[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 218 (Thursday, November 10, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70125-70127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29146]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Solar Reserve LLC Quartzsite Solar Energy 
Project, La Paz County, AZ (DOE/EIS--0440) and the proposed Amendment 
to the Bureau of Land Management Yuma Field Office Resource Management 
Plan

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act (FLPMA) of 1976, as amended, Western Area Power Administration 
(Western) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Quartzsite Solar 
Energy Project (Project), in La Paz County, Arizona, and the proposed 
amendment to the Yuma Field Office (Yuma) Resource Management Plan 
(RMP), and by this notice are announcing the opening of the public 
comment period. Western is the lead Federal agency for purposes of 
satisfying the NEPA requirements with the BLM acting as a cooperating 
agency.

DATES: The public is invited to submit comments on the DEIS for the 
proposed Project and the proposed RMP amendment during the public 
comment period. To ensure that comments will be considered, Western or 
BLM must receive written comments on the DEIS/proposed RMP amendment 
within 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Oral 
comments will be taken at a public hearing, which will be announced at 
least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or 
mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Project may be sent to Ms. Liana 
Reilly, NEPA Document Manager, Western Area Power Administration, P.O. 
Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213 or

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sent by email to [email protected]. Copies of the DEIS and 
proposed RMP amendment are available on the Western and BLM Project Web 
sites: http://www.wapa.gov/transmission/quartzsitesolar.htm and http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/energy/solar/quartzsite_solar_energy.html. 
Copies of the document are also available at the BLM Yuma Field Office, 
2555 East Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, AZ 85365 and at the BLM Arizona State 
Office, One North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
    Before including your address, phone number, or email address in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold your information from public review, we cannot guarantee that 
we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the proposed 
Project, the EIS and general information about Western's transmission 
system, contact Ms. Liana Reilly, Western NEPA Document Manager, at 
(720) 962-7253 or the address provided above. Parties wishing to be 
placed on the Project mailing list for future information and to 
receive copies of the document should also contact Ms. Reilly. For 
general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact Ms. Carol 
M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-54), 
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20585, telephone (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756. For information on 
BLM's role with the Project or the proposed RMP Amendment, contact Mr. 
Eddie Arreola, Supervisory Project Manager, (602) 417-9505, One North 
Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an EIS 
for the proposed Project in La Paz County was published in the Federal 
Register on January 14, 2010 (75 FR 2133). Western and BLM held public 
scoping meetings in Yuma, Arizona, on January 26, 2010, in Parker, 
Arizona, on January 27, 2010 and in Quartzsite, Arizona, on January 28, 
2010. The formal scoping period ended February 16, 2010. A NOI for the 
proposed RMP amendment was published in the Federal Register on March 
30, 2011 (76 FR 17668). Scoping meetings for the proposed RMP amendment 
were held by BLM in Yuma, Arizona, on April 18, 2011, and in 
Quartzsite, Arizona, on April 19, 2011. The formal scoping period for 
the proposed RMP amendment closed on April 29, 2011. Comments received 
during the scoping periods were considered in preparing the DEIS.

Proposed Project

    The proposed Project is a 100-megawatt solar electric power plant 
that would use concentrating solar power technology to capture the 
sun's heat to make steam, which would power traditional steam turbine 
generators. The solar generation facility would contain the central 
receiver or tower, a solar field consisting of mirrors or heliostats to 
reflect the sun's energy to the central tower, a conventional steam 
turbine generator, insulated storage tanks for hot and cold liquid 
salt, ancillary tanks, evaporation ponds, a temporary construction 
laydown area, technical and non-technical buildings, transformers and a 
161/230-kilovolt (kV) electrical substation, roads, and water wells. 
All Project components would be located on BLM-managed land. Quartzsite 
Solar Energy, LLC (QSE) has applied to Western to interconnect the 
proposed Project to Western's transmission system. A new 1.5-mile long 
161/230-kV generator tie-line would extend from the southern boundary 
of the solar facility boundary to a new switchyard to be constructed 
adjacent to Western's existing Bouse-Kofa 161-kV transmission line. The 
switchyard would be on BLM-managed land and would be owned and operated 
by Western.
    QSE has submitted a right-of-way (ROW) application to the BLM for 
the Project. The ROW application is for a total of 26,273 acres, of 
which 1,675 acres would be utilized for the final Project ROW if 
approved. The Project site is in an undeveloped area in La Paz County, 
Arizona, east of State Route (SR) 95, approximately 10 miles north of 
Quartzsite, Arizona, on lands managed by the BLM.

Agency Purpose and Need

    Western's purpose and need for the Project is to respond to QSE's 
interconnection request in accordance with Western's Open Access 
Transmission Tariff. The BLM's purpose and need for the Project is to 
respond to QSE's application for a ROW under Title V of FLPMA (43 
U.S.C. 1761) to construct, operate, and decommission the solar 
facility, 161/230-kV collector line and access road, and also to 
respond to Western's application for a switchyard, and fiber optic line 
on public lands administered by the BLM.

Proposed Agency Actions

    Western's proposed action is to interconnect the proposed Project 
to Western's existing Bouse-Kofa 161-kV transmission line. As part of 
Western's proposed action, Western would also construct, operate and 
maintain the new switchyard and would establish either a fiber optic or 
microwave telecommunications point. In addition to responding to the 
project ROW applications analyzed in the EIS, BLM is also considering 
amending the Yuma RMP. The Yuma RMP recognizes the compatibility of 
solar generation facilities on public lands, but requires that such 
activities conform to designated visual resource management (VRM) 
classes.

Alternatives

    The DEIS analyzes two Project alternatives, a dry-cooling 
technology and a hybrid cooling technology. The DEIS also analyzes the 
proposed RMP amendment to change approximately 6,800 acres of VRM Class 
III to VRM Class IV with a project approval, the proposed plan 
amendment without project approval, and a no action alternative. For 
the proposed amendment, BLM's preferred alternative is to amend the 
Yuma RMP. BLM has not identified a preferred alternative for the 
proposed project.
    As required under NEPA, the DEIS analyzes the following no action 
alternatives: Western would deny the interconnection request and the 
BLM would either (1) decline to amend the Yuma RMP and deny the project 
proposal; or (2) amend the Yuma RMP to change the VRM management 
classification but deny the project proposal.
    For purposes of NEPA compliance, Western is serving as the lead 
Federal agency with BLM acting as a cooperating agency. The DEIS 
analyzes site-specific impacts on air quality, biological resources, 
recreation, cultural resources, water resources, geological resources 
and hazards, hazardous materials handling, land use, noise, 
paleontological resources, public health, socioeconomics, soils, 
traffic and transportation, visual resources, waste management, and 
worker safety and fire protection, as well as facility design 
engineering, efficiency, reliability, transmission system engineering, 
and transmission line safety and nuisance.
    Western and BLM welcome public comments on the DEIS and proposed 
RMP amendment.


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    Dated: October 19, 2011.
Timothy J. Meeks,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2011-29146 Filed 11-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P