[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 213 (Friday, November 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55199-55200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24017]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLCAD06000 L51010000.ER0000 LVRWB18B5480 18X; MO 4500126502]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the EDF
Renewable Energy Palen Solar Photovoltaic Project Riverside County,
California
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance 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 Record of Decision (ROD) to Authorize a Right-of-Way (ROW)
and amend the California Desert Conservation Area Plan (CDCA Plan) for
the EDF Renewable Energy Palen Solar Photovoltaic Project, and by this
Notice is announcing its availability. The Assistant Secretary--Land
and Minerals Management (ASLM) signed the ROD on October 29, 2018,
which constitutes the final decision of the Department, and makes the
Approved Land Use Plan Amendment to the CDCA Plan and authorization of
a ROW effective immediately. This decision is not subject to appeal
under Departmental regulations, and any challenge to this decision,
including the BLM Authorized Officer's issuance of the ROW as directed
by this decision, must be brought in Federal district court.
DATES: The ASLM signed the ROD on October 29, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available for public inspection at the
BLM-Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office at 1201 Bird Center Dr., Palm
Springs, CA 92262 and at the BLM-California Desert District Office,
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553. Interested
persons may also review the ROD on the internet at: http://goo.gl/5nkFMG.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark DeMaio, BLM Project Manager,
telephone (760) 833-7100; address, Bureau of Land Management, Palm
Springs-South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs,
CA 92262; or email [email protected].
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may
call the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 to contact the above
individual during normal business hours. The FRS 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: EDF Renewable Energy has applied for a ROW
from the BLM to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 500
megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic facility near Desert Center, Riverside
County, California. The ROW application area comprises about 4,200
acres, with a proposed project footprint of 3,381 acres. The proposed
project also includes construction of a 6.7-mile single circuit 230
kilovolt generation interconnection (gen-tie) transmission line
connecting the project to the Southern California Edison Red Bluff
Substation. The BLM determined that an amendment to the CDCA Plan would
be necessary to authorize the project. Riverside County is the lead
agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The BLM
and Riverside County prepared a joint Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for compliance with NEPA and
CEQA.
This Project application was originally submitted in 2007 as the
Palen Solar Power Project (PSPP) by Palen Solar I LLC (PSI), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Solar Millennium. The PSPP was proposed as a solar
trough project and was the subject of an EIS under NEPA. The BLM,
pursuant to its obligations under FLPMA and NEPA, published a draft
EIS, followed by a Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment and Final EIS on May
13, 2011 (76 FR 28064). Before a Record of Decision was issued, PSI
informed the BLM that it would not construct the Project due to
bankruptcy. As a result, a decision was not issued, the CDCA Plan was
not amended, and a ROW grant was not issued for the PSPP. On June 21,
2012, the bankruptcy court approved the transfer of the application
from PSI to Palen Solar III LLC (PSIII). BrightSource Energy Inc. (BSE)
then acquired all rights to PSIII at auction. PSIII submitted a revised
ROW application to the BLM for the Palen Solar Electricity Generating
System Project (PSEGS), a 500 MW concentrating solar power tower
technology facility and single-circuit 230 kV gen-tie line. On July 27,
2013, the BLM issued a Draft Supplemental EIS and Plan Amendment to
evaluate the potential additional environmental impacts caused by
PSEGS. As part of the state permitting process, the California Energy
Commission evaluated the PSEGS under CEQA, and issued Preliminary and
Final Staff Assessments for the amended project in June and November of
2013,
[[Page 55200]]
respectively. The BLM did not issue a Final Supplemental EIS for the
PSEGS Project, because BSE and its partner, Abengoa Solar Inc.,
abandoned the State authorization proceedings at the California Energy
Commission. In December 2015, after Abengoa Solar's partner conveyed
its project interest to Abengoa, EDF Renewable Energy acquired Abengoa
Solar's complete interest in the PSEGS project. EDF Renewable Energy
then submitted a revised ROW application for the Proposed Project,
which is analyzed in the Final Supplemental EIS/EIR and Proposed Land
Use Plan Amendment underlying this ROD.
The BLM held public meetings on the revised ROW application in June
and August 2016 in Palm Springs, California. On October 27, 2017, the
BLM issued the Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan
Amendment, which analyzed the impacts of the Proposed Action and two
action alternatives, in addition to a No Action Alternative.
Alternative 1, Reduced Footprint, would be a 500 MW Photovoltaic (PV)
array and gen-tie on about 3,140 acres. It avoids the central and
largest desert wash and incorporates a more efficient use of the land
for the solar array. Alternative 2, Avoidance Alternative, would be a
solar PV project on about 1,620 acres (160 to 230 MW). Like the
Proposed Action, under each of these alternatives, the BLM would amend
the CDCA Plan to allow the project. Under the No-Action Alternative,
the BLM would deny the ROW application, and would not amend the CDCA
Plan to allow the project.
The Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment
included analysis of the revised ROW application as it related to
issues such as: (1) Updated description of the Proposed Project, based
on the revised ROW application; (2) Impacts to cultural resources and
tribal concerns; (3) Impacts to the Sand Transport Corridor and Mojave
fringe-toed lizard habitat and washes; (4) Impacts to Joshua Tree
National Park; (5) Impacts to avian species; (6) Impacts to visual
resources; and (7) Relationship between the Proposed Project and the
CDCA Plan, including the amendment to the CDCA Plan by the 2016 Desert
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
The Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR was released in October 2017, which
included a formal 45-day public comment period. The BLM held a public
meeting on November 14, 2017, in Palm Desert, CA. Fourteen individuals
attended that meeting. The BLM received 40 comment letters during the
comment period.
Comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan
Amendment received from the public and internal agency review were
considered and incorporated as appropriate into the EIS/EIR analysis.
These comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but 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 EIS/EIR. Similarly,
none of the letters identified new significant circumstances or
information relevant to environmental concerns that bear on the Project
and its effects. A response to substantive comments is included in the
Final Supplemental EIS/EIR and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment,
released in May 2018. The BLM selected Alternative 1, the Reduced
Footprint, as the Agency Preferred Alternative in the Final
Supplemental EIS/EIR and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment. Five
protests were received on the Final EIS, and the issues raised have
been resolved. As a result, only minor editorial modifications were
made in response to the issues raised in preparing the Approved Action.
These modifications provided further clarification of some of the
decision elements. The California Governor's consistency review
identified no inconsistences with the Final SEIS for the Preferred
Alternative.
With this ROD, the BLM adopts the Agency Preferred Alternative. The
ASLM approval of this decision is not subject to administrative appeal
under Departmental regulations at 43 CFR part 4 pursuant to 43 CFR
4.410(a)(3). Any challenge to this decision must be brought in Federal
District Court and is subject to 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1).
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10; 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR
1610.5; 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1)
Brian C. Steed,
Deputy Director, Policy and Programs, Exercising the Authority of the
Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-24017 Filed 11-1-18; 8:45 am]
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