The draftEISwas originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2010.BLMdelayed release of the document in order to address comments received during the internal administrative review process as well as to clarify management objectives related to sage grouse, visual and other public resources.
Walt George, BLMProject Manager, stated “We continue to work to ensure that the draftEISaddresses the key issues throughout the project area and want to ensure adequate time to prepare this important document.” George continued, “Once the draftEISis released, theBLMwill host a 90-day comment period and public hearings to formally gather comments. The BLM encourages the public’s continued participation in this project.”
The BLM is the lead federal agency for the National Environmental Policy Act process for this project, and is working with cooperating agencies including theUSDAForest Service; National Park Service; US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Army Corps of Engineers; Bureau of Indian Affairs; States of Idaho and Wyoming; Cassia, Power, and Twin Falls counties in Idaho; Carbon, Lincoln, and Sweetwater counties in Wyoming; the Saratoga, Encampment, Riverside and Medicine Bow Conservation Districts in Wyoming; and the City of Kuna, Idaho.
This project is jointly proposed by Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power, and would result in construction of nearly 1,150 miles of high voltage transmission lines across southern Wyoming and southern Idaho. The project proponents have applied to theBLMandUSFSfor right of way grants to construct, operate and maintain transmission lines from the proposed Windstar substation near Glenrock, Wyoming to the proposed Hemingway substation near Melba, Idaho, approximately 20 miles southwest of Boise.
To view the proposed and alternate routes that are being analyzed in the draftEIS, visit the interactive map on the BLM’s website detailing these routes: www.wy.blm. gov/nepa/cfodocs/gateway_west.
