[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44278-44279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18471]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 47740, LLCAD07000, L51030000.FX0000, LVRAB109AA01]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Imperial Valley Solar, LLC Project, California and 
the Proposed 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 (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment/Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Imperial Valley Solar, LLC 
(IVS) Project and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the 
conditions described in the regulations may protest the BLM's Proposed 
RMP Amendment. A person who meets the conditions must file the protest 
within 30 days after the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its notice of availability in the Federal Register. The BLM 
will also be accepting additional public comments on the RMP/EIS within 
30 days after the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availibility in the Federal Register. Comments 
can be sent to Jim Stobaugh at the addresses given below. All 
substantive comments will be reviewed and responded to in the Record of 
Decision.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS are available 
for public inspection at the El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th 
Street, El Centro, California 92243. Interested persons may also review 
the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS on the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/nepa/stirling.html. All protests must 
be in writing and mailed to one of the following addresses:

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               Regular mail                        Overnight mail
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BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda       BLM Director (210),
 Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington, DC    Attention: Brenda Williams,
 20035.                                      1620 L Street, NW., Suite
                                             1075, Washington, DC 20036.
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    All comments must be in writing and sent to Jim Stobaugh, BLM 
Project Manager, by mail at Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 12000, 
Reno, Nevada 89520; or by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Stobaugh, BLM Project Manager, by 
telephone at (775) 861-6478; through mail at Bureau of Land Management, 
P.O. Box 12000, Reno, Nevada 89520; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Stirling Energy Systems (SES) filed right-
of-way (ROW) application CACA-47740 for the SES Solar Two Project. 
Afrter merging with Tessera Soar the applicant changed its name to 
Imperial Valley Solar, LLC. The project name, SES Solar Two, has also 
been changed to the Imperial Valley Solar, LLC project. The proposed 
IVS Project is a concentrated solar electrical generating facility 
capable of generating 709 megawatts (MW) of renewable power. The entire 
project encompasses approximately 6,144 acres of BLM-managed lands. The 
project site is in Imperial County, California, approximately 4 miles 
east of Ocotillo and 14 miles west of El Centro. Generally, the site is 
bounded on the north by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System/San 
Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway and on the south by Interstate 
Highway 8. The eastern boundary is approximately 1.5 miles west of 
Dunaway Road and the western boundary is the westerly section line in 
Section 22 in Township 16 South, Range 12 East. An additional 110-acre 
laydown construction area is proposed east of Dunaway Road.
    IVS proposes to use SunCatcher technology on the site. A SunCatcher 
is a 25-kilowatt solar dish designed to automatically track the sun and 
collect and focus solar energy onto a power conversion unit (PCU), 
which generates electricity. The system consists of a 38-foot high by 
40-foot wide solar concentrator in a dish structure that supports an 
array of curved glass mirror facets. These mirrors concentrate solar 
energy onto the solar receiver of the PCU.
    The project also includes an electrical transmission line, water 
supply pipeline, and access road. A new 230-kilovolt (kV) substation 
would be constructed in approximately the center of the project site 
near a main services complex that is also part of the proposal. The 
substation would be connected to the existing San Diego Gas and 
Electric Imperial Valley Substation by a 10.3-mile long, double-circuit 
230-kV transmission line. Approximately 7.6 miles of this new line 
would be outside

[[Page 44279]]

the project area, but is included in the analysis. The transmission 
line would occupy approximately 92 acres.
    The BLM has entered into a MOU with the California Energy 
Commission (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 through the MOU to conduct the review of 
the IVS Project in a single combined NEPA/California Environmental 
Quality Act process and document.
    The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/Staff Assessment and 
Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment for the Proposed Imperial Valley Solar 
Project in Imperial County, California was published on October 17, 
2008 (see 73 FR 61902). The BLM held two public scoping meetings in El 
Centro, California, on November 24 and December 18, 2008. The formal 
scoping period ended January 2, 2010. The BLM invited the National Park 
Service to enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), as a cooperating 
agency in the EIS, for its special expertise concerning the Juan 
Batista de Anza National Historic Trail.
    In addition, the BLM and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
entered into an MOU to formalize the Corps as a Federal cooperating 
agency in developing the Final EIS. The Corps' requirements under the 
Clean Water Act (CWA), Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines are to identify and 
authorize only the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable 
Alternative which maximizes avoidance and minimizes impacts to aquatic 
resources of the United States. The Corps and the applicant are working 
with the BLM and CEC to identify the project proposal that would 
reasonably comply with the Corps' requirements under the CWA and 
404(b)(1) Guidelines.
    The Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Staff Assessment for the Stirling Energy Systems Solar Two 
Project and Possible California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment 
was published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2010 (see 75 FR 
7624). Comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS/Staff Assessment 
received from the public and internal BLM review were considered and 
incorporated, as appropriate, into the proposed plan amendment.
    Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but 
did not significantly change the proposed land use plan decision.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the Solar Two project EIS/SA is to 
respond to IVS LLC's application under Title V of 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 approve, approve with modification, 
or deny a ROW grant to IVS, LLC for the proposed IVS project. The BLM 
will also consider amending the California Desert Conservation Area 
(CDCA) Plan (1980, as amended) through this analysis. The CDCA Plan, 
while recognizing the potential compatibility of solar generation 
facilities on public lands, requires that all sites associated with 
power generation or transmission not identified in that plan be 
considered through the BLM's land use plan amendment process. If the 
BLM decides to grant a ROW, the BLM would also amend the CDCA Plan.
    In the Final EIS analysis, the BLM's proposed action is to 
authorize the IVS Project and approve a CDCA Plan amendment in response 
to the application received from IVS. In addition to analyzing the 
proposed action, the BLM has analyzed the following alternatives: 
Authorize a smaller 300 MW alternative and amend the CDCA Plan; 
authorize the project as described in the Drainage Avoidance 1 
alternative that may reduce impacts to primary water drainages of the 
United States and amend the CDCA Plan; and authorize the project as 
described in the more restrictive Drainage Avoidance 2 
alternative that may substantially reduce impacts in eastern and 
western high flow water drainages of the United States and amend the 
CDCA Plan. As required under the California Environmental Quality Act 
and NEPA, the EIS analyzes a No Action alternative that would not 
require a CDCA Plan amendment. The BLM has also analyzed a No Project 
alternative to deny the project, but amend the CDCA Plan to potentially 
allow other solar energy power generation projects on the project site. 
The BLM additionally has analyzed a No Project alternative to deny the 
project and amend the CDCA Plan to prohibit solar energy power 
generation projects on the project site. The BLM has taken into 
consideration the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and 
Secretarial Orders 3283 Enhancing Renewable Energy Development on the 
Public Lands and 3285A1 Renewable Energy Development by the Department 
of the Interior in responding to the IVS application.
    The BLM evaluated the potential impacts of the proposed IVS Project 
in this EIS on air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, 
water resources, geological resources and hazards, land use, noise, 
paleontological resources, public health, socioeconomics, soils, 
traffic and transportation, visual resources, and other resources.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment may be found in the Final EIS 
``Dear Reader'' Letter and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Protests must be 
received by the Director by the close of the protest period to be 
accepted as valid. Protests that are postmarked by the close of the 
protest period, but received by the Director after the close of the 
protest period will only be accepted as valid if the protesting party 
also provides a faxed or e-mailed advance copy before the close of the 
protest period.
    E-mailed and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests 
unless the protesting party also provides the original letter by either 
regular or overnight mail by the close of the protest period. Under 
these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-mailed or faxed protest 
as an advance copy that will receive full consideration. If you wish to 
provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed 
protests to the attention of the BLM protest coordinator at (202) 912-
7212, and e-mails to [email protected].
    All protests, including the follow-up letter to e-mails or faxes, 
must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth 
in the ADDRESSES section above.
    Before including your phone number, e-mail address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, Natural Resources.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 1506.10 and 43 CFR 1610.2, 1610.5.

[FR Doc. 2010-18471 Filed 7-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P