Notice2025-21599
Notice of Availability; Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner Transmission Project Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment; Roosevelt and Lea Counties, New Mexico
Primary source
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Published
December 1, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, received an application from Nextera Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC for an incidental take permit (permit) supported by the Crossroads-Hobbs- Roadrunner Transmission Project: Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Habitat Conservation Plan (CTHCP) in Roosevelt and Lea counties, New Mexico. The CTHCP includes a proposed plan to build 137 miles of 345-kV transmission line in Roosevelt and Lea Counties. With this notice, we announce the availability for public comment of the proposed CTHCP and the draft environmental assessment (draft EA). If approved, the requested permit would authorize incidental take of the dunes sagebrush lizard. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 228 (Monday, December 1, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 228 (Monday, December 1, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55156-55158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-21599]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R2-ES-2025-0053; FXES11140200000-256-FF02ENEH00]
Notice of Availability; Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner Transmission
Project Habitat Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment;
Roosevelt and Lea Counties, New Mexico
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, received an
application from Nextera Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC for an
incidental take permit (permit) supported by the Crossroads-Hobbs-
Roadrunner Transmission Project: Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Habitat
Conservation Plan (CTHCP) in Roosevelt and Lea counties, New Mexico.
The CTHCP includes a proposed plan to build 137 miles of 345-kV
transmission line in Roosevelt and Lea Counties. With this notice, we
announce the availability for public comment of the proposed CTHCP and
the draft environmental assessment (draft EA). If approved, the
requested permit would authorize incidental take of the dunes sagebrush
lizard. We invite comments from the public and Federal, Tribal, State,
and local governments.
DATES: We must receive your written comments on or before December 31,
2025.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The documents this notice announces, as well
as any comments and materials that we receive, will be available for
public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2025-0053 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Submitting Comments: If you wish to submit comments on any of the
documents, you may do so in writing by one of the following methods:
<bullet> Online: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2025-0053.
<bullet> U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing; Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R2-ES-2025-0053; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawn Sartorius, Project Leader, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services, New Mexico Ecological
[[Page 55157]]
Services Field Office; telephone 505-248-6419; email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b8ebd0d9cfd6e7ebd9caccd7cad1cdcbf8decfcb96dfd7ce"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a8fbc0c9dfc6f7fbc9dadcc7dac1dddbe8cedfdb86cfc7de">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are deaf,
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service), make available for public comment the application submitted
by Nextera Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC (NEET SW; applicant) for
an incidental take permit (permit) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the
Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The application
is supported by the proposed Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner Transmission
Project: Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Habitat Conservation Plan (CTHCP) and
the associated draft EA. The CTHCP addresses the effects of installing
a 137-mile (mi) 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line and associated
access roads in Roosevelt and Lea Counties, New Mexico, on the dunes
sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus; DSL).
If approved, the proposed CTHCP would offset impacts to 277 acres
(ac) of DSL habitat through the establishment of conservation easements
on up to 6,000 ac of private land. In addition, the CTHCP would also
establish Land Use Restriction or Condition (LURCs) on up to 20,000 ac
of New Mexico State Land Office lands to improve habitat connectivity
for the DSL for 35 years. The conservation easements will be finalized
within 18 months of the start of construction in DSL habitat.
Authorized incidental take of the DSL would result from
construction, operation, and maintenance of the transmission line and
associated access roads along with loss of the shinnery oak sand dune
habitat on which the DSL depends.
The associated draft EA has been prepared in accordance with the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.). The draft EA evaluates the impacts of, and alternatives
to, issuing the permit for the Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner transmission
line project.
Background
Section 9 of the ESA and our implementing regulations at 50 CFR
part 17 prohibit the ``take'' of fish or wildlife species listed as
endangered or threatened. Take is defined under the ESA as to ``harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect
listed animal species, or to attempt to engage in such conduct'' (16
U.S.C. 1538). However, under section 10(a) of the ESA, we may issue
permits to authorize incidental take of listed species. ``Incidental
take'' is defined by the ESA as take that is incidental to, and not the
purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. Regulations
governing such take of endangered and threatened species are found at
50 CFR 17.21-22 and 50 CFR 17.31-32, respectively.
Proposed Action
The proposed action is the issuance of an incidental take permit
(permit) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA supported by proposed
Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner Transmission Project: Dunes Sagebrush
Lizard Habitat Conservation Plan (CTHCP). The permit duration would be
60 years, expiring in 2085, at which time NEET SW plans to either renew
the permit or decommission the transmission line.
The proposed project includes the construction, operation, and
maintenance of a new 137-mi 345-kV transmission line and associated
facilities. The proposed line would connect the Crossroads, Hobbs, and
Roadrunner substations in Lea and Roosevelt counties, New Mexico. The
proposed project includes a 150-foot right-of-way consisting of
approximately 2,506 ac, 141 ac of temporary laydown yards, 359 ac of
access roads, and 926 transmission poles.
The CTHCP's covered activities are limited to actions within the
permit area that are reasonably certain to take DSL. The covered
activities will result in impacts to 277 ac of DSL habitat and include:
construction and installation of 94 transmission poles and associated
maintenance areas, line splicing areas, tensioning and pulling sites,
hazard tree removal, emergency response, approximately 16 mi of access
roads, general operations and maintenance activities, vegetation
maintenance, decommissioning, and repower/recommissioning.
Impacts and take resulting from the covered activities will be
minimized and mitigated to the maximum extent practicable through the
implementation of minimization measures, as described in section 6 of
the CTHCP, and the placing of up to approximately 6,000 ac of private
land in conservation easements (of which approximately 3,678 ac fall
within suitable DSL habitat). The location of the conservation
easements will be determined based on further negotiations. In
addition, although not considered mitigation for impacts to DSL, NEET
SW has a goal of conserving 20,000 ac of New Mexico State Land Office
lands under Land Use Restriction or Condition (LURCs). The total
acreage and location of LURCs is subject to negotiation.
The conservation goal for both the conservation easement lands and
lands covered by LURCs would be to connect existing conservation lands
east of Highway 206 to existing conservation lands west of Highway 206
to create a large contiguous landscape protected from further large-
scale development and prevent future DSL habitat loss and
fragmentation.
Alternatives
We are considering one alternative to the proposed action as part
of this process, the no action alternative. Under the no action
alternative, the Service would not approve the proposed CTHCP and would
not issue the permit. Under this alternative, as stated in section 8.2
of the CTHCP, the transmission line would not be built.
Next Steps
We will evaluate the permit application, draft EA, and comments we
receive to determine whether the application meets the requirements of
the ESA, NEPA, and their implementing regulations. If we determine that
all requirements are met, we will approve the CTHCP and issue the
permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to the applicant. Our
approval will be in accordance with the terms of the CTHCP and specific
terms and conditions of the authorizing permit. We will not make our
final decision until after the 30-day comment period ends and we have
fully considered all comments received during the public comment
period.
Public Availability of Comments
All comments we receive become part of the public record associated
with this action. If you submit a comment at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, your entire comment, including any personal
identifying information, will be posted on the website. If you submit a
hardcopy comment that includes personal identifying information, such
as your address, phone number, or email address, you should be aware
that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your hardcopy document to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. Moreover, all
[[Page 55158]]
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their
entirety.
Authority
We provide this notice under the authority of section 10(c) of the
Endangered Species Act and its implementing regulations (50 CFR 17.22
and 17.32) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Leston Jacks,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-21599 Filed 11-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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