January 2017: Final EA and Decision Record Completed

The Bureau of Land Management Rawlins Field Office published its final Site-Specific Environmental Assessment for Phase I Wind Turbine Development and related decision documents on Jan. 18, 2017. The BLM determined that PCW’s site-specific plan of development for these components is approved and that the Phase I Wind Turbine Development “would have no significant effects beyond those already analyzed and disclosed” in the BLM’s 2012 Final Environmental Impact Statement.

• The Finding of No New Significant Impacts was signed Jan. 17, 2017, by Rawlins Field Office Manager Dennis Carpenter.
• The Decision Record was signed Jan. 17, 2017, by Janice M. Schneider, Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Jan. 18: BLM news release announcing completed EA2
• Jan. 18: PCW news release announcing completed EA2

Site-Specific EA2 Document Archive

March 2016: Environmental Assessment Document Published

The Bureau of Land Management Rawlins Field Office published its Site-Specific Environmental Assessment document on March 9, 2016, addressing the CCSM Project’s Phase I wind turbine development (EA2). The EA is tiered to the project-wide Environmental Impact Statement, which was finalized and approved in 2012. This second EA includes a draft Finding of No New Significant Impact, determining that PCW’s site-specific plans of development for Phase I turbines comport with the overall EIS terms. (Learn more about the completed EA1 here.) The BLM hosted two informational meetings about EA2 for the public on March 28 in Saratoga and March 29 in Rawlins.

• March 9: BLM news release announcing EA2
• March 9: PCW news release announcing EA2
• March 28: BLM Announces 14-Day Comment Extension to April 22
• April 21: BLM announces 14-day comment extension to May 6
• Complete EA for Phase I Wind Turbine Development
• Map: All main Phase I facilities
• Map: How the turbine layout evolved to accommodate environmental data

December 2013: Public Scoping Meetings Held

The Bureau of Land Management Rawlins Field Office opened public scoping on Dec. 6, 2013, for a Site-Specific Environmental Assessment for Phase I Wind Turbine Development of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. This second EA will cover Power Company of Wyoming LLC’s plans of development for Phase I, which has 500 turbines, a road network and associated facilities. (Learn more about the first EA here.) The BLM also hosted two scoping meetings on Dec. 16 in Rawlins and Dec. 17 in Saratoga to provide further opportunities for the public to learn about and comment on Phase I of the project. The scoping period closed Jan. 14, 2014. Here are links to the BLM and PCW materials provided at the EA2 scoping meetings.

BLM documents

• Dec. 6 scoping announcement news release
• EA2 overview fact sheet
• EA2 scoping comment form
• Turbine layout maps
  • Chokecherry
  • Sierra Madre
• Resource maps
  • Historic and scenic trails
  • Greater sage-grouse
  • Big game
  • Sierra Madre wind development area raptors
  • Sierra Madre wind development area small mammals
  • Chokecherry wind development area raptors
  • Chokecherry wind development area small mammals
• 3 NEPA process posters

PCW documents

• Dec. 5 scoping announcement news release
• Conservation in action poster
• Survey activities posters
• Overview trifold brochure
• Facility location maps
  • Chokecherry
  • Sierra Madre

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