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Экология ВИЭ / СЭС / Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development.pdf
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1factors to hold the fine-grained components of soil in place. Factors that function to stabilize

2soils include vegetation cover, biological soil crust cover, rock cover, high salt or calcium

3 carbonate content, high clay and silt content, physical crusts (e.g., playa efflorescent crusts), and

4desert pavement. When these factors are compromised by the compressional and shear forces

5created by vehicles and the trampling effects of livestock and humans, soil fines are lost to

6 erosion, thus reducing the soil’s productivity. The replacement of lost soil is very slow; therefore 7 the best mitigation to reduce soil loss by wind erosion is to follow practices that avoid soil

8 disturbance and control dust emissions to the maximum extent possible. 9

10Deposition of soil fines may also be problematic because it reduces the fertility of plants

11and biological crusts (by burial of photosynthetic components) and contributes to sedimentation

12in nearby surface water bodies.

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Data provided in the Draft Solar PEIS remain valid, with the following updates:

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• In Section 4.7.3.2 (Biological Soil Crusts), note that biological soil crusts are

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an important source of fixed carbon (and other nutrients like nitrogen) in

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desert environments and these processes are vital to soil fertility.

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• Section 4.7.3.2 (Biological Soil Crusts) should have included a citation of

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DOI’s technical reference on biological soil crust management (Belnap et al.

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2001).

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• In Section 4.7.3.4 (Wind Erosion of Soils), text should have been included to

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indicate that wind erosion and deposition are important processes in alluvial

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valleys where many of the SEZs are located, especially for the formation of

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eolian landforms such as yardangs and sand dunes.

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4.8 MINERALS

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32Energy and mineral resource uses have the highest economic values of all commercial

33uses of the surface lands and subsurface estates administered by the BLM in the six-state study

34area. These economic values derive from the production of a wide range of locatable, leasable,

35and salable mineral resources.

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37Information provided in the Draft Solar PEIS remains valid; there are no updates for this

38section.

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Final Solar PEIS

4-5

July 2012