Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 84 / Friday, May 1, 2015 / Notices 24915 

includes environmental review 

provisions. 

The PEIS collected and analyzed this 

information as it applies to wind energy 

development in the six states included 

in the UGP Region. Specifically, through 

the PEIS Western and the Service have: 

1. Defined areas with a high potential 

for wind energy development near the 

UGP Region’s transmission system in 

anticipation of future wind-generation 

interconnection requests. 

2. Defined natural and human 

environment resources in areas with 

high wind energy development 

potential, including Native American 

lands, to support analyses of the 

environmental impacts and 

development of wind energy projects. 

3. Identified standardized 

environmental evaluation procedures, 

avoidance areas, best management 

practices, and mitigation measures to be 

used by interconnection applicants for 

identifying and reducing wind energy 

development impacts of their projects 

on the natural and human environment. 

4. Initiated a programmatic ESA 

Section 7 informal consultation for 

federally listed and proposed threatened 

and endangered species within the 

study area boundaries established for 

the PEIS that may be affected by future 

wind energy development. 

5. Provided guidance for 

interconnection applicants that includes 

information about natural resources 

within areas with a high potential for 

wind development, requirements for 

subsequent site-specific environmental 

reviews, avoidance areas, and 

appropriate best management practices 

and mitigation measures to address 

adverse environmental impacts related 

to wind projects and associated 

transmission system enhancements. 

The Service maintains a grassland and 

wetland easement program to support 

and enhance waterfowl populations in 

the Prairie Pothole Region. The Service 

has developed a plan that will, in some 

circumstances, allow partial release of 

an easement for wind generation 

purposes, only with defined conditions 

and on a specified area, in exchange for 

additional easement acreage being 

conveyed to the Service. A streamlined 

approach for compliance with NEPA 

and ESA for future site-specific wind 

development projects would result from 

this PEIS, and would benefit both 

agencies. 

Western and the Service are engaged 

in informal consultation under Section 

7 of the ESA in support of the PEIS 

process. A Programmatic Biological 

Assessment has been prepared for listed 

and candidate species occurring in the 

UGP Region, and it is expected that the 

Service’s Ecological Services Field 

Office will issue a letter of concurrence 

as a result of this consultation. 

Separate Records of Decision 

addressing each agency’s Federal 

actions will be issued by Western and 

the Service not sooner than 30 days after 

distribution of the Final PEIS and the 

date of the Environmental Protection 

Agency’s weekly Federal Register 

notice listing the availability of the EIS. 

Dated: April 21, 2015. 

Mark A. Gabriel, 

Administrator, Western Area Power 

Administration. 

Dated: January 28, 2015. 

Matt Hogan, 

Deputy Regional Director, Mountain-Prairie 

Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–10237 Filed 4–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[ER–FRL–9020–7] 

Environmental Impact Statements; 

Notice of Availability 

Responsible Agency: Office of Federal 

Activities, General Information (202) 

564–7146 or http://www.epa.gov/

compliance/nepa/. 

Weekly receipt of Environmental Impact 

Statements 

Filed 04/20/2015 Through 04/24/2015 

Pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.9. 

Notice 

Section 309(a) of the Clean Air Act 

requires that EPA make public its 

comments on EISs issued by other 

Federal agencies. EPA’s comment letters 

on EISs are available at: http://

www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/

eisdata.html. 

EIS No. 20150117, Draft EIS, NPS, HI, 

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Draft 

General Management Plan and 

Wilderness Study, Comment Period 

Ends: 06/30/2015, Contact: Cindy 

Orlando 808–985–6026. 

EIS No. 20150118, Draft Supplement, 

USACE, CA, Mather Specific Plan, 

Comment Period Ends: 06/15/2015, 

Contact: Mary Pakenham-Walsh 916– 

557–7718. 

EIS No. 20150119, Final EIS, OSM, NM, 

Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo 

Mine Energy Project, Review Period 

Ends: 06/01/2015, Contact: Mychal 

Yellowman 303–293–5049. 

EIS No. 20150120, Final EIS, WAPA, 

USFWS, 00, PROGRAMMATIC— 

Upper Great Plains Wind Energy 

Project, Review Period Ends: 06/01/

2015, Contact: Mark Wieringa 720– 

962–7448. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 

Western Area Power Administration 

and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 

Fish and Wildlife Service are joint lead 

agencies for the above project. 

EIS No. 20150121, Final EIS, BLM, WY, 

TransWest Express Transmission 

Project, Review Period Ends: 06/01/

2015, Contact: Sharon Knowlton 307– 

775–6124. 

EIS No. 20150122, Final EIS, APHIS, 

OR, ADOPTION—Double-crested 

Cormorant Management Plan to 

Reduce Predation of Juvenile 

Salmonids in the Columbia River 

Estuary, Contact: Kevin Christensen 

503–326–2346. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) has adopted the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers FEIS 

#20150122, filed with the U.S. EPA on 

2/25/2015. APHIS was a cooperating 

agency on this project, therefore, 

recirculation of the document is not 

necessary under section 1506.3(c) of 

CEQ Regulations. 

Dated: April 28, 2015. 

Cliff Rader, 

Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office 

of Federal Activities. 

[FR Doc. 2015–10218 Filed 4–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2003–0034; FRL–9927–08– 

OEI] 

Proposed Information Collection 

Request; Comment Request; Voluntary 

Aluminum Industrial Partnership 

(VAIP) (Renewal) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an 

information collection request (ICR), 

Voluntary Aluminum Industrial 

Partnership (VAIP) (Renewal)—EPA ICR 

No. 1867.05, OMB Control No. 2060– 

0411—to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for review and approval 

in accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public 

comments on specific aspects of the 

proposed information collection as 

described below. This is a proposed 

extension of the ICR, which is currently 

approved through June 30, 2015. An 

agency may not conduct or sponsor and 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES