PROTOTYPE SOCIETAL ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF SITING AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN SPS GROUND RECEIVING STATION Arrie Bachrach Environmental Resources Group - 6380 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90048 This report is a prototype assessment of the societal impacts of siting and constructing a Satellite Power System (SPS) Ground Receiving Station (GRS). The objectives of the study are: 1) to develop an assessment of the nonmicrowave-related impacts of the reference system SPS GRS on the human environment; 2) to assess the impacts of GRS construction and operations in the context of actual baseline data for a site in the California desert about 250 kilometers north of Los Angeles referred to as Rose Valley/Coso, and 3) to identify critical GRS characteristics or parameters that are most significant in terms of the human environment. At the Rose Valley/Coso GRS study site (36°N latitude), the rectenna field, which is the area- of the GRS where the microwave energy is collected and converted to electrical energy, would be an ellipse 13.4 km (N-S) by 10.0 km (E-W) and would enclose an area of about 10,500 hectares. An elliptical buffer zone 1.35 km (N-S) by 1.0 km (E-W) would surround the rectenna field. The rectenna would contain about 2.5 million 3 meter by 10 meter panels connected end-to-end in long continuous rows. Approximately 450 workers would be required for 24-hour/365 days per year operation. GRS construction is expected to require 25 months, with an average work force of 2,500 and a peak work force of 3,200. Major materials requirements include: 11 million tonnes of aggregates and ballast, 1.4 million tonnes of cement, 6.5 million cubic yards of concrete, 1.7 million tonnes of steel and 170,000 tonnes of aluminum. Other construction phase requirements include: maximum annual water demand of 3-15 million cubic meters (the wide range resulting from uncertainties in dust control and soil stabilization measures), and maximum incremental electrical demand of 16 MW. Total onsite construction costs are estimated at $1.7 billion. In general, existing land use in the study vicinity, like that throughout rural portions of the southwestern U. S., is not notably intensive (less than 30 percent on average) or extensive (approximately 15 percent of the land has no designated use). Multiple land uses (Most conmonly recreation, natural resource management, grazing and mining) exist over about 35 percent of the area. Over 90 percent of the general area (and the GRS study site as well) is controlled by the Federal government. The 2.250 square kilometer area that would be expected to experience socioeconomic impacts as a result of GRS development had a 1977 population of over 27,000 with 21,000 of this total contained in the two communities of Ridgecrest and China Lake. Resource industries, government and trade are the dominant employment sectors in the area. As might be expected given the region's sparse population and non-extensive and intensive land use patterns, local governments' tax and revenue base are quite small. Rose Valley possesses archaeological resources of considerable significance and sensitivity; a 370-hectare portion of southern Rose Valley has been nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Aesthetically, the study area is generally lacking in outstanding or dramatic visual features. Key impacts identified include: total displacement of existing site land uses;
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