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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 124 / Tuesday, June 30, 2009 / Notices 31309 

settlement, sale, location, or entry under 

the general land laws, including the 

mining laws, but not the mineral leasing 

laws. The lands are identified in the 

maps referenced in the Notice of 

Availability of Maps and Additional 

Public Scoping for Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement to 

Develop and Implement AgencySpecific Programs for Solar Energy 

Development; Bureau of Land 

Management Approach for Processing 

Existing and Future Solar Applications 

to be published in the Federal Register. 

Copies of the maps are available online 

at http://solareis.anl.gov and are also 

available from the BLM offices listed 

below: 

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. 

The lands depicted on the maps 

described above are located within the 

following townships: 

Arizona 

Gila and Salt River Meridian 

T. 9 N., R. 9 W. 

T. 5 N., R. 15 W. 

Tps. 4 and 5 N., R. 16 W. 

Tps. 2 S., Rs. 6 and 7 W. 

California 

San Bernardino Meridian 

Tps. 8 and 9 N., R. 4 E. 

Tps. 7, 8, and 9 N., R. 5 E. 

Tps. 8 and 9 N., R. 6 E. 

Tps. 1 and 2 N., Rs. 17, 18, 19, and 20 

E. 

T. 4 S., R. 14 E. 

Tps. 3, 4, and 5 S., Rs. 15 and 16 E. 

Tps. 3, 4, 5, 6, 16, and 17 S., R. 17 E. 

Tps. 1, 6, 16, and 17 S., R. 18 E. 

Tps. 1 and 6 S., R. 19 E. 

Tps. 4, 5, 6, and 7 S., R. 20 E. 

Tps. 4, 5, 7, and 8 S., R. 21 E. 

Tps. 4, 5, 6, and 7 S., R. 22 E. 

T. 5 S., R. 23 E. 

Colorado 

New Mexico Principal Meridian 

Tps. 34, 35, and 45 N., R. 8 E. 

Tps. 32 and 45 N., R. 9 E. 

T. 32 N., R. 10 E. 

Tps. 37 and 38 N., R. 12 E. 

T. 38 N., R. 13 E. 

New Mexico 

New Mexico Principal Meridian 

Tps. 23, 24, and 25 S., R. 1 W. 

Tps. 22, 23, 24, and 25 S., R. 2 W. 

Tps. 22, 23, and 24 S., R. 3 W. 

Tps. 23 and 24 S, R. 4 W. 

Tps. 24 and 25 S., R. 1 E. 

Tps. 17, 18, and 19 S., Rs. 8 and 9 E. 

Nevada 

Mount Diablo Meridian 

Tps. 3 and 4 N., Rs. 39 and 40 E. 

Tps. 1, 2, and 3 N., R. 64 E. 

Tps. 1 and 2 N., R. 65 E. 

T. 6 S., R. 41 E. 

Tps. 13 and 14 S., R. 47 E. 

T. 14 S., R. 48 E. 

Tps. 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, and 18 S., R. 63 E. 

Tps. 1, 16, 17, and 18 S., R. 64 E. 

T. 1 S., R. 65 E. 

Tps. 11 S., Rs. 69 and 70 E. 

Utah 

Salt Lake Meridian 

Tps. 30 S., Rs. 10, 11, and 12 W. 

Tps. 27, 33, and 34 S., R. 14 W. 

Tps. 33 and 34 S., R. 15 W. 

The BLM’s petition for withdrawal 

has been approved by the Secretary of 

the Interior. 

The purpose of the proposed 

withdrawal is to protect and preserve 

solar energy study areas for future solar 

energy development for a 20-year 

period. 

Records relating to the petition may 

be examined by contacting Linda 

Resseguie at the above address or by 

calling 202–452–7774. 

For a period of 90 days from the date 

of publication of this notice, all persons 

who wish to submit comments, 

suggestions, or objections in connection 

with the proposed withdrawal may 

present their views in writing to the 

BLM Director at the address noted 

above. 

Comments including names and street 

addresses of respondents will be 

available for public review at the BLM 

Washington Office at the address noted 

above, during regular business hours 8 

a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except holidays. 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. Individual respondents may 

request confidentiality. If you wish to 

withhold your name or address from 

public review or from disclosure under 

the Freedom of Information Act, you 

must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. Such 

requests will be honored to the extent 

allowed by law. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety. 

Notice is hereby given that an 

opportunity for a public meeting is 

afforded in connection with the 

proposed withdrawal. All interested 

persons who desire a public meeting for 

the purpose of being heard on the 

proposed withdrawal must submit a 

written request to the BLM Director no 

later than September 28, 2009. If the 

authorized officer determines that a 

public meeting will be held, a notice of 

the time and place will be published in 

the Federal Register and a local 

newspaper at least 30 days before the 

scheduled date of the meeting. 

Any application for a withdrawal will 

be processed in accordance with the 

regulations set forth in 43 CFR 2310.1– 

2. 

For a period of 2 years from the date 

of publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register, the lands referenced 

in this notice will be segregated from 

settlement, sale, location, or entry under 

the general land laws, including the 

mining laws, unless an application is 

denied or canceled or the withdrawal is 

approved prior to that date. 

Licenses, permits, cooperative 

agreements, or discretionary land use 

authorizations of a temporary nature 

which would not impact the site may be 

allowed with the approval of an 

authorized officer of the BLM during the 

segregative period. 

Authority: 43 CFR 2310.3–1. 

Mike Pool, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management. 

[FR Doc. E9–15472 Filed 6–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R8–ES–2009–N127; 81420–1113– 

0000–F3] 

Safe Harbor Agreement for the City of 

Elk Grove’s Shed B and Whitelock 

Parkway Drainage Corridors, in 

Sacramento County, CA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES6