[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17717-17718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06672]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CACA-049491, LLCAD01500 L51010000 FX0000 LVRWB12B4920]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the EDF
Renewable Energy Desert Harvest Solar Field Project and California
Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment, Riverside County, California
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)/Approved Amendment to the California
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, for the Desert Harvest Solar
Project (DHSP), in Riverside County, California. The Secretary of the
Interior approved the ROD on March 13, 2013, which constitutes the
final decision of the Department.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved Amendment to the CDCA Plan are
available upon request from the BLM Field Manager, Palm Springs-South
Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 and
the BLM California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los
Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553, or via the Internet at the following
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/Solar_Projects/Desert_Harvest_Solar_Project.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank McMenimen, BLM Project Manager,
telephone 760-833-7150; mail 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs,
California 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: EDF Renewable Energy (formerly enXco
Development Corporation) (Applicant) has requested right-of-way (ROW)
grant authorization to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission
an up to 150-megawatt (MW), nominal capacity, alternating current,
solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation facility and necessary
ancillary facilities including an operations and maintenance (O&M)
facility, site security, on-site substation, switchyard, access road,
and a 220-kilovolt (kV) generation interconnection line (gen-tie line).
The project site is located approximately 6 miles north of Interstate
10 and the rural community of Desert Center and 3 miles north of Lake
Tamarisk, between the cities of Coachella and Blythe.
The project site is in the California Desert District within the
planning boundary of the CDCA Plan, which is the applicable Resource
Management Plan for the project site and the surrounding areas. The
CDCA Plan, while recognizing the potential compatibility of solar
generation facilities on public lands, requires that all sites
associated with power generation or transmission not already identified
in the Plan be considered through the BLM's land use plan amendment
process. As a result, prior to approval of a ROW grant to the DHSP, the
BLM must amend the CDCA Plan to allow the solar generating project on
that site. Additionally, the CDCA Plan also requires that transmission
lines above 161 kV be placed within a federally designated utility
corridor or that the transmission line be specifically allowed outside
a corridor through a plan amendment process. Since there is no
designated corridor from DHSP generation tie-in transmission line, the
CDCA Plan must also be amended to allow that line outside of a
designated corridor. The approved Amendment to the CDCA Plan
specifically revises the CDCA Plan to allow for the development of the
DHSP and ancillary facilities on land managed by the BLM. The BLM
selected alternative would result in construction of a solar farm,
capable of generating up to 150 MW of electricity, and is within the
range of alternatives analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). The Notice of Availability of the Final EIS for the
DHSP and proposed CDCA Plan Amendment was published in the Federal
Register on November 2, 2012 (77 FR 66183).
Publication of the Notice of Availability for the Final EIS and
Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment initiated a 30-day protest period for the
proposed amendment to the CDCA Plan. At the close of the 30-day protest
period, six protests were received and resolved. Their resolution is
summarized in the Director's Protest Summary Report, available online
at http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/wo/en/prog/planning/planning_overview/protest_resolution.html. The proposed amendment to the CDCA
Plan was not modified as a result of the protest resolution, however,
the BLM did
[[Page 17718]]
provide some clarifications and modifications to project mitigation
measures. These clarifications and modifications were minor and do not
warrant supplementation of the Final EIS. Simultaneously with the
protest period, the Governor of California conducted a consistency
review for the proposed CDCA Plan Amendment to identify any
inconsistencies with State or local plans, policies, or programs. No
inconsistencies were identified.
Because the decisions described in the ROD are approved by the
Secretary of the Interior, they are not subject to administrative
appeal (43 CFR 4.410(a) (3)).
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.
Jamie Connell,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-06672 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
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