SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment and draft Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Aramis Solar Energy Generation and Storage Project in Alameda County, California. This announcement opens a 30-day public comment period on the draft HCP.
The draft HCP, prepared by IP Aramis, LLC, supports the company’s application for an incidental take permit. The draft HCP covers activities associated with the construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual decommission or repowering of a 100-megawatt solar photovoltaic power-generating facility and a 5-acre battery storage system. The 851-acre plan area includes a 398-acre project area where ground disturbance will occur and a 453-acre mitigation area to be preserved in perpetuity. If the draft EA and HCP are finalized, the incidental take permit would extend over a 32-year term.
Using the best available science, the Service reviewed the draft HCP and analyzed the potential impacts of the project’s activities on the California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, San Joaquin kit fox, monarch butterfly and golden eagle. The draft HCP includes strategies to avoid, minimize and offset impacts of the proposed activities on these species such as planning construction activities to occur during the dry season when the species are less likely to disperse through the project site and limiting use of pesticides and herbicides. To mitigate for impacts to species, the draft HCP proposes to permanently conserve 453 acres of high-quality habitat located at Vieira Ranch in eastern Alameda County, California.
“Habitat conservation plans are one tool we can use to balance species recovery with responsible renewable energy development,” said Michael Fris, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. “Our partners can contribute to the recovery of listed and at-risk species by conserving key habitats and taking steps to limit the impacts of construction and solar panel management on the landscape.”
HCPs are voluntary agreements that ensure the effects of non-federal activities on threatened and endangered species are adequately minimized or mitigated, per Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act.
The notice of availability will publish in the Federal Register on January 17, 2024, opening a public comment period that will close on February 16, 2024. The draft HCP and draft Environmental Assessment will be available on the date of publication at regulations.gov by searching for Docket Number FWS-R8-ES-2023-0055.
For more information about the species proposed for coverage by the HCP visit https://www.fws.gov/office/sacramento-fish-and-wildlife.
