[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 11 (Thursday, January 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2758-2759]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00611]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLCAD06000 L51010000.ER0000 LVRWB09B2920 19X; MO 4500140990]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Desert
Quartzite Solar Photovoltaic Project, Riverside County, CA
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
Record of Decision (ROD) to Authorize a Right-of-Way (ROW) and amend
the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan for the Desert
Quartzite Solar Photovoltaic Project, and by this Notice is announcing
its availability. This decision is subject to appeal under Departmental
regulations.
DATES: The Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management
signed the ROD on January 9, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available for public inspection at the
BLM-Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office at 1201 Bird Center Dr., Palm
Springs, CA 92262, and at the BLM-California Desert District Office,
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553. Interested
persons may also review the ROD on the internet at: https://tinyurl.com/yy8o33ld.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brandon G. Anderson, BLM Assistant
District Manager, Project Support, telephone (951) 697-5215; address,
Bureau of Land Management, California Desert District, 22835 Calle San
Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553; or email
[email protected]. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service at (800) 877-8339 to contact Mr. Anderson normal business
hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a
message or question. You will receive a reply during normal business
hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Desert Quartzite, LLC, a wholly owned
subsidiary of First Solar Inc., applied for a ROW from the BLM to
construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 450-megawatt (MW)
solar photovoltaic facility near the City of Blythe, Riverside County,
California. The proposed project footprint is about
[[Page 2759]]
3,800 acres. The proposed project also includes construction of a 2.7
mile 230 kilovolt generation interconnection (gen-tie) transmission
line connecting the project to the Southern California Edison (SCE)
Colorado River Substation. The BLM also considered an amendment to the
CDCA Plan that would be necessary to authorize the project. This is a
joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/
EIR) for compliance with NEPA and the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA). Riverside County is the lead agency under CEQA.
On August 8, 2018, the BLM issued the Draft EIS/EIR and Draft Land
Use Plan Amendment, which analyzed the impacts of the Proposed Action
and two action alternatives, in addition to a No Action Alternative.
Alternative 2, Resource Avoidance Alternative, would be a 450 MW
Photovoltaic (PV) array on about 2,800 acres. It reduces effects to
portions of the sand corridor and cultural resources. Alternative 3,
Reduced Project Alternative, would be a 285 MW solar PV project on
about 2,100 acres. Like the Proposed Action, under each of these
alternatives, the BLM would amend the CDCA Plan to allow the project.
Under the No Action Alternative, the BLM would deny the ROW
application, and would not amend the CDCA Plan to allow the project.
The Draft EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment included
analysis of the ROW application as it related to the following issues:
(1) Impacts to cultural resources and tribal concerns; (2) Impacts to
the sand transport corridor and Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat and
washes; (3) Impacts to BLM sensitive plants; (4) Impacts to avian
species; (5) Impacts to visual resources; (6) Impact to air and water
quality; and (7) Relationship between the proposed project and the CDCA
Plan, as amended.
The Draft EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment was available
for a 90-day public comment period. The BLM held public meetings on
September 26, 2018, and September 27, 2018, in Palm Desert and Blythe,
CA respectively. Fourteen individuals attended the meeting on September
26, 2018, and 19 individuals attended the meeting on September 27,
2018. The BLM received two verbal comments during the September 27,
2018, public meeting and 22 comment letters during the comment period.
Comments on the Draft EIS/EIR and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment
received from the public and internal agency review were considered and
incorporated, as appropriate, into the Final EIS/EIR and Proposed Land
Use Plan Amendment. Public comments resulted in the addition of
clarifying text, but did not significantly change proposed land use
plan decisions. A response to substantive comments is included in the
Final EIS/EIR and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment. Under Alternative 2
and Alternative 3, the gen-tie alignment was adjusted to avoid a
potential conflict with a proposed transmission line project. The
adjustment does not substantially change the environmental effects
analysis. The BLM has selected Alternative 2, the Resource Avoidance
Alternative, as the Agency Proposed Alternative in the Final EIS/EIR
and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment.
The publication of the Desert Quartzite Final EIS/EIR and Proposed
Land Use Amendment initiated a 30-day protest period, which closed on
October 28, 2019. The BLM received two protests. The BLM has considered
and resolved the protests on the Desert Quartzite Solar Project Final
EIS/EIR and Proposed Land Use Amendment. The BLM's protest resolution
report to those protests can be found at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports.
In accordance with the regulations at 43 CFR 1610.3-2(e), the BLM
submitted the Final EIS/EIR and Proposed Land Use Amendment for a 60-
day Governor's Consistency Review on September 27, 2019. The Governor
did not respond with any findings of inconsistency.
With this ROD, the BLM adopts the Agency Preferred Alternative and
amends the CDCA Plan. Approval of these decisions constitutes the final
decision of the Department of the Interior and, in accordance with the
regulations at 43 CFR 4.410(a)(3), is not subject to appeal under
Departmental regulations at 43 CFR part 4. Any challenge to these
decisions, including the BLM Authorized Officer's issuance of the
right-of-way as approved by this decision, must be brought in the
Federal district court.
Joe Stout,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-00611 Filed 1-15-20; 8:45 am]
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