Draft EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment Proposed First Solar Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project

Draft EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment Proposed First Solar Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project

NOTES: Review per Lead This EIS address the Bureau of Land Management's proposal to issue a right-of-way grant to Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC, for the construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of a utility-scale 550-megawatt photovoltaic solar energy facility, transmission line, and a substation on public lands in Riverside County, California. Southern California Edison would construct and operate the substation. The EIR analyzes six alternatives: (1) No Action, in which the Applicant's application would be denied and current management of the site would be maintained; (2) the Applicant's application would be denied and the CDCA Plan would be amended to declare the site suitable of solar development; (3) The Applicant's application would be denied and the CDCA Plan would be amended to declare the site unsuitable for solar development; (4) BLM would grant the Applicant a right-of-way (ROW) for the project is proposed; (5) BLM would grant the Applicant a ROW for a modified project design; and (6) BLM would grant the Applicant a ROW for a smaller project. Alternatives 4,5 and 6 include an amendment to the CDCA Plan as part of the Proposed Action and that amendment would find the project area as suitable for solar development.

Riverside

California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Caltrans, Division of Aeronautics, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Region 6, Department of Water Resources, Office of Historic Preservation, Resources Agency, California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), Colorado River Board

California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), Colorado River Board

Industrial (Acres 4,391, Employees 15), Other (Utility scale alternative energy project), Power:Solar (Megawatts 550)

CDCA Plan

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Economics/Jobs, Fiscal Impacts, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Schools/Universities, Septic System, Solid Waste, Transportation, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian, Wildfire