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Welcome
to the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
review of
Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E’s) proposed Santa Cruz
115 kV
Reinforcement Project (Project). PG&E submitted an application
to the CPUC
for a Permit to Construct (PTC) this project on January 25, 2012. This
site
provides access to public documents and information relevant to the
CEQA
environmental review process.
Background
The
proposed Project would increase transmission system
reliability in the Santa Cruz area during outages. The project will add
a
second 115 kV circuit between Green Valley Substation and Rob Roy
Substation to
prevent potential large-scale service interruptions if there are
overlapping
outages in the existing local electricity supply system. The proposed
project
includes converting the existing 7.1 miles of single-circuit 115 kV
power line
to a double-circuit 115 kV power line by replacing existing wood poles
with tubular
steel poles (TSPs); constructing a new, approximately 1.7-mile-long
single-circuit 115 kV power line connecting the Green Valley-Camp Evers
115 kV
Power Line to Rob Roy Substation; and modifying the existing Rob Roy
Substation
and existing power lines to accommodate the new circuit.
The
new circuit will
provide two sources of power in the event of an outage on either the
southern
line between Green Valley Substation and Rob Roy Substation or on the
existing
northern line between Green Valley Substation and Camp Evers
Substation.
Project Description
The
project is located in southern Santa Cruz County,
California near the cities of Watsonville and Aptos. The project
traverses an
area of rolling terrain, including agricultural valleys and grassland,
as well
as low ridgelines forested with mature trees. The predominant
development
pattern throughout the project area is a mix of low-density
residential, open
space, and agricultural land uses. The agricultural areas are
predominantly
apple orchards, berry orchards, livestock pastures, and row crops.
The
primary project
components are summarized below:
- Northern Alignment – approximately 7.1 miles of an
existing single-circuit 115 kV power line will be converted to a
double-circuit 115 kV power line by replacing existing wood poles with
TSPs.
- Cox-Freedom Segment - a new, approximately
1.7-mile-long single-circuit 115 kV power line connecting the Green
Valley-Camp Evers 115 kV Power Line to Rob Roy Substation will be
constructed in an existing distribution line alignment by installing
new poles and collocating some existing distribution facilities.
- Rob Roy Substation Modifications - the existing
substation will be modified to accommodate the new circuit.
- Rob Roy Substation Connections – one new TSP will
be installed and two existing power poles will be replaced with TSPs to
accommodate the interconnection of existing power lines following
modification of Rob Roy Substation.
Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA)
PG&E filed an application (A. 12-01-012) for a
Permit to
Construct and the Proponent's Environemtal Assessment on January 25,
2012. The PEA is a starting point for the
independent environmental review process conducted by the CPUC.
The application and PEA can be viewed here: Application
(6.6 MB) PEA
(25.7 MB)
The Declarations of Mailing and Posting of Supplemental
Notice of an Application for a Permit to Construct can be
viewed here
(9 MB).
Additional
Data Requests
The
CPUC submitted additional data requests regarding PG&E's
application. The
data requests and PG&E's responses can be viewed
below.
Data Request #1 and Response
Data Request #2 and Response
Data Request #3 and Response
Data Request #4 and Response
Data Request #5 and Response
Data Request #6 and Response
Data Request #7 and Response
Environmental Review
PG&E’s
Application and PEA were deemed
complete by
the CPUC on April 24, 2012.
Draft
Initial Study/Mitigated Negative
Declaration
On October 18, 2013
the CPUC released a Notice
of Intent to
Adopt a MND/Notice of Availability (NOI/NOA) for the Santa
Cruz 115kV Reinforcement Project, showing that the proposed project,
as mitigated, would not have any significant
effects on
the environment.
The Draft IS/MND was available
for a
45-day public review period. The Draft was released on October
18, 2013. The comment period was extended by an additional 4 days
and comments were accepted through 5:00 p.m.
on December 6,
2013. The Draft IS/MND can be viewed
here.
Public
Meeting
A
public information meeting to accept comments on the Draft IS/MND was
held on November 6, 2013. Documents that were
presented at the meeting are available below.
Public
Meeting Presentation (44 MB)
Project
Map Book (58 MB)
Project Visual Simulations Book
(176 MB)
Sign-in
Sheet (.5 MB)
Environmental
Impact Report
After a
review of comments received on the Draft IS/MND, the CPUC determined
that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) should be prepared in
accordance with CEQA.
Notice
of Preparation and Scoping Period
The
CPUC published a Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact
Report (EIR) for the proposed project on January 17, 2014. Click here
to review the NOP.
The
CPUC accepted comments on the scope of the Draft EIR during the 30-day
scoping period that ended on February 18, 2014. The comments received
during the Draft IS/MND comment period are also being considered during
the preparation of the EIR. Comments on the Draft IS/MND and EIR
scoping comments are available below.
Comments
on the Draft IS/MND (24 MB)
Comments
on the Scope of the EIR (21 MB)
Public
Scoping Meeting
The
CPUC held a public meeting on January 29, 2014, in order
for the public and regulatory agencies to become informed about and
submit comments on the scope of the EIR.
Click
the following links to view the public meeting presentation and meeting
transcript. A Scoping Report is being prepared and will be posted below
when it is available.
Scoping Meeting Presentation (2
MB)
Scoping
Meeting Transcript (.5 MB)
For
Additional Information
Additional information will be posted at this site as it
becomes publically available.
The CPUC, through its Environmental Review Team, is
conducting an environmental review of the project. To
request additional information, ask a question, or be added to
the project mailing list,
please contact:
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Voicemail
or Fax
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v:(650)
373 - 1200, f: (650)
373 - 1211
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U.S.
Mail or Courier
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Lisa
Orsaba
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave, 4th Floor
San Francisco CA , 94102
c/o Panorama
1 Embarcadero Center, Suite 740
San Francisco, CA, 94111
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Email
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santacruz115kvproject@panoramaenv.com
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