[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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