Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3691 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

(Authority: 43 U.S.C. chapter 3) 

Joshua F. Alexander, 

Chief Cadastral Surveyor for South Dakota. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01033 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4331–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500175965] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Libra Solar Project, Lyon and 

Mineral Counties, NV 

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) 

announces the availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Libra Solar Project, Lyon and 

Mineral Counties, Nevada. 

DATES: To afford the BLM the 

opportunity to consider comments in 

the final EIS, please ensure that the 

BLM receives your comments within 45 

days following the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

publishes its Notice of Availability 

(NOA) of the Draft EIS in the Federal 

Register. The EPA usually publishes its 

NOAs on Fridays. 

ADDRESSES: The Draft EIS is available 

for review on the BLM National NEPA 

Register Website at https://eplanning.

blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022592/ 

570. 

Written comments related to the Libra 

Solar Project may be submitted by any 

of the following methods: 

• BLM National NEPA Register 

Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/ 

eplanning-ui/project/2022592/570. 

• Email: blm_nv_ccdo_libra_solar@

blm.gov. 

• Mail: Attn: Libra Solar Project, 5665 

Morgan Mill Road, Carson City, Nevada 

89701. 

Documents pertinent to this proposal 

may be examined online at the BLM 

National NEPA Register website at 

https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ 

project/2022592/570 and at the BLM 

Carson City District Office. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melanie Hornsby, BLM Project Manager, 

telephone (775) 885–6024; address 5665 

Morgan Mill Road, Carson City, NV 

89701; email blm_nv_ccdo_libra_solar@

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 Ms. Hornsby. 

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: Libra 

Solar LLC (Applicant) submitted a rightof-way (ROW) application to construct, 

operate, maintain, and decommission a 

700-megawatt alternating current solar 

photovoltaic power generating facility 

with battery storage and associated 

components on approximately 5,114 

acres of BLM-managed land in Mineral 

and Lyon counties, Nevada. The 

proposal also includes the development 

of a 24.1-mile-long generation tie line, of 

which 22.9 miles would be located on 

BLM managed lands, to connect the 

solar site to the Fort Churchill 

Substation in Lyon County. The total 

right-of-way requested for the project is 

5,778 acres. The project would sit 

approximately 55 miles southeast of the 

Reno metropolitan area, 11 miles 

southeast of the town of Yerington, 7 

miles west of U.S. Route 95, and 8 miles 

east of State Route 208. 

Purpose and Need 

The BLM’s purpose and need is to 

respond to the ROW application 

submitted by the Applicant under 

FLPMA Title V (43 U.S.C. 1761) (serial 

number NVNV105844599, legacy serial 

number NVN–099846). The need for 

this action is to fulfill the BLM’s 

responsibility under FLPMA and its 

ROW regulations to manage the public 

lands for multiple uses, including the 

generation of electric energy. FLPMA, as 

amended, established a multiple-use 

mandate for the BLM’s management of 

Federal lands, including ‘‘systems for 

generation, transmission, and 

distribution of electric energy, except 

that the proponent shall also comply 

with all applicable requirements of the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

under the Federal Power Act, including 

part I thereof (41 Stat. 1063, 16 U.S.C. 

791a–825r).’’ (43 U.S.C. 1761(a)(4)). The 

BLM must consider compliance with 

FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, the 

BLM NEPA Handbook (BLM 2008), 

Department of Interior NEPA 

regulations, and other applicable 

Federal and State laws and policies. 

Proposed Action and Alternatives, 

Including the Preferred Alternative 

The BLM has analyzed the No Action 

Alternative, the proposed Action as 

submitted by the Applicant, and three 

action alternatives. Under the No Action 

Alternative, the solar facility, generation 

tie-line, battery storage, substation, and 

associated facilities would not be 

developed because the BLM would not 

issue the ROW grant. The three action 

alternatives analyzed in the draft EIS are 

as follows: Action Alternative 1: Major 

Drainage Avoidance, Fenced Corridors, 

and Vegetation and Topography 

Maintenance; Action Alternative 2: 

Alternative Supplemental Access 

During Construction; and Action 

Alternative 3: Alternative Gen-tie 

Connecting to proposed Greenlink West. 

Action Alternative 1 includes the use of 

specific construction methods to reduce 

impacts to vegetation, drainage, and 

topography within the solar array areas. 

Action Alternative 2 focuses on 

reduction of impacts associated with 

East Walker Road (the project’s mostly 

unpaved access road) by providing 

supplemental access during 

construction. Action Alternative 3 

entails connecting the generation tieline from the project to the proposed 

Greenlink West Transmission Project 

through a new switching station under 

the proposed Greenlink West line, 

which would reduce impacts to air, 

vegetation, soils, wildlife, visual 

resources, and other resource areas from 

the 24.1-mile-long generation tie-line 

under the Proposed Action. 

The BLM Preferred Alternative is a 

modification of the Proposed Action 

that combines Action Alternative 1 and 

Action Alternative 2 for the use of 

specific construction methods, as well 

as provides supplemental access to 

reduce total traffic on East Walker Road 

during construction. An overlay of 

Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 is the 

preferred alternative since it reduces 

many of the resource impacts, including 

to vegetation communities, wildlife, 

hydrology, and other resources. It also 

allows for faster and more successful 

restoration at decommissioning, 

allowing for future uses of the land 

under multiple use. Alternative 2 

reduces traffic impacts as well. Several 

additional action alternatives were 

considered, including alternative sites, 

technologies, and methods, but were 

eliminated as described in Chapter 2: 

Proposed Action of the Draft EIS. 

Design Features and Mitigation 

This section includes Applicantcommitted design features and 

mitigation measures. Key mitigation for 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
3692 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 

the project includes development of a 

Workforce Housing and Transportation 

Plan as well as Cooperative Services 

Agreements, since the project would 

bring a large construction workforce of 

a few hundred people into the 

Yerington area. The Workforce Housing 

and Transportation Plan would identify 

the housing options and allow the 

Applicant to plan construction housing 

needs that could alleviate the project’s 

contribution to housing impacts. 

Alternative transportation options, 

including carpooling, park-and-ride, 

bus, shuttle, and other forms, would 

also be assessed to reduce the project’s 

contribution to traffic impacts. The 

Cooperative Services Agreements would 

require the Applicant to coordinate with 

Mineral and Lyon counties to determine 

increased demands for services such as 

fire protection, law enforcement, and 

emergency medical services, and shall 

include a fee based on the likely point 

of service and estimated increases in 

service needs. 

While no federally or State-listed 

threatened or endangered species have 

the potential to occur on-site that could 

be impacted by the project, several 

mitigation measures have been added to 

reduce effects to special status species, 

wildlife, and vegetation communities. 

These measures include development of 

a Site Restoration Plan and Integrated 

Weed Management Plan, development 

of a Worker Environmental Awareness 

Program, pre-construction surveys and 

avoidance where feasible for special 

status plants, and development of a Bird 

and Bat Conservation Strategy. To 

address conflicts with grazing permit 

holders, mitigation includes measures to 

work with the permit holder to provide 

infrastructure upgrades to move 

livestock around the solar facility. 

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations 

If approved, the BLM would issue a 

ROW for the project. The term for the 

ROW would be for 30 years. 

Schedule for Decision-Making Process 

The final EIS is anticipated to be 

available in summer 2024 with a Record 

of Decision in summer or fall 2024. 

Public Involvement Process 

The BLM will hold one virtual public 

meeting and one in-person public 

meeting during the public comment 

period. The BLM will announce the 

exact dates, times, and link for these 

meetings at least 15 days prior to the 

events. Announcements will be made by 

news release to the media and posting 

on the BLM National NEPA Register 

website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/ 

eplanning-ui/project/2022592/570. 

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. 

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) 

Kimberly D. Dow, 

Carson City District Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00656 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4331–21–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Investigation No. 332–602] 

Apparel: Export Competitiveness of 

Certain Foreign Suppliers to the United 

States 

AGENCY: United States International 

Trade Commission 

ACTION: Notice of investigation and 

scheduling of a public hearing. 

SUMMARY: Following receipt on 

December 20, 2023, of a request from 

the U.S. Trade Representative (the Trade 

Representative), under section 332(g) of 

the Tariff Act of 1930, the U.S. 

International Trade Commission 

(Commission) instituted Investigation 

No. 332–602, Apparel: Export 

Competitiveness of Certain Foreign 

Suppliers to the United States. The 

Trade Representative requested that the 

Commission conduct an investigation 

and prepare a report that examines the 

export competitiveness of the apparel 

industries in Bangladesh, Cambodia, 

India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, all of 

which are current leading suppliers to 

the U.S. market. 

DATES: 

February 21, 2024: Deadline for filing 

requests to appear at the public hearing. 

February 23, 2024: Deadline for filing 

prehearing briefs and statements. 

February 29, 2024: Deadline for filing 

electronic copies of oral hearing 

statements. 

March 7, 2024: Public hearing. 

March 22, 2024: Deadline for filing 

posthearing briefs, statements, and all 

other written submissions. 

August 30, 2024: Transmittal of 

Commission report to the Trade 

Representative. 

ADDRESSES: All Commission offices, 

including the Commission’s hearing 

rooms, are located in the U.S. 

International Trade Commission 

Building, 500 E Street SW, Washington, 

DC. All written submissions should be 

addressed to the Secretary, U.S. 

International Trade Commission, 500 E 

Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. The 

public record for this investigation may 

be viewed on the Commission’s 

electronic docket (EDIS) at https://

edis.usitc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Project Leader Alissa Tafti (202–205– 

3244 or alissa.tafti@usitc.gov) or Deputy 

Project Leaders Elizabeth Howlett (202– 

205–3458 or elizabeth.howlett@

usitc.gov) and Junie Joseph (202–205– 

3363 or junie.joseph@usitc.gov) for 

information specific to this 

investigation. For information on the 

legal aspects of this investigation, 

contact Brian Allen (202–205–3034 or 

brian.allen@usitc.gov) or William 

Gearhart (202–205–3091 or 

william.gearhart@usitc.gov) of the 

Commission’s Office of the General 

Counsel. The media should contact 

Jennifer Andberg, Office of External 

Relations (202–205–3404 or 

jennifer.andberg@usitc.gov). Hearingimpaired individuals are advised that 

information on this matter can be 

obtained by contacting the 

Commission’s TDD terminal on 202– 

205–1810. General information 

concerning the Commission may be 

obtained by accessing its internet 

address (https://www.usitc.gov). Persons 

with mobility impairments who will 

need special assistance in gaining access 

to the Commission should contact the 

Office of the Secretary at 202–205–2000. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: As requested by the 

Trade Representative, the Commission 

has instituted an investigation under 

section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 

(19 U.S.C. 1332(g)) to provide statistical 

and qualitative information on factors 

underlying the export competitiveness 

of the apparel industries in Bangladesh, 

Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and 

Pakistan, all of which are current 

leading suppliers to the U.S. market. 

Specifically, the Trade Representative 

has requested that the Commission 

prepare a report that provides: 

• A comparison of the relative U.S. 

market share of each of the above-listed 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1