[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59165-59166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23471]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Tehachapi
Renewable Transmission Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service, together with the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), will prepare a joint Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Supplemental Environmental
Impact Report (EIR) to assess the effects of Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) recommendations on National Forest System lands
for the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP). The CPUC
granted Southern California Edison (SCE) approval to build TRTP in
Decision 09-12-044 on non-federal lands, and the Forest Service
approved SCE to implement the TRTP on National Forest System lands in a
2010 Record of Decision (ROD). The decision required SCE to consult
with the FAA for aviation safety. The FAA recommended installing marker
balls on certain transmission line spans and aviation lighting on
certain transmission structures. These recommendations will be analyzed
in the joint Supplemental EIS/EIR.
Following the public review period for the Draft Supplemental EIS/
EIR the Forest Service and CPUC will issue a Final Supplemental EIS/
EIR. The Forest Service will issue a ROD to document the decision to
either approve or deny the changes to SCE's project. As the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Lead Agency for the project, the Forest
Service will conduct a detailed review of the effects of the FAA
recommendations on National Forest
[[Page 59166]]
System lands. Within the Angeles National Forest it is estimated that
approximately 649 marker balls on 119 spans and 4 structures with
aviation lights would impact Segments 6 and 11 to implement the FAA's
recommendations. Two of the 4 structures recommended for aviation
lights are on private lands within the Angeles National Forest, and are
not subject to Forest Service jurisdiction or control.
The Forest Service is providing notice of this analysis so that
interested and affected individuals are aware of how they may
participate and contribute towards the final decision on the TRTP by
the Forest Service. Note: Segment 8A undergrounding options are not the
subject of this Notice of Intent.
DATES: The Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR is expected to be published in
January 2013. A 45-day comment period will occur following publication
of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: To request a copy of the Draft Supplemental EIS/SEIR or
Final Supplemental EIS/EIR when it is available, or to obtain further
information about the project, please write to the Angeles National
Forest, c/o Aspen Environmental Group, 5020 Chesebro Road, Suite 200,
Agoura Hills, CA 91301. Alternately, electronic comments may be sent to
[email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted as
part of the actual email message, or as an attachment in plain text
(.txt), Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text format(.rtf), or portable
document format (.pdf). Information about the Supplemental EIS/EIR and
the environmental review process will be posted on the Internet at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/projects/. This site will be used to
post links to all public documents during the Supplemental EIS/EIR
process.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lorraine Gerchas, Special Uses
Coordinator, Forest Service, Angeles National Forest, 701 N. Santa
Anita Ave., Arcadia, CA 91006, phone: (626) 574-5281. For additional
information related to the project on non-National Forest System lands,
contact Mary Jo Borak, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC),
505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: (415) 703-1333.
All project-related documents are available on the Project Web site:
ftp://ftp.cpuc.ca.gov/gopher-data/environ/tehachapi_renewables/TRTP.htm.
Responsible Official: The responsible official is Thomas Contreras,
Forest Supervisor, Angeles National Forest, 701 North Santa Anita
Avenue, Arcadia, California 91006.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Lead Agencies: The Forest Service is the
Federal Lead Agency in accordance with 40 CFR 1501(b), and is
responsible for the preparation of the Supplemental Draft EIS/EIR and
Supplemental Final EIS/EIR.
Comments: Under NEPA regulations scoping is not required for
supplements. As such, no NEPA scoping effort will occur as part of the
Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR preparation process. No public scoping
meetings will be held.
The Forest Service is not accepting public comment at this time,
but the agency may be contacted with any questions, or requests for
documents. The Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR will be made available for
public comment. The comment period on the Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR is
45-days from the date the US Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
In the Final Supplemental EIS/EIR the Forest Service is required to
respond to substantive comments received during the comment period for
the Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR. The Forest Service is the NEPA Lead
Agency and the responsible official is the Forest Supervisor, Angeles
National Forest. The responsible official will decide whether and how
to issue Special Use authorization for the modifications to the project
or alternatives. The responsible official will also decide how to
mitigate impacts of these actions and will determine when and how
monitoring of effects will take place.
The TRTP Supplemental EIS/EIR decision and the reasons for the
decision will be documented in the ROD. That decision will be subject
to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (35 CFR part 215).
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 22.
Dated: September 18, 2012.
Thomas A. Contreras,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2012-23471 Filed 9-25-12; 8:45 am]
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