Record of Decision for Issuance of Loan Guarantees to Solar Partners I, LLC; Solar Partners II, LLC; and Solar Partners VIII, LLC (Solar Partners) for Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Units 1, 2, and 3, 21716-21718 [2011-9272]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 74 / Monday, April 18, 2011 / Notices
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Record of Decision for Issuance of
Loan Guarantees to Solar Partners I,
LLC; Solar Partners II, LLC; and Solar
Partners VIII, LLC (Solar Partners) for
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating
System Units 1, 2, and 3
Loan Programs Office (LP), U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Record of Decision (ROD).
AGENCY:
The U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) announces its decision to
issue loan guarantees under Title XVII
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct
05) to Solar Partners I, LLC; Solar
SUMMARY:
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Partners II, LLC; and Solar Partners VIII,
LLC (Solar Partners) for construction
and start-up of Units 1, 2, and 3 of the
370 megawatt (MW) Ivanpah Solar
Electric Generating System (ISEGS) on
3,471.36 acres, all of which are managed
by the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in
San Bernardino County, California. The
environmental impacts of the
construction and operation of this
project were analyzed in the Proposed
California Desert Conservation Area
Plan Amendment and Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating
System, San Bernardino County,
California (75 FR 47592; 08/06/10)
(Final EIS), prepared by the BLM
Needles Field Office with DOE as a
cooperating agency. DOE was consulted
during the preparation of the EIS and
provided comments, which BLM
incorporated. DOE determined that the
project analyzed in the Final EIS was
substantially the same as the project that
would be covered by the DOE loan
guarantees, and a notice of DOE’s
adoption of the Final EIS as DOE/EIS–
0416 was published by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
in the Federal Register on October 22,
2010 (75 FR 65320).
ADDRESSES: Copies of this ROD and the
Final EIS may be obtained by calling
Sharon Thomas, NEPA Document
Manager, Environmental Compliance
Division, Loan Programs Office (LP–10),
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, 20585; telephone
202–586–5335; or e-mail
Sharon.R.Thomas@hq.doe.gov, or by
accessing these documents on the DOE
NEPA Web site at https://
www.nepa.energy.gov and at the Loan
Programs Web site at https://
www.loanprograms.energy.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sharon Thomas, NEPA Document
Manager, Environmental Compliance
Division, Loan Programs Office (LP–10),
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, 20585; telephone,
202–586–5335; or e-mail
Sharon.R.Thomas@hq.doe.gov. For
general information about the DOE
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) process contact Carol
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA
Policy and Compliance (GC–54), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, 20585; telephone, 202–
586–4600; leave a message at 800–472–
2756; or e-mail AskNEPA@hq.doe.gov.
Information about DOE NEPA activities
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 74 / Monday, April 18, 2011 / Notices
and access to DOE NEPA documents are
available through the DOE NEPA Web
site at https://www.nepa.energy.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Background
The ISEGS Project will be on 3,471.36
acres in the eastern part of San
Bernardino County, California,
approximately 40 miles southwest of
Las Vegas, Nevada. The applicant plans
to develop three power plants in
separate and sequential phases to
generate 370 MW of electricity. Ivanpah
1 will generate 120 MW, and Ivanpah 2
and 3 will each generate 125 MW. Each
plant will be comprised of fields of
heliostats (elevated mirrors guided by a
tracking system) focusing solar energy
on boilers located on centralized power
towers. Each heliostat in the field will
track the sun throughout the day and
reflect the solar energy to a power tower
boiler. In each of the three plants, one
steam turbine will receive live steam
from the power tower boiler for the
generation of electricity.
On August 29, 2007, BLM received
applications from subsidiaries of
BrightSource Energy, Inc. (Solar
Partners) pursuant to Title V of the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1761) for rightof-way (ROW) grants to construct,
operate, maintain, and decommission
the ISEGS project on public land in San
Bernardino County, California. BLM’s
California Desert Conservation Area
(CDCA) Plan (1980, as amended), while
recognizing the potential compatibility
of solar power generation facilities on
public lands, requires that all sites
associated with power generation or
transmission not identified in that plan
be considered through the plan
amendment process. BrightSource
Energy, Inc. applied to DOE for loan
guarantees under Title XVII of EPAct 05,
in November 2008 for ISEGS Phase 1
and in February 2009 for ISEGS Phases
2 and 3.
NEPA Review
BLM was the lead agency in the
preparation of the Final EIS. Pursuant to
a February 2009, Memorandum of
Understanding between BLM and DOE,
DOE participated as a cooperating
agency with BLM in preparation of this
EIS in order to consider the potential
environmental impacts of DOE’s
proposed loan guarantees for
construction and start-up of Units 1, 2,
and 3 of the ISEGS project.
EPA published a Notice of
Availability of the Draft EIS on
November 13, 2009 (74 FR 58625), and
BLM published a Notice of Availability
of the Draft CDCA Plan Amendment in
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15:25 Apr 15, 2011
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the Federal Register on November 10,
2009 (74 FR 58043). The Draft EIS was
available for a 90-day public comment
period which closed on February 11,
2010. After issuance of the Draft EIS for
public review, BLM continued to
coordinate and consult regarding
possible refinements to avoid sensitive
resources, including wildlife and plant
species, on the ISEGS project site. As a
result, two additional project
alternatives that could avoid or reduce
impacts were developed by the
applicant and were analyzed by BLM in
a Supplemental Draft EIS. These
alternatives included the Mitigated
Ivanpah 3 Alternative and the Modified
I–15 Alternative. These alternatives
included modification of the project
boundaries in order to avoid sensitive
resources, a reduction in overall project
acreage from 4,073 acres to
approximately 3,471 acres, a reduction
in the number of heliostats, and a
resulting reduction in the power output
from 400 MW in the proposed project to
370 MW in each of the additional
alternatives. EPA published a Notice of
Availability of the Supplemental Draft
EIS in the Federal Register on April 16,
2010 (75 FR 19992). The public
comment period on the Supplemental
Draft EIS closed on June 1, 2010.
Comments received on the Draft EIS and
the Supplemental Draft EIS were
addressed in the Final EIS announced
by EPA in the Federal Register on
August 6, 2010 (75 FR 47591).
Comments received on the Final EIS
were addressed in Appendix 1 of the
Record of Decision for the Ivanpah Solar
Electric Generating System Project and
Associated Amendment to the
California Desert Conservation Area
Plan (BLM ROD), which is available at
https://www.blm.gov or by calling the
BLM Needles Field Office at 760–326–
7000.
On February 22, 2010, DOE
announced its decision to offer
conditional commitments to Solar
Partners to provide up to $1.37 billion
in loan guarantees to support the
financing of the ISEGS project. The
conditional commitments each
contained a condition precedent which
required completion of the NEPA
process before the loan guarantees could
be closed. Notice of DOE’s adoption of
the Final EIS was published by EPA in
the Federal Register on October 22,
2010 (75 FR 65320).
Alternatives Considered
BLM considered four alternatives,
including the project as identified in the
Final EIS as the Proposed Action (the
project as proposed by Solar Partners),
the Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Alternative
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21717
(selected by BLM in their ROD and
identified in the Final EIS as the
preferred alternative), the Modified I–15
Alternative, and the No Action
Alternative. These alternatives were
described in detail and fully analyzed in
the Final EIS. The BLM decision to
select the Mitigated Ivanpah 3
Alternative includes mitigation
measures identified in the Final EIS
chapter 4, Affected Environment and
Environmental Consequences. These
include measures specified in Terms
and Conditions in the Biological
Opinion (see BLM ROD Appendix 2,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Biological Opinion), and Terms and
Conditions set out in the Programmatic
Agreement between BLM, the Southern
California Edison Company, the
California State Historic Preservation
Officer, and the Nevada State Historic
Preservation Officer (see Appendix 3,
Programmatic Agreement, in BLM
ROD).
The complete language of these
measures, terms, and conditions is
provided in the Plan of Development for
the ISEGS project and is contained in
Appendix 4 of BLM’s Compliance
Monitoring Plan set out in the BLM
ROD. BLM has incorporated these
requirements as terms and conditions
into the ROW grants. DOE’s decision is
whether or not to issue loan guarantees
to Solar Partners for up to $1.37 billion
to support construction and start-up of
the ISEGS project. Accordingly, DOE’s
alternatives are (1) to issue loan
guarantees to Solar Partners for the
Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project alternative
selected in the BLM ROD, and (2) No
Action Alternative, i.e., no loan
guarantees.
Consultation
BLM is the lead Federal agency for
compliance of the ISEGS project with
Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act, and the Bald
and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and
for Tribal consultation. The mitigation
measures included in the BLM decision
resulted from these consultations and
are addressed in the Final EIS and BLM
ROD. In addition, BLM has consulted
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
who provided a written jurisdictional
decision that the ISEGS project is
unlikely to impact waters of the U.S.;
and consulted and received required
approvals from the Federal Aviation
Administration regarding aviation
impacts; the National Park Service
regarding impacts on national parks;
and the State of California and San
Bernardino County regarding
compliance with State and local laws.
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 74 / Monday, April 18, 2011 / Notices
Decision
On October 7, 2010, BLM issued its
ROD and approved the Proposed Plan
Amendment to the CDCA Plan to allow
for solar energy right-of-way grants to
Solar Partners for the ISGES project to
be constructed on BLM-managed land.
The Secretary of the Interior also issued
Secretarial Approval of these decisions
on this date.
DOE has decided to select alternative
(1) identified above: To issue loan
guarantees for construction and start-up
of the Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project,
which BLM selected in its ROD. The
Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project would be
the development of three solar
concentrating thermal power plants.
Under alternative (2), the No Action
Alternative, DOE would not issue loan
guarantees for the project, and it is
unlikely that Solar Partners would
implement the project as currently
planned. While the direct and indirect
environmental impacts of the ISEGS
would be avoided under the No Action
Alternative, the benefits of reduced
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the
opportunity to make use of new
technology to reduce GHG emissions
and air pollutants would be lost.
Approval of the loan guarantees for
the ISEGS project responds to DOE’s
purpose and need pursuant to Title XVII
of EPAct 05 (42 U.S.C. 16511–16514) for
eligible projects under Section 1703 of
Title XVII, which authorizes the
Secretary of Energy to make loan
guarantees for projects that (1) avoid,
reduce, or sequester air pollutants or
anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse
gases and (2) employ new or
significantly improved technologies as
compared to commercial technologies in
service in the United States at the time
the guarantee is issued. Issuance of loan
guarantees for projects under Section
1703 of Title XVII of EPAct 05 facilitates
the acceleration of the
commercialization of innovative,
environmentally-friendly technologies
that will have an impact on ensuring
clean, affordable, and reliable supplies
of energy. The purpose and need for
DOE’s loan guarantee action is to
comply with DOE’s mandate under Title
XVII of EPAct 2005 by selecting eligible
projects that meet the goals of the Act.
In addition, approval of the loan
guarantees for the ISEGS project also
responds to DOE’s purpose and need
pursuant to Title XVII of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005, which authorizes the
Secretary to make loan guarantees for
eligible projects under Section 1705 of
Title XVII (implemented pursuant to
Section 406 of the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009). Eligible
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15:25 Apr 15, 2011
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projects include renewable energy
projects and related manufacturing
facilities, electric power transmission
projects, and leading edge biofuels
projects. The primary purposes of the
Recovery Act are job preservation and
creation, infrastructure investment,
energy efficiency and science, assistance
to the unemployed, and State and local
fiscal stabilization. Issuances of loan
guarantees for eligible projects under
Section 1705 are designed to address the
current economic conditions of the
nation, in part, through renewable
energy, transmission, and leading edge
biofuels projects. Eligible projects must
commence construction by September
30, 2011.
Mitigation
The ISEGS project that will be
supported by issuance of the DOE loan
guarantees includes all mitigation
conditions applied by BLM in its ROW
grants for this project. BLM is the
Federal lead agency for the ISEGS
project under NEPA and is responsible
for ensuring compliance with all
adopted mitigation measures for the
ISEGS project set out in the Final EIS.
The complete language of all the
measures is provided in the BLM ROD
and in Appendix 4, Compliance
Monitoring Plan. BLM has also
incorporated these mitigation measures
into the ROW grants as terms and
conditions.
DOE’s loan guarantee agreements
require the applicant to comply with all
applicable laws and the terms of the
ROW grants, including mitigation
measures contained therein. An
applicant’s failure to comply with
applicable laws and the ROW grants
would constitute a default. Upon the
continuance of a default, DOE would
have the right under the loan guarantee
agreement between it and the applicant
to exercise usual and customary
remedies. To ensure that the applicant
so performs, the DOE Loan Programs
Office proactively monitors all operative
loan guarantee transactions.
Environmentally Preferred Alternative
Following analysis and comparison of
the alternatives in the Supplemental
Draft and Final EISs, the 370 MW
Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Alternative was
identified by BLM as the
Environmentally Preferred Alternative
and is the Selected Alternative
identified in the BLM ROD.
DOE has decided that its alternative
(1), to issue loan guarantees for
construction and start-up of the
Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project, is
environmentally preferable. DOE has
determined that this alternative offers
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Sfmt 4703
substantial environmental benefits due
to reductions in GHG emissions and that
all practicable means to avoid or
minimize environmental harm have, as
described in the BLM ROD and
Appendices for the ISEGS project, been
adopted as mitigation measures by BLM.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 4,
2011.
Jonathan M. Silver,
Executive Director, Loan Programs Office.
[FR Doc. 2011–9272 Filed 4–15–11; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 12796–004]
City of Wadsworth, OH; Notice of
Application Tendered for Filing With
the Commission and Soliciting
Additional Study Requests
Take notice that the following
hydroelectric application has been filed
with the Commission and is available
for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: Major Original
License.
b. Project No.: P–12796–004.
c. Date filed: March 28, 2011.
d. Applicant: City of Wadsworth,
Ohio.
e. Name of Project: R.C. Byrd
Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Ohio River at the
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R.C. Byrd Locks and Dam (river mile
279.2), approximately 12.7 miles south
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h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Chris
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335–2777); Philip E. Meier, Hydro
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with respect to environmental issues
that wish to cooperate in the
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21716-21718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9272]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Record of Decision for Issuance of Loan Guarantees to Solar
Partners I, LLC; Solar Partners II, LLC; and Solar Partners VIII, LLC
(Solar Partners) for Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Units 1,
2, and 3
AGENCY: Loan Programs Office (LP), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Record of Decision (ROD).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its decision to
issue loan guarantees under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(EPAct 05) to Solar Partners I, LLC; Solar Partners II, LLC; and Solar
Partners VIII, LLC (Solar Partners) for construction and start-up of
Units 1, 2, and 3 of the 370 megawatt (MW) Ivanpah Solar Electric
Generating System (ISEGS) on 3,471.36 acres, all of which are managed
by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), in San Bernardino County, California. The environmental impacts
of the construction and operation of this project were analyzed in the
Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment and Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the Ivanpah Solar Electric
Generating System, San Bernardino County, California (75 FR 47592; 08/
06/10) (Final EIS), prepared by the BLM Needles Field Office with DOE
as a cooperating agency. DOE was consulted during the preparation of
the EIS and provided comments, which BLM incorporated. DOE determined
that the project analyzed in the Final EIS was substantially the same
as the project that would be covered by the DOE loan guarantees, and a
notice of DOE's adoption of the Final EIS as DOE/EIS-0416 was published
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal
Register on October 22, 2010 (75 FR 65320).
ADDRESSES: Copies of this ROD and the Final EIS may be obtained by
calling Sharon Thomas, NEPA Document Manager, Environmental Compliance
Division, Loan Programs Office (LP-10), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20585; telephone 202-586-
5335; or e-mail Sharon.R.Thomas@hq.doe.gov, or by accessing these
documents on the DOE NEPA Web site at https://www.nepa.energy.gov and at
the Loan Programs Web site at https://www.loanprograms.energy.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Thomas, NEPA Document Manager,
Environmental Compliance Division, Loan Programs Office (LP-10), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC,
20585; telephone, 202-586-5335; or e-mail Sharon.R.Thomas@hq.doe.gov.
For general information about the DOE National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) process contact Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy
and Compliance (GC-54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20585; telephone, 202-586-4600; leave a
message at 800-472-2756; or e-mail AskNEPA@hq.doe.gov. Information
about DOE NEPA activities
[[Page 21717]]
and access to DOE NEPA documents are available through the DOE NEPA Web
site at https://www.nepa.energy.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The ISEGS Project will be on 3,471.36 acres in the eastern part of
San Bernardino County, California, approximately 40 miles southwest of
Las Vegas, Nevada. The applicant plans to develop three power plants in
separate and sequential phases to generate 370 MW of electricity.
Ivanpah 1 will generate 120 MW, and Ivanpah 2 and 3 will each generate
125 MW. Each plant will be comprised of fields of heliostats (elevated
mirrors guided by a tracking system) focusing solar energy on boilers
located on centralized power towers. Each heliostat in the field will
track the sun throughout the day and reflect the solar energy to a
power tower boiler. In each of the three plants, one steam turbine will
receive live steam from the power tower boiler for the generation of
electricity.
On August 29, 2007, BLM received applications from subsidiaries of
BrightSource Energy, Inc. (Solar Partners) pursuant to Title V of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1761) for
right-of-way (ROW) grants to construct, operate, maintain, and
decommission the ISEGS project on public land in San Bernardino County,
California. BLM's California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan
(1980, as amended), while recognizing the potential compatibility of
solar power generation facilities on public lands, requires that all
sites associated with power generation or transmission not identified
in that plan be considered through the plan amendment process.
BrightSource Energy, Inc. applied to DOE for loan guarantees under
Title XVII of EPAct 05, in November 2008 for ISEGS Phase 1 and in
February 2009 for ISEGS Phases 2 and 3.
NEPA Review
BLM was the lead agency in the preparation of the Final EIS.
Pursuant to a February 2009, Memorandum of Understanding between BLM
and DOE, DOE participated as a cooperating agency with BLM in
preparation of this EIS in order to consider the potential
environmental impacts of DOE's proposed loan guarantees for
construction and start-up of Units 1, 2, and 3 of the ISEGS project.
EPA published a Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS on November
13, 2009 (74 FR 58625), and BLM published a Notice of Availability of
the Draft CDCA Plan Amendment in the Federal Register on November 10,
2009 (74 FR 58043). The Draft EIS was available for a 90-day public
comment period which closed on February 11, 2010. After issuance of the
Draft EIS for public review, BLM continued to coordinate and consult
regarding possible refinements to avoid sensitive resources, including
wildlife and plant species, on the ISEGS project site. As a result, two
additional project alternatives that could avoid or reduce impacts were
developed by the applicant and were analyzed by BLM in a Supplemental
Draft EIS. These alternatives included the Mitigated Ivanpah 3
Alternative and the Modified I-15 Alternative. These alternatives
included modification of the project boundaries in order to avoid
sensitive resources, a reduction in overall project acreage from 4,073
acres to approximately 3,471 acres, a reduction in the number of
heliostats, and a resulting reduction in the power output from 400 MW
in the proposed project to 370 MW in each of the additional
alternatives. EPA published a Notice of Availability of the
Supplemental Draft EIS in the Federal Register on April 16, 2010 (75 FR
19992). The public comment period on the Supplemental Draft EIS closed
on June 1, 2010. Comments received on the Draft EIS and the
Supplemental Draft EIS were addressed in the Final EIS announced by EPA
in the Federal Register on August 6, 2010 (75 FR 47591). Comments
received on the Final EIS were addressed in Appendix 1 of the Record of
Decision for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Project and
Associated Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan
(BLM ROD), which is available at https://www.blm.gov or by calling the
BLM Needles Field Office at 760-326-7000.
On February 22, 2010, DOE announced its decision to offer
conditional commitments to Solar Partners to provide up to $1.37
billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of the ISEGS
project. The conditional commitments each contained a condition
precedent which required completion of the NEPA process before the loan
guarantees could be closed. Notice of DOE's adoption of the Final EIS
was published by EPA in the Federal Register on October 22, 2010 (75 FR
65320).
Alternatives Considered
BLM considered four alternatives, including the project as
identified in the Final EIS as the Proposed Action (the project as
proposed by Solar Partners), the Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Alternative
(selected by BLM in their ROD and identified in the Final EIS as the
preferred alternative), the Modified I-15 Alternative, and the No
Action Alternative. These alternatives were described in detail and
fully analyzed in the Final EIS. The BLM decision to select the
Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Alternative includes mitigation measures identified
in the Final EIS chapter 4, Affected Environment and Environmental
Consequences. These include measures specified in Terms and Conditions
in the Biological Opinion (see BLM ROD Appendix 2, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Biological Opinion), and Terms and Conditions set out
in the Programmatic Agreement between BLM, the Southern California
Edison Company, the California State Historic Preservation Officer, and
the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer (see Appendix 3,
Programmatic Agreement, in BLM ROD).
The complete language of these measures, terms, and conditions is
provided in the Plan of Development for the ISEGS project and is
contained in Appendix 4 of BLM's Compliance Monitoring Plan set out in
the BLM ROD. BLM has incorporated these requirements as terms and
conditions into the ROW grants. DOE's decision is whether or not to
issue loan guarantees to Solar Partners for up to $1.37 billion to
support construction and start-up of the ISEGS project. Accordingly,
DOE's alternatives are (1) to issue loan guarantees to Solar Partners
for the Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project alternative selected in the BLM
ROD, and (2) No Action Alternative, i.e., no loan guarantees.
Consultation
BLM is the lead Federal agency for compliance of the ISEGS project
with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection
Act, and for Tribal consultation. The mitigation measures included in
the BLM decision resulted from these consultations and are addressed in
the Final EIS and BLM ROD. In addition, BLM has consulted with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers who provided a written jurisdictional decision
that the ISEGS project is unlikely to impact waters of the U.S.; and
consulted and received required approvals from the Federal Aviation
Administration regarding aviation impacts; the National Park Service
regarding impacts on national parks; and the State of California and
San Bernardino County regarding compliance with State and local laws.
[[Page 21718]]
Decision
On October 7, 2010, BLM issued its ROD and approved the Proposed
Plan Amendment to the CDCA Plan to allow for solar energy right-of-way
grants to Solar Partners for the ISGES project to be constructed on
BLM-managed land. The Secretary of the Interior also issued Secretarial
Approval of these decisions on this date.
DOE has decided to select alternative (1) identified above: To
issue loan guarantees for construction and start-up of the Mitigated
Ivanpah 3 Project, which BLM selected in its ROD. The Mitigated Ivanpah
3 Project would be the development of three solar concentrating thermal
power plants. Under alternative (2), the No Action Alternative, DOE
would not issue loan guarantees for the project, and it is unlikely
that Solar Partners would implement the project as currently planned.
While the direct and indirect environmental impacts of the ISEGS would
be avoided under the No Action Alternative, the benefits of reduced
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the opportunity to make use of new
technology to reduce GHG emissions and air pollutants would be lost.
Approval of the loan guarantees for the ISEGS project responds to
DOE's purpose and need pursuant to Title XVII of EPAct 05 (42 U.S.C.
16511-16514) for eligible projects under Section 1703 of Title XVII,
which authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make loan guarantees for
projects that (1) avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or
anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and (2) employ new or
significantly improved technologies as compared to commercial
technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee
is issued. Issuance of loan guarantees for projects under Section 1703
of Title XVII of EPAct 05 facilitates the acceleration of the
commercialization of innovative, environmentally-friendly technologies
that will have an impact on ensuring clean, affordable, and reliable
supplies of energy. The purpose and need for DOE's loan guarantee
action is to comply with DOE's mandate under Title XVII of EPAct 2005
by selecting eligible projects that meet the goals of the Act.
In addition, approval of the loan guarantees for the ISEGS project
also responds to DOE's purpose and need pursuant to Title XVII of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorizes the Secretary to make loan
guarantees for eligible projects under Section 1705 of Title XVII
(implemented pursuant to Section 406 of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009). Eligible projects include renewable energy
projects and related manufacturing facilities, electric power
transmission projects, and leading edge biofuels projects. The primary
purposes of the Recovery Act are job preservation and creation,
infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to
the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization. Issuances of
loan guarantees for eligible projects under Section 1705 are designed
to address the current economic conditions of the nation, in part,
through renewable energy, transmission, and leading edge biofuels
projects. Eligible projects must commence construction by September 30,
2011.
Mitigation
The ISEGS project that will be supported by issuance of the DOE
loan guarantees includes all mitigation conditions applied by BLM in
its ROW grants for this project. BLM is the Federal lead agency for the
ISEGS project under NEPA and is responsible for ensuring compliance
with all adopted mitigation measures for the ISEGS project set out in
the Final EIS. The complete language of all the measures is provided in
the BLM ROD and in Appendix 4, Compliance Monitoring Plan. BLM has also
incorporated these mitigation measures into the ROW grants as terms and
conditions.
DOE's loan guarantee agreements require the applicant to comply
with all applicable laws and the terms of the ROW grants, including
mitigation measures contained therein. An applicant's failure to comply
with applicable laws and the ROW grants would constitute a default.
Upon the continuance of a default, DOE would have the right under the
loan guarantee agreement between it and the applicant to exercise usual
and customary remedies. To ensure that the applicant so performs, the
DOE Loan Programs Office proactively monitors all operative loan
guarantee transactions.
Environmentally Preferred Alternative
Following analysis and comparison of the alternatives in the
Supplemental Draft and Final EISs, the 370 MW Mitigated Ivanpah 3
Alternative was identified by BLM as the Environmentally Preferred
Alternative and is the Selected Alternative identified in the BLM ROD.
DOE has decided that its alternative (1), to issue loan guarantees
for construction and start-up of the Mitigated Ivanpah 3 Project, is
environmentally preferable. DOE has determined that this alternative
offers substantial environmental benefits due to reductions in GHG
emissions and that all practicable means to avoid or minimize
environmental harm have, as described in the BLM ROD and Appendices for
the ISEGS project, been adopted as mitigation measures by BLM.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2011.
Jonathan M. Silver,
Executive Director, Loan Programs Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-9272 Filed 4-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
