[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58043-58044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27116]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-960-09-L5101000.ER0000 LVRWB09B2400; CACA-48668, 49501, 49502, 
49503]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Ivanpah Solar Electric 
Generation System Environmental Impact Statement and the Draft 
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 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Ivanpah Solar 
Electric Generation System (ISEGS) and an associated Draft Resource 
Management Plan Amendment (DRMPA) for the California Desert 
Conservation Area. By this notice, the BLM is announcing the 
availability of these documents and the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments on the DEIS and DRMPA will be 
considered, the BLM must receive them within 90 days following the date 
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce 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 by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/nepa.html.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (760) 326-7099 Attn: George Meckfessel.
     Mail: George Meckfessel, Planning and Environmental 
Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Needles Field Office, 1303 
South U.S. Highway 95, Needles, CA 92363.
     In person: At any public meeting and/or hearing that BLM 
schedules for the DEIS/DRMPA during the comment period.
    Copies of the DEIS/DRMPA are available in the Needles Field Office 
at the above address; the California State Office, Public Room, 2800 
Cottage Way, Suite W-1623, Sacramento, CA 95825; and electronically on 
the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/nepa.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Hurshman, Project Manager, (970) 
240-5345; Bureau of Land Management, 2465 South Townsend Ave., 
Montrose, CO 81401; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Solar Partners I, LLC, Solar Partners II, LLC, Solar Partners IV, 
LLC and Solar Partners VIII, LLC, wholly owned subsidiaries of Bright 
Source Energy, Inc. (the applicant), have applied for right-of-way 
(ROW) grants on public lands to develop a 400 megawatt (MW) solar 
thermal power plant and a shared administrative complex/construction 
logistics area on approximately 4,073

[[Page 58044]]

acres of public land in Southern California. The proposed 400 MW 
generation project would be constructed in three phases: (1) 100 MW 
(Ivanpah 1) and the shared administrative complex/construction 
logistics area; (2) 100 MW (Ivanpah 2); and (3) 200 MW (Ivanpah 3). The 
project site is located entirely on public land approximately 4.5 miles 
southwest of Primm, Nevada. These concentrating solar energy power 
plants would use distributed power tower and heliostat (mirror) 
technology, in which heliostat fields focus solar energy on power tower 
receivers near the center of each heliostat array. The completed 400 MW 
project would incorporate seven 459-foot tall power towers and 
approximately 214,000 heliostats (each holding two flat mirrors). Each 
of the three proposed plants (Ivanpah 1, 2, and 3) would have an 
individual power block with steam turbine, air-cooled condenser, 
switchyard, and generation tie-line. The three plants would share 
access roads, two groundwater wells and water lines, an administrative/
maintenance complex, a new substation, a new 5.3-mile natural gas 
pipeline, and temporary construction staging areas. The DEIS addresses 
the impacts of the entire 400 MW generation project and does not 
analyze the environmental impacts for each phase of development 
separately.
    The plants would be connected to the Southern California Edison 
(SCE) electric power grid through upgrades to SCE's electric 
transmission line passing through the site and the new substation. The 
three phases would take several years to construct. Once completed, the 
solar power plants are expected to operate for 50 years or more. 
Construction of the first phase of the project is anticipated to begin 
in 2010 and be completed in 2013.
    On November 6, 2007, the BLM published in the Federal Register a 
Notice of Intent (72 FR 62671) to prepare an EIS and Staff Assessment 
jointly with the CEC under NEPA and the California Environmental 
Quality Act. The BLM and CEC held public scoping meetings in January 
2007 and have held a series of public workshops since then to discuss 
project changes and mitigation measures. Potential impacts to specific 
resources such as groundwater (quality and quantity), threatened and 
endangered species (desert tortoise), vegetation, visual resources, 
desert bighorn sheep, domestic livestock grazing, and recreation on the 
Ivanpah Dry Lake were identified during scoping and analyzed in the 
DEIS.
    The DEIS evaluates alternatives to approve the proposed action, 
approve with modifications, or deny the ROW application for the ISEGS 
project as proposed. The BLM will also consider the DRMPA to the 
California Desert Conservation Area Plan to allow for the ISEGS 
project. The DEIS analyzed 22 alternative site locations and 
technologies to the ISEGS project. None of these 22 alternatives met 
the BLM purpose and need for the proposed action and as such were 
eliminated from detailed analysis.
    Resources that may be affected include, but are not limited to: 
Desert tortoise, visual resources, cultural resources, ephemeral stream 
channels, soils, and vegetation.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of respondents 
will be available for public review and disclosure at the above 
addresses for the BLM California State Office and Needles Field Office 
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 may 
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 1506.10 and 1610.2

Tom Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director for Natural Resources, California State Office.
[FR Doc. E9-27116 Filed 11-9-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P