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. 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.

EIR/EIS Scoping

On August 31, 2006, the BLM published its Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register (Volume 71, No. 169, page 51848). On September 15, 2006, the CPUC issued a Notice of Preparation/Notice of Public Scoping Meetings for an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement. In early October 2006, the CPUC and BLM held a series of seven public scoping meetings in Imperial and San Diego Counties to take public comment on the scope and content of the environmental document. The scoping comment period ended on October 20, 2006.

A Scoping Report (Part 1) was prepared and was sent to all repositories on November 29, 2006; see the list of available documents below. The Scoping Report includes a copy of every letter submitted, as well as transcripts of the public scoping meetings and summaries of issues raised during scoping.

Decisions on EIR/EIS Alternatives

January 2007 Notice of Second Round of Scoping Meetings on Alternatives to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project. The CPUC and BLM held a second scoping period during January and February 2007 in order to hear input on alternatives to the Sunrise Powerlink Project. The comment period ended on February 24, 2007. A second Scoping Report was prepared that documents all comments received during the second scoping period, including copies of all comment letters and transcripts of oral comments made at the February 5-9, 2007 Public Meetings on Alternatives. The Scoping Report (Part 2) is included in the document list below and copies have been placed in local document repository sites.

March 2007 Notice on Alternatives Conclusions. The CPUC/BLM Notice Regarding Conclusions on EIR/EIS Alternatives to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project was mailed to everyone on the project mailing list during the week of March 19, 2007. The Notice and the seven maps referenced in it may be viewed at the links presented below under "Documents Available."

May 2007 Notice on Modified Route D Alternative. The conclusions presented in the March Notice referenced above were based on the feedback received from the public and agencies, along with research conducted by the EIR/EIS team. Following the publication of that Notice, additional input was received from the Cleveland National Forest (Forest), including Forest's request that an alternative be fully analyzed in the EIR/EIS that would not require an amendment to the Forest's 2005 Land Management Plan. As a result, portions of the Route D Alternative that were previously considered and eliminated have been combined with new route segments, and will be analyzed in the EIR/EIS. The CPUC/BLM Notice Regarding an Additional EIR/EIS Alternative to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project was mailed in mid-May to announce this change.

The May Notice announced a third 30-day public comment period that ended in mid-June 2007. The comment letters that were received during May and June 2007 are available for review.

From mid-June through September 2007, the EIR/EIS Team reviewed comments on the Modified Route D Alternative and evaluated suggested route changes. Public comments were accepted into early October 2007, in order to allow concerns about this alternative to be reviewed by the EIR/EIS team. The comment letters that were received between mid-June and October 2007 are available for review.

Documents Available

Except as noted with an asterisk (*), the following documents are available at 28 libraries and offices in the project area.

 — Comment letters received on the Modified Route D Alternative from mid-June to October 2007

 — Comment letters received in response to the May 16, 2007 Notice on the Modified Route D Alternative*

 — CPUC/BLM Notice Regarding an Additional EIR/EIS Alternative to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project (May 16, 2007)

 — Scoping Report, Part 2 (April 2, 2007)

 — Notice Regarding Conclusions on EIR/EIS Alternatives to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project (March 16, 2007)

Figure 1. Imperial Valley Link Alternatives
Figure 2. Anza-Borrego Link Alternatives
Figure 3. Central Link Alternatives
Figure 4. Inland Valley Link Alternatives
Figure 5. Coastal Link Alternatives Retained
Figure 6. Coastal Link Alternatives Eliminated
Figure 7. Southwest Powerlink Alternatives

 — Notice of Second Round of Scoping Meetings on Alternatives to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project (January 22, 2007)

Figure 1. Sunrise Powerlink Project Overview
Figure 2. Imperial Valley Link Alternatives
Figure 3. Anza-Borrego Link Alternatives
Figure 4. Central Link Alternatives
Figure 5. Inland Valley Link Alternatives
Figure 6. Coastal Link Alternatives Retained
Figure 7. Coastal Link Alternatives Eliminated
Figure 8. Southwest Powerlink Alternatives
Figure 9. Non-Wires Alternatives
Figure 10. System Alternatives

 — Scoping Report, Part 1 (November 29, 2006)

 — Notice of Preparation (NOP) (September 15, 2006)

Figure 1. Proposed Project Overview
Figure 2. Imperial Valley Link
Figure 3. Anza-Borrego Link
Figure 4A. Central Link
Figure 4B. Proposed Central East Substation
Figure 5A. Inland Valley Link
Figure 5B. Detail of Ramona Area
Figure 6A. Coastal Link
Figure 6B. Rancho Peñasquitos Detail
Figure 7. SDG&E Alternatives Fully Evaluated and Carried Forward in PEA
Figure 8. SDG&E Alternatives Considered and Eliminated

 — Notice of Intent (August 31, 2006)

 — SDG&E's Application and Proponent's Environmental Assessment (August 4, 2006).

Data Requests

The EIR/EIS Team will submit Data Requests to SDG&E when it needs specific information to support EIR/EIS preparation. These requests will be made available here at the time they are issued. Data requests submitted to SDG&E to date are provided below. Responses to these data requests can be found at SDG&E's website.

Data Request No. 1 (September 27, 2006)
Data Request No. 2 (November 15, 2006)
Data Request No. 3 (November 21, 2006)
Data Request No. 4 (December 6, 2006)
Data Request No. 5 (January 8, 2007)
Data Request No. 6 (January 26, 2007)
Data Request No. 7 (February 1, 2007)
Data Request No. 8 (February 16, 2007)
Data Request No. 9 (March 27, 2007)
Data Request No. 10 (April 23, 2007)
Data Request No. 11 (May 7, 2007)
Data Request No. 12 - original (May 15, 2007)
Data Request No. 12 - modified (June 27, 2007)
Data Request No. 13 (May 21, 2007)
Data Request No. 14 (June 1, 2007)
Data Request No. 15 - original (June 27, 2007)
Data Request No. 15 - modified (July 27), 2007)
Data Request No. 16 (July 6, 2007)
Data Request No. 17 (July 27, 2007)

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: