Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Staff Assessment and Possible Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan for the Calico Solar (Formerly SES Solar One) Project, San Bernardino County, CA, 20376-20377 [2010-8910]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management
• Land Management Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 74 (Monday, April 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20376-20377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8910]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CACA 49537, LLCAD08000, L51030000.ER0000, LVRAB109AA02]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Staff Assessment and Possible Amendment to the California 
Desert Conservation Area Plan for the Calico Solar (Formerly SES Solar 
One) Project, San Bernardino County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) have 
jointly released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Staff 
Assessment (SA), including a possible Draft Amendment to the California 
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan (1980, as amended), for the Calico 
Solar (formerly Stirling Energy Systems Solar One) Project, San 
Bernardino County, California. The Draft EIS/SA, prepared in compliance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), 
and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), evaluates the 
environmental impacts of constructing and operating an 850 megawatt 
(MW) solar power facility on 8,230 acres of BLM-administered land. The 
Draft EIS/SA is jointly prepared by the BLM and the CEC in response to 
Calico Solar, LLC's right-of-way (ROW) application to the BLM and its 
Application for Certification (AFC) to the CEC.

DATES: The publication of the EPA's Notice of Availability of this 
Draft EIS in the Federal Register initiates a 90-day public comment 
period. To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must 
receive written comments on the Draft EIS/SA and plan amendment within 
90 days following the date the EPA 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: Copies of the Calico Solar Project Draft EIS/SA are 
available from the BLM Barstow Field Office, 2601 Barstow Road, 
Barstow, California 92311. The document may also be viewed at public 
libraries in San Bernardino County, Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, 
Los Angeles, Eureka, and San Diego, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Stobaugh, BLM Project Manager, by 
mail: P.O. Box 12000, Reno, Nevada 89520; phone: (775) 861-6478; or e-
mail: Jim_Stobaugh@blm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 14, 2007, SES Solar Six, LLC and 
SES Solar Three, LLC submitted applications for ROW grants to the BLM 
to construct and operate a concentrated solar dish power plant facility 
on Federal public lands in San Bernardino County, California. The two 
ROW application areas were subsequently combined into one project (SES 
Solar One) proposed for an 8,230-acre site located immediately north of 
Interstate 40, approximately 37 miles east of Barstow, California. On 
December 2, 2008, SES Solar One, LLC (SES Solar Three, LLC and SES 
Solar Six, LLC) submitted an AFC to the CEC to construct and operate 
the SES Solar One Project. In January 2010, the project name was 
formally changed to Calico Solar as a result of SES Solar Three, LLC 
merging with SES Solar Six, LLC to create Calico Solar, LLC.
    The proposed action is to construct an 850-MW, 8,230-acre (13 
square mile) solar energy facility on BLM-administered land. 
Approximately 1,718 acres of public land within the proposed project 
area were either donated to the BLM or acquired by the BLM with Land 
and Water Conservation Funds (LWCF). The project proposal includes 
building about 34,000, 25-kilowatt Stirling solar dish systems. Each 
solar dish system consists of an approximately 38-foot high by 40-foot 
wide solar concentrator dish that supports an array of curved glass 
mirrors. These mirrors would automatically track the sun and focus 
solar energy onto a power conversion unit that generates electricity.
    The Calico Solar Project would also include a number of related 
facilities and infrastructure, including:
     A new 230-kilovolt (kV) Calico Substation; approximately 2 
miles of single-circuit 230-kV transmission line to connect the new 
Calico Substation to the existing Southern California Edison (SCE) 
Pisgah Substation;
     Project roads and fencing;
     An administration building; and
     A 45,000 square foot main services complex.
    Approximately 739 feet of the new 230-kV transmission line would be 
outside of the project area. The solar facility would operate for about 
20 years based on the Purchase Power Agreement signed with SCE on 
August 9, 2005. Upgrades to the SCE transmission system are needed to 
transmit the electricity generated from the Calico Solar Project. These 
upgrades would take place outside the Calico Solar project area.
    The BLM is considering amending the CDCA Plan as part of the 
proposed action. The CDCA Plan requires that all sites associated with 
power generation or transmission not identified in the CDCA Plan be 
considered through the BLM land use planning amendment process. If the 
BLM decides to approve the ROW grant, the BLM would also amend the CDCA 
Plan, as required. The BLM's proposed action in the Draft EIS/SA is to 
authorize the 850-MW Calico Solar Project and approve the CDCA Plan 
amendment in response to the application received from Calico Solar, 
LLC.
    The action alternatives include: (1) The proposed action (as 
described above); (2) a 720-MW, 6,512-acre (10.2

[[Page 20377]]

square mile) alternative which avoids the 1,718 acres of donated and 
LWCF-acquired lands; and (3) a reduced acreage alternative (2,320 acres 
(3.6 square mile)) which would connect a proposed 275-MW transmission 
upgrade to the SCE grid capacity. As required under CEQA and NEPA, the 
EIS is also analyzing the following three ``no action'' alternatives: 
(1) Deny the Calico Solar Project applications and not amend the CDCA 
Plan; (2) deny the Calico Solar Project but amend the CDCA Plan to 
allow other solar energy projects on the proposed project site; and (3) 
deny the Project and amend the CDCA Plan to prohibit solar energy 
projects on the proposed project site. As part of its review of the 
Calico Solar, LLC applications, the BLM will consider the Energy Policy 
Act of 2005, Secretarial Order 3283 Enhancing Renewable Energy 
Development on the Public Lands, and Secretarial Order 3285 Renewable 
Energy Development by the Department of the Interior.
    If the Calico Solar Project is approved and constructed, a number 
of related future actions are also anticipated. The NEPA and CEQA 
require examination of reasonably foreseeable actions resulting from a 
project under consideration. Accordingly, the Draft EIS/SA examines the 
construction and operational impacts of future SCE transmission 
substation/transmission line upgrade options and the nature and scope 
of the probable impacts of each scenario, should they occur as a result 
of the approval of the Calico Solar Project. These future scenarios 
would require additional utility and ROW applications from SCE and 
additional environmental review under CEQA and NEPA.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the Calico Solar project is to 
respond to the Calico Solar, LLC's application for a ROW grant to 
construct, operate, and decommission a solar thermal facility on public 
lands in compliance with Title V of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761), the BLM's 
ROW regulations, and other applicable Federal laws. Upon completion and 
consideration of the Final EIS/SA, the BLM will decide whether to 
approve, approve with modification, or deny issuance of a ROW grant to 
Calico Solar, LLC for the proposed Calico Solar Project.
    A joint Federal-State environmental review of the Calico Solar 
Project is being prepared as a result of a 2007 Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) between the California Desert District of the BLM 
and the CEC to conduct joint environmental review of solar thermal 
projects that are proposed on Federal land managed by the BLM in 
California. The MOU assigns the CEC as the lead agency for preparing 
the environmental documents. The joint environmental review is being 
conducted in a single combined NEPA/CEQA analysis process and document. 
The Draft EIS/SA analyzes site-specific impacts of the proposed project 
on air quality; biological, cultural, water, soil, visual, 
paleontological, and geologic resources; recreation; land use; noise; 
public health; socioeconomics; and traffic and transportation. The 
Draft EIS/SA also addresses hazardous materials handling, waste 
management, worker safety, fire protection, facility design 
engineering, transmission system engineering, transmission line safety, 
and nuisance.
    Additionally, the applicant has applied to the Department of Energy 
(DOE) for a loan guarantee under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005, as amended by Section 406 of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5. Should the DOE decide to 
enter into negotiation of a possible loan guarantee with the Applicant, 
the DOE would become a cooperating agency in developing the Final EIS. 
The purpose and need for action by the DOE would be to comply with its 
mandate under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to select eligible projects 
that meet the goals of the Act.
    A Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/SA and Land Use Plan Amendment 
for the SES Solar One Project (now called Calico Solar), San Bernardino 
County, California was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 
2009 (73 FR 27176). The BLM held a public scoping meeting in Barstow, 
California, on June 22, 2009. The formal 30-day public scoping period 
ended July 7, 2009.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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: 40 CFR 1506.6, 1506.10 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Tom Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-8910 Filed 4-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P