[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 126 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38823-38824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16005]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA-052537, LLCAD05000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB11B4520]
Notice of Availability of the Alta East Wind Project Draft
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Proposed
California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment, Kern County, CA
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, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Kern
County, California, have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and a Draft
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment (PA) for the
Alta East Wind Project (AEWP), and by this notice the BLM is announcing
the opening of the comment period.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR/PA within 90 days following the
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of
Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future
meetings or hearings and any other public involvement activities at
least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or
mailings.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the AEWP by any of the
following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/alta_east_wind_project.html.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: 951 697-5299.
Mail: ATTN: Jeffery Childers, Project Manager, BLM
California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos,
Moreno Valley, California 92553-9046.
Copies of the Draft EIS/EIR/PA are available in the California
Desert District Office at the above address, in the BLM Ridgecrest
Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, California 93555, and
on the BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, contact Jeffery Childers,
telephone 951 697-5308; address BLM California Desert District Office,
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553-
9046; email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FIRS 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: Alta Windpower Development, LLC (AWD) has
requested a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate,
maintain, and decommission the AEWP. The Project would be located on
about 3,200 acres on the north and south sides of State Route 58 in
southeastern Kern County, California. The project area is approximately
3 miles northwest of the town of Mojave and approximately 11 miles east
of the city of Tehachapi. The proposed project would include up to 106
wind turbines, access roads, energy collection lines, and ancillary
facilities on 3,200 acres, of which 2,083 acres are on public land
under the jurisdiction of the BLM and 1,117 acres are on private land
under the jurisdiction of Kern County. The Project could produce up to
318 Megawatts (mW).
The BLM's purpose and need for the AEWP is to respond to AWD's
application for a ROW grant to construct, operate, maintain, and
decommission a wind energy facility on public lands in compliance with
FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable Federal laws. The BLM
will decide whether to grant, grant with modification, or deny a ROW to
AWD for the proposed AEWP. The BLM is also proposing to amend the CDCA
Plan by designating the project area as either available or unavailable
for wind energy projects. The CDCA Plan (1980, as amended), while
recognizing the potential compatibility of wind energy generation
facilities with other uses on public lands, requires that all sites
proposed for power generation or transmission not already identified in
the Plan be considered through the plan amendment process. If the BLM
decides to grant a ROW for this project, the CDCA Plan would be amended
as required.
[[Page 38824]]
In addition to the proposed action and a no action alternative, the
BLM is analyzing a reconfigured site layout alternative with up to 106
turbines, an alternative that would allow up to 97 turbines, and an
alternative that would allow up to 87 turbines. The Draft EIS/EIR/PA
also analyzes two no-project alternatives that would deny a ROW for the
project but amend the CDCA Plan to find the project area either (1)
available for future wind energy generation projects; or (2)
unavailable for future wind energy generation projects.
The Draft EIS/EIR/PA evaluates the potential impacts of the
proposed AEWP on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, biological
resources including Golden Eagles and California Condors, special
status species, cultural resources, geology and soils, hazards and
hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use, noise,
recreation, traffic, visual resources, wilderness characteristics,
cumulative effects, and areas with high potential for renewable energy
development.
A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/EIR/PA for the AEWP was
published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2011 (FR 41817-41819).
The BLM held one joint public scoping meeting with Kern County in
Mojave on August 4, 2011. The formal scoping period ended on August 16,
2011.
Please note that public comments and information submitted
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who
submit comments will be available for public review at the above
address during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), Monday
through Friday, except holidays.
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.
Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2012-16005 Filed 6-28-12; 8:45 am]
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