Energy

RECON worked with the California Energy Commission, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as lead agencies, to prepare the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement and Final BLM Land Use Plan Amendment for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The DRECP focused on a specific range of covered activities related to renewable energy projects and environmental compliance. These covered activities included the construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of renewable energy projects and new transmission lines within the plan area, and specifically addressed solar wind and geothermal to meet the California Governor’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. Covering approximately 22 million acres in seven counties within the BLM California Desert District, the Draft DRECP was developed to conserve habitat for threatened and endangered species in the Mojave and Colorado deserts while facilitating the timely permitting of renewable energy projects to help meet the state’s goal of providing electricity generation through renewable energy.

Working with the California Energy Commission, RECON prepared Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement sections addressing the affected environment and the anticipated effects on the full range of natural, cultural, visual, recreational, and geological resources; land use; noise; public health and safety; and socioeconomics. The DRECP now serves as a proposed multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan and Final BLM Land Use Plan Amendment for the BLM’s California Desert Conservation Area Plan.

The Otay Mesa Energy Center project is a 510-megawatt natural gas-fired, combined cycle electric generating facility located on an 80-acre site in the Otay Mesa community in southern San Diego County. The project includes two power islands and supporting facilities plus several utility routes including a short electric transmission line with two new towers, two natural gas pipelines, a water supply pipeline, and a wastewater discharge pipeline. The project also requires reconductoring of 8.9 miles of the existing Miguel-Tijuana transmission line between the project interconnect and the Miguel Substation.

RECON assisted the project applicant in navigating the resource agency requirements through the environmental review process, which included a Biological Assessment and Section 7 Consultation. Pre-activity surveys and focused surveys were conducted for the three federally listed species affected by the project: Quino checkerspot butterfly, coastal California gnatcatcher, and Otay tarplant.

RECON reviewed potential environmental impacts of a 5-acre solar array proposed on agricultural land within the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, Arizona. RECON National Environmental Policy Act specialists conducted a review of potential impacts to natural and cultural resources within and adjacent to the project site and submitted a draft and final report to the client, including an Administrative Record of information used to develop the report.

RECON restoration ecologists prepared and implemented a Pesticide Use Permit for herbicide use on the lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and provided weed abatement consultation during construction of the Tule Wind Project, which is a commercial wind energy generating facility located on both U.S. Bureau of Land Management and private lands in San Diego County. Major project components include turbines and step-up transformers, overhead and underground collector system, an operations and maintenance building, substation, access roads, and a 138-kilovolt overhead transmission line.