Triggered missed date from extending Final decision/agency action (Agency Action) within 30 days of its current target date which was 05/19/2023 and extended to 05/25/2023
Milestones:
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Non-conformance Explanation:The BLM's FAST-41 target date (5/25/2023) for issuing the Right-of-Way (ROW) grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project was met. BLM is working on sending out an offer letter with the grant and associated attachments. The Plan of Development (POD) appendices are still in draft and the POD is not yet 508 compliant. BLM has participated in several meetings reviewing and working with the proponent (SunZia Transmission, LLC) and contractors to sort out inconsistencies in the draft POD and the past and present Biological Opinion's. The proponent now has the draft POD and is reviewing and incorporating changes as requested. The proponent indicated they can provide the draft POD to BLM by June 9, 2023. BLM will need to review prior to accepting and making 508 compliant. In discussions with the proponent on 5/24/2023, upon receipt of the offer letter the proponent's legal team will need to review it prior to acceptance. The proponent indicated that the review should take no more than 1 week. The conservative target date for the BLM to send the ROW grant will be June 15, 2023.
There are no milestones to display.
There are no milestones to display.
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Non-conformance Explanation:The BLM's FAST-41 target date (5/25/2023) for issuing the Right-of-Way (ROW) grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project was met. BLM is working on sending out an offer letter with the grant and associated attachments. The Plan of Development (POD) appendices are still in draft and the POD is not yet 508 compliant. BLM has participated in several meetings reviewing and working with the proponent (SunZia Transmission, LLC) and contractors to sort out inconsistencies in the draft POD and the past and present Biological Opinion's. The proponent now has the draft POD and is reviewing and incorporating changes as requested. The proponent indicated they can provide the draft POD to BLM by June 9, 2023. BLM will need to review prior to accepting and making 508 compliant. In discussions with the proponent on 5/24/2023, upon receipt of the offer letter the proponent's legal team will need to review it prior to acceptance. The proponent indicated that the review should take no more than 1 week. The conservative target date for the BLM to send the ROW grant will be June 15, 2023.
PROJECT WEBSITE: SunZia Project Website
All dates below are specific to the schedule of the Environmental Review and Permitting processes for this project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING STATUS
IN PROGRESS
ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING
08/24/2023
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING PROCESSES
COMPLETED
SECTOR
Electricity Transmission
CATEGORY
Project Category
FAST-41 Covered Projects
LEAD AGENCY
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
View FAST-41 Postings by Agencies
Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:
Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers - Regulatory
Description:
The SunZia Project includes two nominal 500-kV transmission lines located on federal, state, and private lands between central New Mexico and central Arizona. The approximately 550-mile-long transmission line route originates at the planned SunZia East Substation in Torrance County, New Mexico, and terminates near the existing Saguaro substation and the existing Pinal Central Substation, both in Pinal County, Arizona. The SunZia Project is located in Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, Hidalgo, and Torrance counties in New Mexico and Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, Pinal, and Pima counties in Arizona.
The SunZia Project will be constructed in two phases and ultimately include two, new, single-circuit, 500 kV transmission lines with the intent of locating both within a single 400-foot-wide right-of-way, where possible. Only one of the two 500-kV circuits will be constructed in Phase 1 and the planned in-service date for the first transmission line is 2025. The first transmission line would be a direct-current (DC) line and the second transmission line would be an alternating-current (AC) line.
Update:
The Executive Director granted a BLM's request to extend the Section 106 consultation "Section 106 Review" completion date because route changes for the Project require modifications to the programmatic agreement needed to conclude the Section 106 consultation. The Executive Director determination is posted here.
The Executive Director granted a BLM's request to extend the Endangered Species Act "Endangered Species Act (ESA)," completion date because because, FWS asked BLM to submit additional information to ensure a complete consultation package that would enable FWS to complete formal consultation under the ESA. The Executive Director determination is posted here.
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Non-conformance Explanation:The BLM's FAST-41 target date (5/25/2023) for issuing the Right-of-Way (ROW) grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project was met. BLM is working on sending out an offer letter with the grant and associated attachments. The Plan of Development (POD) appendices are still in draft and the POD is not yet 508 compliant. BLM has participated in several meetings reviewing and working with the proponent (SunZia Transmission, LLC) and contractors to sort out inconsistencies in the draft POD and the past and present Biological Opinion's. The proponent now has the draft POD and is reviewing and incorporating changes as requested. The proponent indicated they can provide the draft POD to BLM by June 9, 2023. BLM will need to review prior to accepting and making 508 compliant. In discussions with the proponent on 5/24/2023, upon receipt of the offer letter the proponent's legal team will need to review it prior to acceptance. The proponent indicated that the review should take no more than 1 week. The conservative target date for the BLM to send the ROW grant will be June 15, 2023.