Draft Environmental Study Released for Palen Solar Project in Riverside County

(Mar 18, 2010) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a staff assessment (SA) for the proposed Chevron Energy Solutions/Solar Millennium (CESSM) Palen Solar Power Project in eastern Riverside County, Calif.

CESSM has requested a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to construct and operate the Palen solar-thermal power plants with an expected capacity of 242 megawatts (MW) using commercial solar parabolic-trough generating stations. Approximately 3,800 acres of BLM-administered public land are needed to develop the project. The project site is 10 miles east of Desert Center, Calif. and a half mile north of Interstate 10. The facility would be constructed in two phases.

The joint DEIS/SA, which also includes a possible BLM land use plan amendment, is available online at http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/solar_millennium_palen/documents/ or http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd/alternative_energy.html. An official 90-day comment period will begin upon publication of the notice of availability in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection Agency expected shortly. BLM and CEC will hold at least one joint public hearing or meeting on the project. The exact date, time and location for the public hearing or meeting, as well as the end of the comment period, will be published on CEC and BLM websites and announced in local media. The BLM and CEC will use the public comments received to prepare a Supplemental Staff Assessment and Final EIS, with separate agency decisions expected later in the year.

Comments addressed to BLM can be sent by e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., by 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, CA 92262. For further assistance, contact the BLM's Palm Springs/South Coast Field Office at (760) 833-7100.

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