U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
California
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Sunrise Powerlink Project The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) have prepared the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for consideration of the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Line Project. The Final EIR/EIS has been prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and incorporates changes resulting from comments submitted during the Draft EIR/EIS comment period (January 2, 2008 through April 11, 2008) and the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS comment period (July 2, 2008 through August 25, 2008). SDG&E proposes to construct a new 91-mile, 500 kilovolt (kV) electric transmission 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, southwest of the intersection of County Highways S22 and S2) and a new 59-mile 230 kV transmission line that includes both overhead and underground segments from the new Central East Substation to SDG&E’s existing Peñasquitos Substation (in the City of San Diego). Project History and Status On January 3, 2008, the CPUC and BLM published a Draft EIR/EIS on the Sunrise Powerlink Project. The Draft EIR/EIS contained 7,500+ pages in six volumes. It included the analysis of Proposed Project’s effects, as well as the analysis of future possible transmission lines and “connected actions” that are likely to be built if the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line were built. A 90-day comment period on the Draft EIR/EIS ended on April 11, 2008. Nine workshops and five public participation hearings were held during the comment period, and nearly 2,300 pages of written comments were submitted. After the comment period, two additional public participation hearings were held on May 12, 2008 in Borrego Springs, California. A Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS was published on July 11, 2008 to address: (1) new and revised analysis of the La Rumorosa Wind Project in Mexico and associated transmission/substation upgrades in the U.S.; (2) description and analysis of several transmission line route revisions; (3) revision of components of the Environmentally Superior Alternatives for northern and southern transmission line routes. A 45-day comment period followed, ending on August 25, 2008. Two workshops were held on August 4, 2008. Nearly 900 pages of written comments were submitted. The Final EIR/EIS consists of the Draft EIR/EIS and the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS, as revised in response to comments received on these documents. Additionally, it consists of all comments on the Draft EIR/EIS and the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS as well as responses of the Lead Agencies to all comments. Complete lists of all persons, organizations, and public agencies commenting on the Draft EIR/EIS and the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS are presented in Section 1 of the Final EIR/EIS. Section 2 presents comprehensive “General Responses” to issues raised numerous times in comments made by multiple commenters. The comments and responses to comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS are presented in Section 3, and the comments and responses to comments received on the Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS are presented in Section 4. The following three components make up the Final EIR/EIS.
Copies of the Final EIR/EIS have been mailed to parties of the CPUC’s General Proceeding; to Federal, State, and local government agencies that commented on the Draft EIR/EIS; as well as to some members of the public. Copies of the Final EIR/EIS on DVD or a separately bound Executive Summary (with DVD included) may be requested by phone or fax at (866) 711-3106 or by e-mail at sunrise@aspeneg.com. A limited number of printed copies of the four volume comments and responses to comments document, including a DVD of the complete Draft EIR/EIS documents, is available upon request at the telephone number and e-mail address above. The document is also available on the CPUC’s project website at: BLM Decision Process The Final EIR/EIS and Proposed Land Use Plan Amendment will be available for review for 30 calendar days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register, which is expected to occur on October 17, 2008. The review period would end on November 15, 2008. At a minimum, a ROD cannot be issued until this 30-day period has lapsed. Pursuant to BLM’s planning regulations at 43 CFR 1610.5-2, any person who participated in the planning process for the proposed plan amendment and has an interest which is or may be adversely affected by the planning decisions may protest approval of the planning decision within the above described 30 day review period. The protest period cannot be extended. For further information on filing a protest, please see protest regulations. The regulations specify the required elements of your protest. Take care to document all relevant facts. As much as possible, reference or cite the planning documents or available planning records (e.g. meeting minutes or summaries, correspondence, etc.). E-mailed and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-mailed or faxed protest as an advance copy and will afford it full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of Brenda Hudgens-Williams- BLM protest coordinator at 202-452-5112, and e-mailed protests to: Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov. All protests, including the follow-up letter (if e-mailing or faxing) must be in writing and mailed to the following address: Regular Mail: Overnight Mail: Director (210) Director (210) Attention: Brenda Williams Attention: Brenda Williams P.O. Box 66538 1620 L Street, N.W., Suite 1075 Washington, D.C. 20035 Washington, D.C. 20036 The BLM Director will make every attempt to promptly render a decision on each protest. The decision will be in writing and will be sent to the protesting party by certified mail, return receipt requested. The decision of the BLM Director shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. The BLM must resolve any protests on the proposed land use plan amendment before issuing a ROD. If no changes to the Final EIR/EIS are warranted based on the comments, the BLM will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD), which documents the selected alternative and specific mitigation measures. For more information, please visit California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
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