**PUBLIC MEETING RESCHEDULED TO THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 FROM 6PM TO 8PM AT THE FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES, 503 E DANENBERG RD, EL CENTRO, CALIF.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan of 1980 (as amended in 1999) Plan Amendment to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with identifying sites on certain BLM-managed surface lands as suitable for authorization of rights-of-way (ROW) for testing and developing solar and wind energy facilities. It will also evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with identifying certain sites in the West Chocolate Mountains Renewable Energy Evaluation Area (the West Chocolate REEA, or the REEA) located near Niland, California for leasing of the federal mineral estate (not including acquired lands) for geothermal energy testing and development. This EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment also considers approval of a noncompetitive geothermal lease application filed with the BLM prior to 2005.
The West Chocolate REEA, located in north central Imperial County, California is within the boundaries of the CDCA. The REEA is south of Riverside County, north of the City of Calipatria, east of the Salton Sea, and west of the Chocolate Mountains. The West Chocolate REEA (BLM and non-BLM land) consists of approximately 59,095 acres, of which 31,551 acres are privately owned, 3,200 acres are managed by the California State Lands Commission (CSLC), 1,782 acres are split estate lands (with private surface/federal minerals), and 2,862 acres are lands acquired from the Catellus Corporation by the Wildlands Conservancy using Lands and Water Conservation Fund money and donated to the BLM. The acquired lands are not available for geothermal leasing, but can be considered for wind and solar energy development. In addition, 1,800 acres of land (federal surface/federal minerals) have been withdrawn from the operation of the public land laws for use by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and are not open for surface occupancy or geothermal leasing. BLM land within the West Chocolate REEA that will be considered for renewable energy projects consists of 20,762 acres of federal managed surface lands and 19,162 acres of land with federal mineral estate that are managed by the BLM El Centro Field Office. The 1,782 acres of surface land in the split estate are included in the 31,551 acres of private land with federal minerals discussed above.
Decisions made as a result of this planning effort will not authorize any specific energy development at this time, including the lease application, which might result in environmental impacts; however, certain assumptions have been developed to estimate possible environmental impacts associated with future authorization of renewable energy projects that might occur consistent with the selection of one of the planning alternatives evaluated here. Additional project-specific environmental analyses would need to be conducted before on-the-ground development activities could occur; however, further amendments of the CDCA plan would not be required.
While the current CDCA Plan allows geothermal leasing within the West Chocolate REEA, under the terms of that Plan, it must be amended to identify lands suitable for solar or wind energy development within the CDCA. Thus, this document will address the suitability of the REEA for these purposes and identify appropriate stipulations and mitigation measures that would be applied to any future wind and solar ROW authorizations.
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