Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website
for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the
proposed Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Line Project. Applications
for this project were submitted to the CPUC on December 14,
2005 (A.05-12-014) and August 4, 2006 (A.06-08-010). This site
provides access to public documents and information relevant to
the CEQA and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review processes.
Background
SDG&E has filed an application with the CPUC to construct the
Sunrise Powerlink Project (SRPL). The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency
and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the lead agency
under NEPA. The CPUC and BLM are preparing an Environmental Impact
Report (EIR, under CEQA) and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS,
under NEPA), which will be published as a single joint document,
an EIR/EIS.
This project was approved by the California Independent System
Operator on August 3, 2006. The Proponent's Environmental Assessment
was filed with the CPUC on August 4, 2006 and is available
on SDG&E's
project website.
The CPUC maintains other web pages for documents related to its
proceeding on the SRPL, where it makes available documents filed
by parties to that proceeding. The web page for Application A.06-08-010
incorporates the earlier filing, and lists documents and rulings
filed in the proceedings. The CPUC also maintains a page of general
information on the SRPL project.
The SRPL Project, as proposed by SDG&E, includes a new, approximately
90-mile, 500 kV line from Imperial Valley Substation (in Imperial
County, near the City of El Centro) to a new Central East Substation
(in central San Diego County, south of the intersection of County
Highways S22 and S2). The 500 kV portion would
approximately follow the eastern boundary of BLM lands west of El
Centro and SR 78, and would pass through Anza-Borrego Desert
State Park.
The SRPL Project also proposes approximately 60 miles of 230 kV
transmission lines from the new Central East Substation to SDG&E's
existing Peñasquitos Substation (in the City of San
Diego). SDG&E proposes to construct two segments underground
(one segment south of Ramona and another in the community of Ranchos
Peñasquitos, San Diego). Figure 1
shows an overview of the proposed project route.
Draft EIR/EIS
The Draft EIR/EIS was released to the public on January 3,
2008. It is available here and is also
available for review at numerous area libraries
and government offices.
Copies of the Executive Summary of the Draft EIR/EIS along with
a DVD of the complete document may be requested. The CPUC and BLM
also have a limited number of copies of the complete six-volume
Draft EIR/EIS document available to the public. Requests for documents
should be made to (866) 711-3106 (phone or fax) or via e-mail to
sunrise@aspeneg.com.
Resumen en Español. Un resumen del borrador Informe
de Impacto Ambiental/Declaración de Impacto Ambiental en
español está disponible aquí.
Submitting Comments on the Draft EIR/EIS. Written comments
on the Draft EIR/EIS must be postmarked or received by fax or e-mail
no later than April 11, 2008. Please be sure to include your name,
address, and telephone number. Written comments on the Draft EIR/EIS
should be sent to:
CPUC/BLM
c/o Aspen Environmental Group
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 935
San Francisco, CA 94104
Fax: (866) 711-3106
Email: sunrise@aspeneg.com
Informational Workshops. The CPUC and BLM held 9 informational
workshops during the week of January 28, 2008. These informal workshops
provided an opportunity to speak with the specialists who wrote
the Draft EIR/EIS and ask questions. While written comments could
be submitted during these workshops, there were no facilities to
record oral comments.
Public Participation Hearings. The Public Participation
Hearings will be held on the dates listed in the table below to
receive oral and written comments from interested parties. CPUC
Administrative Law Judge Steven Weissman will conduct the Public
Participation Hearings, and receive comments on the Draft EIR/EIS
and any other issues of concern related to the SDG&E CPCN application.
These oral comments will be recorded and entered into the public
record. Transcripts of these hearings are available at the links
below:
San
Diego, 2/25/08
Pine
Valley, 2/25/08
Borrego
Springs, 2/26/08
Ramona,
2/26/08
Julian,
2/27/08
EIR/EIS Alternatives
Throughout 2007, the CPUC and BLM gathered information on alternatives
to the proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project through an extensive public
involvement process. Information and documents from that process
are available here.
Documents Available
In addition to the EIR/EIS, other documents that were published
during the CEQA and NEPA processes are available here.
Data Requests
The EIR/EIS Team submits Data Requests to SDG&E and other entities
when it needs specific information to support EIR/EIS preparation.
These requests are available here at
the time they are issued.
Requests for Technical Information
Related to the Draft EIR/EIS
During the 90-day public comment period on the Draft EIR/EIS, various
parties submitted requests for technical information related to
that document. The information provided has available here.
For Additional Information
To request additional information or to be added to the mailing
list, please contact us by email, fax, or phone, as follows:
The CPUC's Project Manager is:
Billie Blanchard, CPUC Project Manager
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco CA 94102
Tel. (415) 703-2068
Fax (415) 703-2200
Email: bcb@cpuc.ca.gov
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