[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22511-22513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09497]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[PO #4820000251; Order #02412-014-004-047181.0]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
Amendments and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed
Greenlink North Transmission Project in White Pine, Eureka, Lander,
Churchill, and Lyon Counties, Nevada
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the 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) and
the United States Department of Agriculture-Forest Service (Forest
Service) have prepared a proposed resource management plan (RMP)
amendment and final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the
Greenlink North Transmission Project.
DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the
proposed RMP amendment beginning with the date following the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its notice of
availability (NOA) of the proposed RMP amendment/final EIS in the
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
Protests must be postmarked or electronically submitted on the BLM's
ePlanning site during the 30-day protest period. The Forest Service
will publish a legal notice in the newspaper of record to initiate the
45-day objection period, anticipated to occur on the same day.
ADDRESSES: The proposed RMP amendment/final EIS and associated
documents are available on the BLM ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2017033/510. Documents
pertinent to this proposal may also be examined at the BLM Nevada State
Office, 1340 Financial Way, Reno, Nevada 89502; Forest Service,
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
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Supervisor's Office, 1200 Franklin Way, Sparks, Nevada 89431; and
Forest Service, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Austin Ranger
District, 100 Midas Road, Austin, Nevada 89810.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Greenlink
North Transmission 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. Instructions for submitting an objection with
the Forest Service can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/htnf/?project=64198.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Buttazoni, Project Manager,
telephone (775) 861-6491; address 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno,
Nevada 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 for contacting Mr. Buttazoni.
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: This notice announces the start of a 30-day
BLM protest period of the proposed RMP amendment and the start of a 45-
day Forest Service, pre-decisional administrative review process, also
known as an objection process, upon a legal notice being published in
the Reno-Gazette Journal, the newspaper of record for the Humboldt-
Toiyabe National Forest (36 CFR part 218, subparts A and B).
This document provides notice that the BLM Nevada State Director
has prepared a proposed RMP amendment/final EIS for the Greenlink North
Transmission Line Project. The RMP amendment would amend the existing
2001 Consolidated Resource Management Plan in Carson City District,
1986 Shoshone-Eureka Resource Management Plan/Record of Decision in
Battle Mountain District, and 2008 Record of Decision/Resource
Management Plan in Ely District. The proposed RMP amendment is being
considered to allow the BLM to evaluate the establishment of a 198-
mile-long utility corridor that is up to 3,500-feet wide within greater
sage-grouse habitat management areas and in proximity to lek buffers on
BLM-administered lands. The originally proposed utility corridor width
(3 miles) and length (235 miles) was reduced after scoping to be
consistent with other national utility corridor widths, and to clarify
the corridor would apply to BLM-administered lands only.
The planning area is in White Pine, Eureka, Lander, Churchill, and
Lyon counties, Nevada and encompasses approximately 83,400 acres of
BLM-administered lands.
A NOA for the draft EIS/proposed RMP amendment was published in the
Federal Register on September 10, 2024 (89 FR 73429), providing the
public with a 90-day comment period. The public comment period closed
on December 11, 2024. The BLM received 28 public comment emails and
letters containing a total of 355 substantive comments. The public
comments focused on: biological resources; alternatives development;
visual resources; cultural resources; impacts to general and special-
status wildlife species and their habitats; social and economic
conditions; vegetation/riparian/noxious and invasive weeds/special
status plant species; water resources; recreation; socioeconomic
concerns; and Native American cultural/sacred sites.
Purpose and Need
The BLM's purpose and need for this Federal action is to respond to
the right-of-way (ROW) application submitted by NV Energy under Title V
of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761) on July 20, 2020 to construct, operate,
maintain, and decommission a proposed system of new 525-kV, 345-kV,
230-kV, and 120-kV electric transmission facilities on BLM-administered
lands in White Pine, Eureka, Lander, Churchill, and Lyon counties, in
compliance with FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, NEPA, the BLM NEPA Handbook
(BLM 2008), Department of the Interior NEPA regulations, and other
applicable Federal laws and policies. In accordance with FLPMA, the BLM
is authorized to grant ROWs on public lands for systems of generation,
transmission, and distribution of electrical energy (43 U.S.C.
1761(a)(4)). If approved, the ROW for the proposed project would
implement support the direction in Executive Orders 14154, Unleashing
American Energy, and 14156, Declaring a National Energy Emergency, and
Secretary's Orders 3417, Addressing the National Energy Emergency, and
3418, Unleashing American Energy.
The Greenlink North Transmission Project as proposed would not
conform to the RMPs in the BLM Carson City, Battle Mountain, and Ely
District Offices as required by 43 CFR 1610.5-3(a). The BLM would need
to amend these RMPs to bring the Greenlink North Transmission Project
into conformance. In particular, the Proponent's proposed transmission
line does not conform to the management objectives of the planning area
for transmission lines greater than 100-kV. The purpose of the RMP
amendment is to ensure that development of the Greenlink North
Transmission Project conforms to the RMPs' provisions, as provided for
in 43 CFR 1610.5-3(c), by providing for the designation of a utility
corridor and modifying restrictions in greater sage-grouse habitat
management areas and in proximity to leks.
The Forest Service, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest also received
an application from NV Energy for an approximately 10-mile segment of
the project. The Forest Service's purpose and need is to respond to NV
Energy's application for a Special Use Permit to construct, operate,
maintain, and decommission the proposed 500-kV transmission line on
National Forest System land in Lander County in compliance with FLPMA,
the National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1601-1614), and the
Toiyabe National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest
Service 1986, as amended), which provides standards and guidelines for
managing the National Forest.
Alternatives Including the Preferred Alternative
The BLM has analyzed three action alternatives in detail, plus the
no action alternative. The State Director and Forest Supervisor have
identified NV Energy's proposed action with three modified segments
crossing BLM and National Forest System land as the preferred
alternative. The first modified segment realigns the proposed action
south of the public purpose conveyance parcels that will be transferred
to Churchill County resulting from the National Defense Authorization
Act of 2023. This alternative segment would be approximately 8 miles
long and slightly reduce the disturbance footprint of the 525-kV
transmission line on BLM-administered lands. The second modified
segment would realign the proposed action further away from the
recently established Desatoya Wilderness Area. The third modified
segment is the Forest Service preferred northern alternative route from
the Lander Substation that would cross approximately 10 miles of the
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and approximately 9 miles of adjacent
BLM-administered lands to the east. The route would parallel an
existing 230-kV transmission line within the forest's existing utility
corridor until reconnecting with the proposed action
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route. The reconnection with the proposed action route 9 miles east of
the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest provides the most technical
feasibility to reduce the cost, line angles, and disturbances from the
proposed 525-kV transmission line. The BLM further considered 18
additional transmission alternatives but dismissed these alternatives
from detailed analysis as explained in the proposed RMP amendment/final
EIS.
The preferred alternative was found to best meet the BLM's and
Forest Service's purpose and need while addressing impacts to greater
sage-grouse habitats primarily through co-location, which limits new
disturbance to areas already impacted by two existing transmission
lines, a 230-kV and 345-kV line. The Greenlink North Transmission
Project would be co-located for approximately 198 miles of the 235-
mile-long transmission line.
Mitigation
The preferred alternative for the portions of the project within
and adjacent to greater sage-grouse habitats includes the requirement
for NV Energy to install anti-perching/nesting deterrents on
transmission poles to minimize potential predation by ravens.
Forest Service Administrative Review Process
The U.S. Forest Service's decision will be subject to the pre-
decisional administrative review process at 36 CFR part 218, subparts A
and B, also known as the objection process. The objection process
provides an opportunity for members of the public who have participated
in the planning process for the action to have any unresolved concerns
reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service prior to a final decision by the
Responsible Official. The legal notice announcing the opportunity to
object will be published in the Reno-Gazette Journal, the newspaper of
record for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The opportunity to
object ends 45-days following the publication of the legal notice in
the newspaper of record. It is the objector's responsibility to ensure
timely filing of a written objection. Only individuals and
organizations who have submitted timely and specific written comments
about this proposal during designated opportunities for public comment
are eligible to file an objection in accordance with 36 CFR 218.5.
Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted
timely, specific written comments regarding the proposed project,
unless the issue is based on new information arising after designated
comment opportunities. The objection must contain the minimum content
requirement specified in 36 CFR 218.8(d).
Protest of the Proposed RMP Amendments
The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated
in the preparation of the RMP amendment and has an interest which will
or might be adversely affected by approval of the proposed RMP
amendment may protest its approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the
proposed RMP amendment constitutes the final opportunity for
administrative review of the proposed land use planning decisions prior
to the BLM adopting an approved RMP amendment. Instructions for filing
a protest regarding the proposed RMP amendment with the BLM Director
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 earlier or submitted electronically
through the BLM ePlanning project website as described previously.
Protests submitted electronically by any means other than the ePlanning
project website will be invalid unless a protest is also submitted as a
hard copy. The BLM Director will render a written decision on each
protest. The Director's decision is 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 RMP amendment.
Before including your phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
(Authority: 43 CFR 46.415(c), 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5)
Kimberly Prill,
State Director (Acting).
[FR Doc. 2025-09497 Filed 5-27-25; 8:45 am]
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