[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67662-67663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27627]



[[Page 67662]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCAD06000 L51010000.FX0000.LVRWB12B4920 CACA 49491]


Notice of Availability of the Desert Harvest Solar Project Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Riverside County, CA and the Proposed 
California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Proposed California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment and 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Desert Harvest Solar 
Project and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: 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 Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Desert Harvest Solar Project Proposed CDCA 
Plan Amendment and Final EIS have been sent to affected Federal, State, 
and local government agencies and to other stakeholders, including 
tribal governments and interested parties. Copies of the Proposed CDCA 
Plan Amendment and Final EIS are available for public inspection at the 
BLM California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los 
Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553 and at the BLM Palm Springs South Coast 
Field Office at 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262. 
Interested persons may also review the Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment/
Final EIS on the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/Solar_Projects/Desert_Harvest_Solar_Project.html. 
However, 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: Frank McMenimen, Project Manager, 
telephone 760-833-7150; address BLM Palm Springs South Coast Field 
Office at 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262; email 
[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: The applicant, EDF Renewable Resources 
(formally enXco), has requested a right-of-way authorization to 
construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a solar photovoltaic 
electricity generating facility with a proposed output of 150 megawatts 
and a project footprint of approximately 1,208 acres. The proposed 
project would be located on BLM-administered lands in Riverside County 
6 miles north of the rural community of Desert Center, California. The 
overall site layout and generalized land uses include a substation, an 
administration building, operations and maintenance facilities, a 
transmission line, and temporary construction lay down areas. The 
project's 230-kilovolt (kV) generation interconnection transmission 
(gen-tie) line could either be via the First Solar Desert Sunlight 230-
kV gen-tie (as a shared facility), or could be a separate facility 
located on private and BLM-administered lands and would connect to a 
planned 230- to 500-kV substation (referred to as the Red Bluff 
Substation). The Red Bluff Substation would connect the project to the 
Southern California Edison regional transmission grid. If approved, 
construction would begin in late 2013 and would take 9-12 months to 
complete.
    On September 15, 2011, the BLM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) 
to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register (76 FR 57073). Publication of 
the NOI began a 30-day scoping period which ended on October 17, 2011.
    Public Scoping Meetings were held on October 3 and 6, 2011. Scoping 
comments were accepted until October 21, 2011. The BLM considered these 
comments in developing the Draft EIS.
    On April 13, 2012, the BLM published a Notice of Availability for 
the Draft EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment in the Federal Register. The 90-
day public comment period for the Draft EIS ended on July 17, 2012. 
During the public review period, the BLM hosted two public meetings on 
May 14, 2012, to solicit input, in Desert Center, CA and Joshua Tree, 
CA. Comments on the Draft CDCA Plan Amendment/Draft EIS received from 
the public and internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as 
appropriate into the Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment and Final EIS. Public 
comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not 
significantly change the analysis or analyzed alternatives.
    The Final EIS considers four no action/no development alternatives, 
four solar facility development alternatives, and four transmission 
line alternatives.
    These alternatives are:
    No Action/No Development alternatives:

 Alternative 1: No Action (No Plan Amendment)
 Alternative 2: No Project Alternative (with Plan Amendent to 
Find the Site Suitable for Solar)
 Alternative 3: No Project Alternative (with Plan Amendment to 
Find the Site Unsuitable for Solar)
 Alternative A: No Gen-Tie
    Generation Plant Development Alternatives:
 Alternative 4: Proposed Solar Project
 Alternative 5: Solar Project Excluding Wildlife Habitat 
Management Area (WHMA)
 Alternative 6: Reduced Footprint Solar Project
 Alternative 7: High-Profile Reduced Footprint Solar Project
    Transmission Line Alternatives:
 Alternative B: Proposed Gen-Tie (Shared Towers with Desert 
Sunlight Project)
 Alternative C: Separate Transmission Towers within the Same 
Right-of-Way as the Desert Sunlight Project
 Alternative D: Cross-Valley Alignment
 Alternative E: New Cross-Valley Alignment.

    The BLM will select one transmission line alternative and one 
generation plant alternative. The BLM has identified Alternative 7 as 
the preferred alternative for the generation plan and Alternative B as 
the preferred alternative for the transmission line. Instructions for 
filing a protest with the BLM Director regarding the Desert Harvest 
Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment may be found in the ``Dear Reader'' Letter 
of the Final EIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in 
writing and mailed to the appropriate address, which you can find in 
the ADDRESSES section above.

[[Page 67663]]

Emailed 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 emailed 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 202-245-0028, and emails to [email protected].
    Before including your phone number, email 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, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR 
1610.5.

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2012-27627 Filed 11-8-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P