available but definition of eligibility is necessarily more crude due to the lack of design parameters for an offshore rectenna. The methodology for determining eligible areas for SPS rectenna sites is highly automated, elegant, and widely applicable. The prototype environmental impact statement was prepared to see what problems would be uncovered by taking a detailed look at a specific site. The location was chosen because a nearly concurrent EIS was being prepared for the site as a potential location for a geothermal energy resource. Thus, the massive amounts of required background data were essentially free and it was only necessary to hypothesize the placement of a rectenna in the area and redo the analysis. Objectives of the study were: (1) to develop a comprehensive prototype assessment of the non-microwave-related impacts, (2) to assess the impacts of rectenna construction and operations in the context of actual baseline data for a site in the California desert about 250 kilometers north of Los Angeles, and (3) to identify critical rectenna characteristics that are most significant in terms of the natural and human environment. Critical characteristics include: the sheer size and intensity of use of the contiguous land area required by an SPS rectenna; the lack of flexibility in siting individual rectenna structures once the rectenna boundaries are established; the difficulty in finding suitable sites that do not conflict with other societal needs and values; uncertainties relating to reestablishing native ecosystems following total ecosystem modification during construction, and the related need for further research into microclimatic effects near the ground surface beneath the rectenna panels; the proposed two-year construction schedule which has significant implications for socioeconomic impacts, air quality, water supply, and biological resources—all of which could be reduced by extending the construction schedule; and public versus private ownership which has significant implications for rectenna impacts on the local tax base. Institutional Issues Initial concerns in this area focused on the financing and management of a system as large as SPS, its anticipated difficulties with state and local regulations and its interface with the existing utility industry in the U.S. The utility interface studies were continued in the final assessment period to more definitely explore this critical parameter. The regulation of microwave radiation is in a state of flux and is extremely important for all implementation schemes of SPS which rely on transmission of power by microwave radiation. Therefore, a detailed study was undertaken to establish the state-of-the-art, historical background, and likely future of the regulation of microwave radiation. A survey of federal agency involvement in general for future phases of SPS development was established to assist in program management and perhaps to form the basis for future interagency involvement. The insurability of SPS was investigated by a major broker of spacecraft insurance to get an initial feeling of the special problems involved with respect to SPS and the probable response of the insurance community. Results of these studies are indicated in the following paragraphs.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==