Notice of Competitive Offer for Solar Energy Development on Public Lands in Saguache County, CO, 17867-17869 [2023-06027]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 57 (Friday, March 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17867-17869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06027]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_CO_FRN_MO4500169083]


Notice of Competitive Offer for Solar Energy Development on 
Public Lands in Saguache County, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of competitive offer.

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

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rocky Mountain District, 
Ca[ntilde]on City, Colorado, will accept competitive bids to lease 
public lands for solar energy projects on approximately 1,064 acres in 
Saguache County, Colorado.

DATES: The BLM will hold a competitive live auction at 10 a.m. local 
time on April 27, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The auction will be held at: BLM Rocky Mountain District 
Office, 3028 East Main Street, Ca[ntilde]on City, CO 81212.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy Cook, District Manager, BLM 
Rocky Mountain District Office, by telephone: 719-269-8554 or email: 
[email protected]. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services 
for contacting Ms. Cook. Individuals outside the United States should 
use the relay services offered within their country to make 
international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Rocky Mountain District Office has 
received interest to lease lands within the De Tilla Gulch Solar Energy 
Zone (SEZ). The BLM will offer a lease for solar energy development 
within the SEZ in accordance with the competitive process described in 
43 CFR part 2800, subpart 2809.
    Based on the expressed interest, the SEZ will be offered in its 
entirety. The SEZ being offered for competitive solar lease is 
described in Public Land Order No. 7818, published in the Federal 
Register on July 5, 2013 (78 FR 40499), and available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/07/05/2013-16215/public-land-order-no-7818-withdrawal-of-public-lands-for-the-protection-and-preservation-of-solar, with additional information as follows:

De Tilla Gulch Solar Energy Zone

Saguache County, Colorado

    The De Tilla Gulch SEZ consists of approximately 1,064 contiguous 
acres of public land, identified in the 2012 Final Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six 
Southwestern States (Solar Programmatic EIS) and subsequent Approved 
Resource Management Plan (Solar RMP) Amendments/Record of Decision 
(ROD) as suitable for utility-scale solar energy development. The De 
Tilla Gulch SEZ is managed by the BLM's San Luis Valley Field Office. 
Detailed information on this SEZ, including maps, completed resource 
studies, and recommended design features can be viewed and downloaded 
at: https://blmsolar.anl.gov/solar-peis/sez/co/de-tilla-gulch/.
    As provided in 43 CFR 2809.13(a), bidding will occur in a 
competitive auction, conducted in-person. The auction will be open to 
the public with potential limitations based on room capacity, and the 
event may be live-streamed. More information will be made available at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510. Interested 
bidders are required to pre-register by accessing the ePlanning site no 
later than 1 week prior to the scheduled auction to allow sufficient 
time for the BLM to verify qualifications. Under the requirements of 43 
CFR 2803.10, qualified bidders must be:
     An individual, association, corporation, partnership, or 
similar business entity, or a Federal agency or State, Tribal, or local 
government;
     Technically and financially able to construct, operate, 
maintain, and terminate the use of the public lands being applied for; 
and
     Of legal age and authorized to do business in Colorado.
    Bidders must have or be able to demonstrate technical and financial 
capability to construct, operate, maintain, and terminate a project 
throughout the leasing process and authorization period. You can 
demonstrate your financial and technical capability to construct, 
operate, maintain, and terminate a project by:
     Providing documentation of any previous successful 
experience in construction, operation, and maintenance of a similar 
facility on either public or non-public lands;
     Providing information on the availability of sufficient 
capitalization to carry out development, including the preliminary 
study stage of the project and the environmental review and clearance 
process; or
     Providing written copies of conditional commitments of 
Federal and other loan guarantees; confirmed power purchase agreements; 
engineering, procurement, and construction contracts; and supply 
contracts with credible third-party vendors for the manufacture or 
supply of key components for the project facilities.
    Pre-registered bidders will be confirmed and assigned a bidder 
number before the auction commences. Complete details and frequently 
asked questions on the screening and bidding process can be found 
online at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510.
    The BLM has determined a minimum acceptable bid for the De Tilla 
Gulch SEZ of $35,824.88. The minimum bid consists of the following:
    (1) Administrative costs incurred by the BLM--An administrative fee 
of approximately $6.79 per acre to cover the BLM's costs in preparing 
for and conducting the competitive offer, including preparation of the 
2022 Offer for Competitive Leasing for De Tilla

[[Page 17868]]

Gulch SEZ Determination of NEPA Adequacy; and
    (2) An amount determined by the authorized officer based on known 
or potential values of the parcel--In setting this amount, the BLM 
considered 100 percent of the acreage rent. The rent value of the land 
for the current year under the BLM's solar rental schedule was used.
    The competitive offer will start at the minimum bid, and bidders 
may raise with subsequent bonus bids. The bidder with the highest total 
bid (minimum plus bonus bid) at the close of the auction will be 
declared the successful bidder and will be offered a ROW lease within 
the SEZ subject to payment terms, outlined as follows.
    If you are the successful bidder, payment of the minimum bid and at 
least 20 percent of the winning bonus bid must be submitted to the BLM 
Rocky Mountain District by the close of business on the day of the 
auction.
    Within 15 calendar days after the auction, you must pay the balance 
of the bonus bid and the first 12 months acreage rent to the Rocky 
Mountain District Office overseeing management of the San Luis Valley 
Field Office. Any required payments must be submitted by personal 
check, cashier's check, certified check, ACH bank draft, or money 
order, or by other means deemed acceptable by the BLM, payable to the 
Department of the Interior--Bureau of Land Management.
    The BLM will offer you a ROW lease if you are the successful bidder 
and you: (1) satisfy the qualifications in 43 CFR 2803.10; (2) make the 
required payments listed earlier; and (3) do not have any trespass 
action pending against you for any activity on BLM-administered lands 
or have any unpaid debts owed to the Federal Government. If the 
successful bidder does not satisfy these requirements, the BLM will not 
offer a lease to that bidder and will keep all money that has been 
submitted. In that event, the BLM may offer the lease to the next 
highest bidder; re-offer the lands through another competitive process; 
or make the lands available through the noncompetitive application 
process found in 43 CFR parts 2803, 2804, and 2805. The BLM will not 
issue the lease to the successful bidder until it ensures compliance 
with the requirements in Section 50265(b)(1) of the Inflation Reduction 
Act (IRA) (codified at 43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)). The IRA conditions the 
issuance of rights-of-way for wind and solar energy development on 
public lands on: (1) the BLM having held an onshore oil and gas lease 
sale during the 120-day period before the issuance of the right-of-way 
for wind or solar energy development; and (2) the BLM having offered--
in the 1-year period preceding the date of the issuance of the solar or 
wind right-of-way--the lesser of 2 million acres or 50 percent of the 
oil and gas acreage for which expressions of interest had been 
submitted in that year.
    The administrative fee portion of the minimum bid from the 
successful bidder will be retained by the agency to recover 
administrative costs for conducting the competitive bid and related 
processes. The remainder of the minimum bid and bonus bid from the 
successful bidder will be deposited with the U.S. Treasury. Neither 
amount will be returned or refunded to the successful bidder under any 
circumstance. If you are not the successful bidder, the BLM will return 
or refund the bid amount submitted with your bid. If no bid is received 
for a SEZ, then no lease will be issued and the BLM may choose to make 
the lands available through the non-competitive application process 
found in 43 CFR parts 2803, 2804, and 2805, or by competitive process 
at a later date.
    Any lease issued will be subject to the terms and conditions 
specified in 43 CFR 2809.18, and additional requirements identified in 
the decision to conduct the offer, listed as follows:
    (1) The lessee will prepare the following management plans, if 
applicable, and submit them to the BLM as part of its plan of 
development (POD) for approval following the issuance of a lease for 
the Project and prior to the BLM issuing a Notice to Proceed with 
construction:
     Worker Education and Awareness Plan;
     Health and Safety Program and Plan;
     Bird and Bat Conservation Strategy;
     Fire Management Plan;
     Lighting Management Plan;
     Integrated Weed Management Plan;
     Site Drainage Plan;
     Traffic Management Plan;
     Groundwater Monitoring and Reporting Plan;
     Surface Water Quality Management Plan;
     Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan;
     Dust Abatement Plan;
     Spill Prevention and Emergency Response Plan;
     Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Plan;
     Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan; and
     Site Rehabilitation and Restoration Plan.
    (2) The lessee will comply with all relevant protective measures 
and design features established in the Solar RMP Amendments ROD signed 
on Oct. 12, 2012. Specifically reference Appendix A.
    (3) All processes under 36 CFR part 800 will be completed (which 
would likely include a Class III cultural survey) prior to any ground 
disturbing activities. All historic properties found will be avoided or 
mitigated in consultation with State Historic Preservation Office.
    (4) Any mitigation resulting from an adverse effect to historic 
properties will be addressed through a Memorandum of Agreement as 
outlined in the Solar Programmatic EIS Programmatic Agreement.
    (5) Appropriate protection measures will be applied to existing 
improvements (e.g., canals and access to private lands) and rights-of-
way within the SEZ and adjacent to other ancillary facilities (e.g., 
gen-tie line(s) and substation) required for development of any leased 
parcels.
    (6) If a POD is approved, the leaseholder would be able to use 
common varieties of stone and soil that are necessarily removed during 
construction of the project, without additional BLM authorization or 
payment, in constructing the project within the authorized right-of-
way.
    (7) A 2-year grazing notification will be provided to all 
potentially affected livestock permittees, giving them 2 years to make 
any financial, business, or management decisions.
    (8) The leaseholder will compensate the grazing permittees for any 
range improvements affected or lost by solar lease operations.
    (9) The leaseholder will construct new fences that will continue to 
keep the allotments and pastures separated as needed to mitigate for 
the removal of allotment and pasture fences.
    (10) Rights-of-way for livestock grazing driveways may be granted 
by the BLM through solar lease parcels if requested by grazing 
permittees.
    (11) Any POD submitted must address mitigation and compensation 
strategies for impacts to livestock grazing, and any agreement with the 
affected grazing permittee addressing these mitigation and compensation 
strategies must be submitted to the BLM concurrently with the POD.
    (12) Following submission of a POD, the BLM shall initiate project-
specific consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, if necessary. 
Consultation with USFWS under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the 
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act may also be required. These 
consultations may result in ``Take

[[Page 17869]]

Permit(s)'' containing additional design considerations, which the 
leaseholder will be required to incorporate into final project design, 
construction, and decommissioning plans.
    (13) Once a POD is submitted, the BLM will determine whether a 
long-term monitoring strategy to establish quantitative monitoring 
objectives and indicators would need to be developed. The leaseholder 
or developer will be required to collect baseline data for this effort, 
in coordination with the BLM and other applicable agencies. For an 
example, see https://blmsolar.anl.gov/documents/docs/Final_Riverside_East_LTMS_from_website.pdf.
    (14) If a POD is approved, the leaseholder or developer would be 
required to obtain all necessary State or Federal permits before 
engaging in any stream alteration or other activities affecting 
waterways.
    (15) Prior to any ground-disturbing activity associated with an 
authorized POD, the leaseholder or developer will identify and protect 
evidence of the Public Land Survey System, as directed in 43 CFR 
3809.420--Surface Management--(b)(9) Protection of survey monuments.
    Additionally, the leaseholder will be subject to any measures the 
BLM identifies to address site-specific impacts to resources as part of 
the environmental review of leaseholder's proposed plan of development 
for the SEZ.

(Authority: 43 CFR 2809)

Douglas Vilsack,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-06027 Filed 3-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-16-P