70890 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 229 / Friday, November 28, 2014 / Notices 

Permit No. TE–128462 

Applicant: Jonathan S. Feenstra, 

Altadena, California 

The applicant requests a permit 

renewal to take (harass by survey) the 

southwestern willow flycatcher 

(Empidonax traillii extimus) in 

conjunction with survey activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–43911B 

Applicant: Jared I. Reed, Temecula, 

California 

The applicant requests a permit to 

take (capture, handle, and release) the 

San Bernardino Merriam’s kangaroo rat 

(Dipodomys merriami parvus) and 

Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys 

stephensi) in conjunction with survey 

and population monitoring activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–745541 

Applicant: Stephen J. Montgomery, 

Flagstaff, Arizona 

The applicant requests a permit 

renewal to take (capture, handle, and 

release) the Stephens’ kangaroo rat 

(Dipodomys stephensi) and Pacific 

pocket mouse (Perognathus 

longimembris pacificus), take (capture, 

handle, and release) the San Bernardino 

kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami 

parvus), take (capture, handle, release, 

and collect tissue and hair) the 

Amargosa vole (Microtus californicus 

scirpensis), and take (harass by survey) 

the Yuma Ridgway’s rail (Rallus 

obsoletus yumanensis) (originally listed 

as Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris 

yumanensis)) in conjunction with 

survey and population monitoring 

activities throughout the range of the 

species in California for the purpose of 

enhancing the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–43937B 

Applicant: Robert L. Sloan, San Luis 

Obispo, California 

The applicant requests a permit to 

take (locate, capture, handle, measure, 

release, and relocate) the Morro 

shoulderband snail (Helminthoglypta 

walkeriana) in conjunction with surveys 

and habitat monitoring activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–02496A 

Applicant: Kevin K. Ghalambor, Rancho 

Cordova, California 

The applicant requests a permit 

renewal to take (capture, collect, and 

collect vouchers) the Conservancy fairy 

shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio), 

longhorn fairy shrimp (Branchinecta 

longiantenna), Riverside fairy shrimp 

(Streptocephalus woottoni), San Diego 

fairy shrimp (Branchinecta 

sandiegonensis), and vernal pool 

tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus packardi) in 

conjunction with survey activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–50510A 

Applicant: Geoffrey D. Cline, Mariposa, 

California 

The applicant requests an amendment 

to a permit to take (survey, capture, 

handle, and release) the giant kangaroo 

rat (Dipodomys ingens), Fresno 

kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides 

exilis), and Tipton kangaroo rat 

(Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides) in 

conjunction with surveys and 

population monitoring activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–114928 

Applicant: John A. Howe, Sacramento, 

California 

The applicant requests a permit 

renewal to take (capture, collect, and 

collect vouchers) the Conservancy fairy 

shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio), 

longhorn fairy shrimp (Branchinecta 

longiantenna), Riverside fairy shrimp 

(Streptocephalus woottoni), San Diego 

fairy shrimp (Branchinecta 

sandiegonensis), and vernal pool 

tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus packardi) in 

conjunction with survey activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–439449 

Applicant: Brenton T. Spies, Simi 

Valley, California 

The applicant requests a permit 

amendment to take (harass by survey, 

capture, handle, tag, release, use 

enclosures, collect, transport, hold in 

captivity, propagate, and exhibit) the 

tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius 

newberryi), in conjunction with research 

activities throughout the range of the 

species in California for the purpose of 

enhancing the species’ survival. 

Permit No. TE–50895B 

Applicant: Angeles National Forest, 

Arcadia, California 

The applicant requests a permit to 

take (harass by survey and monitor 

nests) the southwestern willow 

flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), 

take (monitor nests) the least Bell’s vireo 

(Vireo bellii pusillus), and take (survey, 

capture, handle, relocate, and release) 

the unarmored threespine stickleback 

(Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni), 

arroyo toad (arroyo southwestern) 

(Anaxyrus californicus), and mountain 

yellow-legged frog (southern California 

DPS) (Rana muscosa), in conjunction 

with surveys, population monitoring, 

and invasive removal activities 

throughout the range of the species in 

California for the purpose of enhancing 

the species’ survival. 

Public Comments 

We invite public review and comment 

on each of these recovery permit 

applications. Comments and materials 

we receive will be available for public 

inspection, by appointment, during 

normal business hours at the address 

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 

notice. 

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. 

Michael Long, 

Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest 

Region, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28099 Filed 11–26–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNM930000 L51010000 ER0000 

LVRWG09G0690] 

Notice of Availability of the 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Proposed SunZia Southwest 

Transmission Project, New Mexico 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended, the Bureau of Land 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 229 / Friday, November 28, 2014 / Notices 70891 

Management (BLM) has prepared an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) to 

determine whether newly identified 

measures to mitigate potential impacts 

caused by the proposed SunZia 

Southwest Transmission Line Project to 

military operations and readiness 

activities require the BLM to prepare a 

supplement to the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS), which the BLM 

published in June 2013. The mitigation 

proposed by the Department of Defense 

(DOD) would involve the burial of three 

segments that total approximately 5 

miles of the SunZia Southwest 

Transmission Line Project within the 

area identified as the ‘‘call up area’’ 

north of the White Sands Missile Range 

along and within the preferred 

alternative corridor analyzed in the 

Final EIS. This notice announces the 

opening of a public comment period for 

the EA. 

DATES: To ensure that comments will be 

considered, the BLM must receive 

written comments on the EA by 

December 29, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

related to the EA by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: NMSunZiaProject@blm.gov. 

• Mail: Bureau of Land Management, 

New Mexico State Office, Attention: 

SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, 

P.O. Box 27115, Santa Fe, NM 87502– 

0115. 

• Courier or hand delivery: Bureau of 

Land Management, New Mexico State 

Office, Attention: Adrian Garcia, 301 

Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87508– 

1560. 

Copies of the EA are available in the 

New Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur 

Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87502, and online 

at www.blm.gov/nm/sunzia. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adrian Garcia, telephone 505–954– 

2199; address 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa 

Fe, NM 87502; email agarcia@blm.gov. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the 

above individual during normal 

business hours. The FIRS is available 24 

hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a 

message or question with the above 

individual. You will receive a reply 

during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SunZia 

Transmission, LLC proposes to 

construct, operate, and maintain two 

parallel overhead 500 kilovolt 

transmission lines located on Federal, 

State, and private lands from the 

proposed SunZia East Substation in 

Lincoln County, New Mexico, to the 

existing Pinal Central Substation in 

Pinal County, Arizona. If approved, the 

length of the transmission lines would 

range from 460 miles to over 500 miles 

depending on which route alignment is 

selected. The project has the potential to 

add 3,000 to 4,500 megawatts of electric 

capacity to the desert southwest region 

of the United States. 

In June 2013, the BLM published a 

Notice of Availability for the Final EIS 

in the Federal Register and released the 

Final EIS. Following the publication of 

the Final EIS, the DOD raised objections 

to the BLM’s Preferred Alternative 

Route through the ‘‘call-up area’’ north 

of the White Sands Missile Range. On 

May 27, 2014, the DOD proposed 

mitigation measures that, if adopted, 

would address the DOD’s prior 

objections to the SunZia project by 

resolving potential impacts to military 

operations and readiness activities, 

including the burial of three segments of 

the proposed transmission line for 

approximately 5 miles in the ‘‘call-up 

area.’’ In response to DOD’s proposal, 

the BLM has prepared an EA to examine 

whether the mitigation proposal 

requires the BLM to prepare a 

supplement to the Final EIS. In 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s NEPA 

regulations, 40 CFR 1501.3(b) and 

1502.9(c)(1), the EA examines whether 

DOD’s proposed mitigation to bury three 

segments of the proposed transmission 

line represent ‘‘substantial changes in 

the proposed action’’ or ‘‘significant 

new circumstances or information 

relevant to environmental concerns and 

bearing on the proposed action or its 

impacts’’ from what the BLM analyzed 

in the Final EIS. The EA’s scope is 

therefore limited to analyzing the 

impacts of DOD’s mitigation proposal, 

which is to bury three short segments 

totaling approximately 5 miles of the 

transmission line along the BLM’s 

preferred alternative route within the 

‘‘call-up area.’’ The EA describes the 

burial of the three segments, provides a 

detailed inventory of resources and the 

potential direct, indirect, and 

cumulative impacts resulting from the 

SunZia project with the mitigation 

proposal, and compares whether, and to 

what extent, the impacts from the burial 

differ from the impacts analyzed in the 

Final EIS. 

The BLM initiated the EA in June 

2014 and has subsequently coordinated 

with potentally affected landowners, 

project representatives, the New Mexico 

State Land Office, and DOD personnel. 

Cooperating agencies involved in the 

development of the EA include the 

Department of the Army, White Sands 

Missile Range, the DOD Siting 

Clearinghouse, Office of the Deputy 

Under Secretary (Installations and 

Environment), and the New Mexico 

State Land Office. The EA refers to the 

three proposed buried segments as the 

Eastern, Central, and Western segments. 

The Eastern Segment is located on State 

land in Torrance County, New Mexico; 

the Central Segment is located on State, 

BLM, and private land in Socorro 

County, New Mexico; and the Western 

Segment is located on BLM and private 

land in Socorro County, New Mexico. In 

the EA, the BLM compares the impacts 

associated with the burial of the three 

segments of the transmission line with 

the construction and operation of an 

above-ground transmission line as 

described in the Preferred Alternative in 

the June 2013 SunZia Final EIS. 

The BLM has reached a preliminary 

Finding of No New Significant Impact 

(FONNSI), as the analysis in the EA 

supports a conclusion that the 

Mitigation Proposal is not a substantial 

change from the Preferred Alternative 

and would not have new impacts 

significantly different from those 

analyzed for the Preferred Alternative in 

the SunZia Final EIS. Based on these 

findings, the BLM would intend to 

proceed with the Preferred Alternative 

identified in the SunZia Final EIS as 

modified by the Mitigation Proposal. A 

draft unsigned FONNSI is attached to 

the EA for review. 

Please note that public comments and 

information submitted including names, 

street addresses, and email addresses of 

persons who submit comments will be 

available for public review and 

disclosure at the above address during 

regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), 

Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. Also note that only those 

comments that relate to the proposed 

mitigation measure being analyzed in 

the EA (burial of three segments of the 

transmission line in the call-up area) 

will be considered by the BLM. 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. 

Aden L. Seidlitz, 

Associate State Director, New Mexico. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28098 Filed 11–26–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P 


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