California releases final EIS report for 450 MW Desert Quartzite Solar project in Riverside County

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and California Desert Conservation Area Land Use Plan Amendment for the Desert Quartzite Solar Project in eastern Riverside County.

The Desert Quartzite Solar Project advances the Department of the Interior’s America First Energy Plan, a strategy which supports energy development on public lands, improving infrastructure, and creating jobs in local economies. If approved, the project would generate up to 870 jobs at peak construction.

The project would be located approximately 2.75 miles southwest of the City of Blythe, just south of the Interstate 10 freeway, in Riverside County, California. It involves construction of a 450 MW solar facility and a 2.8 mile long 230 kilovolt transmission line that would connect with Southern California Edison’s Colorado Substation. The facility would occupy up to 3,614 acres of BLM land and 154 acres of private land under the jurisdiction of the County of Riverside. Once completed, the project would also includes an operations and maintenance building, an on-site substation, internal access roads, and ancillary facilities.

The scheme was proposed by Desert Quartzite LLC, a subsidiary of First Solar Inc.