[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28064-28065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11657]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 048810, LLCAD06000, L51010000.FX0000, LVRWB09B2600]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for Palen Solar I, LLC's Palen Solar Power Plant (PSPP) and 
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 California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Palen 
Solar Power Plant project and by this notice is announcing its 
availability.

DATES: The publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
Notice of Availability (NOA) of this Final EIS in the Federal Register 
initiates a 30-day public comment period. In addition, the BLM planning 
regulations state that any person who meets the conditions as described 
in the regulations at 43 CFR 1610.52 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 in the Federal Register. The protest procedures 
are described in the ``Dear Reader'' letter accompanying the Proposed 
Plan Amendment/Final EIS.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Palen Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS 
have been sent to affected Federal, state, and local government 
agencies and to other stakeholders. You may send your comments to the 
Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm 
Springs, California 92262. Copies are also available for public 
inspection at this address. Interested persons may also review the 
document at the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/Solar_Projects/Palen_Solar_Power_Project.html. All 
protests must be in writing and mailed to one of the following 
addresses:

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 
71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383.
Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 20 M 
Street, SE., Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Allison Shaffer, BLM Project Manager, telephone (760) 833-7100; 1201 
Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, California 92262 or e-mail 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business 
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a 
message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply 
during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Palen Solar I, LLC (Palen), a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of Solar Millennium, Inc., has submitted a right-of-way 
(ROW) application to the BLM for development of the proposed Palen 
project, consisting of two 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 would carry 
heated oil to a boiler that sends live steam to a steam turbine. The 
project would be built in 2 phases which are designed to generate in 
total approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity at full 
development. The proposed ROW would encompass approximately 5,200 
acres; the disturbed area would encompass approximately 3,107 acres. 
The project is in Riverside County, California, 10 miles east of Desert 
Center along Interstate 10 halfway between the cities of Indio and 
Blythe.
    The major components and features of the proposed Palen project 
include the two power plants, an access road, operations facilities 
(office, warehouse, etc.), a switchyard, an electrical transmission 
line (which will connect to Southern California Edison's planned Red 
Bluff substation, 10 miles west of the Palen project site), and two 
water wells. This dry-cooled power plant would use approximately 300 
acre-feet of water per year for feed water makeup, dust control, 
domestic uses, and mirror washing obtained from on-site water wells.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the Final EIS is to respond to 
Palen's application 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 grant, grant with modification, or deny 
a ROW to Palen for the proposed project. 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 Palen, the BLM's proposed action is to authorize the 
Palen project and amend the CDCA Plan to identify the project area as 
suitable for solar energy production.
    In addition to the proposed action, the BLM is analyzing the 
following action alternatives: Two reconfigured 500-MW alternatives 
designed to reduce impacts to desert washes, dune habitat, and the 
Mojave fringe-toed lizard, and a smaller 375-MW alternative. The 
reconfigured 500-MW alternative that has as an option to use 240 acres 
of private land, if available, is the preferred alternative. The Final 
EIS also analyzes a no action alternative that would not approve a CDCA 
Plan amendment and 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 3285A1--
``Renewable Energy Development by the Department of the Interior'' in 
responding to the PSPP application.
    The Final EIS evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed PSPP 
and CDCA Plan Amendment 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, wilderness 
characteristics, impacts to Joshua Tree National Park, and other 
resources.

[[Page 28065]]

    A Notice of Availability for the Palen Draft CDCA Plan Amendment/
Draft EIS was published by EPA in the Federal Register on April 7, 2010 
(75 FR 17765). The formal 90-day comment period ended on July 1, 2010. 
Comments were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the 
Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment/Final EIS. Public comments resulted in the 
addition of clarifying text and development of a modified alternative 
but did not significantly change proposed land use plan decisions.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Palen project may be found in the ``Dear Reader Letter'' 
of the Proposed 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) 208-5010 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.

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

James W. Keeler,
Acting Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2011-11657 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P