Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., D-Calif., has certified the 750 MW McCoy solar project for fast-tracked judicial and legislative review under the terms of his 2011 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reforms.
The McCoy solar farm, a billion-dollar solar facility that will be located in Riverside County, is now eligible for expedited review under the Jobs and Economic Improvement Act of 2011 (A.B.900).
A.B.900, signed by Brown in September 2011, sends CEQA litigation for certain large projects directly to the Court of Appeals and requires that decisions on the merits are made in a short time frame. AB 900 projects are not exempt from CEQA review, the governor's office notes.
Under the terms of the governor's certification, McCoy will invest a minimum of $100 million in California during construction. The California Air Resources Board has certified that the project will not generate any additional greenhouse-gas emissions during construction.
The McCoy project will be sited on 4,315 acres of federal land and 477 acres of private land. It will include a 15.5-mile long transmission line right-of-way.
