[Federal Register: June 17, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 28720-28722]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jn09-79]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-ES-2009-N116; 81440-1112-0000-F2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Permits, Beacon
Solar Energy Project, Kern County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to undertake scoping for an environmental
document (Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement)
related to a habitat conservation plan for the proposed Beacon Solar
Energy Project.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), advise the
public that we intend to conduct public scoping under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) to gather information necessary
to help develop a NEPA document in connection with a proposed Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Beacon Solar Energy Project (Beacon
HCP), currently under development by Beacon Solar LLC (the applicant).
To be implemented near California City, in Kern County, California, the
proposed Beacon HCP forms part of an incidental take permit application
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The
requested permit term is 45 years. We provide this notice to obtain
suggestions, comments, and useful information from other agencies and
the public on the scope of the document, including the significant
issues deserving of study, the range of alternatives, and the range of
impacts to be considered.
DATES: We must receive any written comments on or before July 17, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Written Submissions: Please address written information,
comments, or questions related to the preparation of the EA or EIS to
Diane Noda, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura
Fish and Wildlife Office, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA
93003. Alternatively, you may fax comments to (805) 644-3958.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judy Hohman, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, (see ADDRESSES), telephone (805) 644-1766, extension 304.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
We intend to scope under NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to gather
information necessary to help develop a NEPA document in connection
with our proposed action or reaching a permit decision on the Beacon
Solar Energy Project's proposed HCP. The HCP forms part of an
incidental take permit application under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.). We provide this notice to obtain suggestions and information on
the scope of issues and alternatives to be considered in the NEPA
document. An EA is prepared for Federal actions that will have a less
than significant effect on all resources impacted in the human
environment, or to determine whether an EIS should be prepared. An EIS
is prepared for Federal actions that will have a significant impact on
one or more resources in the human environment. We will determine if an
EA or an EIS will be prepared based on the public comments received and
the complexity of issues identified during the scoping phase of the
NEPA process.
Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations prohibit the ``take''
of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened. Take
of federally listed fish or wildlife is defined under the Act to
include the following activities: To harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,
wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any
such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532). ``Harm'' in the definition of take
includes significant habitat modification or degradation that kills or
injures listed wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering (50 CFR 17.3(c)).
Under section 10(a) of the Act, we may issue permits to authorize
``incidental take'' of listed species. Any proposed incidental take
must be incidental to otherwise lawful activities, not appreciably
reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in
the wild, and minimize and mitigate the impacts of such take to the
maximum extent practicable. In addition, the applicant must prepare a
HCP describing the impact that will likely result from such taking, the
strategy for minimizing and mitigating the incidental take, the funding
available to implement such steps,
[[Page 28721]]
alternatives to such taking, and the reason such alternatives are not
being implemented. To obtain an incidental take permit, an applicant
must prepare a HCP that meets the issuance criteria established by the
Service (50 CFR 17.22(b)(2)). Should a permit be issued, the permit
would include assurances under the Services' ``No Surprises''
regulations (50 CFR 17.22(b)(5) and 17.32(b)(5)). Regulations governing
permits for threatened and endangered species, respectively, are at 50
CFR 13 and 50 CFR 17.
The issuance of an incidental take permit is a Federal
discretionary action. Therefore, we must comply with NEPA and ensure
that environmental information is available to public officials and
citizens before making a decision on issuing the permit.
Beacon HCP
The applicant is proposing to construct, operate, and maintain a
250-megawatt (MW) renewable-energy solar thermal powerplant for 45
years on approximately 2,030 contiguous acres of retired agricultural
land and Mojave desert scrub land. Specific covered activities
associated with project construction include: deep trenching, grading,
and filling to prepare the site for the installation of an array of
solar collectors, construction of power generating equipment, cooling
towers, evaporation ponds, administrative buildings, an interconnecting
transmission line, an underground natural gas pipeline (or propane
tanks on site); constructing and maintaining access roads, rechanneling
a wash from the project site to the perimeter of the site, and
constructing a fence around most of the 2,030 acre project site.
Specific activities associated with operation and maintenance of the
solar project include: maintaining roads, washing and replacing solar
collectors, maintaining the rerouted channel, replacing electrical
transmission line components, maintaining fences, and removal of all
vegetation on the 2,030 acres. Construction is expected to take up to
36 months. Facility operation is proposed for approximately 30 years.
The facility decommissioning and habitat rehabilitation is expected to
be completed before the end of the proposed 45-year permit term.
The solar power plant would use an array of solar collectors, to
track the sun's movement and collect solar energy. Energy collected
from the solar collectors would heat transfer fluid in a linear
receiver to generate steam that drives a steam turbine to generate
electrical power. The power would be carried from the 2,030-acre
project site to an existing Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) high-voltage transmission line by an interconnecting
transmission line. A wet cooling tower would be constructed to provide
cooling for the power generating equipment. The applicant anticipates
that potential sources of water for construction, operation, and
decommissioning of the Beacon Solar Facility would include using
existing wells on the property previously used for irrigating crops,
and/or drilling new wells near Koehn Dry Lake, and/or using tertiary
treated waste water discharged from the wastewater treatment facilities
located in the cities of Rosamond and/or California City. A lined 10-
to-40-acre evaporation pond would be used to collect the waste stream
from the project's cooling water system. The evaporation pond would use
the sun's energy to remove water from the cooling system waste, after
which, the concentrated, dewatered solid waste would be transported off
site for disposal, likely to a disposal site already permitted by the
State of California.
The solar array field and natural gas pipeline, as well as part of
the interconnecting transmission line and related power plant
facilities, would be located east of State Route 14, while a relatively
small area west of the highway would be used for the remaining portion
of the interconnecting transmission line with an existing LADWP high-
voltage transmission line at LADWP's existing Barren Ridge Switching
Station. The proposed facilities would be located within a 100-year
flood plain.
Species proposed for coverage in the Beacon HCP are those that
occur within the HCP Planning Area, may be affected by the proposed
covered activities, and are currently listed as federally threatened or
endangered or may become federally listed during the term of the
proposed permit. The Beacon HCP proposes to addresses three covered
species: The federally threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii),
the State threatened Mohave ground squirrel (Spermophilus mohavensis),
and the State species of special concern western burrowing owl (Athene
cunicularia). The construction, operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning (disassembly) of the proposed project and
rehabilitation (habitat restoration) of the proposed project site would
likely result in incidental take of the desert tortoise, as well as
impacts to the Mohave ground squirrel and western burrowing owl.
Therefore, these three species are proposed to be covered in the Beacon
HCP. Take may occur from vehicle collisions, capture and handlings of
protected species to move them from harm's way, and attraction of
common ravens (predators to desert tortoises) to the project site by
food, water, and trash from human sources. The potential risk to
migratory birds of toxic salts in evaporation ponds is an additional
biological issue.
The area proposed for the solar array would be located in an area
previously used for intensive agriculture. This area does not provide
suitable habitat to support the desert tortoises. A small portion of
the proposed project, the interconnecting transmission line from the
solar array to an existing high-voltage transmission line, is located
in suitable habitat that is occupied by desert tortoises. The proposed
Beacon HCP would provide for the long-term conservation and management
of the covered species and their habitats within the HCP's planning
area. The applicant is presently proposing to preserve in perpetuity
115 to 118 acres of suitable Mohave ground squirrel habitat at an off-
site location. This 115- to-118-acre preserve would also include
approximately 25 acres of suitable desert tortoise habitat as well as
20 acres of suitable western burrowing owl habitat. In addition, the
applicant is proposing a 6-acre on site conservation easement for the
western burrowing owl.
National Environmental Policy Act
The EA or EIS will consider the effects of issuing an incidental
take permit for the proposed HCP and for a reasonable range of
alternatives. These alternatives might vary by the location of the
solar energy project; the number of covered species; the covered
activities; different strategies for avoiding, minimizing, and
mitigating the impacts of incidental take; the amount of land preserved
or restored; the type of species conservation efforts; or a combination
of these factors. A detailed description of all reasonable
alternatives, including the proposed action, will be included in the EA
or EIS. A No-Action alternative will be included in the analysis of the
alternatives considered.
The EA or EIS will identify all direct, indirect, and cumulative
impacts of the proposed action and each alternative on the significant
issues identified through this public scoping process; these issues
will likely concern biological resources, land use, air quality, water
resources, ground water, cultural resources, socioeconomics, visual
resources, noise, traffic, geology, and soils. The proposed action and
each alternative will identify
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avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures to reduce
environmental impacts, and will mitigate species incidental-take to the
maximum extent practicable.
We anticipate that a draft EA or draft EIS and the associated draft
Beacon Solar Energy Project HCP will be available in late 2009 and will
have a public review period. The preparation and public review of the
EA or EIS will be conducted in accordance with the requirements of
NEPA, its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508; found at (http://
www.legal.gsa.gov), other applicable Council on Environmental Quality
regulations and NEPA guidance and our policies and procedures on
compliance with those laws and regulations.
We furnish this notice in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.2, 1501.7
1506.6, and 1508.22 to obtain suggestions, comments, and useful
information from other agencies and from the public on the scope of the
EA or EIS, including identification of significant issues deserving of
study, the range of actions, the range of alternatives, and the range
of impacts to be considered. We welcome written comments from all
interested parties to ensure that the full range of issues related to
the permit request is identified. You may submit written comments by
mail or facsimile transmission (see ADDRESSES). All comments we
receive, including names and addresses, will become part of the
official administrative record for this NEPA document. Before including
your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal
identifying information in your scoping comment, you should be aware
that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be publicly available at any time. While you can ask
us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Ken McDermond,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. E9-14215 Filed 6-16-09; 8:45 am]
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