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Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website
for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the
proposed construction of Lodi Gas Storage, L.L.C.'s Kirby Hills
Natural Gas Storage Facility. An application for this project was
submitted to the CPUC on July 25, 2005 (Application A.05-07-018).
The CPUC published a final Mitigated Negative
Declaration (MND) in February 2006. This site provides access
to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA environmental
review.
Project Documents Available
Background
Lodi Gas Storage, L.L.C. (LGS) is proposing to use a depleted natural
gas reservoir in the Kirby Hills gas field as a storage facility
for natural gas transported to the site by its customers. The total
storage capacity of the reservoir is approximately 7 billion cubic
feet (BCF) and the project will have a maximum injection and withdrawal
capability of 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/day) of natural
gas. Project operations would involve tapping into the PG&E
400 pipeline near mile 286.65, constructing facilities to convey
natural gas from the PG&E 400 pipeline approximately seven miles
to the Kirby Hills gas field, storing the gas in the existing natural
reservoir, withdrawing the stored gas on demand from LGS customers,
and conveying the withdrawn gas to the PG&E 400 pipeline for
delivery to those customers.
The proposed project is comprised the following six primary components
(see Project Facilities Map):
- Metering station
- Gas pipeline
- Compressor station
- Flow line
- Injection/withdrawal wells
- Temporary gas injection system
In accordance with Public Utilities Code Section 1001, LGS is seeking
approval of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN)
from the CPUC to construct and operate the project.
Project Location
The project site is located in a rural agricultural area in the
Montezuma Hills of southeastern Solano County, California, immediately
north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The site is approximately
six miles west of Rio Vista and eight miles southeast of Fairfield
(see Regional Location Map).
The proposed project contains two major component locations, connected
by an approximately six-mile east-west pipeline corridor (see Project Location Map). The eastern project
component is a natural gas receiving/metering station site, located
west of Bird's Landing Road, one mile south of its intersection
with State Route 12. The western project component is the natural
gas storage/withdrawal site located in the Kirby Hills between Montezuma/Nurse
Slough on the west and Shiloh road on the east. The western portion
of the project area is also located within the Suisun Marsh Secondary
Management Area.
CPUC's Application Review
The CPUC is responsible for the review and approval of any natural
gas storage facility in California. In proposals such as this, the
CPUC has a two-part review process to evaluate economic and environmental
impacts. The CPUC conducts a legal proceeding before an administrative
law judge to examine the economic and public utility issues, including
impacts to utility ratepayers. At the same time, the CPUC conducts
an environmental review consistent with CEQA. The ultimate result
of the two reviews is a decision by the Commission whether to grant
a CPCN for the project.
Mitigated Negative Declaration
The CPUC published a final Mitigated Negative
Declaration (MND) in February 2006. The Draft MND underwent
a 30-day public comment period between January 17 and February 16,
2006.
Section D presents the written comments received during the public
review period and written responses to those comments. Any text
inserted into the MND after the MND was circulated for public review
is underlined and bold, and any deleted text is shown
in strikeout.
CPUC Actions After Final MND Publication
There is no comment period for the Final MND. If the Commission
agrees with the conclusions of the MND prepared by CPUC staff, it
will adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration in accordance with
CEQA before taking any action to approve the proposed project. Evidentiary
Hearings on the proposed project will be held at the CPUC offices
in San Francisco. The CPUC will issue a Decision on the proposed
Kirby Hills Natural Gas Storage Facility Project, which will be
announced and published concurrent with a scheduled CPUC Meeting.
Within 30 days after the Decision is issued by the CPUC, parties
can apply for rehearing. For further information on the CPUC's decision-making
process, call the CPUC Public Advisor at (415) 703-2074.
If the CPUC approves the proposed project, the CPUC will implement
a Mitigation Monitoring Plan as presented in Section C of the MND.
This plan will ensure that the approved project is constructed as
defined, and that all adopted mitigation measures and Applicant
Proposed Measures are implemented in order that effects on the environment
do not exceed those described in the MND.
Further information about this document is available from CPUC
Project Manager Junaid Rahman at (415) 355-5492
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