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As required by Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

 Act (NEPA) for major Federal actions significantly affecting the 

 quality of the human environment, the BLM and LAEWP consulted with 

 numerous federal and state regulatory agencies and interested 

 parties in preparation of the WPPP Environmental Impact Statement 

 (EIS) , a detailed statement which assessed: 



(i) the environmental impact of the proposed action; 

 (ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be 



avoided should the proposal be implemented; 

 (iii) alternatives to the proposed action; 

 (iv) the relationship between local short-term uses of 



man's environment and the maintenance and enhancement 



of long-term productivity; and 

 (v) any irreversible and irretrievable coimnitments of 



resources which would be involved in the proposed 



action should it be implemented. 



Public hearings to assure full public participation in the NEPA 

 environmental assessment process for the WPPP were held throughout 

 the State of Nevada, with public comments being received and 

 considered before the EIS was finalized. 



The WPPP preferred electric transmission corridor (Attacliment: 1) , 

 which is described in the WPPP Final EIS, is located directly 

 north of and through the area proposed for withdrawal, and is 

 the critical utility corridor linking northeastern Nevada with 

 southern Nevada. The WPPP preferred electric transmission 

 corridor, although tightly constrained by the Delamar Mountains 

 Wilderness Study Area (WSA) to the west and by the Meadow Valley 

 Mountains WSA to the east (Attachment 2) , is sufficient to route 

 all of the electric transmission lines currently being considered. 



The alternative to the preferred segment is located near the 

 Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge and is also severely constrained by 

 WSA boundaries under federally mandated WSA restrictions. The 

 alternative electric transmission corridor segment, previously 

 evaluated by the BLM for the second Intermountain Power Project 

 electric transmission line, has insufficient capacity to 

 accommodate more than one of the several electric transmission 

 lines proposed for routing through this area. 



The proposed land exchange that would result from the passage 

 of S. 854 would preclude the use of the WPPP preferred and 

 alternative electric transmission line corridors and would eliminate 

 the path for transmission of electricity from WPPP or the other 

 known electric transmission line projects proposed for routing 

 through this area. 



The above concerns were conveyed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (USFWS) by letter dated August 18, 1986 (Attachment 3). 

 To date, USFWS has not providea any provisions for allowance for 

 issuance of rights-of-way for WPPP corridors within the land to 

 be exchanged. In addition, S. 854 does not contain any provisions 



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