Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website
for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of Pacific
Gas and Electric's (PG&E) Embarcadero-Potrero 230 kilovolt (kV)
Transmission Project. An application for this project was submitted
to the CPUC on December 11, 2012 (A.12-12-004),
which started the CPUC proceeding to decide whether a Certification
of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) should be issued. The
CPUC reviewed the application and in a decision on January 16,
2014 (D.14-01-07)
approved the project and issued a CPCN. This website provides access
to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review
process.
Quick links to project-related documents are provided here:
Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA)
Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative
Declaration (Draft IS/MND)
Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative
Declaration (Final IS/MND)
Mitigation Monitoring, Compliance, and
Reporting Program (MMCRP)
Notice to Proceed (NTP) #1
NTP #2
NTP #3
Minor Project Change
#1
Background
The Embarcadero-Potrero 230 kV Transmission Project includes construction,
operation, and maintenance of a 230 kV transmission line entirely
within the City and County of San Francisco from Embarcadero Substation
near the corner of Fremont and Folsom Streets to Potrero Switchyard
on Illinois Street between 22nd and 23rd Streets.
The new 230 kV transmission line will be approximately 3.5 miles
in length, including approximately 2.5 miles installed offshore
in the seafloor of San Francisco Bay, 0.4 mile installed in horizontal
directional drills (HDD) from two onshore transition points to the
Bay, and approximately 0.6 miles underground in conventional trenching.
The new transmission line will be placed in City streets, including
Spear Street and Folsom Street in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood
and 23rd Street east of Illinois Street. Construction of a new 230
kV switchyard will occur near the existing Potrero Switchyard, but
no new substation work will occur at the existing Embarcadero Substation
beyond the proposed termination of the new cable into the 230 kV
bus.
PG&E's project objectives include improving the reliability
of the existing transmission system in San Francisco to provide
a high likelihood of continued electric service to downtown San
Francisco in the event of overlapping outages on both of two existing
230 kV transmission lines that presently feed Embarcadero Substation.
Proponent's Environmental Assessment
(PEA)
PG&E filed a PEA with the Application
on December 11, 2012. This document provided a starting point for
the environmental review process conducted by the CPUC. PG&E's
Application and PEA were deemed complete for review by the CPUC
on January 10, 2013.
Environmental Review Process
The CPUC Energy Division reviewed PG&E's Application and PEA
and prepared an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND)
as the appropriate CEQA document for this project.
Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration
and Supporting Initial Study
The CPUC released a Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative
Declaration for the proposed Embarcadero-Potrero 230 kV Transmission
Project showing that the Proposed Project, as mitigated, would not
have any significant effects on the environment. The Draft Mitigated
Negative Declaration and Supporting Initial Study (IS/MND) was made
available for public review and comment from August 13, 2013
to September 16, 2013.
The Draft IS/MND can be viewed here.
Final Mitigated Negative Declaration
and Supporting Initial Study
On October 29, 2013, the CPUC released a Final Mitigated Negative
Declaration showing that the proposed Embarcadero-Potrero 230 kV
Transmission Project, as mitigated, would not have any significant
effects on the environment. The Final IS/MND details the Proposed
Project, evaluates and describes its potential environmental impacts,
identifies those impacts that could be significant, and presents
mitigation measures to avoid or minimize these impacts.
The Final IS/MND can be viewed here.
CPUC Actions After Final Initial
Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) Publication
The CPUC issued a Proposed Decision on the Application on December 2,
2013. The Commission made its decision on the Application on January 16,
2014, determining the adequacy of the Final IS/MND, adopting the
document as being compliant with CEQA, and issuing a CPCN. A Notice
of Determination was mailed to the State Clearinghouse.
Mitigation Monitoring
Mitigation Monitoring, Compliance, and Reporting Plan. Following
CPUC approval, a Mitigation Monitoring, Compliance, and Reporting
Plan (MMCRP) was prepared to ensure compliance with applicant proposed
measures (APMs) and mitigation measures approved in the Final IS/MND.
The MMCRP provides guidelines and standardize procedures for environmental
compliance during project implementation. The procedures were developed
in coordination with PG&E and CPUC and describe the reporting
relationships, the roles and responsibilities of the project's environmental
compliance team members, compliance reporting procedures, and the
communication protocol.
The MMCRP can be viewed here.
For Additional Information
To request additional information, please contact the CPUC, as
follows:
Billie Blanchard
California Public Utilities Commission
c/o Aspen Environmental Group
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 935
San Francisco, CA 94104
Email: embarcaderopotrero@aspeneg.com
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