BLM offers public the chance to comment on solar powered project

Public can weigh in on BLM's and Western Area Power Administration's proposal for Quartzite Solar Energy Project –

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Western Area Power Administration today released the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy Project.

The release of the draft EIS begins a 90-day period in which the public can comment on the proposed project and the proposed amendment to the BLM Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan. The comment period ends Feb. 10, 2012.

Public meetings on the project are scheduled:

Dec. 13

6-8 p.m.

BLM Yuma Field Office

2555 East Gila Ridge Road
Yuma, AZ 85365

Dec. 14

12-2 p.m.

Quartzsite Improvement Association Building

235 East Ironwood Street
Quartzsite, AZ 85346

Quartzsite Solar Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of SolarReserve, LLC, proposes to construct a 100-megawatt solar-powered electrical generation facility in La Paz County, Arizona. The project is proposed on 1,675 acres on BLM-administered land 10 miles north of Quartzsite and adjacent to Arizona State Route 95.
The proposed project 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 power facility would include a 653-foot tower, which would be the receiver of energy reflected from solar fields. The solar fields are made up of heliostats, which are a collection of mirrors. The project would also include a thermal energy storage system.
In addition to evaluating whether to allow use of the land, the BLM is evaluating a proposal to amend the Yuma Field Office Resource Management Plan, which was adopted in January 2010. The amendment would change the visual resource management class for the proposed site to a category that would allow construction of a tower.
The proposed project and the proposed plan amendment are considered in the draft EIS and are open to public comment.

The public can comment on the draft EIS at the public meetings, by mail, or by e-mail.

Written comments can be sent to:

Liana Reilly

NEPA Document Manager

Western Area Power Administration

P.O. Box 281213

Lakewood, CO  80228-8213

E-mail comments can be sent to:

QuartzsiteSolarEIS@wapa.gov

Information from comments, including addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, may be made public at any time. We cannot guarantee that requests for withholding information will be honored.

Information on the project and a link to the draft EIS is available on the BLM Arizona web site at http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/energy/solar/quartzsite_solar_energy.html .

Information on the BLM’s role with the project is available from Eddie Arreola, Supervisory Project Manager, (602) 417-9505 or Quartzsite_solar@blm.gov.