[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47619-47620]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19212]



[[Page 47619]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA-48668, 49502, 49503, 49504, LLCAD09000.L51010000.FX0000, 
LVRWB09B2400]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed California Desert 
Conservation Area Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, San 
Bernardino County, California

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 California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Ivanpah 
Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) Project and by this notice is 
announcing its availability.

DATES: The publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
Notice of Availability of this Final EIS in the Federal Register 
initiates a 30-day public comment period (see ``ADDRESSES'' section). 
In addition, the BLM planning regulations state that any person who 
meets the conditions as described in the regulations may protest the 
BLM's proposed CDCA Plan Amendment. A person who meets the conditions 
and files a protest must file the protest within 30 days of the date 
that the EPA publishes its notice of availability in the Federal 
Register (see ``ADDRESSES'' section).

ADDRESSES: Please submit comments on the Final EIS to Tom Hurshman, 
Project Manager, telephone (970) 240-5345; address: Bureau of Land 
Management, 2465 South Townsend Avenue, Montrose, Colorado 81401 or by 
e-mail: [email protected]. Copies of the proposed CDCA Plan Amendment/
Final EIS are available for public inspection at the Needles Field 
Office, 1303 South Highway 95, Needles, California 92363. Interested 
persons may also review the CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS at the 
following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needles/nefo_nepa.html. All protests of the proposed CDCA Plan Amendment must be in 
writing and mailed to one of the following addresses:

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 
66538, Washington, DC 20035.

Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L 
Street, N.W., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.


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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BrightSource Energy (BSE) has filed right-
of-way (ROW) applications on public land for development of the 
proposed ISEGS concentrated thermal solar power project that would 
generate up to 400 megawatts of renewable electricity through the use 
of 214,000 heliostats. The proposed project would be located on 4,073 
acres of public land 4.5 miles south of Primm, Nevada in San Bernardino 
County, California.
    The BLM purpose and need for the ISEGS project EIS is to respond to 
the application under Title V of the FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761) for a ROW 
grant to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a concentrated 
solar electric generation plant and associated infrastructure on public 
land in compliance with FLPMA, the BLM regulations, and other 
applicable Federal laws. The BLM will decide to approve, approve with 
modifications, or deny ROW applications filed by Solar Partners I, LLC; 
Solar Partners II, LLC; Solar Partners IV, LLC; and Solar Partners 
VIII, LLC, which are subsidiaries of BSE, to develop the ISEGS project. 
The CDCA Plan (1980, as amended), while recognizing the potential 
compatibility of solar power generation facilities on public lands, 
requires that all sites associated with power generation or 
transmission not identified in that plan be considered through the plan 
amendment process. If the BLM decides to grant a ROW, the BLM would 
also amend the CDCA Plan as required.
    The proposed action in the CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS is to 
authorize the ISEGS project and approve the plan amendment in response 
to the applications received from BSE. The BLM's Preferred alternative 
is Mitigated Ivanpah 3. The preferred alternative reduces the capacity 
of the project to 370 megawatts, reduces the number of heliostats to 
173,000, and reduces the site disturbance to 3,640 acres in order to 
reduce impacts to sensitive plant and animal species. In addition to 
the proposed action and the preferred alternative, the BLM has analyzed 
an alternative that would relocate a portion of the proposed action 
closer to the Interstate 15 corridor (Modified I-15 Alternative). As 
required under NEPA, the CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS analyzes a no 
action alternative that would not require a plan amendment. The BLM has 
taken into consideration the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (EPAct 05) 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 ISEGS 
applications.
    The applicant has applied to the Department of Energy (DOE) for a 
loan guarantee under Title XVII of EPAct 05, as amended by Section 406 
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111-5. 
The DOE is a cooperating agency in the preparation of the CDCA Plan 
Amendment/Final EIS. The BLM published a Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation System EIS and the Draft CDCA 
Plan Amendment in the Federal Register on November 10, 2009 (74 FR 
58043). The Draft EIS was available for a 90-day public comment period 
which closed on February 11, 2010. Subsequent to the Draft EIS, the BLM 
published a Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft EIS for 
the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation System Project in the Federal 
Register on April 16, 2010 (75 FR 19992), to evaluate the environmental 
impacts of two additional alternatives. The public comment period on 
the Supplemental Draft EIS closed on June 1, 2010. Comments received on 
the Draft EIS and the Supplemental Draft EIS are addressed in the CDCA 
Plan Amendment/Final EIS. Wilderness characteristics are addressed and 
analyzed in the CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the proposed CDCA Plan Amendment may be found in the ``Dear 
Reader Letter'' of the CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS and at 43 CFR 
1610.5-2. 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 postmarked by the close of the 
protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-
mailed or faxed protest as an advance copy and it 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 Brenda--Hudgens-

[[Page 47620]]

[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.

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

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 2010-19212 Filed 8-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P