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Solar Thermal Plant Proposal Open to the Public for Comment

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) are inviting the public to a public informational hearing, a site visit, and an information/scoping meeting on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 10-11, 2009, on a proposal from NextEra Energy Resources LLC, to build a 250-megawatt solar thermal power plant on public land at Ford Dry Lake, 25 miles west of Blythe in eastern Riverside County, Calif.

The site visit begins at 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009, and reservations are required by CEC to assure space.  Reservations must be made no later than Dec. 3, 2009, by contacting the CEC’s Public Advisor’s Office, (916) 654-4489 or (800) 822-6228, or e-mail [email protected].  Reservations must be made on or before Dec. 3, 2009, to assure space.   The public informational hearing begins immediately following the site visit at 2 p.m. in the Blythe City Hall Council Chambers, 235 N Broadway, Blythe, CA 92225.

The following day, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, a public information/scoping meeting is being held on the University of California Riverside-Palm Desert Campus, 75080 Frank Sinatra Dr., Palm Desert, CA 92211, from 9 a.m. to noon. 

The BLM published a notice of intent (NOI) in the Federal Register on Nov. 23, 2009, to prepare a joint draft environmental impact statement (DEIS)/draft land use plan amendment and preliminary staff assessment for the proposed power plant.  The DEIS/PSA is a collaborative effort between the BLM, as the lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act, and the CEC, as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act.   

Publication of the NOI initiates a public scoping period of 30 days, ending Dec. 23, 2009.  During the scoping period, the public is invited to identify and comment on issues, concerns, potential impacts, alternatives, and mitigation measures that should be considered in the analysis of the proposed action.   The BLM and CEC will use public scoping comments to prepare the draft environmental documents that will be available for public review.

Public comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

• Standard Mail:  For the CEC: Mike Monasmith, Project Manager, Siting, Transmission and Environmental Protection Division, 1516 Ninth Street, MS–15, Sacramento, CA 95814 For the BLM: Allison Shaffer, Project Manager, Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 • Email:

       For the CEC: [email protected]

       For the BLM: [email protected] • Fax:

       For the BLM: (760) 833-7199, attention Allison Shaffer, re: NextEra Solar Project.

For further details on the proposed solar energy project, please visit:
https://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/genesis_solar/index.html or
https://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings.html.

Solar Thermal Plant Proposal Open to the Public for Comment Tags: Power plant, renewable energy, solar thermal

Short URL: https://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/?p=353

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