Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 124 / Tuesday, June 30, 2009 / Notices 31307 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments related to 

the project by any of the following 

methods: 

• E-mail: 

Nextlight_Primm_NV_SEP@blm.gov 

• Fax: (702) 515–5010, attention 

Gregory Helseth. 

• Mail: BLM, Las Vegas Field Office, 

Attn: Gregory Helseth, 4701 North 

Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 

89130–2301. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information and/or to have your 

name added to the mailing list, contact 

Gregory Helseth, Renewable Energy 

Project Manager, at (702) 515–5173; or 

e-mail at 

Nextlight_Primm_NV_SEP@blm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NextLight 

Renewable Power, LLC, has submitted 

two applications for rights-of-way for 

the construction, operation, 

maintenance, and termination of two 

solar energy generation sites. The two 

applications are identified as NVN– 

085077 Silver State South Solar Project, 

and NVN–085801 Silver State North 

Solar Project. The proposed projects 

would consist of photovoltaic panels 

and related right-of-way appurtenances, 

including a substation and switchyard 

facilities. The proposed projects, 

combined, would produce 

approximately 400 megawatts of 

electricity, and would be located on 

approximately 7,840 acres of public 

lands east of Primm, Nevada. 

Issues that are anticipated to be 

addressed in this EIS include threatened 

and endangered species impacts, visual 

impacts, socioeconomic impacts, and 

cumulative impacts. The EIS will 

analyze the site-specific impacts on air 

quality, biological resources, cultural 

resources, water resources, geological 

resources and hazards, hazardous 

materials handling, land and airspace 

use, noise, paleontological resources, 

public health, socioeconomics, soils, 

traffic and transportation, visual 

resources, waste management, worker 

safety, and fire protection, as well as 

facility design engineering, efficiency, 

reliability, transmission system 

engineering, transmission line safety, 

and nuisance. Native American Tribal 

consultations will be conducted in 

accordance with policy, and Tribal 

concerns will be given due 

consideration, including impacts on 

Indian trust assets. Federal, State, and 

local agencies, as well as individuals or 

organizations that may be interested in 

or affected by the BLM’s decision on 

this project are invited to participate in 

the scoping process and, if eligible, may 

request or be requested by the BLM to 

participate as a cooperating agency. 

Documents pertinent to this project 

may be examined at the Las Vegas Field 

Office. Additional opportunities for 

public participation will be provided 

upon publication of the draft EIS. 

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. 

(Authority: 43 CFR Part 2800) 

Robert B. Ross Jr., 

Las Vegas Field Manager. 

[FR Doc. E9–15470 Filed 6–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLWO350000.L14300000] 

Notice of Availability of Maps and 

Additional Public Scoping for 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement To Develop and Implement 

Agency-Specific Programs for Solar 

Energy Development; Bureau of Land 

Management Approach for Processing 

Existing and Future Solar Applications 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) and the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) (the Agencies) are 

announcing the availability of maps 

depicting solar energy study areas to be 

analyzed in their joint Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement to 

Develop and Implement AgencySpecific Programs for Solar Energy 

Development (Solar PEIS) and the 

opportunity for additional public 

scoping. The BLM is issuing this Notice 

to inform the public of the availability 

of the solar energy study area maps; to 

solicit public comments for 

consideration in identifying 

environmental issues, existing resource 

data, and industry interest with respect 

to the solar energy study areas in 

particular; and to explain how the BLM 

will address existing and future solar 

energy development applications on 

BLM-administered lands. 

DATES: The time period for public 

comments starts with the publication of 

this notice in the Federal Register and 

will continue through July 30, 2009. 

Comments received or postmarked after 

that date will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by the following methods: 

• Electronically, using the online 

comment form available on the project 

Web site: http://solareis.anl.gov. This is 

the preferred method of commenting. 

• In writing, addressed to: Solar 

Energy PEIS, Argonne National 

Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue—EVS/ 

900, Argonne, IL 60439. 

Availability of Maps: Maps of the 

solar energy study areas are available 

electronically from the project Web site: 

http://solareis.anl.gov. The maps may 

also be obtained from the following 

BLM offices: 

Arizona State Office, One North Central 

Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 

85004. 

California State Office, 2800 Cottage 

Way, Suite W–1623, Sacramento, CA 

95825. 

Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield 

Street, Lakewood, CO 80215. 

Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial 

Blvd., Reno, NV 89520. 

New Mexico State Office, 1474 Rodeo 

Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505. 

Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, 

Suite 500, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information contact: Linda 

Resseguie, BLM Washington Office, 

linda_resseguie@blm.gov, 202–452– 

7774; or Lisa Jorgensen, Department of 

Energy, Golden Field Office, 

lisa.jorgensen@go.doe.gov, 303–275– 

4906. You may also visit the Solar PEIS 

Web site at http://solareis.anl.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

29, 2008, the Agencies published a 

Notice of Intent to Prepare a 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement to Evaluate Solar Energy 

Development (73 FR 30908). 

Subsequently, the Agencies held a series 

of public scoping meetings, received 

public comments, and published a 

scoping summary report, available at 

http://solareis.anl.gov. 

On March 11, 2009, the Secretary of 

the Interior issued Secretarial Order No. 

3285, which announced a policy goal of 

identifying and prioritizing specific 

locations best suited for large-scale 

production of solar energy. Also, the 

BLM received funding from the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act to accelerate permitting of 

renewable energy projects on public 

lands. A portion of that funding is being 

used to enhance the Solar PEIS by 

enabling in-depth environmental 

analysis of 24 specific tracts of public 


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31308 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 124 / Tuesday, June 30, 2009 / Notices 

lands which have excellent solar 

development potential and limited 

resource conflicts. 

The Solar PEIS will help BLM 

identify lands appropriate for solar 

energy development and establish a 

comprehensive list of mitigation 

requirements applicable to all future 

solar energy development on BLMadministered lands. As part of the Solar 

PEIS, the Agencies will conduct indepth environmental analyses of 24 

solar energy study areas for the purpose 

of determining whether such areas 

should be designated as Solar Energy 

Zones (SEZs), specific locations 

determined best suited for large-scale 

production of solar energy. 

The solar energy study areas were 

identified based on preliminary results 

of California’s Renewable Energy 

Transmission Initiative, the Western 

Governors’ Association Western 

Renewable Energy Zone and 

Transmission Study, and existing BLM 

resource information. Criteria used to 

identify solar energy study areas include 

requirements that the area: be a 

minimum size of 2,000 acres, be near 

existing roads and existing or 

designated transmission line routes, and 

have a slope of less than 5%. Sensitive 

resource areas were also removed from 

consideration, including the following 

categories of lands: 

(1) National Landscape Conservation 

System lands (except that lands within 

the California Desert Conservation Area 

that have no other special designation 

may be included in a solar energy study 

area); 

(2) Threatened and endangered 

species designated critical habitat; 

(3) Back-country byways; 

(4) Areas of known Tribal concern; 

(5) Areas of known high cultural site 

density; and 

(6) Areas designated for right-of-way 

avoidance or right-of-way exclusion in 

BLM land use plans. Such areas include 

BLM areas of critical environmental 

concern, areas with important visual 

resources, special recreation 

management areas, areas allocated to 

maintain wilderness characteristics, 

wildlife movement corridors, and areas 

where the BLM has made a commitment 

to take certain actions with respect to 

sensitive species habitat. 

Some or all of the solar energy study 

areas may be found appropriate for 

designation as SEZs as described above. 

The Agencies are making the maps of 

the solar energy study areas available to 

the public and soliciting written 

comments to provide an opportunity for 

public input as part of the ongoing Solar 

PEIS analysis. Specifically, the Agencies 

request information and comments on 

the potential for significant impacts of 

solar energy development on known 

resources within a solar energy study 

area and the economic viability of solar 

energy development within specific 

areas. No additional public meetings are 

planned prior to the release of the draft 

Solar PEIS; however, the public will 

have additional opportunities to 

comment when the draft Solar PEIS is 

released. 

The BLM’s objective for the Solar 

PEIS is to create a more efficient process 

for authorizing solar energy 

development on public lands that 

would also: 

• Facilitate near-term utility-scale 

solar energy development on public 

lands; 

• Minimize potential environmental, 

social, and economic impacts; 

• Provide the solar industry 

flexibility in proposing and developing 

solar energy projects (location, facility 

size, technology, etc.); 

• Optimize existing transmission 

corridors; and 

• Standardize the authorization 

process for solar energy development on 

BLM-administered lands. 

The BLM will continue to accept new 

solar applications. The BLM is in the 

process of considering alternative 

procedures, such as non-competitive 

and competitive, application fees, and 

diligent development requirements, for 

solar energy development applications 

within the solar energy study areas. Any 

entity with an existing application for 

lands within the solar energy study 

areas received by the BLM prior to June 

30, 2009 will continue to be processed 

under the BLM’s current procedures. 

Applications received after June 30, 

2009 for lands inside the solar energy 

study areas will be subject to the Record 

of Decision (ROD) for the Solar PEIS and 

any alternative procedures developed by 

BLM for non-competitive and 

competitive processes. All applications 

received for lands outside of the solar 

energy study areas will be processed 

under the BLM’s current procedures. 

Any right-of-way grant for a solar energy 

application issued after the BLM’s ROD 

for the Solar PEIS may be issued subject 

to the requirements adopted in the ROD. 

The Agencies invite interested 

Federal and State agencies, 

organizations, Native American tribes 

and members of the public to submit 

written comments to assist in 

identifying significant environmental 

issues, existing resource data, and 

industry interest with respect to the 

solar energy study areas. You may 

submit comments in writing using one 

of the methods listed in the 

‘‘ADDRESSES’’ section above. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

e-mail address, or other personal 

identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comments—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. 

Mike Pool, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management. 

[FR Doc. E9–15471 Filed 6–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLWO350000.L14300000] 

Notice of Proposed Withdrawal and 

Opportunity for Public Meeting; 

Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, 

New Mexico, and Utah 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior 

proposes to withdraw approximately 

676,048 acres of public lands from 

settlement, sale, location, or entry under 

the general land laws, including the 

mining laws, on behalf of the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) to protect and 

preserve solar energy study areas for 

future solar energy development. This 

notice segregates the lands for up to 2 

years from surface entry and mining 

while various studies and analyses are 

made to support a final decision on the 

withdrawal application. The lands will 

remain open to the mineral leasing laws. 

DATES: Comments and requests for a 

public meeting must be received by 

September 28, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments and meeting 

requests should be sent to the BLM 

Director, 1849 C Street NW. (WO350), 

Washington, DC, 20240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Linda Resseguie, BLM, 202–452–7774, 

or one of the following BLM State 

Offices. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

applicant is the Bureau of Land 

Management at the address above and 

its petition requests the Secretary of the 

Interior to withdraw, subject to valid 

existing rights, approximately 676,048 

acres of public lands located in the 

States of Arizona, California, Colorado, 

Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah from 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES6