Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3687 

Consolidated Resource Management 

Plan in compliance with the BLM rightof-way regulations (43 CFR 2800) and 

other applicable Federal and State laws 

and policies. In accordance with 

FLPMA, there is a need to consider the 

long-term needs of future generations 

for renewable and non-renewable 

resources in the context of the multiple 

resource objectives in the 2001 Carson 

City Field Office Consolidated Resource 

Management Plan planning area. 

Preliminary Alternatives 

Under the No Action alternative, the 

BLM would not approve the proposed 

Dodge Flat II Solar Energy Center on 

public lands that are currently excluded 

from utility-scale solar energy 

development due to slopes exceeding 5 

percent and would not amend the slope 

management direction in the 2001 

Carson City Field Office Consolidated 

Resource Management Plan. Under the 

proposed action alternative, the BLM 

would change the slope management 

direction in the 2001 Carson City Field 

Office Consolidated Resource 

Management Plan to allow for the Dodge 

Flat II Solar Energy Center to be 

developed as currently proposed. The 

BLM welcomes comments and 

suggestions for additional alternatives. 

Planning Criteria 

The planning criteria guide the 

planning effort and lay the groundwork 

for effects analysis by identifying the 

preliminary issues and their analytical 

frameworks. Preliminary issues for the 

planning area have been identified by 

BLM personnel and from early 

engagement conducted for this planning 

effort with Federal, State, and local 

agencies; Tribes; and other stakeholders. 

The BLM has identified 10 preliminary 

issues for this planning effort’s analysis. 

The planning criteria are available for 

public review and comment on the 

National NEPA Register website (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Public Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping period and public review of the 

planning criteria, which guide the 

development and analysis of the RMP 

amendment and associated 

Environmental Assessment. The BLM 

will be holding one virtual scoping 

meeting. The specific date and time of 

the scoping meeting will be announced 

at least 15 days in advance through the 

National NEPA Register project web 

page https://eplanning.blm.gov/ 

eplanning-ui/project/2027081/510. 

Interdisciplinary Team 

The BLM will use an interdisciplinary 

approach to develop the plan 

amendment in order to consider the 

variety of resource issues and concerns 

identified. Specialists with expertise in 

the following disciplines will be 

involved in this planning effort: air 

quality, cultural resources, botany, 

climate change (greenhouse gases), 

environmental justice, grazing, human 

health and safety, land use and 

authorizations, migratory birds, noise 

impacts, socioeconomics, 

transportation, visual resources, water 

quality, and wildlife. 

Additional Information 

The BLM will identify, analyze, and 

consider mitigation to address the 

reasonably foreseeable impacts to 

resources from the proposed plan 

amendment and all analyzed reasonable 

alternatives and, in accordance with 40 

CFR 1502.14(e), include appropriate 

mitigation measures not already 

included in the proposed plan 

amendment or alternatives. Mitigation 

may include avoidance, minimization, 

rectification, reduction or elimination 

over time, and compensation; and may 

be considered at multiple scales, 

including the landscape scale. 

The BLM will utilize and coordinate 

the NEPA and land use planning 

processes for this planning effort to help 

support compliance with applicable 

procedural requirements under the 

Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 

1536) and section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 

306108) as provided in 36 CFR 

800.2(d)(3), including public 

involvement requirements of section 

106. The information about historic and 

cultural resources and threatened and 

endangered species within the area 

potentially affected by the proposed 

plan amendment will assist the BLM in 

identifying and evaluating impacts to 

such resources. 

The BLM will consult with Indian 

Tribes on a government-to-government 

basis in accordance with Executive 

Order 13175, BLM MS 1780, and other 

Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, 

including impacts on Indian trust assets 

and potential impacts to cultural 

resources, will be given due 

consideration. Federal, State, and local 

agencies, along with Indian Tribes and 

other stakeholders that may be 

interested in or affected by the proposed 

Dodge Flat II Solar Energy Center 

project that the BLM is evaluating, are 

invited to participate in the scoping 

process and, if eligible, may request or 

be requested by the BLM to participate 

in the development of the 

environmental analysis as a cooperating 

agency. 

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 1501.7 and 43 CFR 

1610.2) 

Jon K. Raby, 

State Director. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00942 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4331–21–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO4500177363] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement for Utility-Scale Solar 

Energy Development and Notice of 

Public Meetings 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

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 a Draft Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for Utility-scale Solar Energy 

Development and associated Resource 

Management Plan (RMP) Amendments 

and by this notice is providing 

information announcing the opening of 

the comment period on the Draft 

Programmatic EIS. 

DATES: This notice announces the 

opening of a 90-day comment period for 

the Draft Programmatic EIS beginning 

with the date following the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

(EPA) publication of its Notice of 

Availability (NOA) in the Federal 

Register. 

To afford the BLM the opportunity to 

consider comments in the course of 

preparing the Proposed RMP 

Amendments/Final Programmatic EIS, 

please ensure your comments are 

received prior to the close of the 90-day 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
3688 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 

comment period or 15 days after the last 

public meeting, whichever is later. 

The BLM will hold two virtual and 

six in-person public meetings during the 

comment period. Public meetings will 

commence on February 5, 2024, with 

the first being a virtual meeting. Inperson public meetings will be held in 

the following cities: 

• Boise, Idaho;

• Cedar City, Utah;

• Las Vegas, Nevada;

• Yuma, Arizona;

• Grand Junction, Colorado; and

• Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Additional information for all public

meetings is available at the project 

website listed in the addresses section 

below. 

ADDRESSES: The Draft Programmatic EIS 

is available for review on the BLM 

ePlanning project website at https://

eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ 

project/2022371/510. 

Written comments related to the Draft 

Programmatic EIS may be submitted by 

any of the following methods: 

• Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/

eplanning-ui/project/2022371/510. 

• Email: solar@blm.gov.

• Mail: BLM, Attn: Draft Solar EIS,

1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 

20240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeremy Bluma, Senior Advisor, National 

Renewable Energy Coordination Office, 

BLM Headquarters, email: jbluma@

blm.gov or telephone: (208) 789–6014. 

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. Bluma. 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 

document provides notice that the BLM 

has prepared, in collaboration with 

Cooperating Agencies, a Draft 

Programmatic EIS and is announcing 

the opening of the comment period. The 

Final Programmatic EIS may support a 

series of RMP amendments following its 

completion. The Draft Programmatic EIS 

identifies the land use plans that may be 

amended. 

The planning area is located within 

the 11 States of Arizona, California 

(excluding the lands covered by the 

Desert Renewable Energy Conservation 

Plan in seven southern California 

counties), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 

Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 

Washington, and Wyoming and 

encompasses approximately 162 million 

acres of BLM-administered public land. 

The BLM is undertaking this 

programmatic evaluation to assess the 

potential environmental, cultural, and 

economic impacts of modifying its 

current solar energy program across the 

11 Western States. Potential 

modifications, through land use plan 

amendments, are being considered to 

improve management consistency 

regarding utility-scale solar energy 

development, advance national 

renewable energy development 

priorities and goals, and address 

changes in solar technologies that have 

occurred since the BLM’s last solar 

energy planning effort in 2012. Potential 

land use plan amendments would align 

with the principles of multiple use and 

sustained yield, consistent with 

FLPMA. Under FLPMA, the BLM strives 

to make land use decisions that meet the 

Nation’s many needs, are 

environmentally responsible, and take 

into account the use and enjoyment of 

the public lands by present and future 

generations. The BLM seeks to advance 

its solar energy program consistent with 

balanced management for other 

important land uses such as recreational 

use; agricultural use, such as grazing; 

other energy and mineral development; 

resource protection, including National 

Monuments and National Conservation 

Areas; wilderness areas and wilderness 

study areas; other specially designated 

areas; wildlife and big game; water 

resources; cultural, historical, and 

paleontological resources; and 

restoration of lands and resources where 

appropriate. 

Purpose and Need 

The purpose of the proposed action is 

to facilitate improved siting of utilityscale solar energy development by 

identifying areas of BLM-administered 

lands where solar energy development 

proposals may encounter fewer resource 

conflicts as ‘‘solar application areas’’ 

and identifying areas of public lands 

with known high potential for resource 

conflicts as ‘‘exclusion areas.’’ There is 

a need to improve the solar 

development application process by 

providing development opportunities in 

specified ‘‘solar application areas’’ 

while maintaining sufficient flexibility 

to account for site-specific resource 

considerations on a case-by-case basis as 

part of subsequent project-specific 

decisions. Although additional sitespecific environmental analysis under 

NEPA will be needed to support projectlevel decisions to authorize utility-scale 

solar energy development, this macroscale programmatic land use planning 

effort will provide a framework for 

making those decisions in a systematic 

and consistent way. Applications 

processed under this framework are 

expected to have a higher likelihood of 

alignment with the BLM’s multiple use 

and sustained yield mission than under 

current land use plans, leading to more 

expedient processing without 

jeopardizing critical resources or other 

uses of public lands. 

This programmatic planning effort 

also responds to changes that have 

occurred since the BLM’s last 

programmatic solar development 

planning effort. First, utility-scale solar 

energy development on and off public 

lands has significantly increased and is 

expected to continue to increase in view 

of a growing public interest in carbon 

pollution-free energy generation. 

Second, due to technological 

advancements and economic forces 

affecting power markets, the 

composition of proposed solar energy 

generation projects is now different, 

with one example being a focus by solar 

developers in the United States on using 

photovoltaic technology rather than 

solar thermal facilities. Third, due to 

some of the technological advancements 

mentioned above, the BLM is receiving 

increased interest in utility-scale solar 

energy development on public lands at 

more northern latitudes. 

In response to these changes, the BLM 

needs to update its administration of the 

public lands to facilitate responsible 

siting of solar energy development. The 

BLM seeks to accomplish this by 

amending its land use plans in the 11 

Western States to identify areas more 

suitable for solar development while 

appropriately excluding solar energy 

development applications from areas 

where protection is warranted based on 

critical need(s). Potential land use plan 

amendments may also involve updating 

design features and environmental 

evaluation processes and incorporating 

new information and additional 

environmental analysis. 

Alternatives Including the Preferred 

Alternative 

The BLM has analyzed six 

alternatives in detail, including the no 

action alternative. Each alternative 

makes available varying amounts of 

public lands for solar development 

applications. In descending order from 

the most available public lands for solar 

development application, Alternative 1 

would make available approximately 55 

million acres; the No Action Alternative 

would maintain the availability of 

approximately 47 million acres; 

Alternative 2 would make available 

approximately 36 million acres; 

Alternative 3 would make available 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3689 

approximately 22 million acres; 

Alternative 4 would make available 

approximately 11 million acres; and 

Alternative 5 would make available 

approximately 8 million acres. The BLM 

considered six additional alternatives 

but did not carry those alternatives 

forward for detailed analysis for the 

reasons discussed in the Draft 

Programmatic EIS. 

A reasonably foreseeable development 

scenario (RFDS) was developed as part 

of the Draft Programmatic EIS to help 

define the potential magnitude of solar 

energy development that could occur 

within the 11-State study area by 2045. 

Based on the RFDS, the estimated 

demand for solar energy generation on 

public lands by 2045 will be 

approximately 93,000 megawatts, which 

would require making approximately 

700,000 acres of public land available 

for utility-scale solar development. 

The BLM has identified Alternative 3 

as the preferred alternative in the Draft 

Programmatic EIS. Alternative 3 would 

make public lands within 10 miles of 

existing and planned transmission lines 

over 100 kilovolts available for solar 

applications unless otherwise excluded 

based on the resource-based exclusion 

criteria identified in the EIS. Alternative 

3 would improve the solar development 

application process by excluding solar 

energy development applications from 

areas where protection is warranted and 

providing development siting 

opportunities in specified ‘‘solar 

application areas’’ while maintaining 

sufficient siting flexibility to account for 

site-specific resource considerations on 

a case-by-case basis under subsequent 

project-specific decisions. 

Mitigation 

Mitigation under the Programmatic 

EIS would generally take the form of 

avoidance and minimization. Avoidance 

would be achieved by excluding certain 

areas of public lands from solar energy 

development applications, depending 

on the alternative, based on defined 

criteria. Minimization would be 

achieved by requiring that various 

programmatic design features be 

incorporated into solar development 

proposals. Additional mitigation, 

including further avoidance, 

minimization, and compensation, may 

be required and incorporated into a 

solar development proposal at the 

project approval stage. 

Schedule for the Decision-Making 

Process 

The BLM will provide this and 

additional opportunities for public 

participation consistent with NEPA and 

land use planning processes, including 

a 30-day public protest period and a 60- 

day Governor’s consistency review on 

the Final Programmatic EIS and 

Proposed RMP Amendments. The 

Proposed RMP Amendments/Final 

Programmatic EIS is anticipated to be 

available for public protest in August 

2024. 

The BLM will continue to consult 

with Indian Tribal Nations on a 

government-to-government basis in 

accordance with Executive Order 13175, 

BLM MS 1780, and other Departmental 

policies. Tribal concerns, including 

impacts on Indian trust assets and 

potential impacts to cultural resources, 

will be given due consideration. 

Consultation will continue on an 

individual basis with interested Tribes. 

Comments on the Draft Programmatic 

EIS would be most helpful if provided 

at a level similar to that of master 

planning and zoning and with a focus 

on where solar development on public 

lands is most appropriate and where it 

should be disallowed and precluded 

from consideration. Comments about 

suggested design features that may be 

appropriate for the BLM to require are 

also encouraged. 

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) 

Benjamin E. Gruber, 

Acting Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals, 

and Realty Management. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00730 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4331–29–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_CO_FRN_MO4500176823] 

Notice of Availability of the Record of 

Decision for the Approved Eastern 

Colorado Resource Management Plan 

for the Royal Gorge Field Office, 

Colorado 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) announces the 

availability of the Record of Decision 

(ROD) for the approved Resource 

Management Plan (RMP) for the Royal 

Gorge Field Office located in eastern 

Colorado. The Colorado State Director 

signed the ROD on January 9, 2024, 

which constitutes the final decision of 

the BLM and makes the approved RMP 

effective immediately. 

DATES: The Colorado State Director 

signed the ROD on January 9, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: The ROD/approved RMP is 

available online at https://

eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ 

project/39877/510. Printed copies of the 

ROD/approved RMP are available for 

public inspection at Royal Gorge Field 

Office, Bureau of Land Management, 

3028 E. Main, Can ̃ on City, CO 81212 or 

can be provided upon request by 

contacting BLM Project Manager John 

Smeins at jsmeins@blm.gov or 719–252– 

8212. 

A copy of the Protest Resolution 

Report is available at: https://

www.blm.gov/programs/planning-andnepa/public-participation/protestresolution-reports. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Smeins, Project Manager, telephone 

719–252–8212; address 3028 E Main St., 

Can ̃on City, CO 81212; email jsmeins@

blm.gov. 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. Smeins. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM 

prepared the Eastern Colorado proposed 

RMP/final environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to evaluate and revise 

the management strategy for resources, 

resource uses, and special designations 

on public lands managed by the Royal 

Gorge Field Office, which is the 

planning area for the RMP. Existing 

management decisions for public lands 

and resources in the Royal Gorge Field 

Office are currently described in two 

documents: the 1986 Northeast RMP, as 

amended; and the 1996 Royal Gorge 

RMP, as amended. 

The planning area encompasses 

approximately 35 million acres of land 

under various jurisdictions, including 

the BLM, U.S. Forest Service, National 

Park Service, State of Colorado, and 

local government, and private lands in 

37 counties across south-central and 

eastern Colorado. The Browns Canyon 

National Monument is not part of the 

planning area for this RMP/EIS, as it is 


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