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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90312-90314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26598]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500182346]

Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement for the Purple Sage Energy 
Center Project in Clark County, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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 Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Purple Sage Energy Center 
Project (Project) and by this notice is providing information 
announcing the opening of the comment period on the Draft RMP 
Amendment/EIS. The Purple Sage Energy Project was formerly known as the 
Golden Currant Solar Project.

DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 90-day comment period for 
the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS beginning with the date following the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes 
its NOAs on Fridays.
    To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments on the Draft 
RMP Amendment/EIS, please ensure your comments are received prior to 
the close of the 90-day comment period or 15 days after the last public 
meeting, whichever is later.
    The BLM will be holding one in-person public meeting and one 
virtual public meeting during the public comment period.

 In-Person Meeting
    --Date and Time: January 14, 2025, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific 
Standard Time (PST)
    --Location: Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino, 681 NV Highway 160, 
Pahrump, Nevada 89048
 Virtual Meeting
    --Date and Time: January 16, 2025, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. PST
    --Registration information: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021533/510.

    Details on public meetings and pertinent documents will be provided 
on the National NEPA Register project website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021533/510.

ADDRESSES: The Draft RMP Amendment/EIS is available for review on the 
BLM National NEPA Register project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021533/510. Additionally, a 
copy of the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS is physically available at the 
following locations:

 BLM Southern Nevada District Office, Las Vegas Field Office, 
4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130
 Pahrump Community Library, 701 East Street, Pahrump, Nevada 
89408
 Tecopa Branch Library, 408 Tecopa Hot Springs Road, Tecopa, 
California 92389

    Written comments related to the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS for the 
Purple Sage Energy Center Project may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021533/510.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: BLM Las Vegas Field Office, Attn: Purple Sage Energy 
Center Project, 4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Headen, Project Manager, 
telephone (702) 515-5206; address 4701 N Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, 
Nevada 89130; email [email protected]. 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 Jessica Headen. 
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 a Draft RMP Amendment/

[[Page 90313]]

EIS and provides information announcing the opening of the comment 
period on the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS. The Draft RMP Amendment is being 
considered to allow the BLM to evaluate the effects of modifying two 
existing, undeveloped utility corridors that intersect the Project 
site. This change would require amending the existing 1998 Las Vegas 
RMP.
    The planning area in Clark and Nye counties, Nevada, encompasses 
approximately 9,890,365 acres within the Southern Nevada District area.
    A BLM designated energy corridor, Segment #224-225, North Pahrump/
U.S. 95 to Las Vegas/Ivanpah Valley (a Section 368 energy corridor), 
along the Clark County/Nye County border intersects a portion of the 
Project site. A locally designated utility corridor, established in the 
1998 Las Vegas RMP (the RMP-designed utility corridor), intersects a 
portion of the Project site. An amendment to the 1998 Las Vegas RMP is 
being considered to modify these two existing undeveloped corridors to 
avoid the Project site.
    The BLM is utilizing the NEPA substitution process to comply with 
the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act, 54 U.S.C. 306108, consistent with 36 CFR 800.8(c). The BLM, as 
lead Federal agency, has incorporated information and the steps of the 
Section 106 process into the Draft EIS, and publication of the Draft 
EIS will allow the consulting parties and the public an opportunity to 
review and comment on the process as provided in 36 CFR 800.8(c)(2).

Purpose and Need

    The need for the BLM's action (processing the Applicant's 
application) is to respond to the Noble Solar, LLC's (Applicant) 
request for a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, 
maintain, and decommission a proposed solar facility, associated 
battery storage, and an interconnection to the regional transmission 
system (Project), in accordance with the BLM's responsibility under 
title V of FLPMA and 43 CFR part 2800. The Project would sit on 
approximately 4,456 acres of BLM-managed public land located in the 
Pahrump Valley in Clark County designated as a solar variance area. The 
site is approximately five miles southeast of Pahrump, 26 miles west of 
Las Vegas, and less than two miles southwest of State Route 160. The 
BLM's action of considering the ROW application also meets the BLM's 
obligation to contribute towards the legislative and administrative 
goals of advancing the development of renewable energy production on 
Federal public lands as directed by section 3104 of the Energy Act of 
2020 and Executive Order 14057.
    The Project as proposed would not conform to the 1998 Las Vegas RMP 
as required by 43 CFR 1610.5-3(a). The BLM would need to amend the 1998 
Las Vegas RMP to bring the Project into compliance. In particular, the 
Applicant's proposed Project does not conform with the management 
objectives for the two undeveloped utility corridors that intersect the 
Project site.
    The purpose of the BLM's action is to determine if the Applicant's 
Project and alternatives are consistent with relevant laws, 
regulations, and policies, and to consider whether to grant, grant with 
modifications, or deny the ROW. The purpose of the Draft RMP Amendment 
is to ensure that any development of renewable energy production in the 
general vicinity of the Applicant's proposed Project site conforms with 
the RMP's provisions, as provided for in 43 CFR 1610.5-3(c), 
specifically by modifying the location of the utility corridors to 
avoid the Project site.
    The Draft RMP Amendment/EIS addresses the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and 
alternatives. Alternatives to the Proposed Action were developed by the 
BLM to avoid or reduce various resource conflicts. Key resource 
constraints include habitat for and presence of Mojave desert tortoise, 
which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act; over 
allocated groundwater resources; paleontological resources; Pahrump 
Valley buckwheat; native desert vegetation at the Project site; 
recreation use in the surrounding area; proximity to local communities; 
and generation of dust.

Alternatives Including the Preferred Alternative

    The BLM has analyzed three alternatives in detail, including the No 
Action Alternative. These are the Applicant Proposed Action, 
Alternative Action 1 (BLM preferred alternative), and the No Action 
Alternative.
    Alternative Action 1, the BLM preferred alternative that is also 
referred to as the Resources Integration Alternative, was identified in 
response to issues raised by the public and agency considerations. The 
intent of Alternative 1 is to minimize long-term disturbance to 
vegetation and soils within the solar facility by setting restoration 
standards to ensure that long-term disturbance to vegetation is 
minimized. The established disturbance threshold for intensive 
disturbance construction methods, such as grading, disc and roll, and 
spot grading, under the Resources Integration Alternative is 20 percent 
of the development areas. Given the demonstrated limitations with 
equipment tolerances and the steep slopes of the development areas of 
the Project site, it may be necessary to utilize intensive disturbance 
construction methods for up to 35 percent of the development area for 
development of the project. Intensive disturbance methods within the 
development areas that are not for permanent facilities, such as roads, 
inverters, substations, or battery energy storage systems, that exceed 
the 20 percent threshold established for the Resources Integration 
Alternative would be subject to additional restoration requirements. 
Restoration would be implemented in accordance with and to meet the 60 
percent native vegetation density standards required for the non-graded 
areas in the panel array blocks.
    The No Action Alternative would be a continuation of existing 
conditions and the ROW would not be approved.
    The BLM further considered a number of additional alternatives but 
dismissed these alternatives from detailed analysis as explained in the 
Draft RMP Amendment/EIS and Alternatives Report.
    The BLM has identified Alternative Action 1--Resources Integration 
Alternative as the preferred alternative. Alternative Action 1 was 
found to best meet the BLM's planning guidance and is designed to be a 
Project lifecycle alternative as the alternative addresses not only 
construction, but also operations, maintenance, and decommissioning of 
the solar facility.

Mitigation

    The BLM included seventeen mitigation measures including, but not 
limited to, the following measures to address key resources:

 Air emissions reduction measures (MM AIR-1)
 Reduced project footprint (MM WILD-1)
 Desert tortoise burrows (MM WILD-2)
 Pre-construction western monarch butterfly surveys (MM WILD-3)
 Pahrump Valley Buckwheat protection and topsoil salvage (MM 
VG-1)
 Invasive species management (MM VG-2)
 Timing of vegetation maintenance (MM VG-3)
 Tribal participation plan (MM NAC-1)
 Aviation glare notification (MM VR-1)
 Insulating gases (MM CC-1)

[[Page 90314]]

 Components of traffic and transportation plan (MM TRA-1)
 SR 160 and Tecopa Road intersection improvements (MM TRA-2)
 Cultural resource avoidance and monitoring (MM CR-1)
 Discovery of human remains (MM CR-2)
 Coordination with transmission line ROW holders/applicants (MM 
LU-1)
 Requirements for the paleontological resources monitoring and 
mitigation plan (MM PR-1)
 Groundwater pumping meter and development of a groundwater 
monitoring and reporting plan (MM WR-1).

    These mitigation measures, along with Project Design Features 
required by the Southern Nevada District Office, Solar PEIS, management 
plans, and interagency operating procedures, are provided in full in 
Appendix B of the Draft RMP Amendment/EIS.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes, 
including a 30-day public protest period and a concurrent 60-day 
Governor's consistency review on the Proposed RMP Amendment. The 
Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS is anticipated to be available for 
public protest by early summer 2025, and if the Project is authorized, 
the approved RMP Amendment and Record of Decision would be available by 
late summer 2025.
    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 
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 1501.9, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2 and 43 CFR 
part 2800)

Kimberly Prill,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-26598 Filed 11-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-21-P
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