Yellow Pine Solar Project
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U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management DOI-BLM-NV-S010-2017-0110-EIS YELLOW PINE SOLAR PROJECT Draft Environmental Impact Statement Volume I: Chapters 1–4 March 2020 EIS Costs to Date: $1.22 Million The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the stewardship of our public lands. The BLM’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE YELLOW PINE SOLAR PROJECT Responsible Agency: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Document Status: Draft (X) Final () Abstract: Yellow Pine Solar, LLC (YPS), and GridLiance West, LLC (GLW) (collectively, applicants), have applied separately to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office for rights-of-way on public land to construct, operate, and maintain 1) a YPS 500-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating facility and associated substation, and 2) a GLW 230-kilovolt (kV) substation and associated 230-kV transmission line. The proposed project is located approximately 10 miles southeast of Pahrump and approximately 32 miles west of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada. This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) includes analysis of a proposed 500-MW solar PV energy generation station and ancillary facilities including battery storage, and the proposed GLW Trout Canyon Substation and associated transmission tie line facilities. The approximately 3,072.5-acre project would be located within the 5,032.2-acre study area. This Draft EIS has been prepared by the BLM to analyze the effects of and alternatives to construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the Yellow Pine Solar Project (project). The development of this Draft EIS is governed by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 United States Code 4321), and the BLM is the lead agency. This Draft EIS has been prepared in compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations 1500). The BLM has prepared this Draft EIS with input from cooperating agencies,1 and American Indian tribes to address the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the project. The cooperating agencies include the Clark County Desert Conservation Program and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This Draft EIS evaluates the Proposed Action, two alternatives to the Proposed Action, and the No Action Alternative. The Proposed Action and the alternatives involve development on approximately 3,072.5 acres of land within the 5,032.2-acre study area. Major environmental and planning issues addressed include impacts on the federally listed threatened Mojave desert tortoise and include translocating all Mojave desert tortoise located within the project area to the nearby Stump Springs Desert Tortoise Translocation Area. Review Period: Comments on the Draft EIS for the Yellow Pine Solar Project will be accepted for 45 calendar days following publication of the EPA’s Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Comments can be submitted through the ePlanning website, listed below. All comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 4, 2020. 1 Cooperating agencies are any federal agency, other than the lead agency, that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact that could occur with implementation of a proposed project or alternative. For further information, please contact: Herman Pinales, Project Manager Bureau of Land Management, Southern Nevada District Office 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive Las Vegas, NV 89130 Telephone: (702) 515-5284 Email: [email protected] ePlanning website: https://goo.gl/gNbjnz Yellow Pine Solar Project Draft EIS Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. ES-1 Chapter 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background and Project History ............................................................................................ 1-1 1.1.1 Solar Generating Facilities ........................................................................................... 1-1 1.1.2 Trout Canyon Substation .............................................................................................. 1-1 1.1.3 The Project and Final Rights-of-Way ........................................................................... 1-2 1.2 BLM Purpose and Need ......................................................................................................... 1-2 1.3 Decisions to be Made ............................................................................................................. 1-2 1.4 Applicants’ Project Objectives ............................................................................................... 1-2 1.5 Authorizing Laws, Regulations, Permits, and Guidelines ...................................................... 1-3 1.6 Relationship of the Project to BLM Policies, Plans, and Programs, and Land Use Plan Conformance Determination .................................................................................................. 1-5 1.6.1 BLM Las Vegas Resource Management Plan (BLM 1998) ......................................... 1-5 1.6.2 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (BLM and U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] 2012) ................................................................................................................. 1-6 1.6.3 Pahrump Regional Planning District Master Plan (Nye County 2014) ........................ 1-7 1.7 Interagency Coordination ....................................................................................................... 1-7 1.7.1 Cooperating Agencies ................................................................................................... 1-7 1.7.2 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ..................................................................................... 1-7 1.7.3 State Historic Preservation Office ................................................................................ 1-7 1.8 Scoping and Issue Identification ............................................................................................ 1-7 1.8.1 Analysis Issues ............................................................................................................. 1-8 1.8.2 Organization of the Draft EIS ..................................................................................... 1-12 Chapter 2. Proposed Action and Alternatives.................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 Proposed Action ..................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2.1 Proposed Action Project Components .......................................................................... 2-1 2.2.2 Project Construction ..................................................................................................... 2-6 2.2.3 Project Operations and Maintenance .......................................................................... 2-10 2.2.4 Project Termination, Decommissioning, and Site Reclamation ................................. 2-11 2.3 Alternative Action 1 – Photovoltaic/energy storage layout alternative (Modified Layout) . 2-11 2.3.1 Alternative Action 1 – Modified Layout Project Components ................................... 2-11 2.4 Alternative Action 2 – Mowing Alternative ......................................................................... 2-12 2.5 No Action Alternative .......................................................................................................... 2-13 2.6 Design Features, Applicant Committed Environmental Protection Measures, and Standard Agency Permit Requirements ................................................................................ 2-13 2.7 Alternatives Considered But Eliminated From Detailed Study ............................................ 2-13 2.8 Comparison of Alternatives .................................................................................................. 2-14 Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Impacts .................................................... 3-1 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3-1 3.2 Effects Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2.1 Types of Disturbance .................................................................................................... 3-2 3.2.2 Cumulative Actions Analysis ....................................................................................... 3-2 March 2020 i Yellow Pine Solar Project Draft EIS Table of Contents 3.3 Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases/Climate Change ............................................................. 3-5 3.3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................