SAN
DIEGO (CN) - The Quechan Tribe claims the Secretary of the Interior
rushed through approval of a giant solar power project in the desert
and ignored potential damage to the tribe's cultural artifacts and
the desert's sensitive flora and fauna, including an endangered
lizard that appears in the tribe's creation story.
The 709-megawatt Imperial Valley Solar Project will spread
28,360 "SunCatcher" dishes across 6,360 acres of public land, about
14 miles west of El Centro.
The Department of the Interior approved Tessera Solar's
proposal in an Oct. 13 Record of Decision (ROD).
"The public lands that are the subject of the Imperial Valley
ROD are within the traditional territory of the Quechan Indian Tribe
and contain cultural and biological resources of significance to the
tribe, its government, and its members," the tribe says in its
federal complaint.
"The tribe and its members also have an interest in preserving
the quality of the land, water, air, fauna, and flora within the
tribe's traditional territory, within and outside the reservation.
Specifically, the tribe is concerned with impacts to the habitat of
Flat Tailed Horned lizards on lands proposed for development, as the
lizard is a central part of the tribe's creation story."
In making its "fast-track" decision, the Secretary of the
Interior and others omitted reviews required by the National
Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National
Historic Preservation Act, the Federal Land Policy Management Act
and other laws, the tribe says.
"Interior arbitrarily placed the IVS Project on an artificial
'fast-track' in order to achieve the applicant's goal of obtaining
millions of dollars of federally available financing that
purportedly required project approval prior to the end of 2010," the
tribe says.
"Despite Interior and the applicant's efforts to 'fast-track'
the review of the IVS Project, Congress did not waive or limit the
applicability of any federal laws or regulations related to
compliance with NEPA, the NHPA, FLPMA, or other laws with regard to
the IVS Project. Full compliance with applicable federal laws is
mandatory."
Tessera Solar will buy 6,600 acres of flat-tail horned lizard
habitat to offset land lost to new roads, structures and traffic
through the desert, the Bureau of Land Management said in announcing
the project, one of the first solar energy developments to be
approved on public land.
The Quechans, a Yuman-speaking people, have lived in the Mojave
Desert for "thousands of years," during which they and their "tribal
ancestors traditionally occupied, traveled, traded, and utilized
resources within a broad geographical area located within the desert
lands of modern-day [western] Arizona and Southern California,"
according to the complaint. Today the tribe has about 3,500 members.
The tribe's 45,000-acre reservation sprawls across the Mojave
Desert around Interstate 8, and to the south borders on Baja
California, Mexico. The area has long been identified as a prime
location to develop utility-grade solar energy projects.
"The IVS Project is only one of many large solar and renewable
energy projects located on California desert lands that have
recently been approved, or are under consideration for approval, by
Interior," the complaint states. "Approximately 1 million acres of
land are currently proposed for foreseeable solar and wind energy
utility development on Southern California desert lands."
The tribe wants the project enjoined and the Record of Decision
vacated.
It is represented by Frank Jozwiak with Morisset Schlosser in
Seattle and Bryan Snyder of San Diego.
Courthouse News Service