[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22699]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: September 14, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 10756-001]
Blue Diamond Power Partners; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Conduct Public Scoping
Meetings and a Site Visit
September 8, 1994.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received an
application to construct and operate the proposed Blue Diamond South
Pumped Storage Project, FERC Project No. 10756-001. The off-stream
project would be located approximately five miles west of Las Vegas in
Clark County, Nevada. This proposed project would involve both private
lands and federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The FERC staff has determined that licensing this project would
constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality
of the human environment. Therefore, the FERC staff intends to direct a
third-party contractor in the preparation of an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) on the hydroelectric project in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (Pub. L. 91-190,
42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, January 1, 1970, as amended by Pub. L. 94-52, July
3, 1975, Pub. L. 94-83, August 9, 1975, and Pub. L. 97-258, Sec. 4(b),
September 13, 1982). The EIS will objectively consider both site-
specific and cumulative environmental impacts of the project and
reasonable alternatives, and will include an economic, financial, and
engineering analysis. The BLM will be a cooperating agency on the EIS.
The DRAFT EIS (DEIS) will be circulated for review and comment by
all interested parties, and FERC will hold a public meeting for the
DEIS. FERC and the BLM will consider and respond to comments received
on the DEIS in the Final EIS. The FERC staff's conclusions and
recommendations will then be presented for the consideration of the
Commission in reaching its final licensing decision. The BLM will use
the information in the EIS to make its decision on issuing a right-of-
way grant for the project.
Scoping: Affected landowners, concerned citizens, special interest
groups, local governments, and any other interested parties are invited
to comment on the scope of the environmental issues that should be
analyzed in the EIS. Scoping will help ensure that all significant
issues related to this proposal are addressed in the EIS, and also will
identify significant or potentially significant impacts that may result
from the proposed project.
The FERC and BLM will conduct two scoping meetings on October 5,
and 6, 1994. A scoping meeting oriented toward the agencies will begin
at 2 p.m. on October 5th at the BLM offices located at 4765 Vegas
Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. A scoping meeting oriented toward the public
will begin at 7 p.m. on October 6th at the West Charleston Branch
Public Library located at 6301 West Charleston Street, Las Vegas,
Nevada. (The public and the agencies may attend either or both
meetings, however.)
Objectives: At the scoping meetings FERC and BLM staff will (1)
Identify preliminary environmental issues related to the proposed
project; (2) identify preliminary resource issues that are not
important and do not require detailed analysis; (3) identify reasonable
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS; (4) solicit from the meeting
participants all available information, especially quantified data, on
the resource issues; and (5) encourage statements from experts and the
public on issues that should be analyzed in the EIS, including points
of view in opposition to, or in support of, the staffs' preliminary
views.
Procedures: The meetings will be recorded by a court reporter and
all statements (oral and written) thereby become a part of the official
record of the Commission proceedings for the Blue Diamond South
Project. Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be
asked to clearly identify themselves for the record.
To help focus discussions at the scoping meeting, FERC will mail a
Scoping Document I, outlining subject areas to be addressed in the EIS,
to agencies and interested individuals on the project mailing list.
Copies of the scoping document will also be available at the scoping
meetings.
Persons choosing not to speak at the meetings, but who have views
of the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written
statements for inclusion in the pubic record at the meetings. In
addition, written scoping comments may be filed with Secretary, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20426 until November 6, 1994. All written correspondence
should clearly show the following caption on the first page: Blue
Diamond South Pumped Storage Project, FERC No. 10756-001.
Intervenors--those on the Commission's service list for this
proceeding (parties)--are reminded of the Commission's Rules of
Practice and Procedure, requiring parties filing documents with the
Commission, to serve a copy of the document on each person whose name
appears on the official service list. Further, if a party or interceder
files comments or documents with the Commission relating to the merits
of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a particular
resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document on that
resource agency.
Site Visit: A site visit to the Blue Diamond South Project is
planned for October 6th. Due to limited access, those who wish to
attend must contact Randy Schroeder, Greystone, at (800) 338-9396 by
September 30th to sign up and receive further information and
directions. Attendees will meet at the BLM Red Rocks Conservation Area
Visitors Center at 8 a.m.
For Further Information Contact: Dianne Rodman, FERC-OHL, (202)
219-2830 or Larry Sip, BLM Las Vegas Resource Area, (702) 647-5000.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-22699 Filed 9-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M