Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan Land Use Plan Amendment and Record of Decision

110 Pages·2016·7.25 MB·English

Record of Decision
Record of Decision for the Land Use Plan Amendment to the California Desert
Conservation Plan, Bishop Resource Management Plan, and Bakersfield
Resource Management Plan
Prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management | September 2016

Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
Record of Decision
for the
Land Use Plan Amendment
to the
California Desert Conservation Area Plan,
Bishop Resource Management Plan, and
Bakersfield Resource Management Plan
BLM/CA/PL-2016/03+1793+8321

Prepared by:
U.S. Bureau of Land Management

SEPTEMBER 2016
Printed on 30% post-consumer recycled material.
DRECP BLM RECORD OF DECISION
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS
Joshua tree, by KiskaMedia
Desert tortoise, by Bureau of Land Management
Solar and wind facility, by Tom Brewster Photography
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (BOUND UNDER A SEPARATE COVER) ........................................ ES-1
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS .......................................................................................................................... I
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... VII
I INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
I.1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 2
I.1.1 Interagency DRECP .................................................................................................... 3
I.1.2 BLM LUPA (DRECP Phase I) ................................................................................... 4
I.1.3 DRECP Phase II ............................................................................................................ 4
I.2 DRECP Plan Area and LUPA Decision Area .................................................................... 5
I.3 Purpose and Need .................................................................................................................... 5
I.3.1 Interagency Objectives ............................................................................................. 5
I.3.2 BLM LUPA Purpose and Need ............................................................................... 6
I.3.3 Decisions Being Made ............................................................................................ 13
I.3.4 Identification of California Desert National Conservation Lands......... 13
I.4 Planning Process .................................................................................................................... 14
I.4.1 Types of Decisions .................................................................................................. 14
I.4.2 Site-Specific Implementation Decisions and Requirements for
Further Environmental Analysis ....................................................................... 16
I.4.3 California Desert National Conservation Lands
Identification Process ............................................................................................ 17
I.4.4 Biological Conservation Goals and Planning Process ............................... 20
I.4.5 Renewable Energy Goals and Planning Process ......................................... 25
I.4.6 Recreation Planning Process .............................................................................. 28
I.4.7 Plan Integration ....................................................................................................... 29
I.4.8 Coordination of the DRECP LUPA with the West Mojave
Route Network Planning Effort ......................................................................... 29
I.4.9 Coordination of the DRECP with Newly Designated
National Monuments ............................................................................................. 30
I.5 Decision Rationale................................................................................................................. 31
I.6 Implementation ...................................................................................................................... 37
II DECISION ................................................................................................................................... 39
II.1 Summary of the Approved LUPA ..................................................................................... 39
II.1.1 Land Use Plan Decisions ....................................................................................... 39
II.1.2 California Desert National Conservation Lands .......................................... 64
II.2 What the ROD and Approved LUPA Does Not Provide ........................................... 64
II.3 Modifications and Clarifications ...................................................................................... 65
II.4 Protest Resolution ................................................................................................................. 70
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II.5 Governor’s Consistency Review....................................................................................... 72
III ALTERNATIVES ....................................................................................................................... 73
III.1 Alternatives Considered in Detail ................................................................................... 73
III.1.1 Alternative 1 .............................................................................................................. 73
III.1.2 Alternative 2 .............................................................................................................. 74
III.1.3 Alternative 3 .............................................................................................................. 74
III.1.4 Alternative 4 .............................................................................................................. 75
III.1.5 No Action Alternative ............................................................................................ 75
III.2 Alternatives Considered But Not Carried Forward in Detail ................................ 76
III.3 Environmentally Preferable Alternative ...................................................................... 77
IV PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, CONSULTATION, AND COORDINATION ........................... 79
IV.1 Public Involvement ............................................................................................................... 79
IV.1.1 Public Scoping and Public Outreach ................................................................ 79
IV.1.2 Additional Opportunities for Public Comment before
Publication of Draft EIR/EIS ............................................................................... 82
IV.1.3 Public Meetings on the Draft EIR/EIS ............................................................. 83
IV.1.4 Notices Regarding Draft EIR/EIS and Proposed LUPA
and Final EIS .............................................................................................................. 84
IV.1.5 Comments on Draft EIR/EIS ............................................................................... 85
IV.1.6 Comments on the Proposed ACECs .................................................................. 85
IV.2 Stakeholder Involvement ................................................................................................... 86
IV.3 Additional Outreach During EIR/EIS Preparation ................................................... 87
IV.3.1 Agency and Public Workshops ........................................................................... 87
IV.3.2 DRECP Gateway – DataBasin Geographic Information
System Tool ............................................................................................................... 87
IV.4 Cooperating Agencies .......................................................................................................... 87
IV.5 USFWS and Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation ............................... 88
IV.6 Native American Government-to-Government Consultation .............................. 89
IV.7 Section 106 Consultation .................................................................................................... 91
V REFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 95
VI APPROVAL ................................................................................................................................ 97
APPENDICES
1 Protest Report
2 Area of Critical Environmental Concern Comment Responses
3 Endangered Species Act Section 7 Biological Opinion
4 National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Programmatic Agreement
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FIGURES
1 DRECP Plan Area ..................................................................................................................................... 9
2 DRECP LUPA Decision Area ..............................................................................................................11
3 Sand to Snow National Monument with DRECP Allocations ...............................................33
4 Mojave Trails National Monument with DRECP Allocations ...............................................35
5 DRECP LUPA Major Land Allocations ...........................................................................................47
6 DRECP LUPA Conservation and Recreation Designations ....................................................49
7 DRECP LUPA Conservation Designations ....................................................................................51
8 DRECP LUPA Recreation Designations.........................................................................................53
9 DRECP LUPA Lands Managed to Protect Wilderness Characteristics ..............................55
10 DRECP LUPA Renewable Energy Designations .........................................................................57
11 DRECP LUPA Visual Resource Management Classes ..............................................................59
12 DRECP LUPA General Public Lands ...............................................................................................61
TABLES
1 DRECP LUPA Summary ......................................................................................................................40
2a DRECP LUPA Allocations Including Allocations in the Mojave Trails and
Sand to Snow National Monuments...............................................................................................41
2b DRECP LUPA Allocations Excluding Acreage in the Mojave Trails and Sand
to Snow National Monuments..........................................................................................................41
3a DRECP LUPA Allocations in the Mojave Trails National Monument ................................42
3b DRECP LUPA Allocations in the Sand to Snow National Monument.................................43
4a DRECP LUPA – CDCA Plan Including Allocations in the Mojave Trails and
Sand to Snow National Monuments...............................................................................................43
4b DRECP LUPA – CDCA Plan Excluding Acreage in the Mojave Trails and
Sand to Snow National Monuments...............................................................................................44
5 DRECP LUPA – Bishop RMP ..............................................................................................................45
6 DRECP LUPA – Bakersfield RMP .....................................................................................................45
7 DRECP EIR/EIS Public Scoping Comments by Category .......................................................81

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