[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 46874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18973]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 048811, LLCAD01500, L51010000.LVRWB13B5340.ER0000]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Proposed 
Right-of-Way Amendment for the Blythe Solar Power Project, Riverside 
County, CA

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) to amend the Right-of-Way (ROW) for the 
Blythe Solar Power Project (BSPP), Riverside County, California. The 
Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management, approved the ROD on 
August 1, 2014, which constitutes the final decision of the Department 
of the Interior.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD have been sent to affected Federal, State, 
and local government agencies and to other stakeholders. Copies of the 
ROD are available for public inspection at the Palm Springs/South Coast 
Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262, and the 
California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, 
Moreno Valley, CA 92553-9046. Interested persons may also review the 
ROD on the Internet at: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/solar_projects/Blythe_Solar_Power_Project.html.

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: NextEra Blythe Solar Energy Center, LLC 
(Grant Holder) requested a variance from the existing approval to amend 
the ROW grant to convert the BSPP's generation technology and to reduce 
the project footprint. The project site is located 8 miles west of 
Blythe and 3 miles north of Interstate 10. The BSPP was permitted and 
approved in 2010 as a 1,000-megawatt (MW) solar thermal generating 
plant. The Grant Holder purchased the fully permitted (un-built) 
project assets in mid-2012 and now proposes to modify the technology to 
solar photovoltaic (PV) and reduce the size of the project from 6,831 
acres to 4,138 acres entirely within the approved BSPP footprint. On 
August 22, 2012, the BLM approved the assignment of the ROW Grant from 
the prior holder, Palo Verde Solar I, LLC, to the Grant Holder. In 
anticipation of the Modified Project, the Grant Holder voluntarily 
relinquished approximately 35 percent of the previously approved ROW 
grant area on March 7, 2013.
    The Selected Alternative consists of the proposed 485 MW PV solar 
plant on 4,138 acres of BLM-administered public land, referred to in 
the ROD as the Modified Project, with authorization for constructing 
and operating a range of panel types and tracking options so that the 
Modified Project can take advantage of the rapid improvements in PV 
technology/efficiency that are anticipated to take place between early 
permitting and commencing construction. The Modified Project reduces 
project impacts from the 2010 Approved Project by reducing the project 
footprint and avoiding bighorn sheep habitat and most of the microphyll 
woodlands impacted by the 2010 Approved Project. For other impacts, the 
BLM has included mitigation and monitoring requirements in the ROD. In 
addition to mitigation and monitoring measures applied to all large 
ground disturbance projects on BLM-managed land, the following are 
several of the key mitigation measures included in the ROD:
     Desert Tortoise Translocation Plan and measures to avoid 
take of desert tortoise;
     Burrowing Owl Mitigation and Monitoring Plan;
     American badger and desert kit fox avoidance and 
minimization measures;
     Compensatory mitigation for Mojave fringe-toed lizard 
habitat losses;
     Avian, bat, and golden eagle protection measures;
     Programmatic Agreement with the State Historic 
Preservation Office to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse effects to 
historic properties, including a Historic Properties Treatment Plan; 
and
     Measures to integrate visual design elements into project 
design, building, and structural materials.
    A Notice of Availability of the Final EIS for the BSPP published in 
the Federal Register on May 30, 2014 (79 FR 31133). The BLM received 
four comment letters following the publication of the Final EIS. The 
BLM's consideration of these letters did not result in changes in the 
design, location, or timing of the project in a way that would cause 
significant effects to the human environment outside of the range of 
effects analyzed in the Final EIS. Similarly, none of the letters 
identified new significant circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns that bear on the project and its effects.
    The project site is in the California Desert District within the 
planning boundary of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) 
Plan, which is the applicable resource management plan for the project 
site and surrounding areas. The 2010 ROD for the Approved Project also 
amended the CDCA Plan to allow for the development of the BSPP and 
ancillary facilities on land managed by the BLM. This Plan Amendment is 
unaffected by the changes contemplated by the Modified Project since it 
is entirely within the footprint for the Approved Project. Therefore, 
the Modified Project does not require a separate CDCA Plan amendment.
    Because this decision is approved by the Assistant Secretary--Land 
and Minerals Management, it is not subject to administrative appeal (43 
CFR 4.410(a)(3)).

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6.

Neil Kornze,
Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-18973 Filed 8-8-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P