BLM Seeking Public Comment on Solar Farm With Storage in Nevada

LAS VEGAS — The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on a proposed 300 MW solar energy farm with battery storage that if approved would be located on roughly 2,500 acres about 30 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

In April, the agency completed the “variance process” for the proposed project, an early, major step in the process of considering a development application on federally managed public lands.

Variance areas are lands located outside the BLM’s specified solar energy zones in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and parts of California that are not otherwise excluded from development.

Once the variance process is completed, the agency then moves on to the next phase of review, the proposed project’s compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The agency published a notice of intent in Monday’s Federal Register to amend the Las Vegas Resource Management Plan and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed project, which will be located on the 5,133-acre right-of-way it administers in Clark and Nye counties.

The public comment period will close on July 20.

According to Joseph Varner, acting manager of the agency’s Pahrump Field Office in Nevada, BLM conducted a virtual meeting with federal, tribal, state and local governments while conducting its due diligence during the variance process, and also hosted two virtual forums last year to gather public input.

During those sessions, which were conducted in September, approximately 30 people provided their insights and opinions, and afterwards, another 20 comments were received via emails and letters.

“Stakeholder engagement efforts during the variance process identified potential concerns and we will use this information in our environmental review of the Bonanza Solar Project,” Varner said.

The environmental review will consider the impacts of construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of the solar panels, battery energy storage, and associated infrastructure.

Additional information, including information on how to provide comment is available here.

An additional virtual workshop is planned for Monday, June 26, 2023, from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m.

Interested parties can pre-register here.

In-person workshops will be held on Wednesday June 28, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., at the Centennial Hills Library, Multipurpose Room, 6711 N. Buffalo Drive, in Las Vegas, and on Thursday June 29, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., at the Indian Springs Community Center, 715 Gretta Lane, in Indian Springs, Nevada.

Each workshop will start with a presentation followed by a comment period and question and answer session. 

A court reporter will transcribe public comments during the comment session and afterwards during the open house.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue