This environmental review was prepared by DOE’s Western Area Power Administration with the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a cooperating agency. This EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of the Rice Solar Energy Project, a 150-megawatt solar concentrating electric powerplant proposed to be constructed on private land in the Sonoran Desert. DOE’s Western Area Power Administration actions under this proposal include building and operating a new substation to interconnect the solar project to Western’s transmission system. DOE may also use this EIS as part of its decision whether to issue a Federal loan guarantee to support the proposal. BLM’s actions under this proposal includes amending California Desert Conservation Area Plan to designate a new corridor for a 161-kV transmission line, which would facilitate the development of solar energy on private lands.