66078 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 207 / Wednesday, October 27, 2010 / Notices 

1Western has authority to prepare and approve 

EISs for integrating transmission facilities with its 

system pursuant to an October 4, 1999 Delegation 

Order from the DOE Assistant Secretary for 

Environment, Health and Safety. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Staff Assessment for the Solar 

Reserve LLC Rice Solar Energy 

Project, Riverside County, CA (DOE/ 

EIS–0439) and Possible California 

Desert Conservation Area Plan 

Amendment 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement/Staff 

Assessment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA) of 1976, as amended, the 

Department of Energy (DOE), which 

includes the Western Area Power 

Administration (Western) and the Loan 

Guarantee Program (LGP), the California 

Energy Commission (CEC), and the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 

have prepared a Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) and Staff 

Assessment (SA), which may require a 

California Desert Conservation Area 

(CDCA) Plan Amendment, as a joint 

environmental analysis document for 

the proposed Rice Solar Energy Project 

(Project), in Riverside County, 

California, and by this notice are 

announcing the opening of the comment 

period. Western, on behalf of DOE, and 

CEC are joint lead agencies for purposes 

of satisfying the requirements of NEPA 

and the California Environmental 

Quality Act (CEQA), with the BLM 

acting as a cooperating agency. The 

Draft EIS/SA is available on the Internet 

at: http://www.energy.ca.gov/ 

sitingcases/ricesolar/index.html. 

DATES: The public is invited to submit 

comments on this Draft EIS/SA and 

possible CDCA Plan Amendment during 

the public comment period. To ensure 

that comments will be considered, 

Western must receive written comments 

on the Draft EIS/SA within 90 days 

following the date the Environmental 

Protection Agency publishes its Notice 

of Availability in the Federal Register. 

Oral comments will be taken at a public 

hearing that will be announced at least 

15 days in advance through public 

notices, media releases, and/or mailings. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

Draft EIS/SA may be sent to Ms. Liana 

Reilly, NEPA Document Manager, 

Western Area Power Administration, 

P.O. Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228– 

8213 or sent by e-mail to 

RiceSolar@wapa.gov. 

Your entire comment, including your 

personal information such as name and 

address, may be publicly available at 

any time. While you can ask us in your 

comment to withhold your personal 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the proposed Project, the 

EIS and general information about 

Western’s transmission system, contact 

Ms. Liana Reilly, Western NEPA 

Document Manager, at (800) 336–7288 

or the address provided above. Parties 

wishing to be placed on the Project 

mailing list for future information and 

to receive copies of the document 

should also contact Ms. Reilly. For 

general information on the DOE NEPA 

process, please contact Ms. Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 

Policy and Compliance (GC–54), U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585, telephone (202) 

586–4600 or (800) 472–2756. 

For information on the DOE Loan 

Guarantee Program’s involvement in the 

Project, contact Ms. Angela Colamaria, 

NEPA Document Manager, DOE Loan 

Guarantee Program, 1000 Independence 

Ave. SW., LP–10, Washington, DC 

20585, telephone (202) 287–5387, or email angela.colamaria@hq.doe.gov. For 

information on BLM’s role with the 

Project or the possible CDCA Plan 

Amendment, contact Ms. Allison 

Shaffer, BLM Project Manager, Palm 

Springs South Coast Field Office, 

Bureau of Land Management, 1201 Bird 

Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA, 92262, 

telephone (760) 833–7100 or e-mail 

CAPSSolarRice@blm.gov. 

For information on the California 

Energy Commission process, contact Mr. 

John Kessler, Project Manager, Siting, 

Transmission and Environmental 

Protection Division, California Energy 

Commission, 1516 Ninth Street, MS–15, 

Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 

654–4679 or e-mail 

jkessler@energy.state.ca.us. Information 

on the California Energy Process may be 

also found online at http:// 

www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/ 

ricesolar/index.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western 

and BLM filed a Notice of Intent (NOI) 

to Prepare an EIS/SA and possible Land 

Use Plan Amendment for the proposed 

Project which was published in the 

Federal Register on March 29, 2010 (75 

FR 15427).1 Western and the BLM held 

public scoping meetings in Big River, 

CA, on March 31, 2010, and in Palm 

Desert, CA, on April 1, 2009. The formal 

scoping period ended April 28, 2010. 

Comments received during the scoping 

period were considered in preparing the 

Draft EIS/SA. 

Proposed Project: The proposed 

Project is a 150 megawatt (MW) solar 

electric power plant that would use 

concentrating solar ‘‘power tower’’ 

technology to capture the sun’s heat to 

make steam, which would power 

traditional steam turbine generators. 

The solar generation facility, located on 

privately owned land, would contain 

the power block, a central receiver or 

tower, a solar field consisting of mirrors 

or heliostats to reflect the sun’s energy 

to the central tower, a thermal energy 

storage system, technical and nontechnical buildings, a storm water 

system, water supply and treatment 

system, a wastewater system, 

evaporation ponds, construction parking 

and laydown areas, and other 

supporting facilities. The proposed 

Project would use an air cooled 

condenser (i.e., dry cooling technology) 

for power plant cooling. Water for the 

Project (up to 180 acre-feet per year) 

would be obtained from two new on-site 

wells. Rice Solar Energy, LLC (RSE) has 

applied to Western to interconnect the 

proposed Project to Western’s 

transmission system. A new 10-mile 

long 161-kV/230-kV generator tie-line 

would extend from the southern 

boundary of the solar facility boundary 

to a new substation to be constructed 

adjacent to Western’s existing ParkerBlythe transmission line. The substation 

would be owned and operated by 

Western and would be approximately 

three acres in size. 

RSE has submitted a right-of-way 

(ROW) application to the BLM for the 

Project components (the generator tieline, substation, access road, and fiber 

optic line) to be constructed on a total 

of approximately 12 acres of land 

managed by the BLM. The Project site 

is in an undeveloped area of the 

Sonoran Desert in eastern Riverside 

County, California, near State Route 62, 

approximately 40 miles northwest of 

Blythe, California, and 15 miles west of 

Vidal Junction, California, on lands 

managed by the BLM. 

RSE also submitted an application to 

the DOE LGP seeking a guarantee for the 

proposed Project. The LGP invited RSE 

to enter into the due diligence process 

on June 25, 2010, and then initiated 

NEPA review. The LGP is participating 

in the preparation of the Draft EIS/SA to 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 207 / Wednesday, October 27, 2010 / Notices 66079 

1Cross-Subsidization Restrictions on Affiliate 

Transactions, Order No. 707, 73 FR 11013 (Feb. 29, 

2008), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,264, at P 4–5, order 

on rehearing, Order No. 707–A, 73 FR 43072 (Jul. 

24, 2008), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,272 (2008). 

ensure that analyses needed to satisfy its 

NEPA obligations for its loan guarantee 

decision are included. 

Agency Purpose and Need: Western’s 

purpose and need for the RSEP is to 

respond to RSE’s requested 

interconnection in accordance with 

Western’s Open Access Transmission 

Tariff. LGP’s purpose and need for the 

RSEP is to determine whether RSE’s 

project is eligible for a guarantee under 

EPAct 2005. DOE is using the NEPA 

process to assist in determining whether 

to issue a loan guarantee to RSE to 

support the proposed project. The 

BLM’s purpose and need for the RSEP 

is to respond to RSE’s application under 

Title V of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1761) for 

a ROW grant to construct the 161-kV/ 

230-kV transmission line, substation, 

access road, and fiber optic line on 

public lands in compliance with 

FLPMA, BLM ROW regulations, and 

other applicable Federal laws. The BLM 

will respond to RSE’s ROW application 

by approving, approving with 

modifications, or denying RSE’S 

application. 

Proposed Agency Actions: Western’s 

proposed action is to interconnect the 

proposed Project to Western’s existing 

Parker-Blythe transmission line and to 

replace an overhead ground wire on its 

existing Parker-Blythe transmission 

with a fiber optic ground wire to allow 

communication from the new plant to 

the existing system. The LGP’s proposed 

action is to issue a loan guarantee to 

RSE. The BLM’s proposed action is to 

authorize a ROW in favor of a 161-kV/ 

230-kV transmission line, access road, 

and fiber optic line. The BLM would 

also amend the CDCA Plan to include 

this project. The CDCA Plan (1980, as 

amended), states that new electric 

transmission facilities on lands 

designated as Multiple-Use Class M may 

be allowed only within designated 

corridors. If the BLM decides to grant a 

ROW for this Project, the CDCA Plan 

would be amended to designate a new 

utility corridor in support of the 161- 

kV/230-kV electrical transmission 

towers and cables. 

Western, LGP, BLM, and the CEC 

have agreed to conduct a joint 

environmental review of the proposed 

Project in a single combined NEPA/ 

CEQA process and document. For 

purposes of NEPA compliance, Western, 

on behalf of DOE, is serving as the lead 

Federal agency with the BLM acting as 

a cooperating agency. The Draft EIS/SA 

analyzes site-specific impacts on air 

quality, biological resources, recreation, 

cultural resources, water resources, 

geological resources and hazards, 

hazardous materials handling, land use, 

noise, paleontological resources, 

wilderness characteristics, public 

health, socioeconomics, soils, traffic and 

transportation, visual resources, waste 

management, worker safety and fire 

protection, as well as facility design 

engineering, efficiency, reliability, 

transmission system engineering, and 

transmission line safety and nuisance. 

As required under NEPA, the draft 

EIS/SA analyzes a no action alternative 

that would not require a CDCA Plan 

amendment. The draft EIS/SA also 

analyzes two no-project alternatives that 

reject the proposed Project but amend 

the CDCA Plan to (1) designate the 

project area as available to future solar 

energy power generation projects or (2) 

designate the project area as unavailable 

to future solar energy power generation 

projects. 

Dated: October 8, 2010. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27154 Filed 10–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. EL09–24–000] 

National Grid USA; Notice of Filing 

October 20, 2010. 

Take notice that on October 15, 2010, 

pursuant to Rule 215 of the Rules of 

Practice and Procedure of the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission 

(Commission), National Grid USA filed 

an amended petition supplementing and 

clarifying its request, originally filed on 

May 19, 2010, for waiver of certain of 

the affiliate pricing rules as established 

by the Commission’s Order Nos. 707 

and 707–A.1

Any person desiring to intervene or to 

protest this filing must file in 

accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of 

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). 

Protests will be considered by the 

Commission in determining the 

appropriate action to be taken, but will 

not serve to make protestants parties to 

the proceeding. Any person wishing to 

become a party must file a notice of 

intervention or motion to intervene, as 

appropriate. Such notices, motions, or 

protests must be filed on or before the 

comment date. On or before the 

comment date, it is not necessary to 

serve motions to intervene or protests 

on persons other than the Applicant. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper using the 

‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive e-mail notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please e-mail 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on November 5, 2010. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27128 Filed 10–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 13586–000] 

Bishop Tungsten Development, LLC; 

Notice of Preliminary Permit 

Application Accepted for Filing and 

Soliciting Comments, Motions To 

Intervene, and Competing Applications 

October 20, 2010. 

On November 9, 2009, Bishop 

Tungsten Development, LLC filed an 

application for a preliminary permit, 

pursuant to section 4(f) of the Federal 

Power Act (FPA), proposing to study the 

feasibility of the Lower Pine Creek Mine 

Canyon Hydroelectric Project to be 

located near the town of Bishop, in Inyo 

County, California. The sole purpose of 

a preliminary permit, if issued, is to 

grant the permit holder priority to file 

a license application during the permit 

term. A preliminary permit does not 

authorize the permit holder to perform 

any land-disturbing activities or 

otherwise enter upon lands or waters 

owned by others without the owners’ 

express permission. 

An existing network of penstocks 

collect and convey the existing Pine 

Creek Mine discharge water above the 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES