[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81307-81308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32432]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVB00000 L51010000.ER0000 LVRWF0900380 241A; 11-08807; 
MO4500015810; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Tonopah 
Solar Energy, LLC, Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision

[[Page 81308]]

(ROD) for the Tonopah Solar Energy Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Secretary of the Interior 
approved the ROD on December 20, 2010, which constitutes the final 
decision of the Department.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request from the BLM 
Tonopah Field Office, 1553 South Main Street, P.O. Box 911, Tonopah, 
Nevada 89049; and at the Battle Mountain District Office, 50 Bastian 
Road, Battle Mountain, Nevada 89820; or at the following Web site: 
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html. Copies of 
the ROD are also available for public inspection at the following 
locations in Nevada:
     BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno;
     BLM Battle Mountain District Office, 50 Bastian Road, 
Battle Mountain; and
     BLM Tonopah Field Office, 1553 South Main, Tonopah.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Coward, Renewable Energy 
Project Manager, telephone: (775) 482-7830; mailing address: BLM 
Tonopah Field Office, 1553 South Main Street, P.O. Box 911, Tonopah, 
Nevada 89049; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant, Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, is 
authorized to construct the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project and 
other related project facilities, on approximately 2,250.27 acres of 
public lands with a nominal capacity of 110 megawatts. The Crescent 
Dunes Solar Energy Project is a solar facility using concentrated solar 
thermal power technology.
    The project facility footprint will disturb approximately 1,620 
acres of the project area and will include a solar field (consisting of 
up to 17,500 dual axis tracking heliostats mounted on concrete or steel 
foundations), a 653-foot central receiver tower, salt tanks, steam 
generation building and equipment, steam turbine and generator, water 
treatment facilities and evaporation ponds, evaporative cooling tower 
and air cooled condenser (combined to form a hybrid-cooling system), 
electrical equipment and buildings, heliostat assembly building, 
administration and operation building, an access road from Pole Line 
Road to the site, drainage and stormwater control facilities, and 
temporary construction facilities. Transmission infrastructure consists 
of a 5.6 mile-long 230 kV transmission line from the project area to 
the nearby Anaconda Moly Substation.
    The Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft EIS analyzing 
impacts of the proposed project was published in the Federal Register 
on September 3, 2010 (75 FR 54177) for public review and comment. A 
total of 23 comment letters were received on the Draft EIS. The 
comments were incorporated, where appropriate, to clarify the analysis 
presented in the Final EIS. The NOA for the Final EIS was published in 
the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection Agency on November 
19, 2010 (75 FR 70917) and the BLM on November 26, 2010 (75 FR 72836).
    Three action alternatives were analyzed in addition to the No 
Action Alternative: the Proposed Action Alternative, Alternative 1, and 
Alternative 2. Alternative 2 is the BLM's preferred alternative.
    Because this decision is approved by the Secretary of the Interior, 
it is not subject to administrative appeal [43 CFR 4.410(a)(3)].

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10

Robert V. Abbey,
Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2010-32432 Filed 12-23-10; 8:45 am]
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