Notice2023-06027
Notice of Competitive Offer for Solar Energy Development on Public Lands in Saguache County, CO
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 24, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rocky Mountain District, Ca[ntilde]on City, Colorado, will accept competitive bids to lease public lands for solar energy projects on approximately 1,064 acres in Saguache County, Colorado.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 57 (Friday, March 24, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 57 (Friday, March 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17867-17869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06027]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_CO_FRN_MO4500169083]
Notice of Competitive Offer for Solar Energy Development on
Public Lands in Saguache County, CO
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of competitive offer.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rocky Mountain District,
Ca[ntilde]on City, Colorado, will accept competitive bids to lease
public lands for solar energy projects on approximately 1,064 acres in
Saguache County, Colorado.
DATES: The BLM will hold a competitive live auction at 10 a.m. local
time on April 27, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The auction will be held at: BLM Rocky Mountain District
Office, 3028 East Main Street, Ca[ntilde]on City, CO 81212.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy Cook, District Manager, BLM
Rocky Mountain District Office, by telephone: 719-269-8554 or email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cdaeaea2a2a68dafa1a0e3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3251515d5d5972505e5f1c555d44">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are deaf,
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services
for contacting Ms. Cook. Individuals outside the United States should
use the relay services offered within their country to make
international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Rocky Mountain District Office has
received interest to lease lands within the De Tilla Gulch Solar Energy
Zone (SEZ). The BLM will offer a lease for solar energy development
within the SEZ in accordance with the competitive process described in
43 CFR part 2800, subpart 2809.
Based on the expressed interest, the SEZ will be offered in its
entirety. The SEZ being offered for competitive solar lease is
described in Public Land Order No. 7818, published in the Federal
Register on July 5, 2013 (78 FR 40499), and available at: <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/07/05/2013-16215/public-land-order-no-7818-withdrawal-of-public-lands-for-the-protection-and-preservation-of-solar">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/07/05/2013-16215/public-land-order-no-7818-withdrawal-of-public-lands-for-the-protection-and-preservation-of-solar</a>, with additional information as follows:
De Tilla Gulch Solar Energy Zone
Saguache County, Colorado
The De Tilla Gulch SEZ consists of approximately 1,064 contiguous
acres of public land, identified in the 2012 Final Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six
Southwestern States (Solar Programmatic EIS) and subsequent Approved
Resource Management Plan (Solar RMP) Amendments/Record of Decision
(ROD) as suitable for utility-scale solar energy development. The De
Tilla Gulch SEZ is managed by the BLM's San Luis Valley Field Office.
Detailed information on this SEZ, including maps, completed resource
studies, and recommended design features can be viewed and downloaded
at: <a href="https://blmsolar.anl.gov/solar-peis/sez/co/de-tilla-gulch/">https://blmsolar.anl.gov/solar-peis/sez/co/de-tilla-gulch/</a>.
As provided in 43 CFR 2809.13(a), bidding will occur in a
competitive auction, conducted in-person. The auction will be open to
the public with potential limitations based on room capacity, and the
event may be live-streamed. More information will be made available at
<a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510</a>. Interested
bidders are required to pre-register by accessing the ePlanning site no
later than 1 week prior to the scheduled auction to allow sufficient
time for the BLM to verify qualifications. Under the requirements of 43
CFR 2803.10, qualified bidders must be:
<bullet> An individual, association, corporation, partnership, or
similar business entity, or a Federal agency or State, Tribal, or local
government;
<bullet> Technically and financially able to construct, operate,
maintain, and terminate the use of the public lands being applied for;
and
<bullet> Of legal age and authorized to do business in Colorado.
Bidders must have or be able to demonstrate technical and financial
capability to construct, operate, maintain, and terminate a project
throughout the leasing process and authorization period. You can
demonstrate your financial and technical capability to construct,
operate, maintain, and terminate a project by:
<bullet> Providing documentation of any previous successful
experience in construction, operation, and maintenance of a similar
facility on either public or non-public lands;
<bullet> Providing information on the availability of sufficient
capitalization to carry out development, including the preliminary
study stage of the project and the environmental review and clearance
process; or
<bullet> Providing written copies of conditional commitments of
Federal and other loan guarantees; confirmed power purchase agreements;
engineering, procurement, and construction contracts; and supply
contracts with credible third-party vendors for the manufacture or
supply of key components for the project facilities.
Pre-registered bidders will be confirmed and assigned a bidder
number before the auction commences. Complete details and frequently
asked questions on the screening and bidding process can be found
online at: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020899/510</a>.
The BLM has determined a minimum acceptable bid for the De Tilla
Gulch SEZ of $35,824.88. The minimum bid consists of the following:
(1) Administrative costs incurred by the BLM--An administrative fee
of approximately $6.79 per acre to cover the BLM's costs in preparing
for and conducting the competitive offer, including preparation of the
2022 Offer for Competitive Leasing for De Tilla
[[Page 17868]]
Gulch SEZ Determination of NEPA Adequacy; and
(2) An amount determined by the authorized officer based on known
or potential values of the parcel--In setting this amount, the BLM
considered 100 percent of the acreage rent. The rent value of the land
for the current year under the BLM's solar rental schedule was used.
The competitive offer will start at the minimum bid, and bidders
may raise with subsequent bonus bids. The bidder with the highest total
bid (minimum plus bonus bid) at the close of the auction will be
declared the successful bidder and will be offered a ROW lease within
the SEZ subject to payment terms, outlined as follows.
If you are the successful bidder, payment of the minimum bid and at
least 20 percent of the winning bonus bid must be submitted to the BLM
Rocky Mountain District by the close of business on the day of the
auction.
Within 15 calendar days after the auction, you must pay the balance
of the bonus bid and the first 12 months acreage rent to the Rocky
Mountain District Office overseeing management of the San Luis Valley
Field Office. Any required payments must be submitted by personal
check, cashier's check, certified check, ACH bank draft, or money
order, or by other means deemed acceptable by the BLM, payable to the
Department of the Interior--Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM will offer you a ROW lease if you are the successful bidder
and you: (1) satisfy the qualifications in 43 CFR 2803.10; (2) make the
required payments listed earlier; and (3) do not have any trespass
action pending against you for any activity on BLM-administered lands
or have any unpaid debts owed to the Federal Government. If the
successful bidder does not satisfy these requirements, the BLM will not
offer a lease to that bidder and will keep all money that has been
submitted. In that event, the BLM may offer the lease to the next
highest bidder; re-offer the lands through another competitive process;
or make the lands available through the noncompetitive application
process found in 43 CFR parts 2803, 2804, and 2805. The BLM will not
issue the lease to the successful bidder until it ensures compliance
with the requirements in Section 50265(b)(1) of the Inflation Reduction
Act (IRA) (codified at 43 U.S.C. 3006(b)(1)). The IRA conditions the
issuance of rights-of-way for wind and solar energy development on
public lands on: (1) the BLM having held an onshore oil and gas lease
sale during the 120-day period before the issuance of the right-of-way
for wind or solar energy development; and (2) the BLM having offered--
in the 1-year period preceding the date of the issuance of the solar or
wind right-of-way--the lesser of 2 million acres or 50 percent of the
oil and gas acreage for which expressions of interest had been
submitted in that year.
The administrative fee portion of the minimum bid from the
successful bidder will be retained by the agency to recover
administrative costs for conducting the competitive bid and related
processes. The remainder of the minimum bid and bonus bid from the
successful bidder will be deposited with the U.S. Treasury. Neither
amount will be returned or refunded to the successful bidder under any
circumstance. If you are not the successful bidder, the BLM will return
or refund the bid amount submitted with your bid. If no bid is received
for a SEZ, then no lease will be issued and the BLM may choose to make
the lands available through the non-competitive application process
found in 43 CFR parts 2803, 2804, and 2805, or by competitive process
at a later date.
Any lease issued will be subject to the terms and conditions
specified in 43 CFR 2809.18, and additional requirements identified in
the decision to conduct the offer, listed as follows:
(1) The lessee will prepare the following management plans, if
applicable, and submit them to the BLM as part of its plan of
development (POD) for approval following the issuance of a lease for
the Project and prior to the BLM issuing a Notice to Proceed with
construction:
<bullet> Worker Education and Awareness Plan;
<bullet> Health and Safety Program and Plan;
<bullet> Bird and Bat Conservation Strategy;
<bullet> Fire Management Plan;
<bullet> Lighting Management Plan;
<bullet> Integrated Weed Management Plan;
<bullet> Site Drainage Plan;
<bullet> Traffic Management Plan;
<bullet> Groundwater Monitoring and Reporting Plan;
<bullet> Surface Water Quality Management Plan;
<bullet> Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan;
<bullet> Dust Abatement Plan;
<bullet> Spill Prevention and Emergency Response Plan;
<bullet> Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Plan;
<bullet> Decommissioning and Site Reclamation Plan; and
<bullet> Site Rehabilitation and Restoration Plan.
(2) The lessee will comply with all relevant protective measures
and design features established in the Solar RMP Amendments ROD signed
on Oct. 12, 2012. Specifically reference Appendix A.
(3) All processes under 36 CFR part 800 will be completed (which
would likely include a Class III cultural survey) prior to any ground
disturbing activities. All historic properties found will be avoided or
mitigated in consultation with State Historic Preservation Office.
(4) Any mitigation resulting from an adverse effect to historic
properties will be addressed through a Memorandum of Agreement as
outlined in the Solar Programmatic EIS Programmatic Agreement.
(5) Appropriate protection measures will be applied to existing
improvements (e.g., canals and access to private lands) and rights-of-
way within the SEZ and adjacent to other ancillary facilities (e.g.,
gen-tie line(s) and substation) required for development of any leased
parcels.
(6) If a POD is approved, the leaseholder would be able to use
common varieties of stone and soil that are necessarily removed during
construction of the project, without additional BLM authorization or
payment, in constructing the project within the authorized right-of-
way.
(7) A 2-year grazing notification will be provided to all
potentially affected livestock permittees, giving them 2 years to make
any financial, business, or management decisions.
(8) The leaseholder will compensate the grazing permittees for any
range improvements affected or lost by solar lease operations.
(9) The leaseholder will construct new fences that will continue to
keep the allotments and pastures separated as needed to mitigate for
the removal of allotment and pasture fences.
(10) Rights-of-way for livestock grazing driveways may be granted
by the BLM through solar lease parcels if requested by grazing
permittees.
(11) Any POD submitted must address mitigation and compensation
strategies for impacts to livestock grazing, and any agreement with the
affected grazing permittee addressing these mitigation and compensation
strategies must be submitted to the BLM concurrently with the POD.
(12) Following submission of a POD, the BLM shall initiate project-
specific consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, if necessary.
Consultation with USFWS under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act may also be required. These
consultations may result in ``Take
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Permit(s)'' containing additional design considerations, which the
leaseholder will be required to incorporate into final project design,
construction, and decommissioning plans.
(13) Once a POD is submitted, the BLM will determine whether a
long-term monitoring strategy to establish quantitative monitoring
objectives and indicators would need to be developed. The leaseholder
or developer will be required to collect baseline data for this effort,
in coordination with the BLM and other applicable agencies. For an
example, see <a href="https://blmsolar.anl.gov/documents/docs/Final_Riverside_East_LTMS_from_website.pdf">https://blmsolar.anl.gov/documents/docs/Final_Riverside_East_LTMS_from_website.pdf</a>.
(14) If a POD is approved, the leaseholder or developer would be
required to obtain all necessary State or Federal permits before
engaging in any stream alteration or other activities affecting
waterways.
(15) Prior to any ground-disturbing activity associated with an
authorized POD, the leaseholder or developer will identify and protect
evidence of the Public Land Survey System, as directed in 43 CFR
3809.420--Surface Management--(b)(9) Protection of survey monuments.
Additionally, the leaseholder will be subject to any measures the
BLM identifies to address site-specific impacts to resources as part of
the environmental review of leaseholder's proposed plan of development
for the SEZ.
(Authority: 43 CFR 2809)
Douglas Vilsack,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-06027 Filed 3-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-16-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 24, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.