Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 102 / Friday, May 29, 2009 / Notices 25765 

to help meet growing demand in the 

western United States, and enhance 

domestic energy security. 

The Southwest Area Transmission 

Group—a regional transmission 

planning organization—identified a 

need for the project. Its importance is 

demonstrated by the abundance of 

proposed projects that have submitted 

interconnection requests to transmission 

owners within the proposed project 

area, and the potential for renewable 

energy sites within the SunZia project 

area. Additional transmission would be 

required to support development of 

potential renewable energy projects in 

Arizona and New Mexico. In addition, 

the requirement of each State to meet 

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) 

and national interests in energy, 

demonstrate the need for the proposed 

project. 

The proposed transmission line route 

and alternatives developed through the 

NEPA process would cross BLM lands 

in Arizona and New Mexico, as well as 

State and private lands. To the extent 

feasible, the proposed route would use 

existing transmission line corridors and 

designated utility corridors located on 

Federal land. One of the 500 kV 

transmission lines would be constructed 

and operated as an alternating current 

(AC) facility. SunZia may construct and 

operate the other proposed transmission 

lines as either AC or direct current (DC). 

The SunZia transmission lines would 

interconnect with planned substations 

along the route. Equipment additions 

and modifications would be required at 

each of the interconnecting substations. 

Engineering studies would determine 

those requirements as part of the 

project. A right-of-way of up to 1,000 

feet in width and a lease-term of 50 

years would be required to construct, 

operate, and maintain the transmission 

lines, structures and appurtenances. If 

constructed, the project would be in 

operation year-round, transporting 

electrical power to major substation 

hubs in Arizona and New Mexico. The 

project would have a bi-directional 

transmission capacity of approximately 

3,000 megawatts or greater of electrical 

power. 

The proposed project would take 

approximately three years to construct 

and would likely be constructed in 

phased segments with an in-service date 

of 2013. Specific acreages of access 

roads and temporary work areas would 

be determined through the NEPA 

process and project design. 

In Arizona, approximately 43 miles of 

the proposed route would cross public 

land administered by the Safford and 

Tucson BLM Field Offices. In New 

Mexico, approximately 128 miles of the 

proposed route would cross public land 

administered by the BLM Las Cruces 

District Office and BLM Socorro Field 

Office. The proposed route would pass 

in the general vicinity of the following 

locations: 

Arizona: Coolidge, San Manuel, Safford, 

Willcox, Bowie, and San Simon; and 

New Mexico: Lordsburg, Deming, Hatch, 

Derry, Arrey, Truth or Consequences, 

San Antonio, Bingham, Ancho, and 

Carrizozo. 

The BLM is the lead Federal agency for 

the NEPA analysis process and 

preparation of the EIS. Cooperating 

agencies identified at this time could 

include: The Bureau of Reclamation, the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the New 

Mexico State Land Office, and the 

Arizona State Land Department. Other 

State and local governments will be 

invited to participate in the process, and 

consultation will occur with local, State, 

and tribal governments. 

The purpose of the public scoping 

process is to determine relevant issues 

that will influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis, including 

alternatives, and guide the process for 

developing the EIS. At present, the BLM 

has identified the following preliminary 

issues: The potential effects of the 

proposed action on wildlife habitat, 

plants, and animals including 

threatened, endangered, and sensitive 

species, visual resources, National 

Historic Trails and related viewsheds; 

Native American traditional cultural 

properties and sacred places; soils/water 

from surface disturbing activities; local 

and regional socioeconomic conditions; 

consistency with local government land 

use plans; and future reclamation/ 

mitigation from transmission line 

construction or location. The BLM 

encourages the public to send comments 

concerning the project as proposed, 

other feasible alternative locations, 

possible mitigation measures, and any 

other information relevant to the 

proposed action. 

Authorization of this proposal may 

require amendments to one or more 

RMPs. By this notice, the BLM is 

complying with requirements in 43 CFR 

1610.2(c) to notify the public of 

potential RMP amendments, predicated 

on the findings of the EIS. If RMP 

amendments are necessary, the BLM 

will integrate the RMP process with the 

NEPA process for this project. 

Your input is important and will be 

considered in the public scoping 

process. All comment submittals 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 above offices during business hours 

(7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail 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 can 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. 

William Merhege, 

Acting Deputy State Director, Lands and 

Resources. 

[FR Doc. E9–12512 Filed 5–28–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Feasibility Study and Environmental 

Impact Statement for Everglades 

National Park (Park) To Evaluate 

Modifications to the Tamiami Trail 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given, in 

accordance with the provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 

that the NPS is preparing a Feasibility 

Study and EIS to ‘‘evaluate the 

feasibility of additional bridge length, 

beyond that to be constructed pursuant 

to the Modified Water Deliveries to 

Everglades National Park Project (16 

U.S.C. 410r-S), including a continuous 

bridge, or additional bridges or some 

combination thereof, for the Tamiami 

Trail (United States Highway 41) to 

restore more natural water flow to 

Everglades National Park and Florida 

Bay and for the purpose of restoring 

habitat within the Park and the 

ecological connectivity between the 

Park and the Water Conservation Areas’’ 

(2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act). 

The NPS is the lead agency on this 

federal action; however, the NPS has 

requested the United States Army Corps 

of Engineers (USACOE) be a cooperating 

agency on this effort, with the Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA) 

providing technical assistance. 

DATES: Written comments regarding the 

proposed project must be postmarked 

no later than 30 days from the 

publication of this Notice of Intent 

(NOI) in the Federal Register. As part of 

this process, public workshops will be 

held to solicit public input about the 

proposed project. The date, time, and 

location of the public workshops will be 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

25766 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 102 / Friday, May 29, 2009 / Notices 

announced in the newspaper Miami 

Herald and through the NPS Planning, 

Environment, and Public Comment 

(PEPC) Web site http:// 

parkplanning.nps.gov. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to: National Park Service, 

Attention Pat Kenney, Denver Service 

Center, Planning Division, P.O. Box 

25287, Denver, Colorado 80225–0287. 

Comments may also be submitted via 

the PEPC Web site using the links 

provided below. General information 

about the proposed project is available 

at the office of the Superintendent, 

Everglades National Park, 40001 State 

Road 9336, Homestead, Florida 33034. 

Additionally, interested persons may 

view the PEPC Web site: http:// 

parkplanning.nps.gov, then select 

‘‘Everglades NP’’ from the drop down 

box. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail 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. We will always make 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives of or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

B. Kimball Superintendent, Everglades 

and Dry Tortugas National Parks, 40001 

SR 9336, Homestead, FL 33034 or by 

telephone at 305–242–7800. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

a. Authorization: This project is 

authorized under the 2009 Omnibus 

Appropriations Act. 

b. Project Scope: The 2009 Omnibus 

Appropriations Act directs the Secretary 

of the Interior, acting through the NPS, 

to immediately ‘‘evaluate the feasibility 

of additional bridge length, beyond that 

to be constructed pursuant to the 

Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades 

National Park Project (16 U.S.C. 410r-S), 

including a continuous bridge, or 

additional bridges or some combination 

thereof, for the Tamiami Trail (United 

States Highway 41) to restore more 

natural water flow to Everglades 

National Park and Florida Bay and for 

the purpose of restoring habitat within 

the Park and the ecological connectivity 

between the Park and the Water 

Conservation Areas.’’ 

Specific Objectives include: 

• Provide for substantial increases in 

flows under the Tamiami Trail to 

Northeast Shark River Slough in the 

Park in order to restore the natural 

resources and processes in the park. 

• Remove obstructions to sheet flow 

between Water Conservation Area 3 and 

the Park. 

• To the extent practicable, restore 

ecological conditions in Park. 

• Ensure compatibility with other 

pre-Comprehensive Everglades 

Restoration Plan (CERP) and future 

CERP projects. 

• Identify seepage management 

requirements associated with the 

recommended plan. 

c. Preliminary Alternatives: The 

previously examined alternatives in the 

2005 Revised General Reevaluation 

Report will be reevaluated and 

modified. In addition, the 

environmental, engineering, real estate, 

and cost estimates will be revised. 

d. Issues: The Integrated Feasibility 

Study/EIS will consider impacts on 

health and safety, aesthetics and 

recreation, cultural resources, socioeconomic resources, hydrology, water 

quality, ecosystem habitat, fish and 

wildlife resources, threatened and 

endangered species, and construction 

costs. 

e. Scoping: In order to develop a 

realistic plan, NPS will seek input from 

other resource and technical agencies 

and stakeholders, including the 

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, 

Seminole Tribe of Florida and Seminole 

Tribe of Oklahoma, the South Florida 

Water Management District, the Florida 

Department of Transportation, Florida 

Department of Environmental 

Protection, State Historic Preservation 

Office (SHPO) and the FHWA. The final 

recommended plan will take into 

consideration the Integrated Schedule 

developed with the policy guidance of 

the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration 

Task Force and will be consistent with 

the National Academy of Sciences 

recommendations for Incremental 

Adaptive Restoration. The Park, as the 

project lead, will be responsible for 

completion of the final report, including 

all technical analyses and NEPA 

requirements. This scope may be 

amended by the agreement of the 

parties. 

f. Public Involvement: Public scoping 

meetings and workshops will be held 

over the course of the study; the exact 

locations, dates, and times will be 

announced in public notices and local 

newspapers. Public meetings will be 

held after release of the Draft EIS; the 

exact locations, dates, and times will be 

announced in a public notice and local 

newspapers. 

g. Coordination: The proposed action 

is in accordance with the Fish and 

Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958 and 

the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 

The coordinating agencies include the 

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation 

Commission, Florida Department of 

Environmental Protection, South 

Florida Water Management District, 

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, 

Seminole Tribe of Florida, Seminole 

Tribe of Oklahoma, USACOE, and 

FHWA. 

h. Other Environmental Review and 

Consultation: The proposed action 

would involve evaluation for 

compliance with guidelines pursuant to 

Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act, 

the National Historic Preservation Act, 

and any other applicable law. 

i. Agency Role: As a cooperating 

agency, the USACOE will provide 

extensive information and assistance 

updating the environmental, 

engineering, real estate, and cost/benefit 

analyses for all alternatives. 

j. EIS Preparation: The draft 

Integrated Feasibility Study/EIS is 

currently estimated for publication in 

March 2010. 

Authority: The authority for publishing 

this notice is contained in 40 CFR 1506.6. 

Dated: May 5, 2009. 

Art Frederick, 

Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region, 

National Park Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–12507 Filed 5–28–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–70–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLAZ9120000 L12200000 AL0000 

6100.241A0] 

State of Arizona Resource Advisory 

Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Arizona Resource 

Advisory Council Meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM), Arizona 

Resource Advisory Council (RAC), will 

meet on June 25, 2009, at the BLM 

National Training Center located at 9828 

North 31st Avenue in Phoenix from 8 

a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Morning agenda 

items include: Review and approval of 

the March 26, 2009, meeting minutes for 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES