UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT OREGON PRINEVILLE DISTRICT OFFICE EIS #: DOI-BLM-OR-P060-2009-0064-EIS Project Name: West Butte Wind Project Right of Way Crook and Deschutes Counties, Oregon Draft Environmental Impact Statement Lead Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Prineville Field Office, Oregon Cooperating Agencies: None BLM Contact Person: Steve Storo, BLM Prineville District Office 3050 N.E. 3rd Street Prineville, Oregon 97754 (541) 416-6885 [email protected] Applicant: West Butte Wind Power LLC c/o John V. Stahl P.O. Box 2028 Bend, OR 97709 541-382-1017 Abstract: This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) considers the Proposed Action of authorizing a right-of-way across BLM-administered lands for the construction and operation of access roads and a transmission line associated with the West Butte Wind Power Project. This Draft EIS considers three alternatives: Alternative 1, including the Proposed Action of granting a ROW for construction and operation of an access road and transmission line across lands administered by the BLM, and considering the Connected Action of West Butte Wind constructing and operating a wind farm and associated facilities (e.g., access road, transmission line, substation, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) building) on privately held lands; Alternative 2, wherein a Northern Access Road is considered to access the project facilities making up the Connected Action, rather than an Access road through BLM-managed lands; and Alternative 3, the No Action Alternative. The following issues were identified for analysis in the Draft EIS: potential project impacts on vegetation, the green-tinged paintbrush and its habitat, Oregon Sensitive Plant Species, and the spread of noxious weeds; potential project impacts on migratory birds and bats, sage grouse and their habitat, and raptors and their nests; potential project impacts on general wildlife habitat, big game habitat, and pygmy rabbits and habitat; potential noise impacts on wildlife; potential effects of a decrease in miles available for recreational routes within the Millican Valley OHV Recreation Area; potential visual/aesthetic impacts, including glare/light pollution from turbine lighting; potential project impacts on sensitive archaeological resources and properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places; potential project impacts on areas valuable to Native Americans; and potential economic effects of project to rural communities and landowners (jobs, tax revenues). Comments on the Draft EIS must be received by May 17, 2010. Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Executive Summary provides a synopsis of the West Butte Wind Power Right-of-Way Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Draft EIS describes the Proposed Action, Connected Actions, and alternatives thereto, and discloses their impacts on elements of the environment. The Draft EIS has been distributed to interested persons in hard copy format, and is available for review on the internet at http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville/plans/wbw_power_row/. INTRODUCTION In December 2008, the Bureau of Land Management, Prineville District Office, Prineville, Oregon (BLM) received an application from West Butte Wind Power LLC (West Butte Wind or the Applicant) for a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to improve or construct, and operate, an access roadway and transmission line across BLM-managed public land (the Proposed Action). This ROW would be part of the Applicant’s proposal to construct, operate, and maintain a wind generation facility and associated facilities on private lands in Deschutes and Crook counties, Oregon (the Connected Actions). The BLM is the lead federal agency responsible for conducting the preparation of the draft and Final EIS and the associated analysis. Cooperating agencies are federal agencies that have jurisdiction by law (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 1501.6); there are no Cooperating agencies participating in the preparation of this EIS. The BLM initiated scoping on this proposed ROW authorization in September 2009. The BLM published a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register on January 19, 2010. Additional scoping comments were accepted through February 5, 2010. These scoping comments and other public and agency input regarding the Project formed the basis for the selection of issues to be addressed in the Draft EIS. The agency decision to be made is to grant a ROW across the federally administered lands, to grant a ROW with modifications to the Applicant’s proposal, or to deny a ROW. The BLM has formally initiated consultation with the sovereign nations of the Confederated Warm Springs Tribes, Klamath Tribe, and Burns Paiute Tribe. Consultation with these Tribal Governments is ongoing throughout the analysis. Based on the environmental review and public comments on the Draft EIS, the BLM will issue a Final EIS. The Final EIS is an informational document, for both lead agency decision- makers and the public, regarding the environmental effects of the proposed West Butte Wind Power Project. BLM will use the Final EIS to determine if the proposed project is consistent with existing land use plans and management objectives. If the decision is to grant the ROW, then BLM would identify the most appropriate location on federal lands based on consideration for land status, affected resources, resource values, and environmental conditions; decide on issuance of the requested ROW grants; and determine appropriate stipulation/mitigation requirements. April 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Statement ES-1 Executive Summary PROPOSED AND CONNECTED ACTIONS The Proposed Action under consideration in this analysis is the BLM’s authorization of a 100-foot-wide, 3.9-mile-long ROW across federally administered lands for the construction and operation of an access road and transmission line. Although a 100-foot-wide ROW is being requested, the project facilities would be limited to a corridor approximately 30 feet wide. The ROW would permanently accommodate: a 3.9-mile long, 24-foot-wide permanent access road; a pole-mounted 115 kV electrical transmission line (the transmission line would be constructed using single wooden poles, 50 to 53 feet high, spaced at 300-foot intervals); the transmission line would be located six feet from the edge of the access road. a 14.4 kV electrical utility line under-hung on the transmission line pole structures described above; and, a fiber optic communication line that is also located on the transmission line poles. The construction and operation of the West Butte Wind Power Project– even those project facilities that are located on privately owned lands – are connected, non-federal actions since they can be prevented by BLM decision-making (i.e., denying the ROW) (BLM NEPA Handbook, Section 6.5.2.1). As part of this EIS, the effects of these non-federal connected actions are considered indirect effects of the BLM action to grant a ROW and are therefore also considered. Facilities associated with the development of the Connected Actions on private land in Crook and Deschutes counties include 34 to 52 wind turbines, underground and overhead electric collector lines, substation, transmission line, switchyard, turbine access roads, operation and maintenance (O&M) facility, and up to three meteorological towers. ALTERNATIVES In addition to the Proposed and Connected Action (Alternative 1), this EIS considered two other alternatives. Alternative 2 is the Northern Access Road alternative which would provide access to the Connected Action facilities in Crook County from the north from Reservoir Road rather than from the south from Highway 20. This would include a new location for the O&M facility to the north of West Butte. Alternative 2 would still include the proposed transmission line route and other Connected Action facilities. Alternative 3 is the No Action Alternative, where the BLM would not grant a ROW to West Butte Wind. SCOPING Public and agency scoping was conducted to determine issues relative to the Proposed Action. A scoping notice and informational materials were mailed to potentially interested parties beginning in September 2009. All issues identified during scoping and BLM and Interdisciplinary Team reviews were evaluated to identify key issues that drove development of alternatives and the impact analyses. The following issues were identified for analysis in the Draft EIS: potential project impacts on vegetation, the green-tinged paintbrush and its ES-2 Draft Environmental Impact Statement April 2010 Executive Summary habitat, Oregon Sensitive Plant Species, and the spread of noxious weeds; potential project impacts on migratory birds and bats, sage grouse and their habitat, and raptors and their nests; potential project impacts on general wildlife habitat, big game habitat, and pygmy rabbits and habitat; potential noise impacts on wildlife; potential effects of a decrease in miles available for recreational routes within the Millican Valley OHV Recreation Area; potential visual/aesthetic impacts, including glare/light pollution from turbine lighting; potential project impacts on sensitive archaeological resources and properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places; potential project impacts on areas valuable to Native Americans; and potential economic effects of project to rural communities and landowners (jobs, tax revenues). While a number of other issues were raised during the internal and