visual resource management class in the project area and to
modify a right-of-way avoidance area.
The Final EIS analyzed the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of the Proposed Action, Alternative 1 (optimize
the proposed wind facility components in order to minimize potential
environmental impacts), Alternative 2 (change in the turbine generation
types), and the No Action Alternative. Alternatives 1 and 2 would be
constructed, operated, and maintained with the same project area. The
Proposed Action and Alternative 1 would construct 40 turbines. However,
because of the difference in the types of turbines, Alternative 2, the
BLM Preferred Alternative, would only construct 34 turbines instead of
40 turbines within the same area as Alternative 1. The No Action
Alternative would be a continuation of existing conditions.
A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed Borderlands
Wind Project was published in the Federal Register on November 9, 2018
(83 FR 56097). The public scoping period closed on December 10, 2018.
The BLM held one public scoping meeting on November 14, 2018. The BLM
received 51 public scoping comment submission during the 45-day scoping
period. The
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scoping comments focused on wildlife; visual and cultural resources;
light pollution, human health, local economic benefits; and property
values.
A Notice of Availability to publish the Draft EIS and RMP Amendment
for the proposed Borderlands Wind Project was published in the Federal
Register on August 9, 2019 (84 FR 39366). The BLM held one public
comment meeting. The public comment period closed November 7, 2019. The
BLM received 39 letters/comment forms/emails and 247 individual
comments during the 90-day public comment period. The comments focused
on effects to sensitive wildlife species specifically avian and bats,
change to visual resource management class as a result of the impacts
to visual resources and change to the existing rural landscape
character; groundwater level changes during construction, lack of
benefit to the local area, and decreased property value concerns.
Comments on the Draft EIS and RMP Amendment were considered and
incorporated as appropriate into the Final EIS and Proposed RMP
Amendment. Public comments did not result in the addition of
substantive revisions to the Draft EIS and RMP Amendment that were
published in August 2019. Responses to all comments are in Appendix H
of the Final EIS.
The BLM has used 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 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.
Timothy R. Spisak,
BLM New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-07533 Filed 4-9-20; 8:45 am]
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