75834 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 

Authority 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.) and NEPA regulations (40 CFR 

1506.6). 

Martin Miller, 

Acting Assistant Regional Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29751 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLORV000.51010000.ER0000.

LVRWH09H0480; OROR065375; IDI036029 

HAG 14–0196] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Land-use Plan Amendments for the 

Boardman to Hemingway 

Transmission Line Project 

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended, and the Federal Land 

Policy and Management Act of 1976, as 

amended, the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) Vale District Office 

announces the availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

and Land-Use Plan Amendments 

(LUPAs) for the Boardman to 

Hemingway Transmission Line Project 

(Project) and by this notice is 

announcing the opening of the public 

comment period. 

DATES: The Draft EIS is now available 

for public review. To be considered in 

the Final EIS, written comments on the 

Draft EIS must be received within 90 

days after the Environmental Protection 

Agency’s publication in the Federal 

Register of a Notice of Availability 

(NOA) of this Draft EIS. 

All public meetings or other 

opportunities for public involvement 

related to the Project will be announced 

to the public by the BLM at least 15 days 

in advance through the public Web site 

at: http://www.boardmanto

hemingway.com, project mailings, and 

local media news releases. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Draft EIS have 

been sent to affected Federal agencies, 

state and local governments and public 

libraries in the Project area. The Draft 

EIS and supporting documents will be 

available electronically on the project 

Web site at: http://

www.boardmantohemingway.com. 

Compact Disc copies of the document 

are available through request on this 

project Web site address. A list of 

locations where copies of the Draft EIS 

are available for public inspection can 

be found in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 

Written comments may be submitted 

by the following methods: 

• email: comment@

boardmantohemingway.com 

• mail: Boardman to Hemingway 

Transmission Line Project, P.O. Box 

655, Vale, OR 97918 

• courier or hand delivery: Bureau of 

Land Management, Vale District Office, 

100 Oregon Street, Vale, OR 97918 

• no faxed or anonymous comments 

will be accepted 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tamara Gertsch, BLM National Project 

Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 

Vale District Office, 100 Oregon Street, 

Vale, OR 97918, or by telephone at 307– 

775–6115. Any persons wishing to be 

added to the project mailing list of 

interested parties may write or call Ms. 

Gertsch at the address and phone 

number above. 

Persons who use telecommunication 

devices for the deaf may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 

307–775–6115 to contact Ms. Gertsch 

during normal business hours. The FIRS 

is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 

week, to leave a message or questions 

with the above individual regarding the 

project. You will receive a reply during 

normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Idaho 

Power Company submitted applications 

to the BLM for a right-of-way (ROW) 

grant, the United States Forest Service 

(USFS) for a special use authorization, 

and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation) for an authorization/

permit, to use federal lands for portions 

of a proposed 300 mile 500-kilovolt (kV) 

single-circuit, alternating-current 

transmission line and ancillary facilities 

between a new or existing substation 

near Boardman, Oregon, and the 

Hemingway Substation, near Melba, 

Idaho. Idaho Power Company filed its 

applications in December 2007 and then 

filed revised applications in November 

2011 and May 2012 to reflect changes to 

the proposed action. Idaho Power 

Company’s objective for the Project is to 

provide additional capacity to connect 

transmission between the Pacific 

Northwest and Intermountain Regions 

in order to alleviate existing 

transmission constraints and to ensure 

sufficient capacity that will enable 

Idaho Power Company to meet present 

and forecasted load requirements. The 

Project description includes a rebuild of 

two separate 138 and 69-kV lines into 

double circuit monopole structures for 

short distances. Electrical equipment to 

connect the 500 kV transmission line 

would be installed at the endpoint 

substations. The proposed ROW width 

is 250 feet for the 500 kV portion of the 

line and 100 feet for two 138/69 kV 

rebuild sections of the line. The BLM’s 

purpose and need for action is to 

respond to Idaho Power Company’s 

ROW application. 

The BLM published a Notice of Intent 

(NOI) to Prepare an EIS on September 

12, 2008 (73 FR 52944), and held public 

scoping meetings in October 2008. On 

July 27, 2010 (75 FR 44008), the BLM 

published a revised NOI to Prepare an 

EIS in response to substantive changes 

in Idaho Power Company’s proposal as 

submitted in the revised application, 

and sought public input on the issues 

associated with the project. The issues 

brought forward from the scoping 

comments for analysis in the Draft EIS 

include: 

• Use of Federal versus private 

property; 

• Potential impacts to private 

agricultural operations and irrigated 

lands and other existing land use; 

• Potential impacts to Greater Sagegrouse; 

• Proximity to other protected 

wildlife and habitats (e.g., fish and 

water resources, plants, Washington 

ground squirrel); 

• Potential impacts to Department of 

Defense operations; 

• Potential impacts to lands with 

wilderness characteristics; 

• Potential impacts to visual 

resources, including visual impacts to 

cultural resources; 

• Potential impacts to historic 

properties (e.g., Oregon Trail) and 

paleontological resources; 

• Native American concerns; 

• Potential impacts to air quality; 

• Potential impacts of noxious weeds 

and invasive species; 

• Potential Socio-economic impacts; 

• Potential health effects from electromagnetic fields; and 

• Noise and potential line 

interference with electronic devices. 

The scoping comments and 

preliminary alternatives, some of which 

were eliminated from further 

consideration are documented and 

discussed in the Boardman to 

Hemingway Transmission Project Siting 

Study Report available online at: http:// 

www.boardmantohemingway.com/

documents/B2H_Siting_Study_8–17– 

10.pdf. The Draft EIS analyzes the 

environmental consequences of granting 

a ROW to Idaho Power Company to 

construct, operate, and maintain, the 

transmission project. The Draft EIS also 

analyzes: (1) The consequences of the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 75835 

USFS issuing a special use 

authorization to construct, operate, and 

maintain those portions of the 

transmission line and ancillary facilities 

located on lands administered by the 

USFS; and (2) the consequences of 

amending the USFS’s 1990 Land and 

Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan) necessary to implement the 

proposed Project (36 CFR 219.13). 

Depending on the alternative selected, 

Reclamation and the U.S. Department of 

the Navy (Navy) may also need to issue 

authorizations for any route which may 

cross lands, easements or facilities 

administered by those agencies. The 

Draft EIS analyzes the environmental 

impacts associated with the alternatives 

that would require Reclamation and 

Navy authorizations. Additionally, the 

proposed Project may require BLM and 

USFS amendments to Resource 

Management Plans and Forest Plans. As 

required by 43 CFR 1610.2(c) and 36 

CFR 219.8, the BLM and USFS have 

provided public notices regarding the 

potential plan amendments through the 

two NOIs, and this notice. The BLM and 

USFS analyzed the impacts of the 

potential plan amendments in the Draft 

EIS alternatives. 

To the extent practicable, the 

proposed routes were located to within 

existing West Wide Energy corridors 

designated pursuant to Section 368 of 

the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other 

federally-designated utility corridors, or 

were located in parallel existing linear 

infrastructure, unless precluded by 

resource or routing constraints or 

technical infeasibility. Due primarily to 

private land ownership patterns, 

particularly in the northern half of the 

project area, the average land ownership 

pattern for all the routes is 

approximately 67 percent private/state 

land and 33 percent Federal land. A 

total of 23 Federal, state, and local 

governmental agencies participated with 

the BLM in the preparation of this Draft 

EIS. 

The Cooperating agencies include: 

Bonneville Power Administration; U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Bureau 

of Reclamation; U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; 

U.S. Air Force; U.S. Navy; Idaho Office 

of Energy Resources; Oregon 

Department of Energy; Oregon 

Department of Fish and Wildlife; 

Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Baker and 

Malheur Counties, Oregon; Canyon, 

Payette, and Washington Counties, 

Idaho; the cities of Boardman, Oregon 

and Parma, Idaho; Owyhee Irrigation 

District; and the Joint Committee of the 

Owyhee Project. The transmission line 

and ancillary facilities would affect 

lands in Morrow, Umatilla, Union, 

Baker, and Malheur Counties in Oregon, 

and Owyhee County in Idaho. 

In addition to the Proposed Action 

Alternative, the Draft EIS analyzes a No 

Action Alternative and 12 alternative 

routes (including a route variation) 

totaling approximately 550 miles for all 

routes. For this Draft EIS, the No Action 

Alternative means that the BLM and 

other Federal decision-making agencies 

would not grant or authorize the 

transmission line and ancillary 

facilities. 

The Proposed Action Alternative for 

the project extends from the Grassland 

substation in northeastern Oregon and 

initially heads west to the Horn Butte 

Substation and then continues to the 

south, before turning east on the south 

side of the Naval Weapons System 

Training Facility at Boardman, and 

continuing on a southeasterly path 

through Morrow, Umatilla, and Union 

Counties, east of La Grande. The route 

would continue on a southeasterly path 

to the northeast of North Powder, before 

entering Baker County. In Baker County, 

the route would continue southeast, 

passing east of Highway 30 and east of 

Baker City, towards Durkee and staying 

west of Weatherby. Within Malheur 

County, the route would then move 

back to the west towards Brogan and 

then resume southeasterly heading west 

of Vale, crossing Highway 20. 

Continuing to the southeast, the route 

would leave Oregon and move into 

southwestern Idaho, Owyhee County, 

ending at the Hemingway Substation, 

near Melba, Idaho. 

In addition to the Proposed Action, 

the following alternative routes are 

identified in the DEIS. The alternatives 

within Morrow County include two 

alternative substations Horn Butte 

(Portland General Electric, under 

construction) and the Longhorn 

Substation (Bonneville Power 

Administration), as well as two route 

alternatives and a route variation (Horn 

Butte, Longhorn and the Longhorn 

Variation). The Horn Butte Alternative 

provides an opportunity to connect to 

the Horn Butte Substation and combines 

with the Proposed Action Alternative. 

The Longhorn Alternative and Longhorn 

Variation Route provide an opportunity 

to connect to the Longhorn Substation 

and were developed to reduce impacts 

to the U.S. Department of the Navy 

military operations areas, the Oregon 

National Guard, and impacts to irrigated 

agriculture. Alternatives considered in 

Union County include the Glass Hill 

Alternative as well as the Proposed 

Action (however the Proposed Action 

more closely follows existing 

infrastructure). The Baker County 

alternatives include the Flagstaff, Burnt 

River Mountain and the Timber Canyon 

Alternatives, each of which combine 

with the Proposed Action into five 

separate alternatives; (all routes with the 

exception of Timber Canyon are 

approximately the same length, however 

the Timber Canyon route is 

approximately 15 miles longer than the 

other alternatives). These alternative 

routes were developed to address visual 

impacts to Baker City as well as impacts 

to Greater Sage-Grouse, to parallel 

existing infrastructure, and to reduce 

impacts to the National Historic Oregon 

Trail Interpretative Center as well as to 

agriculture. At the south end of Baker 

County and the northern section of 

Malheur County there are two 

alternatives in addition to the Proposed 

Action Alternative. The Willow Creek 

Alternative was developed to reduce 

impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse habitat 

and the Tub Mountain South 

Alternative was developed to use 

portions of the West Wide Energy 

Corridors (WWEC) and further reduce 

impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse habitat. 

The Proposed Action then travels 

southeasterly and connects with three 

additional alternatives, including the 

Double Mountain Alternative, a small 

alternative connected to the Proposed 

Action that was developed to reduce 

impacts to agriculture. 

The Malheur A Alternative was 

developed to address use of the existing 

WWEC and Resource Management Plan 

corridors and Malheur S was developed 

to reduce potential impacts to lands 

with wilderness characteristics and the 

Owyhee Below the Dam ACEC. 

The Agency Preferred Alternative 

(APA) starts at the north end of the 

project and includes the Longhorn 

Substation, the Longhorn Variation, and 

the Proposed Action route in Morrow 

County. The APA continues along the 

Proposed Action route through Umatilla 

and Union Counties, while within Baker 

County it includes sections of the 

Proposed Action route, and the Flagstaff 

and Burnt River Mountain Alternatives. 

In Malheur County, the APA route is 

comprised of the Tub Mountain South 

Alternative and the Proposed Action. 

Lastly, within Owyhee County, Idaho, 

the APA follows the Proposed Action 

route to the Hemingway Substation. 

Approximately 47 percent of the APA is 

within or adjacent to designated 

corridors (25% of which are West Wide 

Energy Corridors (WWEC) and 22% 

non-WWEC designated corridors). 

The BLM, in coordination with the 

other Federal, state, and local 

government agencies, developed the 

agency preferred alternative through a 

comparative evaluation of routing 

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75836 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 

opportunities and constraints and the 

relative potential impacts among the 

various alternate routes and route 

variations. 

The BLM, USFS, and other agencies 

worked together to develop alternative 

routes that would conform to existing 

Federal land-use plans. However, this 

objective was not reached for several of 

the alternative routes analyzed in the 

Draft EIS. The agencies identify and 

analyze proposed plan amendments 

alternatives in the Draft EIS. Decisions 

by the USFS to amend land 

management plans and to authorize 

special use authorizations are also 

subject to administrative review (36 CFR 

part 218 Subparts A and B). In 

accordance with 36 CFR 219.59, the 

USFS has elected to use the 

administrative review procedures of the 

BLM as described above. 

The following land-use plan 

amendments may be needed to bring the 

Project into conformance with the 

applicable Resource Management Plans 

(RMP) for BLM-managed land and Land 

and Resource Management Plans 

(LRMP) for National Forest System land 

crossed by the Project, depending on 

Project approval and on the final route 

selected. 

• USFS’s Wallowa-Whitman National 

Forest LRMP: Amendments related to 

Regional Forester Amendment #2 (i.e., 

‘‘Eastside Screens’’) including removing 

trees larger than or equal to 21’’ in 

diameter. Amendment to allow the 

Project to exceed prescribed visual 

quality objectives. 

• BLM’s Baker RMP: Amendments to 

Visual Resource Management (VRM) III 

classification near the National Historic 

Oregon Trail Interpretative Center. 

• BLM’s Southeast Oregon RMP: 

Amendments to VRM II segments across 

the Owyhee River Canyon (below the 

Owyhee Dam) and VRM III in limited 

areas. 

• BLM’s Owyhee RMP: No required 

plan amendments. 

The BLM will utilize and coordinate 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

comment process to satisfy the public 

involvement process for Section 106 of 

the National Historic Preservation Act 

(16 U.S.C. 470(f)), as provided for in 36 

CFR 800.2(d)(3). Ongoing consultations 

with Native American Tribes will 

continue in accordance with policy and 

Tribal concerns (including impacts on 

Indian trust assets) will be given due 

consideration. Federal, state, and local 

agencies, along with other stakeholders 

that may be interested or affected by the 

BLM’s decision on this Project, are 

invited to participate. Copies of the 

Draft EIS are available for public 

inspection during normal business 

hours at the following locations: 

• BLM—Idaho State Office, 1387 

South Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 

• BLM-Boise District Office, 3948 

Development Avenue, Boise, ID 

• Boise Public Library, 715 South 

Capitol Boulevard, Boise, ID, 

• BLM-Owyhee Field Office, 201st 

Avenue West, Marsing, ID 

• Owyhee County Planning 

Department, 17069 Basey Street, 

Murphy, ID 

• Nampa Public Library, 101 11th 

Avenue South, Nampa, ID 

• Baker County Planning Department, 

1995 3rd Street, Baker City, OR 

• Baker County Library, 2400 Resort 

Street, Baker City, OR 

• BLM-Baker Field Office, 3285 11th 

Street, Baker City, OR 

• Boardman City Library, 200 South 

Main Street, Boardman, OR 

• Harney County Public Library, 80 

West D Street, Burns, OR 

• Hermiston Public Library, 235 East 

Gladys Avenue, Hermiston, OR 

• Morrow County Planning 

Department, 205 N.E 3rd Street, Irrigon, 

OR 

• Grant County Library, 507 South 

Canyon Boulevard, John Day, OR 

• La Grande Public Library, 2006 4th 

Street, La Grande, OR 

• Union County Planning 

Department, 1001 4th Street, Suite C, La 

Grande, OR 

• USFS-Wallowa-Whitman National 

Forest Office, 3502 Highway 30, La 

Grande, OR 

• USFS-Wallowa-Whitman National 

Forest, 1550 Dewey Avenue, Baker City, 

OR 

• Pendleton Public Library, 502 SW. 

Dorion Avenue, Pendleton, OR 

• Umatilla County Planning 

Department, 216 SE. 4th Street, 

Pendleton, OR 

• BLM-Prineville District Office, 3050 

NE. 3rd Street, Prineville, OR 

• Ontario Library, 388 SW. 2nd 

Avenue, Ontario, OR 

• BLM-Vale District Office, 100 

Oregon Street, Vale, OR 

• Malheur County Planning 

Department, 251 B Street, West Vale, OR 

• Oregon Dept. of Energy, 625 Marion 

Street, NE., Salem, OR 

• BLM-Oregon State Office, 1220 SW 

Third Avenue, Portland, OR 

• North Powder City Library, 290 East 

Street, North Powder 

Your input is important and will be 

considered in the environmental and 

land-use planning analysis processes. 

The BLM and USFS request that 

comments be structured to contain 

sufficient detail to allow the agencies to 

address them in the Final EIS. The BLM, 

USFS, and Reclamation will consider all 

timely filed comments and respond to 

them in the Final EIS. All comment 

submissions must include the 

commenter’s name and street address. 

Comments, including the names and 

addresses of the commenter, will be 

available for public inspection at the 

locations listed above during normal 

business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or any other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, be advised that your entire 

comment, including your personal 

identifying information, may be 

publicly available at any time. While 

you may ask us in your comment to 

withhold from public review your 

personal identifying information, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Jerome E. Perez, 

State Director, Oregon/Washington. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29770 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNM950000 L13110000.BX0000 

15XL1109PF] 

Notice of Filing of Plats of Survey, New 

Mexico 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of filing of plats of 

survey. 

SUMMARY: The plats of survey described 

below are scheduled to be officially 

filed in the New Mexico State Office, 

Bureau of Land Management, Santa Fe, 

New Mexico, thirty (30) calendar days 

from the date of this publication. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

These plats will be available for 

inspection in the New Mexico State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management, 

301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New 

Mexico. Copies may be obtained from 

this office upon payment. Contact 

Marcella Montoya at 505–954–2097, or 

by email at mmontoya@blm.gov, for 

assistance. 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. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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