20180410PAC to Staff WY Attach OCA 1.035 1st SUPP.pdf

WY 20000-520-EA-17
OCA 1.035 Attachment OCA 1.035 1st Supplemental
United States Department of the Interior ~~~
RUREAU OF LAND MANAlliMliNT
In Reply Refer To:
2800 (920Knowlton)
WYW-174598
IDI-35849 |ÖÑ
Energy Gateway West Transmission Line
CERTIFIED MAIL -RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Receipt No.91 7199 9991 7036 1727 0148
Mr.Robert E.King,Chairman
Lincoln County Commission
925 Sage Avenue,Suite 302
Kemmerer,WY 83101
Dear Mr.King:
This letter acknowledgesreceipt of your letter dated March 22,2018 regarding the Gateway
West project.In your letter,you requested that Bureau of Land Management (BLM)initiate a
new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)for the project.
The BLM published the Record of Decision (ROD)on November 12,2013 and issued a Federal
Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)Right-of-Way(ROW)for all segments of the
project except 8 &9 (located in Idaho),deferring the Decision for those segments until siting
differences were reconciled;with a decision anticipated this spring.The ROW grants were to
Pacificorp d/b/a Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power Company (RMP).ROWs WYW-
174598 and IDI-35849 authorize construction,maintenance and termination of transmission linesinaneast-west corridor stretching from Winditar substation near Glenrock Wyomingto the
Hemingway substation near Murphy in eastern Idaho.
The 2013 ROD provided for flexibilityin the Cokeville,Wyoming area,permitting isolatedBLMparcelsontwopotentialroutespendingtheproponent's easement acquisition success to
guide the final location.
The Wyoming Coalition of Local Governments,on behalf of the Lincoln County Conservation
District and individuallynamed landowners,appealed the November 12,2013 ROD.The
Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA)issued a Decision September 27,2016,affirming theBLM's November 12,2013 ROD,approving the grant of ROWs for the electrical transmission
project.The BLM received a request for reconsideration and responded that the BLM considers
the Board's Decision,188 IBLA 356,(September 27,2016),as the final agency action.
The project proponent is currentlymoving forward to construct portions of the Gateway West
transmission project that traverse Carbon and Sweetwater County,and indicate to the BLM they
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OCA 1.035 Attachment OCA 1.035 1st Supplemental
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are activelycoordinating with these Counties.Should the company notify the BLM of an
intention to move forward with additional portions,or provide the BLM with any additional
information regarding the Lincoln County portion of the Gateway West transmission project,the
BLM will share this information with appropriate cooperating agencies to the project.
Additionally,the BLM will encourage the proponent to coordinate with all appropriate local
cooperators.
The BLM completed a thorough National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)analyses for the
Gateway West Project based upon the applicant's stated purpose and need for additional
redundancy.The applicant provided information that BLM subsequently analyzed in the EIS;
that each segment of the Gateway West Project had independentutility.In your letter you note
that the ROW holder RMP has filed Certificates for Public Convenienceand Necessity (CPNC)
with the Wyoming Public Service Commission indicating that it now considers wind power
projects as mutuallydependent upon the transmission line.You now believe that these wind
power projects must be analyzed under NEPA.The appropriate federal agencies will undertake
NEPA analyses for these separate projects to the extent that Federal approvals are required,but
because the ROW has already been granted,and that ROW decision was challenged and resolved
before IBLA,the BLM does not consider it appropriate to undertake a supplemental
environmental review of the Gateway West Transmission line based on the type of power that
will be carried on the line,or the business statements now made by RMP.Publicly regulated
utilities,holding a valid existing ROW,make business model changes based upon changing
economic outlooks.Here,BLM has made a decision,affirmed by the IBLA,based on the
existing facts at the time the decision was made and NEPA and does not require BLM to
supplement its previous EIS for that decision.
If you have any questions about use to the granted area,please contact the Field Office
administering the area or Sharon Knowlton,Project Manager,in the WyomingState Office at
[phone].
Sincerely,
or Mary Jo Rugwell
State Director
cc:
Tim Wakefield,District Manager
High Desert District
William (Aaron)Mier,Field Manager
Kemmerer Field Office
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