[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 74 (Monday, April 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20377-20378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8909]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLAZP02000-10-L51010000.FX0000.LVRWA09A2400; AZA 034187]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Sonoran Solar Energy Project, Maricopa 
County, AZ

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 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 
Sonoran Solar Energy Project (SSEP) and by this notice is announcing 
the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the SSEP Draft EIS within 45 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 Proposed Sonoran 
Solar Energy Project by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]; or
     Mail: BLM Phoenix District Office, Lower Sonoran Field 
Office, Sonoran Solar Energy Project, Attention: Joe Incardine, 
National Project Manager, 21605 North 7th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 
85027.
    Copies of the Proposed Sonoran Solar Energy Project Draft EIS are 
available in the Lower Sonoran Field Office at the above address.
    The document may also be viewed at public libraries in Maricopa 
County, Arizona:
     Buckeye Public Library, 310 N. 6th Street, Buckeye, 
Arizona 85236.
     Gila Bend Public Library, 202 N. Euclid Avenue, Gila Bend, 
Arizona 85337.
     Goodyear Public Library, 250 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear, 
Arizona 85338.
    You may also access the document on the Internet at: http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/energy/solar/sonoran_solar.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Incardine, BLM National Project

[[Page 20378]]

Manager, telephone: 801-524-3833; address: BLM Phoenix District Office, 
Lower Sonoran Field Office, 21605 North 7th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 
85027; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft EIS was prepared by the BLM in 
response to Boulevard Associates, LLC's (Boulevard) right-of-way (ROW) 
application to the BLM. Boulevard is proposing to construct up to a 375 
megawatt (MW) concentrated solar thermal (CST) power plant and 
ancillary facilities on approximately 3,688 acres (5.76 square miles) 
on BLM-administered land. The proposed project area totals 
approximately 3,702 acres and also includes land owned by the Arizona 
State Land Department (approximately 5.3 acres) and private land owners 
(approximately 9.4 acres). The proposed CST project would be sited in 
the Little Rainbow Valley, east of State Route 85 and south of the 
Buckeye Hills in Maricopa County, Arizona. The CST project is in the 
BLM's Lower Gila South Planning Area and would be managed in accordance 
with the Lower Gila South Resource Management Plan (1988) (RMP), as 
amended (2005). Related facilities include road construction and 
improvements, a gas pipeline, electric lines, and a water well field 
and pipeline. Boulevard's ROW application only applies to BLM-
administered land.
    The BLM completed a land use plan conformance analysis of the SSEP 
and determined that the proposed land use is in conformance with the 
Lower Gila South RMP, as amended. As part of its review of the 
Boulevard's ROW application, the BLM will consider 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.
    The proposed SSEP would consist of two independent, concentrated 
solar electric generating facilities with expected outputs of 125 MW 
and 250 MW. Both facilities would use parabolic trough solar thermal 
technology to produce electrical power using steam turbine generators 
fed from solar steam generators. The generators would connect to a new 
SSEP 500-kilovolt onsite switchyard. Electricity from the new 
switchyard would be transmitted through a generation tie-line to 
connect to the existing Jojoba Substation. The proposed SSEP would use 
a wet-cooling tower for power plant cooling with up to 3,003 acre-feet 
per year of water being supplied from an onsite groundwater well field. 
Three natural gas co-firing boilers would be constructed to augment 
solar heating when less than optimal solar conditions existed (night 
time, cloud cover, etc.), and would provide up to 25 percent of annual 
total electric production. The boilers would be supplied with natural 
gas via a new 5-mile, 8-inch pipeline. A thermal energy storage (TES) 
system may also be installed to supplement electrical output during 
reduced solar activity or to extend electrical output into the evening 
hours. The TES would use molten salt as its energy storage medium.
    The proposed SSEP would include a number of related facilities and 
infrastructure, including power blocks and solar trough arrays (2,300 
acres), evaporation ponds, access roads, administration buildings and 
other support facilities, a land treatment unit, drainage collection 
and discharge facilities, and open areas totaling 1,400 acres for a 
total footprint of about 3,700 acres.
    As required under NEPA, the EIS also analyzes a no action 
alternative which would preclude development of the SSEP in any 
configuration and maintain existing land uses in the project area. The 
three action alternatives include: (1) The proposed action (as 
described above); (2) Alternative A: Reduced Water Use (using a dry-
cooling technology); and (3) Alternative B: Reduced Footprint (a 250 MW 
wet-cooled facility occupying 2,320 acres). Alternatives A and B were 
developed in response to issues raised during the scoping process. A 
Brine Concentrator Option is also analyzed as a component of the 
proposed action and Alternative B.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the Sonoran Solar Energy Project is 
to respond to Boulevard's application for a ROW grant to construct, 
operate, and decommission a solar thermal facility on public lands in 
compliance with Title V of the Federal Land Policy Management Act (43 
U.S.C. 1761), the BLM's ROW regulations, and other applicable Federal 
laws. Upon completion and consideration of the Final EIS, the BLM will 
decide whether to approve, approve with modification, or deny issuance 
of a ROW grant to Boulevard for the proposed Sonoran Solar Energy 
Project. If approved, the solar facility would be authorized by the BLM 
for a period of 30 years.
    The Draft EIS analyzes the anticipated effects of the proposed SSEP 
and alternatives on air quality, noise, geology and minerals, soils, 
surface and ground water resources, vegetation and special-status 
species, wildlife and special-status species, cultural resources, 
paleontology (fossils), land use and access, livestock grazing, 
recreation, wilderness characteristics, visual resources, social and 
economic conditions, special designation areas, transportation and 
traffic, hazardous materials and hazardous and solid waste. The Draft 
EIS also includes a discussion of the issue of climate change as it 
relates to the proposed action.
    Three agencies are serving as cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of the Draft EIS because of their jurisdictional 
responsibilities and/or special expertise: the Arizona Game and Fish 
Department, the City of Goodyear, and the Town of Buckeye.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS for the Proposed Sonoran Solar 
Energy Project, Maricopa County, Arizona, was published in the Federal 
Register on July 8, 2009 (74 FR 32641). The BLM held three public 
scoping meetings in Phoenix, Buckeye, and Gila Bend, Arizona, on August 
4, 5, and 6, 2009, respectively. The formal 30-day public scoping 
period ended September 8, 2009.
    All timely comments on the Draft EIS will be considered in the 
preparation of the Final EIS, currently scheduled for release in the 
fall of 2010. Please include the commenter's name and street address. 
All substantive comments and information submitted will be summarized 
and addressed in the Final EIS.
    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, 40 CFR 1506.10.

James G. Kenna,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-8909 Filed 4-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P