[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 116 (Friday, June 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50629-50630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12960]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN; MO# 4500178196]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendments and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Greenlink 
West Project in Clark, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey, and 
Washoe Counties, Nevada

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) has 
prepared Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments (RMPA) and a 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Greenlink West 
Project in Clark, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey, and Washoe 
Counties, Nevada and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day 
protest period of the Proposed RMPAs.

DATES: This notice announces the beginning of a 30-day protest period 
to the BLM on the Proposed RMPA. Protests must be postmarked or 
electronically submitted on the BLM project website within 30 days of 
the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its 
Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA usually 
publishes its NOAs on Fridays.

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS/RMPA is available on the BLM project website 
at :https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017391/510.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Greenlink 
West Project can be found at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 
1610.5-2.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Buttazoni, Project Manager, 
telephone (775) 861-6491; address 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, NV 
89502; email [email protected]. Contact us at this email 
address to have your name added to our mailing list. 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 September 22, 2020, Nevada Power Company 
and Sierra Pacific Power Company dba NV Energy (NV Energy) filed an 
Application for Transportation, Utility Systems, Telecommunications, 
and Facilities on Federal Lands and Property (Standard Form 299) and a 
preliminary Plan of Development (POD) with the BLM Nevada State Office 
for a FLPMA right-of-way (ROW) and short-term right-of-way for the 
Greenlink West Project (NVN-99863 and NVN-99863-01).
    The Draft EIS/RMPA, published on May 23, 2023, initiated a 90-day 
comment period. In response to the amendments to NEPA under the Fiscal 
Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), sec. 321(e)(1)(B), Public Law 118-5, 
42 U.S.C. 4336a(e), the BLM revised the organization of the final EIS 
to comply with the FRA's 300-page limit for a proposed agency action of 
``extraordinary complexity.'' The Final EIS/Proposed RMPA analyzes the 
environmental impacts of the BLM's authorization of a 200-foot-wide ROW 
for the construction, operations, and decommissioning of the 525-
kilovolt (kV) line, 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-kV, 345-kV, and 120-kV overhead electric 
transmission lines. Other components of the project include 
substations, microwave radio facilities, amplifier sites, access roads, 
and construction and material yards.
    The proposed transmission facilities would include approximately 
13,767 acres of land of which 10,158 acres are located on public lands 
administered by the BLM in the Carson City, Battle Mountain, and 
Southern Nevada District Offices. The remaining lands in the project 
area are managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (575 acres), Clark 
County (51 acres), Department of Defense (135 acres), Department of 
Energy (24 acres), National Park Service (20 acres), Nevada Division of 
State Lands (112 acres), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (10 acres), and 
private landowners (2,631 acres). The 525-kV facilities would begin 10 
miles north of Yerington in Lyon County, traverse 360 miles through 
portions of Lyon, Mineral, Esmeralda, Nye, and Clark counties, and 
terminate at the Harry Allen Substation 10 miles north of North Las 
Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. Three 345-kV facilities would begin 10 
miles north of Yerington in Lyon County and traverse through portions 
of Lyon, Storey, and Washoe counties. Two of the 345-kV lines would 
terminate 12 miles northwest of Silver Springs in Lyon County, and the 
third would terminate 7 miles southeast of Reno in Washoe County. The 
four expanded substations (Comstock Meadows, Mira Loma, Fort Churchill, 
and Harry Allen) and the two new substations (Esmeralda and Amargosa) 
would include fiber optic cable and microwave antennae towers for 
control and operation of the transmission system.
    Any portions of the Greenlink West Project selected that would 
cross non-BLM administered lands would require authorizations or 
permits from the National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Clark 
County, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Park 
Service, Nevada Division of State Lands, and private landowners. The 
Final EIS/Proposed RMPA addresses the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of the BLM preferred alternative. The Final EIS/
Proposed RMPA evaluated the alternatives in consultation with other 
Federal and State agencies, Tribes, private land holders, and 
cooperating agencies, and includes a BLM Preferred Alternative. 
Authorization of this project would require amendments to the 
applicable RMPs in effect for the Carson City District Office, Tonopah 
Field Office, and Southern Nevada District Office to modify the 
location of the existing Section 368 corridors (West Wide Energy 
Corridors) and to reclassify Visual Resource Management classes for 
portions of the project area.
    The BLM has analyzed a combination of environmental measures and 
possible mitigation to eliminate or minimize impacts associated with 
the proposed action. These include the potential for identifying 
opportunities to apply on-site mitigation strategies appropriate to the 
sites of the action, and management actions to achieve resource 
objectives. Additionally, the BLM is using the NEPA process and the 
Final EIS/Proposed RMPA to comply with the requirements of Section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act, 54 U.S.C. 306108, consistent 
with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations 
implementing Section 106 (36 CFR 800.8(c)). The BLM continues 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 cultural resources and sacred sites, 
were given due consideration.

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Protest of the Proposed RMPA

    BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated in 
the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be 
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMPA may protest its 
approval to the BLM. Protest of the Proposed RMPA constitutes the final 
opportunity for administrative review of the land use planning 
decisions prior to the BLM adopting the Approved RMPA. Instructions for 
filing a protest with the BLM regarding the RMPA may be found online 
(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 or submitted 
electronically through the BLM project website (https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017391/510). Protests submitted 
electronically by any means other than the BLM project website or by 
fax will be invalid unless a hard copy of the protest is also 
submitted. The BLM will render a written decision on each protest. The 
decision of the BLM on the protest shall be the final decision of the 
Department of the Interior. Responses to valid protest issues will be 
compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report made available 
following the protest resolution online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. Upon resolution of protests, the BLM will issue a Record of 
Decision and Approved RMPA.

Jon K. Raby,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-12960 Filed 6-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-21-P