CASE FILE NUMBER: CACA-48811

General Description of Project

Solar Millennium, LLC proposes to construct, own, and operate the Blythe Solar Power Project. The project is a concentrated solar thermal electric generating facility with four adjacent, independent, and identical solar plants of 250 megawatt (MW) nominal capacity each for a total capacity of about 1,000 MW nominal.

The project would use solar parabolic trough technology to generate electricity. With this technology, arrays of parabolic mirrors collect heat energy from the sun and refocus the radiation on a receiver tube located at the focal point of the parabola. A heat transfer fluid (HTF) is heated to high temperature (750°F) as it circulates through the receiver tubes. The heated HTF is then piped through a series of heat exchangers where it releases its stored heat to generate high pressure steam. The steam is then fed to a traditional steam turbine generator where electricity is produced.

The project site is located approximately two miles north of U.S. Interstate-10 (I-10) and eight miles west of the City of Blythe in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California. The Blythe Airport is about one mile south of the site. The applicants have applied for a Right-of-way (ROW) grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for about 9,400 acres of flat desert terrain. The total area that would be disturbed by project construction and operation would be about 7,030 acres. The area inside the project's security fence, within which all project facilities would be located, will occupy approximately 5,950 acres. 

Public Comments

Comments on this project are welcome at anytime during the environmental review process. However, to ensure that comments will be addressed in the Final EIS/SA, the BLM must receive written comments on the Draft EIS/SA and Plan Amendment within 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The NOA was published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2010.

Comments addressed to BLM can be sent by e-mail  CAPSSolarBlythe@blm.gov , fax (760) 833-7199, or in writing to Allison Shaffer, Project Manager, Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, California 92262.

Public Meetings and Hearings

The EIS process is initiated with publication of a Notice of Intent (NOI) and requires public scoping. A NOI was published for this project on November 23, 2009. A public scoping meeting was subsequently held on December 11, 2009 at the University of Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center located at 75-080 Frank Sinatra Drive in Palm Desert, California.

Future meetings,  hearings and any other public involvement activities will be announced at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or mailings.

Associated News Releases and Notices

08/23/11	Notice of Temporary Suspension of Project
10/25/10	Salazar Approves Sixth and Largest Solar Project Ever on Public Lands
08/20/10	BLM Releases Final Environmental Study for Proposed Blythe Solar Energy Project in Riverside County

For more information, contact the Bureau of Land Management Palm Springs Field Office at (760) 833-7100

Authorization Documents
Notice to Proceed
Right-of-Way Grant
Record of Decision
	Appendix 1 - Response to Comments
	Appendix 2 - Biological Opinion
	Appendix 3 - Programmatic Agreement
	Appendix 4 - Compliance Monitoring Program
	Appendix 5 - Maps
	Appendix 6 - Settlement Letter

Final EIS

Volume 1 Chapters 1-2 1: Cover sheet, Dear Reader Letter, Abstract, Relationship to the Genesis Solar Energy Project Staff Assessment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Introduction and Purpose and Need; 2: Proposed Action and Alternatives 128 pages; 1.91 MB

Volume 1 Chapter 3 Affected Environment 191 pages; 1.82 MB

Volume 1 Chapter 4 Environmental Consequences 264 pages; 2.22 MB

Volume 1 Chapter 5-Index  Consultation, Coordination and Public Involvement; Acronyms; Abbreviations; Glossary of Terms; References; Index 160 pages; 1 MB

Volume 2 Appendix A 64 pages; 13.6 MBFigures/Maps

Volume 2 Appendix B-C B: Federal Laws, Regulations and Executive Orders 23 pages; C: Results of Scoping 13 pages; 331 KB

Volume 2 Appendix D Cultural Resources 81 pages; 989 KB

Volume 2 Appendix E Paleontological Resources 36 pages; 1.49 MB

Volume 2 Appendix F Visual Resources 22 pages; 3.51 MB

Volume 2 Appendix G-H  G: Conditions of Certification 139 pages; H: Detailed Biological Cumulative Impact Analysis 34 pages; 1.35 MB

Volume 2 Appendix I Comment Letters 113 pages; 5.64 MB

Draft EIR/EA

CEC - BLM Staff Assessment / Draft EIS

Related Links

Federal Process & Documents

BLM CDD Renewable Energy

Understanding the NEPA Process

California Energy Commission