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Draft Environmental Assessment Sterling Solar 1 Interconnection Project DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DOE/EA-2124 Prepared by U.S. Department of Energy Western Area Power Administration Desert Southwest Region Cooperating Agencies U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Reclamation Colorado River District DOI Region 8, Lower Colorado Basin Lake Havasu Field Office Phoenix Area Office July 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Purpose and Need .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Resource Management Plan Conformance .................................................................................. 4 1.4 Public Participation and Tribal Consultation ................................................................................ 4 1.5 Decisions Needed ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.0 Proposed Action and Alternatives .................................................................................................. 7 2.1 WAPA’s Proposed Action ............................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Sterling Solar 1’s Proposed Project ............................................................................................... 8 2.3 Project Location .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.4 Schedule .......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.5 Project Implementation .................................................................................................................. 8 2.6 No Action Alternative .................................................................................................................... 23 2.7 Alternatives Considered but Not Further Evaluated .................................................................. 23 3.0 Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences ............................................................ 24 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Impact Analysis Methodology ..................................................................................................... 24 3.3 Cultural Resources ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.4 General Wildlife and Special Status Wildlife Species ................................................................ 42 3.5 Visual Resources .......................................................................................................................... 52 4.0 Coordination and Consultation ..................................................................................................... 66 4.1 Federal Agencies .......................................................................................................................... 66 4.2 State Agencies .............................................................................................................................. 66 4.3 County Government ...................................................................................................................... 66 4.4 Tribal .............................................................................................................................................. 66 5.0 Applicable Laws, Regulations, and Other Requirements ............................................................... 67 6.0 Environmental Assessment Preparers and Contributors .............................................................. 68 6.1 Western Area Power Administration ........................................................................................... 68 6.2 Bureau of Land Management, Lake Havasu Field Office .......................................................... 68 6.3 Logan Simpson ............................................................................................................................. 68 7.0 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................ 69 Sterling Solar 1 Draft Environmental Assessment | July 2020 Page ii LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1. WAPA’s Proposed Action Disturbance Estimates .......................................................................... 9 Table 2-2. Sterling Solar 1’s Proposed Project Disturbance Estimates .......................................................... 9 Table 2-3. Sterling Solar 1 Facility Operations and Maintenance Water Use Estimates ............................. 17 Table 3-1. Determination and Rationale for Resources/Uses Dismissed from Further Analysis ............... 25 Table 3-2. Reasonably Foreseeable Future Actions ....................................................................................... 36 Table 3-3. Sensitive Species – Terrestrial Wildlife ......................................................................................... 43 Table 3-4. Sensitive Species – Avian and Bat Species .................................................................................. 45 Table 5-1. Permit/Authorizing Responsibilities .............................................................................................. 67 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1. Sterling Solar 1 Project Vicinity....................................................................................................... 2 Figure 1-2. Sterling Solar 1 Proposed Layout ................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3-1. Sterling Solar 1 Visual and Cultural Resources CESA ................................................................. 34 Figure 3-2. Sterling Solar 1 General Wildlife and Special Status Wildlife Species CESA ............................ 35 Figure 3-3. Sterling Solar 1 Vegetation Cover ................................................................................................. 44 Figure 3-4. Sterling Solar 1 Visual Analysis Units .......................................................................................... 55 Figure 3-5. Sterling Solar 1 Sensitive Viewing Platforms .............................................................................. 58 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photograph 3-1. VAU 1 Representative Landscape ....................................................................................... 56 Photograph 3-2. VAU 2 Representative Landscape ....................................................................................... 56 Photograph 3-3. VAU 3 Representative Landscape ....................................................................................... 57 Photograph 3-4. VAU 4 Representative Landscape ....................................................................................... 57 Photograph 3-5. View from Golden Shores SVP Looking East ...................................................................... 62 Photograph 3-6. View from Topock SVP Looking East .................................................................................. 62 Photograph 3-7. View from I-40 SVP Looking North ...................................................................................... 63 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: Sonoran Desert Tortoise Handling Guidelines Appendix B: Special Status Species List and Special Status Definitions Sterling Solar 1 Draft Environmental Assessment | July 2020 Page iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROJECT LOCATION The Sterling Solar 1 Interconnection Project is located in Mohave County, AZ, approximately 2.5 miles east of Golden Shores, 3.5 miles east of Topock, and 2.3 miles north of Interstate 40 (I-40) on 2,077 acres of privately owned land. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND BACKGROUND Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), a Federal power marketing agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is the lead Federal agency for the project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) BLM Lake Havasu Field Office and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Phoenix Area Office are cooperating agencies under NEPA. Sterling Solar 1, LLC (Sterling Solar 1) is a private solar development company and the project proponent. WAPA is responding to a large generator interconnection request from Sterling Solar 1 to interconnect to its electrical transmission system. The nearest transmission line to the proposed solar facility is Reclamation-owned Topock-Black Mesa 230-kilovolt ( kv) transmission line, which runs parallel to, and to the east of, the WAPA-owned North Havasu-Topock 230 kv transmission line. Adjacent to the proposed solar facility, the Topock-Black Mesa 230 kv transmission line runs approximately north– south on land rights owned by Reclamation. Most of the land rights are within rights-of-way (ROWs) under the jurisdiction of the BLM. The proposed solar facility would loop into only
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