Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of proposed construction of the Devers–Palo Verde No. 2 (DPV2) Transmission Line Project. An application for this project was submitted to the CPUC on April 11, 2005. The application was determined to be complete and in compliance with CPUC requirements on September 30, 2005. The CPUC approved the DPV2 Project on January 25, 2007 in Decision D.07-01-040 and certified the EIR as being in compliance with the requirements of CEQA.

On May 14, 2008, SCE filed a Petition for Modification (PFM) of the existing Certificate for Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) approved per Decision D.07-01-040. SCE requested that the CPUC authorize SCE to construct DPV2 facilities in only the California portion of DPV2 and the Midpoint Substation near Blythe, California. The CPUC approved SCE’s PFM on November 20, 2009 in Decision D.09-11-007. The BLM issued its Record of Decision approving the project on July 19, 2011.

This site provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review process.

Construction Progress and Mitigation Monitoring

Construction of the Devers-Palo Verde No. 2 Project is scheduled to begin in June 2011 with the establishment of some construction and helicopter yards. Notices to Proceed (NTPs) will be issued by the CPUC for each construction activity. The majority of construction is expected to start in Fall 2011 once the CPUC and each applicable agency (BLM and/or USFS) issues NTPs for the transmission line construction. Issuance of NTPs will be contingent upon SCE compliance with pre-construction requirements as specified by the approved mitigation measures and responsible agency permitting requirements. NTPs that have been issued to SCE are noted in the table below.

Work Package	Description	Jurisdiction	Type	NTP Request Submitted	NTP Issued	Construction Authorized¹
Colorado River-Devers	Colorado River Substation (CRD MP0) to Devers Substation (CRD MP109.6)	CPUC BLM	500 kV Overhead	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Devers-Valley	Devers Substation (DV MP0) to Valley Substation (DV MP42)	CPUC BLM USFS	500 kV Overhead	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Colorado River Substation	Colorado River Substation construction (CRS MP0)	CPUC BLM	New 500/230 kV Substation	Not yet submitted. CPUC decision on SCE's PTC application expected by September 2011	Not yet issued	N/A
Devers Substation Improvements	Devers Substation improvements (CRS MP109.6/DV MP0)	CPUC BLM	Substation Upgrades	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Valley Substation Improvements	Valley Substation improvements (DV MP42)	CPUC BLM	Substation Upgrades	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Telecom	Telecommunication facilities (Colorado River-Devers & Devers-Valley)	CPUC BLM	OPGW, fiber optics, & microwave towers, etc.	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Distribution	Distribution power line (Colorado River Substation)	CPUC BLM	Light/power for Colorado River Substation	Not yet submitted	Not yet issued	N/A
Construction and Helicopter Yards	Along Colorado River-Devers & Devers-Valley	CPUC	Material storage, marshalling, tower assembly, batch plants, and helicopter staging	Revised NTPR (4.9MB) submitted to CPUC on 5/20/11	CPUC NTP #1 for construction yards issued 6/23/11	Not yet authorized

1 - Compliance with all remaining pre-construction mitigation measures and NTP conditions satisfied

The CPUC, in conjunction with SDG&E, BLM, USFS and other Responsible Agencies, drafted a Mitigation Monitoring Compliance and Reporting Program (MMCRP) to ensure compliance with mitigation measures approved in the Final EIR/EIS, as well as with the terms and conditions associated with the BLM right-of-way. Although changes may be made to the document as construction progresses, a current final version of the MMCRP document and attachments, including a map of the approved route, is found here.

A CPUC Environmental Monitor (EM) is monitoring construction activities to ensure that they are conducted in accordance with the approved mitigation measures and permit conditions. Weekly reports documenting construction status and compliance activities will be posted here when construction begins.

As defined by the MMCRP, at various times throughout project construction, the need for extra workspace or additional access roads may be identified. Similarly, changes to the project requirements (e.g., mitigation measures, specifications, etc.) may be needed to facilitate construction (e.g., nighttime construction in response to a planned power outage) or provide more effective protection of resources (e.g., installation of additional erosion control outside of approved disturbance areas). The CPUC Project Manager, along with the CPUC EMs, will implement the variance procedures defined in the MMCRP to evaluate each proposed project change for its potential for creating significant environmental effects to determine whether supplemental CEQA and/or NEPA review is required. Variance Requests processed to date are provided in the table below.

Variance Request	Date Requested	Date Issued	Segment	Description
#1	5/6/11	5/24/11	Devers-Valley	Variance from Mitigation Measures V-3a and V-40a to allow for construction of traditional lattice towers instead of “Tetra” towers at two locations.
#2	4/21/11	5/25/11	All	Variance from Mitigation Measure B-7d pertaining to seasonal restrictions in Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard and flat-tailed horned lizard habit.
#3	7/12/11	7/18/11	DC-1 and DC-2 Yards	Variance to utilize offsite well location area for filling water trucks.
#4	7/6/11	7/21/11	Menifee Yard	Variance to add the western portion of the parcel (approximately 5 acres) to make additional area available for material storage and other activities.

Project Refinements Report

The CPUC has published a Mitigation Consistency Determination Memorandum on SCE's proposed Project Refinements. After careful review of the proposed modifications, as documented in the Mitigation Consistency Determination Memorandum, the CPUC has determined that the changes to the DPV2 Project are within the scope of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the CPUC.

Background: After the California-only project was approved by CPUC in November 2009, SCE began the process of completing final project design and engineering. As is common, some project components were modified as engineering was completed. Modifications result from compliance with adopted mitigation measures requiring resource avoidance to minimize or avoid environmental impacts and final engineering design requirements. In addition, project components may be relocated to accommodate landowner location preferences where possible in compliance with mitigation requirements.

Information regarding final project design was provided by SCE to the CPUC and BLM in two Project Refinements Reports, dated August 2010 and October 2010. In addition to the refinements outlined in the August 2010 and October 2010 Project Refinements Reports, SCE proposed two additional construction yards in April 2011.

The Project Refinements Reports define changes made to the project along the entire route after publication of the Final EIR/EIS, explain the reason for each change, and present the comparative environmental impacts of the project components analyzed in the Final EIR/EIS and those presented in the Project Refinements Reports. SCE's Project Refinements Reports are found here.

Focused Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report – Released April 29, 2011

The Draft Supplemental EIR was released on February 22, 2011 and is available here. The comment period on the Draft Supplemental EIR closed on April 8, 2011. Twelve comment letters were received and are available here.

The Final Supplemental EIR was released on April 29, 2011 and is available here. The Final Supplemental EIR includes all comments and responses to comments that were submitted during the comment period on the Draft Supplemental EIR.

Background. After the CPUC's 2009 Decision regarding the PFM, several large solar power projects were proposed in the Blythe area. Two of these projects, the Blythe Solar Power Project and the Genesis Solar Energy Project, have requested interconnection to the electricity grid at the Desert Southwest–Midpoint Substation. As a result, the solar developers and SCE developed a plan to expand the Midpoint Substation, now known as the Colorado River Substation, to allow the required space for generation tie lines to be interconnected with the SCE 500 kV transmission system. SCE filed a Permit to Construct application addressing the substation expansion (A.10-11-005). This expansion was not covered in the original EIR/EIS because the solar power projects had not yet been proposed.

During 2009 to 2010, the Blythe Solar Power Project and the Genesis Solar Energy Project have been evaluated under CEQA and NEPA by the BLM and the California Energy Commission. The environmental review documents addressed the Colorado River Substation expansion but they did not adequately cover all issues that the CPUC requires to be addressed in accordance with CEQA. Therefore, the CPUC prepared a Focused Supplemental EIR to address only the specific issues not yet covered for its purposes by the previous environmental review.

A Notice of Preparation (NOP) was sent to interested agencies and members of the public in October 2010 and can be accessed here. The CPUC held a 30-day scoping period soliciting information regarding the topics that should be included in the Focused Supplemental EIR for the Colorado River Substation expansion. Copies of all letters received and a summary of the scoping process and scoping comments are included in a Scoping Report (December 2010), which can be accessed here.

All documents filed as part of the CPUC’s proceeding (A.10-11-005) can be accessed here.

Draft and Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement

The CPUC and BLM released the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS) for the proposed project on May 4, 2006.

The submittal period for public comments on the Draft EIR/EIS was extended from July 5, 2006 to August 11, 2006.

The Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS) was issued on October 24, 2006. The Final EIR/EIS consists of three volumes. Volumes I and II are completely re-printed from the Draft EIR/EIS. Changes made to the Draft EIR/EIS are marked in Volumes I and II: inserted text is underlined and deleted text is shown in strikeout. Volume III consists of all comments in the Draft EIR/EIS and responses to comments.

Over 475 pages of comments on the Draft EIR/EIS were submitted to the BLM and the CPUC, including transcripts from the July 2006 Public Participation Hearings.

NEPA Process and BLM Record of Decision

The BLM published a Notice of Availability of the Final EIR/EIS for DPV2 on March 15, 2007 in the Federal Register (Volume 72, Number 50; page 12185). BLM published a Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision approving the DPV2 project on July 19, 2011 in the Federal Register (Volume 76, Number 138, page 42725).

The Department of the Interior (DOI) Control No. for the EIS is FES-06-48.

Other Documents Available

Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Notice of Public Scoping Meetings (October 21, 2005)
Notice of Intent (December 7, 2005; Federal Register Vol. 70, No. 234)
Scoping Report (December 2005)
Addendum to the Scoping Report (February 2006)
Notice of Availability (October 24, 2006)
SCE’s Application and Proponent’s Environmental Assessment (April 11, 2005)

For Additional Information

The environmental team for the DPV2 Project can be reached at:

Voice messages or faxes: (800) 491-6153

Email: dpv2@aspeneg.com

The CPUC's Project Manager is: