[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 147 (Wednesday, July 31, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46363-46364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18386]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[L51010000.FX0000.LVRWB09B2600.LLCAD06000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Palen Solar Electric Generating System and 
Draft California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In compliance 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 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
Draft California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment for the 
Palen Solar Electric Generating System (PSEGS). This Draft Supplemental 
EIS supplements the Final EIS prepared for the Palen Solar Power 
Project (PSPP), Riverside County, California. This notice announces the 
opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS within 90 days following 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future 
meetings or hearings and any other public involvement activities at 
least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or 
mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the PSEGS project by any 
of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/Solar_Projects/palen_solar_electric.html.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 760-833-7199.
     Mail: Frank McMenimen, Project Manager, BLM Palm Springs--
South

[[Page 46364]]

Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262.
    Copies of the PSEGS Draft Supplemental EIS and the PSPP Final EIS 
are available from the Palm Springs--South Coast Field Office at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank McMenimen, BLM Project Manager, 
telephone 760-833-7150, address 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 PSEGS project is approximately 10 miles 
east of Desert Center in Riverside County, California, on BLM-
administered land. The BLM published a Final EIS analyzing the original 
PSPP on May 13, 2011 (76 FR 28064); a record of decision was never 
signed. BrightSource Energy (BSE) took over the project in 2012. BSE 
and its project partner, Abengoa, through the project holding company, 
Palen Solar III, LLC, have filed with the BLM a revised Plan of 
Development (POD) that proposes a change from the PSPP solar thermal 
parabolic trough technology to a solar thermal power tower technology. 
The revised project would generate approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of 
electricity and would encompass 3,896 acres.
    The proposed project consists of the construction of two power 
plant units with a net generating capacity of up to 250MWs each, 
consisting of two 750-foot tall power tower solar receivers that would 
be driven by a field of heliostats, whereas the PSPP Final EIS proposed 
parabolic trough receivers. The PSEGS would be developed entirely 
within the facility footprint previously analyzed by the PSPP Final 
EIS, with the exception of a slight modification in the westernmost 
portion of the generation tie-line to accommodate the relocation of the 
Red Bluff Substation and to align the transmission corridors of the 
project with existing transmission generation tie-lines from other 
approved generation projects. Additional infrastructure would include 
an electrical switchyard, a natural gas pipeline and an access road.
    The CDCA Plan, 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 generation 
tie-lines greater than 161 kilovolts (kV), not already identified in 
the CDCA Plan be considered through the plan amendment process. This 
Draft Supplement EIS incorporates and supplements the analysis of the 
plan amendment contained in the Final EIS. If the BLM decides to grant 
a ROW, the BLM would amend the CDCA Plan as required based on guidance 
in the BLM Land Use Planning Handbook (H-1601-1).
    Palen Solar III, LLC, is anticipating construction to begin in 
early 2014 and take approximately 34 months in order to meet the PSEGS 
delivery obligations under existing approved power purchase agreements 
with California utilities. The PSEGS facility has an anticipated 
operational life of 25 to 30 years. Accordingly, Palen Solar III, LLC, 
is requesting a right-of-way grant from the BLM for an initial period 
of 30 years.
    The 2011 PSPP Final EIS considered solar power tower technology but 
did not analyze it in detail. The Draft Supplemental EIS analyzes in 
detail an alternative to utilize this technology, including additional 
site-specific impacts resulting from the change in technology and 
additional ancillary facilities or relocation of facilities. This 
includes impacts to air quality, biological resources, cultural 
resources, water resources, geological resources and hazards, hazardous 
materials handling, noise, paleontological resources, public health, 
socioeconomics, soils, traffic and transportation, visual resources, 
waste management, worker safety and fire protection, as well as 
facility design engineering, efficiency, reliability, transmission 
system engineering and transmission line safety and nuisance.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 43 CFR 1610.2, 40 CFR 1506.6 & 1506.10.

Cynthia Staszak,
Associate Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-18386 Filed 7-30-13; 8:45 am]
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