[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17765-17766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7833]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA 04880, LLCAD06000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB09B2600]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Staff Assessment for the Chevron Energy Solutions/Solar
Millennium Palen Solar Power Plant (PSPP) and Possible California
Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the
California Energy Commission (CEC) have prepared a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS), Draft California Desert Conservation Area
(CDCA) Plan Amendment, and Staff Assessment (SA) as a joint
environmental analysis document for the Chevron Energy Solutions/Solar
Millennium (CESSM) Palen Solar Power Plant (PSPP) Project, Riverside
County, California, and by this notice are announcing the opening of
the comment period.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft EIS/SA and Plan Amendment within 90 days
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce
future meetings or hearings and any other public involvement activities
at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases,
and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the PSPP Project by any
of the following methods:
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (760) 833-7199.
Mail or other delivery service: Allison Shaffer, Project
Manager, Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, Bureau of Land
Management, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, California 92262.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Shaffer, BLM Project Manager
at (760) 833-7100. See also ADDRESSES section.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CESSM has submitted a right-of-way (ROW)
application to the BLM for development of the proposed PSPP Project,
consisting of two parabolic-trough solar thermal
[[Page 17766]]
power plants, each of which has a ``solar field'' comprised of rows of
parabolic mirrors focusing solar energy on collector tubes. The tubes
would carry heated oil to a boiler that sends live steam to a steam
turbine. The project would be built in two phases which are designed to
generate in total approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity at
full development. The proposed ROW would encompass approximately 5,200
acres; the disturbed area would encompass approximately 2,970 acres.
The project site is in Riverside County, California, approximately 10
miles east of Desert Center along Interstate 10 approximately halfway
between the cities of Indio and Blythe.
The major components and features of the proposed PSPP include the
two power plants, an access road, operations facilities (office,
warehouse, etc.), a switchyard, an electrical transmission line (which
will connect to Southern California Edison's planned Red Bluff
substation, approximately ten miles west of the Palen project site),
and two water wells. This dry-cooled power plant would use
approximately 300 acre-feet of water per year for feed water makeup,
dust control, domestic uses, and mirror washing, obtained from on-site
water wells.
The BLM's purpose and need for the PSPP project is to respond to
CESSM's application under Title V of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1761) for a ROW grant to construct,
operate, and decommission a solar thermal facility on public lands in
compliance with FLPMA, the BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable
Federal laws. The BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with
modification, or deny a ROW to CESSM for the proposed PSPP project. The
BLM is proposing to amend the CDCA Plan by designating the project area
as either available or unavailable for solar energy projects. The CDCA
Plan (1980, as amended), while recognizing the potential compatibility
of solar generation facilities with other uses on public lands,
requires that all sites proposed for power generation or transmission
not already identified in the plan be considered through the plan
amendment process. If the BLM decides to grant a ROW for this project,
the CDCA Plan would be amended as required. In response to the
application received from CESSM, the BLM's proposed action is to
authorize the CESSM PSPP project, amend the CDCA Plan to designate the
project area as available for solar energy projects, and amend the Plan
to approve this project.
In addition to the proposed action, the BLM is analyzing the
following action alternatives: A reconfigured, 500-MW alternative and a
smaller 425-MW alternative, both of which would amend the CDCA Plan to
designate the area as available for solar energy projects and approve
this project. As required under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the Draft EIS analyzes a no action alternative that would not
require a CDCA Plan amendment. The Draft EIS also analyzes two no
project alternatives that reject the project, but amend the CDCA Plan
to: (1) Designate the project area as available to future solar energy
power generation projects; or (2) designate the project area as
unavailable to future solar energy power generation projects. The BLM
will take into consideration the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 and Secretarial Orders 3283 Enhancing Renewable Energy Development
on the Public Lands and 3285 Renewable Energy Development by the
Department of the Interior in responding to the PSPP application.
The BLM has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the CEC
to conduct a joint environmental review of solar thermal projects that
are proposed on Federal land managed by the BLM, with the CEC as the
lead agency preparing the environmental documents. The BLM and CEC have
agreed to conduct joint environmental review of the project in a single
combined NEPA/California Environmental Quality Act process and
document. The Draft EIS/SA analyzes site-specific impacts of the
proposed project on air quality; biological, cultural, water, soil,
visual, paleontological, and geological resources; recreation; land
use; noise; public health; socioeconomics; and traffic and
transportation. The Draft EIS/SA also addresses hazardous materials
handling, waste management worker safety, fire protection, facility
design engineering, efficiency, reliability, transmission system
engineering, transmission line safety, and nuisance. A Notice of Intent
to Prepare an EIS/SA and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment for the
Proposed CESSM PSPP in Riverside County, California was published
November 23, 2008 (73 FR 61902). The BLM held one public scoping
meeting in Palm Desert, California, on December 11, 2008. The formal
scoping period ended December 23, 2009. The CEC held an Informational
Hearing, Environmental Scoping Meeting, and Public Site Visit in
cooperation with the BLM on January 25, 2010.
Please note that public comments and information submitted
including names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of persons who
submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at
the above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, 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 comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10 and 43 CFR 1610.2
Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-7833 Filed 4-6-10; 8:45 am]
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