Notice of Availability of the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic …

Notice of Availability of the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States and Notice of Public Meetings

Federal Register Extracts

Oct 28, 2011 (Energy Department Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX –
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM and the Department of Energy (DOE (the Agencies as joint lead agencies announce the availability of the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (Supplement (BLM/DES 11-49, DOE/EIS-0403D-S.

DATES: The Agencies will accept comments for ninety (90 calendar days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register The Agencies will hold public meetings on the Supplement. The dates and locations of the public meetings are listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Supplement by the following methods:

* Web site: Using the online comment form available on the project Web site: http://solareis.anl.gov. This is the preferred method of commenting.

* Mail, addressed to: Solar Energy Draft PEIS, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue–EVS/240, Argonne, Illinois 60439.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information on the Supplement or general information regarding the BLM National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA process should be directed to Shannon Stewart, Senior Planning and Environmental Analyst, BLM Washington Office, by email at shannon_stewart@blm.gov, or by telephone at 202-912-7219. Requests for additional information on the Supplement may also be directed to Jane Summerson, DOE Solar Programmatic EIS Document Manager, by email at jane.summerson@ee.doe.gov, or by telephone at 202-287-6188. For general information regarding the DOE 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, by telephone at 202-586-4600, leave a message at 1-800-472-2756, or by email at askNEPA@hq.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Supplement, references, and additional information regarding solar energy development are available at the project Web site: http://solareis.anl.gov. An electronic copy of the Supplement also can be viewed in any BLM State Office public room in the six-state study area and is available through the BLM Web site at http://www.blm.gov. The Supplement is also available on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://energy.gov/nepa. A complete, printed copy is available for review at the following BLM offices:

* Arizona State Office, One North Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, Arizona 85004.

* Caliente Field Office, U.S. Highway 93 Building #1, Caliente, Nevada 89008.

* California Desert District, 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553.

* California State Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1623, Sacramento, California 95825.

* Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215.

* Cedar City Field Office, 176 East D.L. Sargent Drive, Cedar City, Utah 84721.

* El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, California 92243.

* Lake Havasu Field Office, 2610 Sweetwater Avenue, Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86406.

* Las Cruces District Office, 1800 Marquess Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005.

* Lower Sonoran Field Office, 21605 N. 7th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85027.

* Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nevada 89502.

* New Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87508.

* Palm Springs–South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, California 92262.

* San Luis Valley Public Lands Center, 1803 West Highway 160, Monte Vista, Colorado 81144.

* Southern Nevada District Office, 4701 North Torrey Pines, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.

* Tonopah Field Office, 1553 South Main Street, Tonopah, Nevada 89049.

* Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

The BLM and the DOE will hold four public meetings on the Supplement to provide an overview of the document, answer questions, and receive public comments. The meeting site will open to the public at 6 p.m. The official meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and close after all individuals who wish to speak have been heard. The meeting dates and locations are given below. The specific venues will be announced at least 15 days in advance via local media, the project Web site (http://solareis.anl. gov/, and the DOE NEPA Web site (http://energy.gov/nepa.

* Las Vegas, Nevada –Wednesday, November 30, 2011.

* Phoenix, Arizona –Thursday, December 1, 2011.

* El Centro, California –Wednesday, December 7, 2011.

* Palm Desert, California –Thursday, December 8, 2011.

At these meetings the public will have an opportunity to provide oral and written comments. Oral and written comments from the meetings and additional comments submitted during the comment period will be considered by the Agencies in preparing the Final EIS. Comments submitted after the close of the comment period will be considered to the extent practicable.

Background

On December 17, 2010, the Agencies published a Draft Programmatic EIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Public comments were accepted through May 2, 2011. More than 80,500 comments were received. The public, as well as many cooperating agencies, offered suggestions on how the Agencies could increase the utility of the document, strengthen the proposed BLM Solar Energy Program, and increase certainty regarding solar energy development on BLM-administered lands.

The Agencies have revised the Solar PEIS to better meet their solar energy objectives. The Agencies have prepared a targeted Supplement to the Draft Solar Programmatic EIS (Supplement that includes modified and new components of the proposed BLM Solar Energy Program, DOE’s proposed programmatic environmental guidance, and references to relevant portions of the Draft Solar Programmatic EIS. The Agencies have prepared this document in accordance with NEPA, as amended; the Council on Environmental Quality, the DOE, and the Department of Interior (DOI regulations implementing NEPA; and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended. The Supplement also updates the environmental effects analysis associated with BLM’s modified action alternatives.

BLM-Specific Information

The BLM has identified a need to respond in a more efficient and effective manner to the high interest in siting utility-scale solar energy development on BLM-administered lands and ensure consistent application of measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the adverse impacts of such development. The BLM proposes to develop a new Solar Energy Program to further support utility-scale solar energy development on BLM-administered lands. The proposed Solar Energy Program has been designed to further the BLM’s ability to meet the requirements for facilitating solar energy development on BLM-administered lands established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58 and Secretarial Order 3285A1 issued by the Secretary of the Interior. In particular, the proposed program has been designed to meet the requirements of Order 3285A1 to identify and prioritize solar energy development in locations best suited for such development, called solar energy zones (SEZ. The objectives of the BLM’s proposed Solar Energy Program include:

* Facilitating near-term utility-scale solar energy development on public lands;

* Minimizing potential negative environmental, social, and economic impacts;

* Providing flexibility to consider a variety of solar energy projects (e.g. , by location, facility size, or technology;

* Optimizing existing transmission infrastructure and corridors; and

* Standardizing and streamlining the authorization process for utility-scale solar energy development on BLM-administered lands.

The elements of the BLM’s proposed Solar Energy Program have been expanded from the Draft Solar Programmatic EIS and include:

1. Continued processing of pending applications for utility-scale solar energy development;

2. Identification of lands to be excluded from utility-scale solar energy development in the six-state study area;

3. Identification of priority areas (i.e., SEZs that are best suited for utility-scale production of solar energy in accordance with the requirements of Secretarial Order 3285A1 and the associated authorization procedures for applications in these areas;

4. Establishment of a process to identify new SEZs;

5. Establishment of a process that allows for responsible utility-scale solar energy development outside of priority areas (i.e. , variance process;

6. Establishment of mitigation requirements for solar energy development on public lands to ensure the most environmentally responsible development and delivery of solar energy; and

7. Amendment of BLM land use plans in the six-state study area to adopt those elements of the new Solar Energy Program that pertain to planning.

–This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below–

Notice of availability.

Citation: «76 FR 66958″

Document Number: «LLWO300000.L14300000″

Federal Register Page Number: «66958″

«Notices»

Copyright (C 2011 Federal Information News Dispatch, Inc.

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