[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34180-34182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11102]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN; MO #4500170409]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and Resource Management Plan Amendments for the Greenlink 
West Project in Clark, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey, and 
Washoe Counties, 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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a draft environmental impact statement (Draft EIS)/resource 
management plan amendments (RMPA) for the Greenlink West Project and by 
this notice is providing information announcing the opening of the 
comment period on the Draft EIS/RMPA. The BLM Nevada State Office is 
the lead agency for purposes of the NEPA analysis with the U.S. 
National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and other 
agencies serving as cooperating agencies.

DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 90-day comment period for 
the Draft EIS/RMPA beginning with the date following the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability 
(NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on 
Fridays.
    To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the Draft 
EIS/RMPA, please ensure your comments are received prior to the close 
of the 90-day comment period or 15 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later.
    The BLM will be hosting both virtual and in-person public meetings 
during the 90-public comment period. The dates and locations of any 
public meetings will be announced at least 15 days in advance through 
local media, newspapers, and the BLM website at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017391/510.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Greenlink West 
Project Draft EIS/RMPA by any of the following methods:
     ePlanning Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017391/510.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: BLM Nevada State Office, Attn: Brian Buttazoni, 
Planning & Environmental Specialist, Branch of Renewable Energy, BLM 
Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nevada 89502.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Buttazoni, Planning & 
Environmental Specialist, telephone (775) 861-6491; address: 1340 
Financial Boulevard, Reno, NV 89502; email: 
[email protected]. Individuals in the United States who are 
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 22, 2020, Nevada Power Company and 
Sierra Pacific Power Company dba NV Energy (NV Energy or Proponent) 
filed an Application for Transportation, Utility Systems, 
Telecommunications, and Facilities on Federal Lands and Property 
(Standard Form 299) and a preliminary Plan of Development with the BLM 
Nevada State Office for a

[[Page 34181]]

FLPMA Right-of-Way and Short-Term Right-of-Way authorization for the 
Greenlink West Project (NVN-99863 and NVN-99863-01).
    The Draft EIS/RMPA analyzes the environmental impacts of the 
authorization of a 200-foot-wide right-of-way (ROW) by the BLM for the 
construction, operations, and decommissioning of the 525-kV line, a 
160-foot-wide ROW for the 345-kV lines, and a 600-foot short-term ROW 
for construction and staging to NV Energy for a 474-mile system of new 
525-kilovolt (kV), 345-kV, and 120-kV overhead electric transmission 
lines. The proposal also includes transmission and distribution lines, 
substations, microwave radio facilities, amplifier sites, access roads, 
and construction/material yards. The Draft EIS/RMPA analyzes the 
impacts of potential RMP amendments together with the impacts of the 
various alternative routes.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS for the Greenlink West Project 
published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2022 (87 FR 25658), 
providing notice to the public of potential amendments to RMPs, as 
required by 43 CFR 1610.2(c). The public scoping period closed on June 
1, 2022. The BLM held four public scoping meetings and received 
approximately 81 public scoping comment letters during the 30-day 
scoping period. The scoping comments focused on biological resources, 
alternatives development, visual resources, cultural resources, impacts 
to general and special-status wildlife species, including threatened 
and endangered species and their habitat, social and economic 
conditions, vegetation/riparian/noxious and invasive weeds/special 
status plant species, including threatened and endangered species and 
their habitat, water resources, wilderness, wilderness study areas, 
lands with wilderness characteristics, special designations, 
recreation, socioeconomic concerns, and Native American cultural/sacred 
sites. The BLM prepared a scoping report, which is available on the 
project's ePlanning website--https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017391/510.

Purpose and Need

    The BLM's purpose is to respond to the ROW application submitted by 
the Proponent to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 
system of transmission facilities and associated infrastructure that 
would transmit electricity between the Harry Allen Substation in Clark 
County and the Mira Loma and Comstock Meadows substations in Washoe 
County and Storey County, respectively.
    The need for this action is to fulfill the BLM's responsibility 
under FLPMA and its ROW regulations to manage the public lands for 
multiple uses, including the transmission of electric energy. FLPMA, as 
amended, established a multiple-use mandate for the BLM's management of 
federal lands, including ``systems for generation, transmission, and 
distribution of electric energy, except that the Proponent shall also 
comply with all applicable requirements of the FERC under the Federal 
Power Act, including Part I thereof (41 Stat. 1063, 16 U.S.C. 791a-
825r).'' (43 U.S.C. 1761(a)(4))
    The BIA's purpose, as a Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau 
with a NEPA compliance need, is to respond to the ROW application 
submitted by the Proponent to construct, operate, maintain, and 
decommission a transmission line over or across lands held in trust for 
the Las Vegas and Walker River Paiute Tribes, and the Timbisha Shoshone 
Tribe.
    The BIA's need for this action is to fulfill its responsibility 
under 25 CFR part 169 (Rights-of-Way over Indian Land) regulations to 
review and approve actions on Tribal trust lands. The BIA's purpose and 
need, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 415, is to deny, grant, or grant with 
modifications the ROW agreements between the Walker River and Las Vegas 
Paiute Tribes, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, and the Proponent. The final 
ROW grant would include any restrictions or conditions imposed in a 
consent document between the applicant and both the Las Vegas and 
Walker River Paiute Tribes, and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.
    The NPS's purpose, as a DOI bureau with a NEPA compliance need, is 
to respond to the ROW application submitted by the Proponent to operate 
and maintain a transmission line over or across NPS-administered lands 
designated to conserve and protect unique and nationally important 
paleontological resources.
    The need for this action is to fulfill the NPS responsibility under 
NPS ROW regulations to manage Tule Springs Fossil Beds National 
Monument in compliance with the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act 
(Pub. L. 113-291) enabling legislation and the NPS 2006 Management 
Policies. The NPS ROW permits are discretionary and revocable and do 
not convey an interest in land. All NPS ROW permit applications will be 
processed in accordance with the NPS ROW permitting guidance document, 
Reference Manual 53-B, and all other applicable regulations and policy. 
All new NPS ROW permits must be approved by the NPS Director or NPS 
Regional Director. Proposed uses of NPS-administered lands and waters 
may not be incompatible with the public interest or the NPS 
responsibilities under 54 U.S.C. 100101 (the 1916 Organic Act, expanded 
upon in 36 CFR 14). Under 54 U.S.C. 100902, the NPS has the authority 
to issue a ROW permit for utilities.

Proposed Action and Alternatives, Including the Preferred Alternative

    The BLM has analyzed the No Action Alternative, the Proposed Action 
as submitted by NV Energy, and the Preferred Alternative. In addition, 
the BLM has also analyzed several transmission route groups that it 
developed to address concerns by the public about impacts to cultural, 
biological, and socioeconomic resources. The BLM has identified a 
Preferred Alternative, which is a modification of the Proposed Action 
with the inclusion of transmission line, substation, and microwave 
alternatives. The BLM also considered 21 additional alternatives but 
dismissed these from detailed analysis as explained in Section 2.3 of 
the Draft EIS/RMPA.
    Under the No Action Alternative, the BLM would not authorize the 
ROW for the construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning 
of a system of transmission facilities and associated infrastructure. 
The agency purpose and need would not be met by the No Action 
Alternative.
    Under the Proposed Action and Preferred Alternative, the BLM, NPS 
and BIA would authorize ROWs for the construction, operation, 
maintenance, and decommissioning of a system of transmission facilities 
and associated infrastructure. Both alternatives would meet the agency 
purpose and need, however the Preferred Alternative would utilize 
certain different transmission line, substation, and microwave 
alternatives.
    The BLM determined that two plan amendments to the 1998 Las Vegas 
RMP warranted evaluation in the Proposed Action. The Greenlink West 
Project area includes Visual Resource Management (VRM) Classes II, III, 
and IV. The BLM has evaluated the re-classification of a part of the 
alignment from VRM Class II to Class IV. The Greenlink West Project 
area also crosses a West-Wide Energy Corridor (WWEC). Portions of that 
WWEC that are unoccupied by utility infrastructure would be re-aligned 
to match that of the Greenlink West Project transmission line.

[[Page 34182]]

Mitigation

    The BLM added an anti-perching/nesting mitigation measure to the 
Proposed Action to reduce the potential for raven predation on Bi-State 
sage-grouse and the Mohave desert tortoise through installation of 
tubular (no-lattice) transmission structures (e.g., tubular H-frame, 
three-pole dead end, or monopole structures). Perch and nest deterrent 
devices would also be installed on all transmission and distribution 
structures within Mojave desert tortoise recovery units and within two 
miles of Bi-State sage-grouse Priority Areas for Conservation.

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations

    If approved, the BLM, NPS, and BIA would issue a ROWs for their 
jurisdiction. The term of the ROWs would be for 30-years.

Consultation Efforts

    The BLM is utilizing the NEPA substitution process to comply with 
the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act (NHPA), 54 U.S.C. 306108, consistent with 36 CFR 800.8(c). The BLM, 
as lead federal agency, has incorporated information and the steps of 
the Section 106 process into the Draft EIS, and publication of the 
Draft EIS will allow the consulting parties and the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on the process as provided in 36 CFR 
800.8(c)(2).
    The BLM will continue to consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a 
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 
13175, BLM MS 1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, 
including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to 
cultural resources, will be given due consideration. Additional 
government-to-government meetings are planned, and coordination will 
continue through project implementation.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    Consistent with the NEPA and BLM's land use planning regulations, 
the BLM will include a 30-day public protest period and a concurrent 
60-day Governor's consistency review when the BLM publishes the Final 
EIS/Proposed RMPA. The Final EIS/Proposed RMPA is anticipated to be 
available in winter 2024 with an approved RMPA and Record of Decision 
in spring 2024.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--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)

Jon K. Raby,
Nevada State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-11102 Filed 5-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-21-P