Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report DECEMBER 2018 PREPARED FOR Yellow Pine Solar, LLC PREPARED BY SWCA Environmental Consultants YELLOW PINE SOLAR PROJECT DESERT TORTOISE SURVEY REPORT Prepared for Yellow Pine Solar, LLC 700 Universe Boulevard Juno Beach, Florida 33408 Attn: Eric Koster Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants 7210 Placid Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89119 (702) 248-3880 www.swca.com SWCA Project No. 37729 December 2018 Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Yellow Pine Solar, LLC (Yellow Pine Solar), a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (the Applicant) is proposing to develop the Yellow Pine Solar Project (YPSP), which would consist of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and lithium-ion–based energy storage (battery) located on approximately 3,000 acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Southern Nevada District, Las Vegas Field Office. The YPSP would be located within Pahrump Valley, approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers [km]) southeast of Pahrump, Nevada, and approximately 32 miles (51 km) west of Las Vegas, Nevada. The project would be bounded by Nevada State Route 160 (SR 160) to the north and Tecopa Road to the east. The YPSP would provide renewable energy to the electrical transmission grid at a newly constructed substation, the Trout Canyon Substation (TCS), owned by GridLiance West, LLC. The proposed project area contains habitat suitable for Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a species federally listed as threatened (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS] 1990) and protected by the state of Nevada (Nevada Administrative Code 503.080). SWCA Environmental Consultants was retained by the Applicant to conduct USFWS protocol-level presence/absence surveys for desert tortoise within the proposed project area. Surveys for the YPSP began on September 17, 2018, and continued through October 23, 2018. Biologists surveyed 2,517.58 km (1,564.35 miles) of transects. A total of 54 live tortoises were encountered during surveys, 41 of which were included in the population estimate (adult tortoises greater than 180 millimeters in midline carapace length). Based on the USFWS population estimate spreadsheet, the estimated tortoise density is 3.04 adult tortoises/km2 (Appendix A). While surveying for desert tortoise, biologists also noted any observations of burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) within the survey area and recorded a total of seven burrowing owls and 48 burrows with sign of owl use. Sign of owl use included whitewash at the entrance of the burrow, owl pellets, and owl feathers. i Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report This page intentionally left blank. ii Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report CONTENTS Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... i 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Description ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Application History ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Habitat Description ....................................................................................................................... 2 2 Methods ................................................................................................................................................. 2 3 Results.................................................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Desert Tortoise ............................................................................................................................. 4 3.2 Burrowing Owl ............................................................................................................................. 6 4 Discussion .............................................................................................................................................. 9 5 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................. 11 Appendices Appendix A. USFWS Desert Tortoise Pre-Project Survey Guidance: Density Estimate Calculations Figures Figure 1. Yellow Pine Solar Project location. ............................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Locations of desert tortoise observed during fall 2018 presence/absence surveys for the proposed Yellow Pine Solar Project. ......................................................................................... 5 Figure 3. Locations of desert tortoise burrows observed during fall 2018 presence/absence surveys for the proposed Yellow Pine Solar Project. .............................................................................. 7 Figure 4. Locations of burrowing owl and burrowing owl sign observed during fall 2018 desert tortoise presence/absence surveys for the proposed Yellow Pine Solar Project. ....................... 8 Tables Table 1. Live Desert Tortoise Observed during Yellow Pine Solar Project Presence/Absence Surveys ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Table 2. Desert Tortoise Population Estimates for Yellow Pine Solar Project ............................................. 4 Table 3. Desert Tortoise Burrows Observed during Yellow Pine Solar Project Presence/Absence Surveys ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Table 4. Desert Tortoise Carcasses Observed during Yellow Pine Solar Project Presence/Absence Surveys ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Table 5. Winter Precipitation (October through March) in Millimeters for Pahrump, Nevada, 2011 through 2018 .............................................................................................................................. 9 iii Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report This page intentionally left blank. iv Yellow Pine Solar Project Desert Tortoise Survey Report 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Description Yellow Pine Solar, LLC (Yellow Pine Solar), a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (the Applicant) is proposing to develop the Yellow Pine Solar Project (YPSP), which would consist of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and lithium-ion–based energy storage (battery) located on approximately 3,000 acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Southern Nevada District, Las Vegas Field Office. The YPSP would be located within Pahrump Valley, approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers [km]) southeast of Pahrump, Nevada, and approximately 32 miles (51 km) west of Las Vegas, Nevada (Figure 1). The project would be bounded by Nevada State Route 160 (SR 160) to the north and Tecopa Road to the east. The YPSP would provide renewable energy to the electrical transmission grid at a newly constructed substation, the Trout Canyon Substation (TCS), owned by GridLiance West, LLC (GWL). The plant would generate electricity using multiple arrays of PV panels electrically connected to associated power inverter units. The current from the power inverters would be gathered by an internal electrical collection system and transformed to transmission voltage prior to leaving the project area. The energy storage system would be sized to be no larger than the maximum solar output and would allow for energy from the solar panels to be stored and released into the electrical grid at a later time. Current technology allows for between 6 and 9 megawatts (MW) per acre depending on buildable area available, allowing for approximately 500-MW electrical production within the unconstrained 3,000-acre site. However, PV technology is rapidly improving, and the potential MW/acre is likely to increase. The exact final project output may be higher or lower depending on the procured panel technology. The exact siting of the project area has not been finalized and will be designed to avoid resource concerns, where applicable. 1.2 Application History In October 2011, Boulevard Associates, LLC, a subsidiary of the Applicant, filed an application for a right-of-way (ROW) grant (N-090788) with the BLM’s Southern Nevada District Office for 3,272 acres of land for the proposed Sandy Valley Solar Project (herein referred to as the Original Application Area). The Sandy Valley Solar Project has not been built to date. However, the application was filed prior to the BLM’s Final Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (BLM and U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] 2012) (Final Solar PEIS), and, as a pending solar application at the time of this publication, the project is not subject to the decisions adopted by the Record of Decision (ROD) for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (BLM 2012). In June 2016, Yellow Pine Solar submitted an amended application, with a new project name, the YPSP. The Applicant is proposing to develop the YPSP to construct, operate, and maintain an efficient,