Use Permit Application No. PLN2021-0111 - Beltran Solar Energy Center

Use Permit Application No. PLN2021-0111 - Beltran Solar Energy Center

Request to amend Use Permit No. 2011-11 – Beltran Ranch Solar Farm, which was approved by the Stanislaus County Planning Commission on April 18, 2013 to construct a utility-grade 140 megawatt (MW) solar facility comprised of three phases on 606± acres of a 1,720± acre project site. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) was prepared and adopted in conjunction with the approved project. A Time Extension, granting the applicant an additional five years to construct, was approved by the Planning Commission on February 15, 2018. Staff Approvals may be requested in accordance with Section 21.100 – Staff Approvals which allows up to 25% increase of a use approved by Use Permit; however, the current request is an expansion of the approved facility by more than 25% which requires a new Use Permit. The proposed modifications will remain within the project footprint approved in 2013, on land regularly disturbed in conjunction with on-site crops and crop rotation, with the exception of a proposed 400-foot-wide 24.5 kilovolt (kV) collector line, which will be located outside of the original project site in order to connect to a substation located on the Proxima Solar Energy Center, approved by Staff Approval Permit No. PLN2020-0061. The 2013 project identified three phases totaling 606 acres (113, 167, and 326 acres approved for each phase respectively) within the 1,720-acre project site to be developed over the course of 3 to 4 years. To date, none of the phases have been developed. The applicant is proposing to develop the project in a single phase within an 18-month construction schedule and expand the overall development footprint by up to 211± acres depending on the chosen collector line alignment, from 606 acres to 817± acres, to be contained within the overall project area originally analyzed in the 2013 MND.

Newman

Stanislaus

Citywide, Countywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 10 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Delta Stewardship Council, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, California Department of Conservation (DOC)

California Department of Conservation (DOC)

Power:Solar (Megawatts 300)

Use Permit

N/A