Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the environmental review and monitoring of Southern California Edison's (SCE's) West of Devers Upgrade Project (WOD Project). The project is located in incorporated and unincorporated portions of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California; a map is provided here. SCE submitted a Certificate for Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application for the Project to the CPUC on October 25, 2013 (Application A.13-10-020). The Proposed Project has been reviewed under both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The CPUC approved the project in Decision D.16-08-017, including two alternatives, on August 18, 2016. The BLM approved the project with its Record of Decision on December 27, 2016

The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the NEPA lead agency. This website provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review processes and mitigation monitoring. The BLM project website can be accessed here. An overview of the approved Project, construction and monitoring status, and previous CEQA/NEPA review is provided below.

DESCRIPTION OF APPROVED PROJECT

SCE filed a CPCN application for the West of Devers Upgrade Project with the CPUC and filed a Plan of Development with the BLM.

According to SCE, the Project is needed to facilitate the full deliverability of new electric generation resources being developed in eastern Riverside County. As renewable energy generating facilities come on-line in eastern Riverside County, the WOD Project will allow the transfer of this electricity into the Los Angeles area. The Project will facilitate progress towards meeting California's Renewable Portfolio Standard goals requiring utilities to produce 33% of their electricity sales from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The Project includes the following major components:

• Removal and upgrade of existing 220 kV transmission lines. Upgrades would occur on 30 miles of the Devers–El Casco line, 14 miles of the El Casco–San Bernardino line, 43 miles of the Devers–San Bernardino line, 45 miles of the Devers-Vista No. 1 and No. 2 lines, 3.5 miles of the Etiwanda–San Bernardino line, and 3.5 miles of the San Bernardino-Vista line.
  
  
• Upgrade substation equipment at Devers, El Casco, Etiwanda, San Bernardino, and Vista Substations to accommodate increased power transfer on 220 kV lines.
  
  
• Upgrade Timoteo and Tennessee 66/12 kV substations to accommodate 66 kV subtransmission line relocations.
  
  
• Removal and relocation of 2 miles of two existing 66 kV subtransmission lines.
  
  
• Removal and relocation of 4 miles of existing 12 kV distribution lines.
  
  
• Installation of telecommunication lines and equipment for the protection, monitoring, and control of transmission lines and substation equipment.

The Project will be located within the existing West of Devers right-of way corridor in incorporated and unincorporated areas of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The ROW passes through the reservation trust land of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Palm Springs, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, San Bernardino, and Yucaipa (see project map). SCE anticipates that the WOD Project will be operational by 2022.

The Project as originally proposed by SCE was modified in several locations by two alternatives adopted by the CPUC and the BLM: The Tower Relocation Alternative and the Iowa Street Underground Alternative.

CONSTRUCTION STATUS AND MITIGATION MONITORING

The CPUC, BLM, and SCE have prepared a Mitigation Monitoring, Compliance, and Reporting Plan (MMCRP), which is posted here (13.0MB). The MMCRP ensures compliance with the mitigation measures adopted in the Final EIR and Final EIS. The MMCRP provides for Environmental Monitors and defines the reporting relationships, roles and responsibilities, and procedures for environmental compliance on the Project. The MMCRP will be updated to reflect schedule changes and other revisions, as needed.

Notices to Proceed (NTPs) were reviewed and issued by CPUC or BLM, as applicable, by subsection of the project as requested by SCE. Issuance of NTPs was contingent upon SCE's compliance with pre-construction requirements as specified by the approved mitigation measures and responsible agency permitting requirements. Table 1 below summarizes the NTPs issued by CPUC and BLM.

SCE has completed final engineering and the preparation of compliance plans and ancillary permit acquisition required for construction. The plans describe specific actions to be taken by SCE and its contractors to address various impacts or issues. Final plans approved to date are available here..

Construction on the West of Devers Upgrade Project began October 2, 2017, with the start of substation upgrades and telecommunication improvements. Establishment of laydown yards started in February 2018. Subtransmission, distribution, and remaining telecom started in April 2018. Construction of the approved transmission system upgrades began in May 2018, with completion scheduled for four years later, in 2022. Substation upgrades will continue intermittently during this period, as well as subtransmission and distribution improvements.

CPUC Environmental Monitors are in the field to verify the proper implementation of project mitigation measures, and permit and compliance plan requirements during construction. Monitoring reports documenting construction and compliance activities are available here.

As final engineering is completed or as construction necessitates, Minor Project Refinements (MPRs) are submitted for the Project. Each of these requests is reviewed by CPUC to ensure that no new impacts or increase in impact severity would result from the requested change. MPRs approved for the project are summarized below.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PROJECT APPROVAL

Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA) and Application

SCE filed an application and PEA for the WOD Project on October 25, 2013.

The CPUC conducted a 30-day completeness/deficiency review and, based on the review of the PEA, sent deficiency letters to SCE on November 25, 2013, and February 18, 2014, indicating that the PEA remained incomplete. Based on additional information provided by SCE, on September 11, 2014, the CPUC determined that the application and PEA were complete.

Environmental Review History

Notice of Preparation (NOP) and Notice of Intent (NOI). Issuance of a CEQA Notice of Preparation (NOP) and NEPA Notice of Intent (NOI) is the first step in the EIR/EIS process. These documents provide a description of the proposed Project and potential alternatives, as well as a schedule of the CPUC and BLM's proposed scoping process that will include public scoping meetings and agency consultations. The NOP was published on May 7, 2014. The NOI was published on July 1, 2014.

Scoping Meetings. In order for the public and regulatory agencies to have an opportunity to ask questions on the scope of the EIR/EIS, the CPUC held 4 scoping meetings in the project area on May 19, 20, and 21, 2014, and the BLM held one scoping meeting on July 16, 2014. Information presented at the meetings, and meeting transcripts, are available here.

Public Scoping Report. The CPUC and BLM prepared Public Scoping Reports that documented the scoping activities and oral comments from the scoping meetings, as well as the written documents submitted in response to the NOP and NOI. These reports served as information sources to the CPUC and BLM in their determination of the range of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the Draft EIR/EIS.

Data Requests. During the preparation of the EIR and EIS, the CPUC and BLM identified information items needed for the EIR/EIS analysis and submitted data requests to SCE. In addition, after release of the Draft EIR/EIS, several data requests were submitted to the CPUC. Copies of each request and the responses are provided here.

Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS)

Draft EIR/EIS. The Draft EIR/EIS was published August 7, 2015. The comment period closed on September 22, 2015. Comments submitted on the Draft EIR/EIS are available here.

Final EIR. The Final EIR for CEQA compliance was published by the CPUC on December 11, 2015. Comments that were submitted on the Draft EIR/EIS are presented in Volume 4 of the Final EIR, along with responses to all comments. (The BLM issued a separate Final EIS.)

Revised Phased Build Alternative Description. The CPUC prepared a revised Phased Build Alternative description from the Alternatives Screening Report in Appendix 5 of the West of Devers Upgrade Project Final EIR that was distributed on December 11, 2015. This revised alternative description was based on additional information provided in the Opening Testimony submitted in January 2016 in the project's General Proceeding A.13-10-020, and can be accessed here.

Addendum to Final EIR. On April 12, 2016, the CPUC released an Addendum to the West of Devers Upgrade Project Final EIR, which can be accessed here. The Addendum incorporates changes to Final EIR text and mitigation measures in response to additional information that was submitted by SCE in filings to the CPUC.

Final EIS. The Final EIS was published on August 12, 2016 and is available on the BLM project website, which can be accessed here.

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS?

Construction of the approved project is anticipated to occur in phases over a 4-year period. If you have comments, complaints, or questions regarding the project, please contact us using the CPUC's WOD project e-mail or voicemail, as follows: