Land Management Bureau October 17, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), together with the California Energy Commission (Energy Commission), (hereinafter jointly referred to as the Agencies) intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/Staff Assessment (EIS/SA), and a Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment, for the Stirling Energy Systems (SES) Solar Two Project (Project), a Stirling engine systems solar dish project in Imperial County, California. SES is seeking approval to construct and operate an electrical generating facility with a nominal capacity of 750 megawatts (MW), using concentrated solar thermal power. The approximately 6,500 acres of land needed to develop the Project consists of approximately 6,140 acres of BLM administered public land and approximately 360 acres of privately owned land. SES has submitted an application to the BLM requesting a right-of- way (ROW) to construct the Project and related facilities. Pursuant to the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan (1980, as amended), sites associated with power generation or transmission not identified in the CDCA Plan will be considered through the plan amendment process. Under Federal law, BLM is responsible for processing requests for rights-of-way to authorize such proposed projects and associated transmission lines and other appurtenant facilities on land it manages. BLM must comply with the requirements of NEPA to ensure that environmental impacts associated with construction, operation, and decommissioning will be identified, analyzed and considered in the application process. In the case of solar thermal power plant projects, this will be accomplished through coordination of the state and federal application processes, public participation, environmental analysis, and the preparation of Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in coordination with the Energy Commission and its Preliminary and Final Staff Assessments. Under California law, the Energy Commission is responsible for reviewing the applications for certification filed for thermal power plants over 50 MW, and also has the role of lead agency for the environmental review of such projects under the CEQA (Public Resources Code, section 25500 et seq.; and Public Resources Code, section 21000 et seq.) The Energy Commission conducts this review in accordance with the administrative adjudication provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Gov. Code, section 11400 et seq.) and its own regulations governing site certification proceedings (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 20, section 1701 et seq.), which have been deemed CEQA equivalent by the Secretary of Resources. SES Solar Two, LLC has submitted an Application for Certification (AFC) to the Energy Commission. The AFC facilitates analysis and review by staff prior to an Energy Commission decision.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the South Gillette Area Coal project that contains four Federal Coal Lease By Applications (LBAs), and by this Notice is announcing a public hearing requesting comments on the DEIS, Maximum Economic Recovery (MER), and Fair Market Value (FMV) pursuant to 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3425.4.