[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 111 (Friday, June 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48681-48682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12460]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_ID_FRN_MO4500177431]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project in Jerome, Lincoln, 
and Minidoka Counties, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In compliance 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) 
announces the availability of the final environmental impact statement 
(EIS) for the Lava Ridge Wind Project.

DATES: The BLM will not issue a decision on the proposal for a minimum 
of 30 days after the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The final EIS and documents pertinent to this proposal are 
available for review on the BLM ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2013782/510 and in hardcopy at 
the BLM Shoshone Field Office, 400 West F Street, Shoshone, ID 83352.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kasey Prestwich, Project Manager, 
telephone 208-732-7204; address BLM Shoshone Field Office, 400 West F 
Street, Shoshone, ID 83352; 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 for contacting Mr. Prestwich. 
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:

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    Magic Valley Energy, LLC (MVE) has applied for a right-of-way (ROW) 
to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission the Lava Ridge Wind 
Project (the project), a wind energy facility and ancillary facilities 
primarily on BLM-administered public lands in Jerome, Lincoln, and 
Minidoka Counties, Idaho. The BLM's purpose is to respond to the ROW 
application submitted by MVE in compliance with FLPMA, BLM regulations, 
and other applicable Federal laws and policies. The need for the BLM's 
Proposed Action arises from FLPMA, which establishes a multiple use 
mandate for management of Federal lands, including ``systems for 
generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy'' (FLPMA 
title V). The BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with 
modifications, or deny MVE's ROW application.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    Under Alternative A, the BLM would deny MVE's application for 
construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the 
project. The project facilities would not be built, and existing land 
uses and present activities in the area would continue. The land would 
continue to be available for other uses that are consistent with the 
BLM's Monument Resource Management Plan (1986) and its amendments, 
including the 2015 Idaho and Southern Montana Greater Sage-Grouse 
Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment. Federal and regional 
renewable energy goals would have to be met using other alternative 
energy projects at other locations.
    Under Alternative B (Applicant Proposed Action), the BLM would 
authorize the wind energy facility as proposed by MVE, subject to 
certain terms and conditions. Alternative B could have up to 400 3-
megawatt (MW) turbines or up to 349 6-MW turbines, or a combination of 
3-MW and 6-MW turbines not to exceed 400. The maximum height of the 
turbines would be between 390 and 740 feet, depending on their MW 
capacity. Siting corridors would span 84,051 acres, with the project 
area footprint within these corridors totaling 9,114 acres.
    Alternative C (Reduced Western Corridors) would reduce the 
project's footprint by authorizing project development except within 
specific corridors. Siting corridors in Alternative C would span 65,215 
acres. Project activity would disturb 6,953 acres. The intent of this 
alternative is to avoid and minimize potential impacts to Wilson Butte 
Cave and Minidoka National Historic Site (NHS). Alternative C would 
also aim to encourage development in areas that have already been 
impacted by energy infrastructure and reduce the extent of wildlife 
habitat fragmentation.
    Like Alternative C, Alternative D (Centralized Corridors) would 
reduce the project's footprint by authorizing

[[Page 48682]]

project development except within specific siting corridors. Siting 
corridors in Alternative D would span 48,597 acres. Project activity 
would disturb 4,838 acres. Similar to Alternative C, Alternative D 
would focus on minimizing fragmentation of wildlife habitat and 
potential impacts to Wilson Butte Cave and Minidoka NHS. Alternative D 
would avoid development in areas that have higher sagebrush cover and 
protect functional Greater sage-grouse habitat. The reduced footprint 
would also avoid or minimize impacts to other resources and areas of 
concern.
    Alternative E (Reduced Southern Corridors) would avoid and minimize 
potential impacts to Minidoka NHS. Alternative E builds from 
Alternative C but would further avoid and minimize potential impacts to 
Minidoka NHS by removing additional siting corridors from development. 
Siting corridors in Alternative E would span 50,680 acres. Project 
activity would disturb 5,136 acres.
    The BLM has identified a Preferred Alternative based on a 
combination of elements of Alternatives B through E. The Preferred 
Alternative responds to resource impact concerns raised by Tribes, 
cooperating agencies, and the public through the public comments 
received on the draft EIS. The Preferred Alternative would reduce 
visual impacts to Minidoka NHS, reduce disturbance to big game 
migration routes and winter concentration areas, reduce impacts to 
Jerome County Airport and agricultural aviation uses, and reduce 
impacts to adjacent private landowners. The combination of Alternatives 
B-E for development of the Preferred Alternative included adjusting the 
siting corridor and infrastructure to avoid or minimize impacts while 
balancing development of the wind resource. The BLM considered results 
of the analysis of potential impacts prepared for the draft EIS; 
feedback from Tribes, agencies, and various interested parties; input 
from the BLM Idaho Resource Advisory Council's Lava Ridge Wind Project 
Subcommittee; new wildlife datasets provided by the Idaho Department of 
Fish and Game; and publicly available wind-speed information for the 
project area to develop the Preferred Alternative. Siting corridors in 
the Preferred Alternative would span 44,768 acres. Project activity 
would disturb 4,492 acres.

Compliance With NEPA, as Amended by the Fiscal Responsibility Act

    In response to the amendments to NEPA under the Fiscal 
Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), Pub. L. 118-5, section 321(e)(1)(B), 
42 U.S.C. 4336a(e), the BLM revised the organization of the final EIS 
so that it is under the FRA's 300-page limit for a proposed agency 
action of ``extraordinary complexity.'' The BLM moved the evaluation of 
certain environmental impacts that it determined not to be significant 
to an appendix.

Public Input

    The BLM continues to engage in government-to-government 
consultation with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Shoshone-Paiute 
Tribes on the project. These Native American Tribes have expressed 
concerns focused on potential impacts to Wilson Butte Cave, wildlife, 
and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Treaty rights. The BLM published a 
Notice of Availability for the draft EIS for the project in the Federal 
Register on January 20, 2023 (88 FR 3759). The notice began a 60-day 
public comment period, which was extended to 90 days ending on April 
20, 2023. The BLM held public meetings on the draft EIS in February and 
March 2023. Meetings were held virtually and in person in Shoshone and 
Twin Falls, Idaho; Portland, Oregon; and Mercer Island, Washington. The 
BLM received a total of 11,179 submissions via mail, fax, email, 
ePlanning online comment form, and handwritten and verbal comments 
given to a transcriptionist at public meetings. The BLM considered 
comments within each submission and determined if comments were 
substantive or non-substantive. The BLM identified and categorized 
3,303 individual substantive comments from the various submissions. 
Comments on the draft EIS received from the public and internal BLM 
review were considered and incorporated, as appropriate, into the final 
EIS. The final EIS includes all substantive comments with a BLM 
response.
    The BLM conducted additional meetings in April and May 2024, with 
the Idaho Governor's Office; numerous Idaho state agencies; Friends of 
Minidoka; Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee; Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes; county commissioners from Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka 
counties; grazing permittees; other Federal agencies; and others, 
consistent with Section 441, Division E, of Public Law 118-42, the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024.
    Public comments informed clarifying text, developing the Preferred 
Alternative, developing new issue statements, identifying project-
specific interim Visual Resource Management classes, and refining a 
mitigation framework.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)

Michael Courtney,
BLM Twin Falls District Manager.
[FR Doc. 2024-12460 Filed 6-6-24; 8:45 am]
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