[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80961-80962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33094]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[L51010000.FX0000.LVRWA09A2400.LLAZP02000;AZA34187]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Sonoran 
Solar Energy Project, Arizona

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) for the Sonoran Solar Energy Project 
(SSEP). The Secretary of the Interior approved the ROD on December 19, 
2011, which constitutes the Interior Department's final decision.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD for the proposed SSEP have been sent to 
Federal, State, and local government agencies and to other 
stakeholders. Copies are available for public inspection at the BLM's 
Phoenix District Office, Lower Sonoran Field Office, 21605 North 
Seventh Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85027-2929 and the BLM Arizona State 
Office, One North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4427. 
Interested parties may also review the final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) at the following public libraries in Maricopa County, 
Arizona:
     Buckeye Public Library, 310 North Sixth Street, Buckeye, 
Arizona 85236.
     Gila Bend Public Library, 202 North Euclid Avenue, Gila 
Bend, Arizona 85337.
     Goodyear Public Library, 250 North Litchfield Road, 
Goodyear, Arizona 85338.
    Interested parties may also view the final EIS at the following Web 
site: http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/energy/solar/sonoran_solar.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Incardine, BLM National Project 
Manager, Phoenix District Office/Lower Sonoran Field Office, 21605 
North Seventh Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85027-2929; phone: (801) 524-
3833; or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Boulevard Associates, LLC, a subsidiary of 
NextEra Energy Resources, filed a right-of-way (ROW) application for 
the SSEP on BLM-managed lands in the Little Rainbow Valley, east of 
State Route 85, and south of the Buckeye Hills and the town of Buckeye 
in Maricopa County, Arizona. As required under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Final EIS for the 
SSEP analyzed a No Action alternative which

[[Page 80962]]

would preclude development of the SSEP in any configuration and 
maintain existing land uses in the project area. The Final EIS also 
analyzed three action alternatives, one sub-alternative, and two 
options including: (1) The Proposed Action (375-megawatt (MW) wet-
cooled concentrated solar thermal parabolic trough facility on 3,620 
acres of land); (2) Alternative A: Reduced Water Use (using a dry-
cooling technology); (3) Sub-alternative A1: Photovoltaic (PV) (a 300-
MW PV facility occupying 2,013 acres of land); (4) Alternative B: 
Reduced Footprint (a 250-MW wet-cooled facility occupying 2,320 acres 
of land); (5) Brine Concentrator Option (could be added to the Proposed 
Action or Alternative B to reduce wastewater); and (6) Generation 
Intertie (Gen-tie) Line Option (could be used for any alternative to 
address alternate methods and locations for crossing existing high-
voltage transmission lines near the project area).
    The Preferred Alternative from the Final EIS, including the 
proposed gen-tie line, is the Selected Alternative in the ROD. The 
Selected Alternative will allow the issuance of a ROW grant for a PV 
facility capable of generating up to 300 MW of solar power on 2,013 
acres of land. The project will consist of multiple arrays of PV panels 
electrically connected to associated power inverter units. The current 
from the power inverters will be gathered by an internal electrical 
collection system and transformed to transmission voltage prior to 
leaving the project area. The Selected Alternative facilities include 
the following major components or systems: PV modules/arrays; solar 
trackers and/or fixed support structures; an electrical collection 
system; a step-up transformation/on-site switchyard; a 500-kilovolt 
generation tie-line/utility interconnection; administration buildings 
and local warehouses; and drainage collection and discharge facilities. 
A single evaporation pond of approximately 1 acre is required. The PV 
does not use heat transfer fluid; therefore, no land-treatment unit is 
required. The Selected Alternative in the ROD will use approximately 33 
acre-feet per year of water for project operations, mostly for washing 
PV mirrors. That amounts to 1-2 percent of the water that the original 
proposed action would have used.
    As described in the Final EIS, the BLM Selected Alternative, with 
its preferred gen-tie line, was developed in response to agency and 
public comments on water consumption. It was developed after the Draft 
EIS, due to advancements in technology and a change in market 
conditions that allowed for a reconsideration of PV technology as a 
viable alternative. The Selected Alternative also avoids other resource 
issues raised by the public and agency cooperators, including wildlife 
habitat and travel corridors, pending Federal Emergency Management 
Agency floodplains, air quality point sources and vapor plumes, and 
nearby residences.
    The Notice of Availability of the Final EIS for the SSEP was 
published in the Federal Register on October 21, 2011 (76 FR 65532). 
Publication of the Notice of Availability initiated a 30-day comment 
period on the Final EIS. At the close of the 30-day period on November 
21, 2011, four comments had been received. These comments and their 
responses are attached to the ROD.
    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.

Robert V. Abbey,
Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-33094 Filed 12-23-11; 8:45 am]
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