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 two web pages for Applications A.06-0-8010 and A.05-12-014 list 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.

Second Round of Scoping on Alternatives

The CPUC and BLM will hold public meetings from February 5 through February 9, 2007 in order to hear input on alternatives to the Sunrise Powerlink Project. The meeting schedule is presented in the table below. This notice lists all alternatives that were considered by the EIR/EIS team and states whether each alternative is recommended for detailed EIR/EIS analysis or for elimination.

Notice of Second Round of Scoping Meetings on Alternatives to the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Project

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

At the scoping meetings, the CPUC and BLM will ask for public input regarding the preliminary determinations on alternatives. In addition, written comments may be submitted. All comments must be received or postmarked by February 24, 2007. You may submit comments in a variety of ways: (1) by U.S. Mail, (2) by electronic mail, (3) by fax, or (4) by attending a Public Scoping Meeting (see times and locations in the table below) and making a verbal statement or handing in written comments at the scoping meetings.

How to Submit Scoping Comments

By Mail: If you send comments by U.S. mail, please use first-class mail and be sure to include your name and a return address. Please send written comments to:

By Electronic Mail: E-mail communications are welcome; however, please remember to include your name and return address in the e-mail message. E-mail messages should be sent to sunrise@aspeneg.com.

By Fax: You may fax your comment letter to our information line at (866) 711-3106. Please remember to include your name and return address in the fax, to write legibly, and use black or blue ink.

September/October 2006 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.

A second Scoping Report will be prepared in March 2007, summarizing all comments received (including oral comments made at the Public Meetings on Alternatives). This report will be posted on this website and copies will be placed in local document repository sites.

Documents Available

The following documents are available at 28 libraries and offices in the project area.

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

 — Notice of Intent (August 31, 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

 — Scoping Report, Part 1 (November 29, 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)

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: