[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 166 (Friday, August 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52776-52778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21276]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA 048649, LLCAD06000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB09B2490]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC Desert Sunlight Solar
Farm Project and Possible California Desert Conservation Area Plan
Amendment
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
[[Page 52777]]
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Draft
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment for the
Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC Desert Sunlight Solar Farm (DSSF)
Project, Riverside County, California, and by this notice, is
announcing the opening of a 90-day public comment period.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft EIS 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 Desert Sunlight
Holdings DSSF project by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings.html.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (760) 833-7199.
Mail or other delivery service: Allison Shaffer, Project
Manager, BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center
Drive, Palm Springs, California 92262.
Copies of the DSSF Draft EIS are available from the Palm Springs-South
Coast Field Office at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Shaffer, BLM Project Manager,
telephone (760) 833-7100. See also ADDRESSES section.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC has requested
a 19,516-acre right-of-way (ROW) to construct and operate the DSSF 550-
megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) facility and associated 220-
kilovolt (kV) generation interconnection line (gen-tie line), and to
facilitate the construction and operation by Southern California Edison
(SCE) of a new 500- to 220-kV Red Bluff Substation where the project
would interconnect with the SCE regional transmission system.
The DSSF power generation site would encompass 4,245 acres. The
power generation site would consist of several components: A main
generation area which includes PV arrays, combining switchgear,
overhead lines, and access corridors; an operations and maintenance
facility; a solar energy visitor center; an on-site substation where
the voltage of the generated electricity would be stepped up to 220 kV
to match that of the transmission line; and site security and fencing.
The transmission line from the project would transmit the
electricity to the regional transmission system through the Red Bluff
Substation where the power would feed into SCE's existing Devers-Palo
Verde 1 (DPV1) 500-kV transmission line. The length of the transmission
line would be 12.2 miles long involving 236 acres.
The Red Bluff Substation would consist of a 500/220 kV substation
on approximately 90 acres, with an additional 20 to 30 acres for
related features including access roads and drainage control.
Substation features include: Connection of the project tranmission line
into the substation; transmission lines to connect the substation to
the DPV1 line; modification of DPV1 towers near the substation;
construction of an electric distribution line for substation light and
power; and installation of telecommunications facilities.
The DSSF project would be located approximately six miles north of
Interstate Highway 10 and the rural community of Desert Center in
Riverside County. The project area is within two miles of Joshua Tree
National Park. The Draft EIS analyzes the direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts to the environment. Three action alternatives and
three no project alternatives are analyzed in the Draft EIS.
Alternatives include:
The proposed action;
A modified proposed action with an alternative
transmission line route and substation location;
A modified proposed action with a reduced project
footprint (3,045 acres) and reduced output (413 MW);
No action with no plan amendment to the CDCA plan;
No project approval with a plan amendment to the CDCA plan
to make the project area unsuitable for solar energy projects; and
No project approval with a plan amendment to the CDCA plan
to make the project area suitable for other solar energy projects.
The BLM's purpose and need for the DSSF project is to respond to Desert
Sunlight Holdings' application under Title V of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761)
for a ROW grant to construct, operate, and decommission a solar PV
facility on public lands in compliance with FLPMA, NEPA, BLM ROW and
land use planning regulations, and other applicable laws and
regulations. The BLM will decide whether to approve, approve with
modification, or deny a ROW grant to Desert Sunlight Holdings for the
proposed DSSF project. The BLM will also consider amending the CDCA
Plan to make the project area (or portions) either available or
unavailable to future solar development. 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, the BLM would amend the
CDCA Plan as required based on guidance in the BLM Land Use Planning
Handbook (H 1601-1). The inventory for wilderness characteristics was
updated and the project area was found to lack wilderness
characteristics.
A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS and possible CDCA plan
amendment for the DSSF was published in the Federal Register on January
13, 2010 (75 FR 1801). This was followed by a 30-day public scoping
period which ended February 13, 2010. Scoping meetings were held on
January 28, 2010, in Palm Desert, California. Numerous public scoping
comments were received.
The main concerns identified during scoping included potential
impacts to biological, visual, water, and air resources, wilderness
characteristics and cumulative impacts resulting from the potential
development of the Interstate Highway 10 corridor. The issues and
concerns identified in the scoping comments were addressed in the Draft
EIS.
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, and at the following Web site:
http://www.blm.gov/ca.
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.
[[Page 52778]]
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 1506.10 and 43 CFR 1610.2
Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2010-21276 Filed 8-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P