114 UPDATE TO CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION UNDERTAKEN

6conducted for the Solar PEIS (Section 14.1); government-to-government consultation with

7tribes that was done prior to publication of the Draft Solar PEIS (Section 14.2); coordination

8 with BLM state and field offices (Section 14.3); and other agency cooperation, consultation, and

9coordination (Section 14.4). The information presented in this update to Chapter 14 for the Final

10Solar PEIS summarizes and supplements, but does not replace, the information provided in the

11corresponding Chapter 14 in the Draft Solar PEIS. Information on the topics listed above that has

12become available subsequent to publication of the Draft Solar PEIS is presented in this section,

13including a summary of the public outreach that has been conducted subsequent to publication of

14the Draft Solar PEIS.

15

16

17 14.1 PUBLIC SCOPING AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

18

19This section updates the information regarding public scoping and outreach provided in

20the Draft Solar PEIS.

21

22The Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Solar PEIS was published in Volume 75,

23page 78980, of the Federal Register on December 17, 2010. The public comment period for the

24Draft Solar PEIS that was originally announced was 90 days; however, in response to

25stakeholder requests, the comment period was extended to May 2, 2012. Fourteen public

26meetings were held during the comment period for the Draft Solar PEIS. Comments on the Draft

27Solar PEIS were submitted via the Solar PEIS project Web site (http://solareis.anl.gov), by mail,

28and orally at public meetings. Several nongovernmental organizations submitted comments in

29the form of standardized campaign letters from their constituents. Six campaigns on the Draft

30PEIS were submitted, with more than 86,000 individuals represented. In addition, approximately

311,950 comment documents on the Draft Solar PEIS were received, and about 150 comments

32were received orally at public meetings. Comments were received from individual members of

33the public; federal, state, and local governmental agencies; tribes; solar companies and solar

34industry organizations; environmental organizations; utilities; ranchers; water districts; and many

35other types of organizations. Comments were primarily received from organizations and

36individuals within the six-state study area.

37

38In response to comments on the Draft Solar PEIS that provided suggestions on how the

39BLM and DOE could increase the utility of the analysis, strengthen elements of BLM’s proposed

40Solar Energy Program, and increase certainty regarding solar energy development on BLM-

41administered lands, the Agencies published a Supplement to the Draft Solar PEIS. As part of the

42Supplement, the BLM made significant changes to the proposed program, including eliminating

43seven SEZs from further consideration and reducing the size of several of the remaining SEZs,

44adding variance areas and a variance process, and creating an identification protocol for new

45SEZs. The NOA of the Supplement was published on page 66958 in Volume 76 of the Federal

46Register on October 28, 2011. The public comment period for the Supplement to the Draft Solar

1PEIS ran from October 28, 2011, to January 27, 2012. The agencies convened five public

2 meetings on the Supplement; one meeting in the San Luis Valley of Colorado was not originally 3 planned but was added in response to stakeholder requests. Comments on the Supplement to the 4 Draft Solar PEIS were received from the same broad cross-section of entities that commented on 5 the Draft Solar PEIS. Comments were submitted via the Solar PEIS project Web site, by mail, 6 and orally at public meetings. Six campaigns on the Supplement to the Draft PEIS were

7 submitted, with more than 134,000 individuals represented. In addition, approximately 8 250 comment documents were received from individuals and organizations, and about 9 64 comments were received orally at public meetings.

10

11The agencies have offered other opportunities for public involvement throughout the

12process of preparing the Solar PEIS. The Solar PEIS project Web site (http://solareis.anl.gov)

13was made available to the public to provide access to relevant project information, and the

14opportunity to subscribe through the Web site to receive e-mail updates of important project

15milestones was provided as well. In response to requests to provide the public with an

16opportunity to review key new or revised materials prior to release of the Final Solar PEIS,

17several key elements of BLM’s Solar Energy Program were made available through the project

18Web site in April 2012 (i.e., proposed programmatic design features, the proposed Solar LTMP,

19and the proposed Regional Mitigation Framework). The BLM has continued to work closely

20with cooperating agencies and other stakeholders throughout the preparation of the Final Solar

21PEIS.

22

23

24 14.2 GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION

25

26The federal government works on a government-to-government basis with Native

27American tribes. Government-to-government consultation efforts undertaken through the

28publication of the Draft Solar PEIS were described in Section 14.2 of the Draft and are not

29repeated here.

30

31Since release of the Draft Solar PEIS, the BLM has sent 314 federally recognized tribes,

32bands, and chapters copies of the Draft Solar PEIS, the Supplement to the Draft Solar PEIS, and

33supporting materials, such as the Draft Solar PA and a question and answer (Q&A) fact sheet

34related to the solar energy program. These were transmitted in February and October of 2011,

35and copies of those cover letters are available in Appendix K of this Final Solar PEIS. The BLM

36also issued IM 2012-032 in December 2011, which established the schedule and procedure for

37ongoing government-to-government consultation in connection with the solar energy program

38(BLM 2011). The IM directed field offices to take additional steps to explain to Native American

39tribes how their input was taken into account during the preparation of the Final Solar PEIS and

40how consultation will continue upon the receipt of project-specific solar applications. This IM is

41provided in Section K.1.3 of Appendix K.

42

43Consultation in the form of correspondence, phone conversations, e-mails, and

44transmissions of maps, documents, and reports has taken place with more than 65 tribes.

45Face-to-face meetings with 18 tribes have led to the exchange of information and discussion of

46concerns that have shaped the outcome of this PEIS process. Fifteen federally recognized tribes

1 commented on the Draft Solar PEIS and the Supplement to the Draft. All this information is 2 summarized in Appendix K, particularly in Table K-2.

3

4 Consultation between the BLM and the tribes is ongoing and will continue to take place 5 after the release of the Final Solar PEIS.

6

7

8 14.3 COORDINATION OF BLM STATE AND FIELD OFFICES

9

10The coordination with BLM state and field office staff as described in Section 14.3 of the

11Draft Solar PEIS continued throughout preparation of the Supplement to the Draft Solar PEIS

12and the Final Solar PEIS. Conference calls and other communications took place to review

13comments received and to review requests for additional exclusions to lands available for solar

14ROW application in light of the region-specific knowledge held by the BLM staff in those

15offices. State and field office staff provided GIS data that allowed revised mapping of the lands

16available under the various BLM alternatives. The BLM Washington Office staff will continue

17to work with state and field office staff following the release of the ROD for the Solar PEIS to

18facilitate implementation of the new Solar Energy Program.

19

20

21 14.4 AGENCY COOPERATION, CONSULTATION, AND COORDINATION

22

23As stated in Section 14.4 of the Draft Solar PEIS, a total of 19 agencies, listed in

24Section 1.5 of this Final Solar PEIS, are working with the BLM and/or DOE as cooperating

25agencies. These agencies include six federal agencies, six state agencies, and seven counties.

26Interactions with the cooperating agencies have continued throughout preparation of the Final

27Solar PEIS through reviews of draft sections of text prior to issuance of the Final.

28

29In accordance with the requirements of Section 106 of the NHPA, coordination with

30SHPOs in each of the six states in the study area and with the ACHP has continued throughout

31preparation of the Final Solar PEIS. In particular, consultation has continued on the content of a

32Solar PA. The Solar PA will provide for a phased consultation process related to historic,

33traditional, and cultural resources for the Solar PEIS and subsequent activities that could tier

34from the Solar PEIS ROD. Updated information regarding the consultation process is provided in

35Section K.2 of Appendix K of this Final Solar PEIS.

36

37In addition, the BLM has continued consultation with the USFWS in accordance with

38the requirements of Section 7 of the ESA to ensure that BLM’s proposed action would not

39jeopardize the continued existence of any listed threatened or endangered species. The BLM, in

40consultation with the USFWS, is undertaking a conservation review pursuant to Section 7(a)(1)

41of the ESA on the overall Solar Energy Program. This consultation on the overarching program

42will provide guidance for subsequent solar projects by ensuring that the appropriate conservation

43measures for listed species are incorporated into project-level actions. The BLM is also engaged

44in programmatic consultation with the USFWS on the identification of SEZs under

45Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA, initiated through the submission of a programmatic BA. This BA

46describes potential effects on ESA-listed species and designated critical habitat from expected

1solar development in SEZs and any appropriate mitigation, minimization, and avoidance

2measures. Additional Section 7(a)(2) consultation will occur, as necessary, at the level of

3 individual solar energy projects and will benefit from the preceding programmatic consultation 4 and resulting programmatic BO for SEZs.

5

6 ESA consultation was initiated by providing a review copy of the Draft Conservation 7 Assessment and of the Draft BA to the USFWS in January 2012. Comments provided by the 8 USFWS were addressed by the BLM in the final versions of both documents. The USFWS is 9 expected to issue a Conservation Review and Programmatic Biological Opinion that addresses

10each of the proposed SEZs prior to the publication of the ROD for this Solar PEIS (expected in

11the late fall of 2012). The results of this consultation will be reflected in the ROD for the Solar

12PEIS.

13

14The BLM has continued activities to coordinate and consult with the governors in each of

15the six states and with state agencies through the development of the Supplement to the Draft

16PEIS and the Final Solar PEIS. Prior to approval of the proposed plan amendments presented in

17Appendix C of this Final Solar PEIS, the BLM will undertake a Governor’s Consistency Review

18(as required under CFR 43 1610.3-2[e]), in which the governors of each state will be given the

19opportunity to identify any inconsistencies between the proposed plan amendments and state or

20local plans and to provide recommendations in writing (during the 60-day consistency review

21period). Coordination with state agencies is expected to continue through implementation of the

22new Solar Energy Program.

23

24

25 14.5 REFERENCES

26

27Note to Reader: This list of references identifies Web pages and associated URLs where

28reference data were obtained for the analyses presented in this Final Solar PEIS. It is likely that

29at the time of publication of this Final Solar PEIS, some of these Web pages may no longer be

30available or their URL addresses may have changed. The original information has been retained

31and is available through the Public Information Docket for this Final Solar PEIS.

32

33BLM 2011, Instruction Memorandum 2012-032, Native American Consultation and Section 106

34Compliance for the Solar Energy Program Described in Solar Programmatic Impact Statement,

35U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., Dec. 1.

36

37