[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17431-17432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7666]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 048811, LLCAD06000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB09B2600]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Staff Assessment for the Chevron Energy Solutions/Solar 
Millennium (CESSM) Blythe Solar Power Plant (BSPP) 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 CESSM BSPP 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 BSPP 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CESSM has submitted a right-of-way (ROW) 
application to the BLM for development of the proposed BSPP Project, 
consisting of four parabolic-trough solar thermal power plants, each of 
which has a ``solar field'' comprised of rows of parabolic mirrors 
focusing solar energy on collector tubes. The tubes carry heated oil to 
a boiler that sends live steam to a steam turbine. The project would be 
built in four phases, which are designed to generate in total 
approximately 968 megawatts (MW) of electricity at full development. 
The total expected project footprint aggregates approximately 7,030 
acres of BLM-managed lands, with the total proposed ROW involving about 
9,400 acres. The project site is in Riverside County, California, 
approximately eight miles west of Blythe, California, three miles north 
of Highway I-10, and one mile north of the Blythe Regional Airport.

[[Page 17432]]

    The project also includes an electrical transmission line, natural 
gas pipeline, and an access road. A new single-circuit 500-kilovolt 
generation-tie transmission line would be constructed to interconnect 
to the Desert Southwest/Colorado River substation. Approximately 9.5 
miles of this new line would be outside the project area, but is 
included in the analysis. The new line would occupy approximately 183 
acres of public lands, and proposes to utilize a 225-foot wide ROW. 
This dry-cooled power plant would use approximately 600 acre-feet of 
water per year for feed water makeup, dust control, domestic uses, and 
mirror washing. The water would be obtained from on-site water wells.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the BSPP 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, 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 BSPP project. The 
BLM is also 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 BSPP project, amend the CDCA 
Plan to designate the project area as available for solar energy 
projects, and amend the Plan to provide for the CESSM BSPP project.
    In addition to the proposed action, the BLM is analyzing the 
following action alternatives: A reconfigured, 1,000-MW alternative and 
a smaller 750-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 BSPP 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 a 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 BSPP 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.

    Dated: March 11, 2010.
Karla D. Norris,
Associate Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-7666 Filed 4-5-10; 8:45 am]
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