Morongo Canyon at Highway 62 Multi-Tenant Wireless Broadband Communications Site

Morongo Canyon at Highway 62 Multi-Tenant Wireless Broadband Communications Site

The United States (U.S.) Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to describe the potential environmental effects of developing a communication site at Morongo Canyon along California State Highway 62. The Proposed Action, as detailed in the InterConnect Towers LLC (ICT) right-of-way (ROW) application, includes the construction and operation of a multi-tenant wireless communication facility. In addition to the ROW application, the BLM is considering an associated land use plan amendment (LUPA) to accommodate the proposed use. Collectively, the communication site development, ROW authorization, and LUPA are referred to as the Project. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is requesting a Governor's Consistency Review of the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA)/Final Environmental Assessment (EA) to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan, 1980, as amended (CDCA), prepared by the BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office in Southern California. The document is available for download on the BLM’s ePlanning project site at https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/? id=bfce71b3-a7f2-f011-8407-001dd803d7d3 and has been submitted online to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research CEQANet web portal. The Proposed RMPA would allow the BLM to modify the Visual Resource Management (VRM) Class for the 1.2 acre project area to Class IV, previously identified as Class II in the BLM California Desert District’s (CDD) CDCA and authorize InterConnect Towers LLC’s (ICT’s) application for a proposed multi-tenant wireless broadband facility. The proposed project site and resource management plan amendment area is located approximately 0.5-mile north westerly of Highway 62 in the unincorporated community of Morongo Valley within San Bernardino County, CA.

Morongo Valley

San Bernardino

Countywide, Southern California, Unincorporated

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy (CVMC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Inland Deserts Region 6 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Justice, Attorney General's Office, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Fish and Game Commission (CDFGC), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), California Transportation Commission (CATC), Colorado River Board, Department of General Services (DGS), Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS)

Other (Wireless communication site; 0 employees, approx. 3-4 acres)

BLM's RMP Amendment

Aesthetics, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Economics/Jobs, Geology/Soils, Land Use/Planning, Noise, Public Services, Recreation, Vegetation