Comment Period Ends Feb. 8 for Quartzsite Solar Energy Project

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Arizona State Office

Release Date: 05/23/12

Contacts:		Dennis Godfrey	, 602-417-9499	, dgodfrey@blm.gov
		Eddie Arreola	, 602-417-9505	, earreola@blm.gov

Comment Period Ends Feb. 8 for Quartzsite Solar Energy Project

Quartzsite, Ariz. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting comments through Feb. 8, 2012, on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy Project.

The draft EIS was released on Nov. 10, 2011, with a 90-day comment period. This is the second news release on the draft EIS and is a reminder to the public that the comment period is ending soon.

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 of 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.

The BLM and the Western Area Power Administration, a Department of Energy agency, are working jointly to prepare the EIS.

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 by mail or by email.

Written comments can be sent to:

Liana Reilly

NEPA Document Manager

Western Area Power Administration

P.O. Box 281213

Lakewood, CO 80228-8213

Email comments can be sent to: QuartzsiteSolarEIS@wapa.gov

Information from comments, including addresses, phone numbers and email 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. He can be reached at (602) 417-9505 or earreaola@blm.gov.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.

--BLM--

Arizona State Office One North Central Avenue Suite 800 Phoenix, AZ 85004

Last updated: 01-30-2012