U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
California Desert District Office
|Release Date: 11/15/13|
|News Release No. CA-CDD-14-7|
BLM Releases Final Environmental Documents for Proposed Stateline Solar Farm
The Bureau of Land Management and San Bernardino County have released final environmental documents for a proposed 300-megawatt solar farm in San Bernardino County.
First Solar Development Inc. has applied to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for a right-of-way on public lands to construct the proposed photovoltaic Stateline Solar Farm. First Solar’s proposal would be located approximately two miles south of the Nevada-California border and 0.5 miles west of Interstate 15 on 2,143 acres of public lands administered by the BLM. The BLM has identified a preferred alternative that would reduce the project footprint to 1,685 acres.
The BLM, as the lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act and San Bernardino County, as the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act, prepared the final environmental documents, consisting of a Final Environmental Impact Statement, Final Environmental Impact Report, and Proposed Plan Amendment, to analyze the site-specific impacts of the proposed project.
The final environmental documents analyzed the site-specific impacts on air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, water resources, geological resources and hazards, hazardous materials handling, land use, noise, wilderness characteristics, visual resources and transmission system engineering, and transmission line safety. Three public meetings conducted in January solicited comments on planning issues and the potential impacts, alternatives, and mitigation measures that should be considered in the final environmental documents.
Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not significantly change proposed land use plan decisions.
The publication today of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Notice of Availability of this Final Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register initiates a 30-day protest period. BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the conditions described in the regulations may protest the BLM’s proposed California Desert Conservation Act Plan Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement. Details of the protest process can be found in the "Dear Reader" letter of the final environmental documents.
Further details on the proposed solar energy project can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd. For further information contact Jeffery Childers at (951) 697-5308, or e-mail: email@example.com
California Desert District Office 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553
|Last updated: 11-15-2013|
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