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Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones

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Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones BLM Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones Final Report Prepared for: Bureau of Land Management March 2016 Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones Final Report prepared by Environmental Science Division Argonne National Laboratory for U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management March 2016 Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona SEZs This page intentionally left blank Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona SEZs TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTATION ................................................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ............................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Purpose of the Strategy .................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Background ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy Development Process ............................................................. 8 1.4 Stakeholder Engagement & Involvement in the Solar Regional Mitigation Strategy .................. 10 2 REGIONAL COMPENSATORY MITIGATION STRATEGY – ARIZONA SOLAR ENERGY ZONES ................... 13 2.1 Description of the Arizona Solar Energy Zones and Surrounding Region .................................... 13 2.1.1 General Description of the Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone ........................................... 13 2.1.2 General Description of the Brenda Solar Energy Zone ...................................................... 13 2.1.3 General Description of the Gillespie Solar Energy Zone .................................................... 13 2.1.4 Landscape Conditions of the Arizona Solar Energy Zones and the Region ........................ 17 2.1.5 Regional Setting ................................................................................................................. 17 2.1.5.1 General Description .............................................................................................. 17 2.1.5.2 Regional Conditions and Trends ........................................................................... 24 2.2 General Description of Solar Development in the Arizona Solar Energy Zones ........................... 27 2.2.1 Description of Existing Rights-of-Way, Development Status, and Recommended Non-Development Areas ................................................................................................... 27 2.2.1.1 Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone ......................................................................... 27 2.2.1.2 Brenda Solar Energy Zone .................................................................................... 27 2.2.1.3 Gillespie Solar Energy Zone .................................................................................. 29 2.2.2 Description of Potential Development .............................................................................. 30 2.3 Summary of Solar Development Impacts on the Arizona Solar Energy Zones ............................. 32 2.4 Mitigation Strategy (Hierarchy) for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones ........................................... 32 2.4.1 Avoidance........................................................................................................................... 32 2.4.2 Minimization ...................................................................................................................... 33 2.4.2.1 Summary of Programmatic Design Features to be Applied ................................. 33 2.4.2.2 Other Required Impact Minimization Measures and/or Stipulations .................. 33 2.4.3 Regional Compensatory Mitigation ................................................................................... 34 2.4.3.1 Identification of Residual Impacts ........................................................................ 35 2.4.3.2 Residual Impacts that May Warrant Regional Compensatory Mitigation ........... 36 2.4.3.2.1 Conceptual Models .............................................................................. 36 2.4.3.2.2 Residual Impacts Warranting Compensatory Mitigation .................... 36 2.5 Regional Goals and Mitigation Desired Outcomes ....................................................................... 38 2.6 Calculating the Recommended Mitigation Obligation for Arizona Solar Energy Zones ............... 44 2.7 Management of Solar Regional Compensatory Mitigation Obligations ....................................... 49 2.8 Evaluation of Compensatory Mitigation Sites, Actions, and Desired Outcomes ......................... 49 2.9 Mitigation Effectiveness Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plan ....................................... 53 2.10 Implementation Strategy .............................................................................................................. 60 3 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 61 iii Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona SEZs TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) 4 GLOSSARY .............................................................................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX A Impact Assessment Summary Tables .................................................................................. A-1 APPENDIX B Conceptual Models ............................................................................................................... B-1 APPENDIX C Summary Tables: Impacts that May Warrant Regional Mitigation for the Three Arizona Solar Energy Zones Agua Caliente, Brenda and Gillespie ........................................................ C-1 APPENDIX D BLM Screening of Candidate Regional Mitigation Sites for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones .................................................................................................................................................... D-1 iv Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona SEZs FIGURES 1-1 Mitigation flow diagram for solar energy development ................................................................... 6 1-2 Timeline of solar regional compensatory mitigation processes relative to solar energy development schedule ...................................................................................................................... 9 2-1 Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone and surrounding areas as identified in the RDEP ROD .............. 14 2-2 Brenda Solar Energy Zone and surrounding areas as identified in the Solar PEIS ROD .................. 15 2-3 Gillespie Solar Energy Zone and surrounding areas as identified in the Solar PEIS ROD ................ 16 2-4 Current Sonoran Desert terrestrial landscape intactness in six classes from high to very low depicted with a 4 km X 4 km grid cell ....................................................................................... 18 2-5 Arizona Solar Energy Zones overlain on terrestrial intactness model ............................................ 19 2-6 Land cover types in the vicinity of the Brenda Solar Energy Zone, Gillespie Solar Energy Zone, and Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone ................................................................................... 21 2-7 Land cover types of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion in Arizona ....................................................... 22 2-8 Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone recommended developable area ............................................... 28 2-9 Brenda Solar Energy Zone recommended developable area .......................................................... 28 2-10 Gillespie Solar Energy Zone recommended developable area ....................................................... 29 2-11 Steps for calculating per-acre regional compensatory mitigation fees based on impacts ............. 45 2-12 Highest scoring candidate site locations based on the Candidate Site Matrix, Appendix D .......... 52 D-1 Recommended Candidate Regional Mitigation Sites for Arizona SEZs, western sites ................. D-4 D-2 Recommended Candidate Regional Mitigation Sites for Arizona SEZs, eastern sites .................. D-5 TABLES 1-1 Fees and costs associated with renewable energy development ..................................................... 7 2-1 Land cover types and amounts in the vicinity of the Agua Caliente Solar Energy Zone ................. 20 2-2 Land cover types and amounts in the vicinity of the Brenda Solar Energy Zone ............................ 23 2-3 Land cover types and amounts in the vicinity of the Gillespie Solar Energy Zone ......................... 24 2-4 Ecological intactness of the Arizona Solar Energy Zones and condition assessment for ecological systems ........................................................................................................................... 26 v Regional Mitigation Strategy for the Arizona SEZs 2-5 Summary table of regional goals, objectives, and mitigation desired outcomes and actions for the Arizona Solar Energy Zones .................................................................................... 39 2-6 Components
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