[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 241 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 78021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32181]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 51022, LLCAD06000 L51010000 ER0000 LVRWB10B3780]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Rice 
Solar Energy, LLC, Rice Solar Energy Project (RSEP) and California 
Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Amendment to the California 
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, the applicable Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) for the project site and the surrounding areas, 
located in the California Desert District. The Secretary of the 
Interior approved the ROD on December 8, 2011, which constitutes the 
final decision of the Department.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved Amendment to the CDCA Plan are 
available upon request from the Field Manager, Palm Springs-South Coast 
Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm 
Springs, California, 92262, or via the Internet at the following Web 
site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Shaffer, BLM Project Manager; 
telephone (760) 833-7100; through mail at the address above; or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rice Solar Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of 
SolarReserve, LLC plans to construct a 150 megawatt (MW) solar 
concentrating thermal project on 1,410 acres of a 2,560 acre parcel of 
private land. The site is located 40 miles northwest of Blythe, 
California, in Riverside County, California. The major generation 
equipment that makes up the concentrating solar thermal electrical 
generation plant includes: A central receiver tower, sun tracking 
heliostat field, and an integrated thermal storage system using molten 
salt as the heat transfer and storage medium.
    With these components, a large field of mirrors or heliostats 
concentrates and focuses the sun's energy onto a central receiver. The 
project uses thermal energy storage that allows solar energy to be 
captured throughout the day and retained in a molten salt heat transfer 
fluid. When electricity is generated, hot liquid salt is routed to heat 
exchangers to heat water and produce steam. The steam is used to 
generate electricity in a conventional steam turbine cycle.
    Rice Solar Energy submitted a right-of-way (ROW) application to the 
BLM in association with the private land solar energy project. This ROW 
application was filed to lease approximately 150 acres of BLM-
administered land needed to construct and operate a 161/230 kV 
electrical transmission line (also called a generator tie-line, or 
``gen-tie'') and an associated access road. A ROW application was also 
filed by the Western Area Power Administration (Western) to lease 
approximately 4 acres of BLM-administered land needed for a new 
substation that would be owned and operated by Western in support of 
the RSEP.
    Under these ROW grants RSEP would be allowed the right to use, 
occupy and develop a 161/230kV gen-tie line and associated access road, 
which would exit the Rice Solar Energy Project, and travel southeast in 
an undeveloped area of the Sonoran Desert in eastern Riverside County, 
California where it would then interconnect to Western's Parker-Blythe 
2 161-kV transmission line at the substation proposed by 
Western. The gen-tie line and access road as proposed would traverse 
8.27 mile in a 150 foot width right-of-way corridor occupying 150 acres 
of land administered by the BLM.
    The substation as proposed by Western would be 300 feet wide by 400 
feet long, causing approximately 4 acres of permanent disturbance on 
BLM lands. Associated infrastructure in the ROW grant would occupy 
approximately 154 acres of public land administered by the BLM. This 
project site is in the California Desert District within the planning 
boundary of the California Desert Conservation (CDCA) Plan, which is 
the applicable Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the project site and 
surrounding areas. The CDCA Plan, while recognizing the potential 
compatibility of solar generation and transmission on public lands 
requires that all sites associated with power generation or 
transmission not already identified in the Plan be considered through 
the BLM's land use plan amendment process. As a result, prior to 
approval of the ROW grant to the RSEP, the BLM must amend the CDCA Plan 
to allow the substation as proposed by Western and a transmission 
corridor leading from the site onto BLM land. The approved Amendment to 
the CDCA Plan specifically revises the CDCA Plan to allow for the 
development of the RSEP gen-tie line and ancillary facilities on land 
managed by the BLM.
    The BLM preferred alternative would result in the construction of a 
gen-tie line, access road and substation to support the Rice Solar 
Energy Project, capable of producing 150MW of electricity. This 
alternative was evaluated in the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS). The Notice of Availability of the Final EIS for the RSEP and the 
proposed CDCA Plan amendment was published in the Federal Register on 
June 10, 2011 (76 FR 34073). Subsequently, a 30-day protest period for 
the proposed amendment to the CDCA Plan was initiated (76 FR 47608, 
Aug. 5, 2011). At the close of the 30-day period on September 6, 2011, 
one written protest was received and dismissed, and did not result in 
changing the decision. This protest dismissal is summarized in the 
Director's Protest Resolution Report attached to the ROD. Along with 
the protest period, the Governor of California conducted a 60-day 
consistency review of the proposed CDCA Plan amendment to identify any 
inconsistencies with State or local plan, policies or programs; no 
inconsistencies were identified.
    Because this decision is approved by the Secretary of the Interior, 
it is not subject to administrative appeal (43 CFR 4.410(a)(3)).

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.

Neil Kornze,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-32181 Filed 12-14-11; 8:45 am]
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