Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Stateline Solar Farm and Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment, 68860-68861 [2013-27416]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68860-68861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27416]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCAD09000, L51010000.LVRWB09B2380.FX0000]


Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
and Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Stateline Solar Farm 
and Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Proposed California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan 
Amendment and a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Draft 
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Stateline Solar Farm Project 
(SSFP) and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the 
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's 
Proposed CDCA Amendment. A person who meets the conditions and files a 
protest must file the protest within 30 days of the date that the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the SSFP Final EIS and Proposed CDCA Plan 
Amendment have been sent to affected Federal, State, and local 
government agencies and to other stakeholders. Copies of the SSFP Final 
EIS and Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment are available for public 
inspection at the BLM Needles Field Office and

[[Page 68861]]

California Desert District Office. Interested persons may also review 
the SSFP Final EIS and Proposed CDCA Plan Amendment on the Internet at 
https://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd.html. All protests must be in 
writing and mailed to one of the following addresses:

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 
71383, Washington, DC 20024-1382.
Overnight Delivery: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 20 
M Street SE., Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffery Childers, Project Manager; 
telephone 951-697-5308; address BLM California Desert District Office, 
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553-
9046; email jchilders@blm.gov. 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: First Solar Development, Inc. (First Solar) 
has requested a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct, operate, 
maintain and decommission the 300-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic SSFP from 
the BLM and a well permit from the County of San Bernardino. The BLM is 
responding to the ROW application as required by FLPMA. The proposed 
project located on BLM-administered lands would include access roads, 
photovoltaic arrays, electrical substation, meteorological station, 
monitoring and maintenance facility, water wells, and a 2.3 mile 
generation tie-line on up to 2,143 acres. The project location is in 
San Bernardino County approximately 2 miles south of the Nevada-
California border and 0.5 miles west of Interstate 15.
    The BLM's purpose and need for the SSFP is to respond to First 
Solar's application for a ROW grant to construct, operate, maintain, 
and decommission a photovoltaic solar energy facility on public lands 
in compliance with FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and other applicable 
Federal laws. The BLM will decide whether to grant, grant with 
modification, or deny a ROW to First Solar for the proposed SSFP. The 
CDCA Plan (1980, as amended), while recognizing the potential 
compatibility of solar energy generation facilities with other uses on 
public lands, requires that all sites proposed for power generation or 
transmission not already identified in the plan be considered through 
the plan amendment process. The BLM is proposing to amend the CDCA Plan 
by designating the project area as either suitable or unsuitable for 
solar energy projects. In addition to the proposed action, which is 
analyzed as Alternative 1: 300 MWs on 2,143 acres, the BLM is analyzing 
three other project alternatives: Alternative 2: 300 MW on 2,385 acres; 
Revised Alternative 3: 300 MW on 1,685 acres; and, Alternative 4: 232 
MW generated on 1,766 acres. All project alternatives also analyze an 
expansion of the Ivanpah Desert Wildlife Management Area (DWMA). The 
management prescriptions for the Ivanpah DWMA are defined in Appendix 
A, Section A.2, of the Northern and Eastern Mojave Desert Management 
Plan Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan (July 
2002). If the DWMA is expanded, these management prescriptions will be 
applied to the expansion.
    The Proposed Plan Amendment and Final EIS/EIR also analyzes three 
No Project alternatives: Alternative 5: No Action; Alternative 6: No 
Project, Amend the CDCA Plan to find the Project area unsuitable for 
solar development; and Alternative 7: No Project, Amend the CDCA Plan 
to find the Project area suitable for solar development. The Final EIS/
EIR and CDCA Plan Amendment evaluates the potential impacts of the 
proposed SSFP on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions; biological 
resources; cultural resources; special status species; geology and 
soils; hazards and hazardous materials; hydrology and water quality; 
land use; noise; recreation; traffic; visual resources; lands with 
wilderness characteristics; cumulative effects and areas with high 
potential for renewable energy development.
    Comments on the Draft EIS/EIR and CDCA Plan Amendment received from 
the public and internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as 
appropriate into the Final EIS/EIR and Proposed Plan Amendment. Public 
comments resulted in modification of Alternative 3, now evaluated in 
the Final EIS/EIR as Revised Alternative 3. However, the public 
comments did not significantly change proposed land use plan decisions. 
Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed Plan Amendment may be found in the ``Dear 
Reader'' letter of the SSFP Final EIS/EIR and Proposed Plan Amendment 
and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed to 
the appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section above. 
Emailed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the 
protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular 
mail or overnight delivery postmarked by the close of the protest 
period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the email as an 
advance copy and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to 
provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct emails to 
bhudgens@blm.gov.
    Before including your phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest 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, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2.

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 2013-27416 Filed 11-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P