[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 146 (Monday, August 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18606]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 11373-000]

 

SOCAL Energy Limited Partnership; Intent To Prepare a Joint 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report, Conduct 
Public Scoping Meetings and Site Visit, and Request Additional 
Scientific Studies

July 26, 1994.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the City of San 
Diego (City) have received a proposal to construct the proposed Boulder 
Valley Pumped Storage Project, FERC No. 11373-000, City DEP No. 93-
0684. The project would utilize the San Vicente Reservoir located in 
San Diego County, California, about 30 miles northeast of downtown San 
Diego.
    The FERC staff has determined that licensing this project would 
constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality 
of the human environment. Therefore, the staff intends to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) on the hydroelectric project in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
    The City is the state lead agency charged under the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with the responsibility for 
preparation on an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The City will be a 
cooperating agency in preparing the EIS. The City will fulfill their 
CEQA responsibilities in part by participating actively in the 
scheduled scoping meetings and in the preparation of a joint EIS/EIR.
    All agencies, organizations, and members of the public electing to 
exercise their right to comment on the scope and content of the EIS/EIR 
under NEPA and CEQA guidelines should participate directly in the joint 
EIS/EIR process conducted by FERC and the City as the lead agencies 
under NEPA and CEQA, respectively.
    The review process being utilized for the Boulder Valley Pumped 
Storage Project will initiate environmental compliance under NEPA and 
CEQA concurrently with the preparation of the license application. 
Under the Integrated Environmental Compliance process, scoping and 
draft EIS/EIR preparation will occur prior to the filing of the final 
license application with FERC. Participation by interested agencies and 
members of the public in the early initiation of the NEPA/CEQA process 
is essential because this process will not be repeated upon the filing 
of the final license application.
    The EIS/EIR will objectively consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the project and reasonable 
alternatives, and will include an economic, financial, and engineering 
analysis. A draft EIS/EIR will be circulated for review and comment by 
all interested parties, and FERC and the City will hold a public 
meeting on the draft EIS/EIR. All comments filed on the draft EIS/EIR 
will be analyzed by the staffs and considered in a final EIS/EIR. The 
staffs' conclusions and recommendations will then be presented for the 
consideration by the Commission in reaching its final licensing 
decision and for the consideration by the City Council in reaching its 
certification decision under CEQA.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC and the City will conduct two scoping meetings on August 22 
and 23, 1994. These meetings are scheduled as follows:

August 22, 1994, 7:00 pm, City of Poway, Council Chamber, 13325 Civic 
Center Drive, Poway, California
August 23, 1994, 10:00 am, City of San Diego, Water Utilities 
Department, 5540 Kiowa Drive, La Mesa, California

    The morning meeting is oriented towards the resource agencies and 
the evening meeting towards the public; however, you may attend either 
meeting. We'll treat written and verbal responses equally.
    Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
comment on the scope of the proposed EIS/EIR. Scoping will help ensure 
that a full range of issues related to this proposal are addressed in 
the EIS/EIR, and also will identify significant or potentially 
significant impacts that may result from the proposed project.
    To help focus discussions at the meetings, a preliminary scoping 
document (Scoping Document I) outlining subject areas to be addressed 
in the EIS/EIR will be mailed to agencies and interested individuals on 
the FERC and City mailing lists. Copies of Scoping Document I will also 
be available at the scoping meetings.
    Objectives--At the scoping meetings, the FERC staff will: (1) 
identify preliminary environmental issues related to the proposed 
project; (2) identify preliminary resource issues that are not 
important and do not require detailed analysis; (3) identify reasonable 
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS; (4) solicit from the meeting 
participants all available information, especially quantified data, on 
the resource issues; and (5) encourage statements from experts and the 
public on issues that should be analyzed in the EIS, including points 
of view in opposition to, or in support of, the staffs' preliminary 
views.
    Procedures--The meetings will be recorded by a court reporter and 
all statements (oral and written) thereby become a part of the formal 
record of the Commission proceedings for the Boulder Valley Project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be asked to 
clearly identify themselves for the record. Responsible agencies are 
requested to include their statutory responsibilities in connection 
with this project when responding.
    Persons choosing not to speak at the meetings, but who have views 
on the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written 
statements for inclusion in the public record at the meetings. In 
addition, written scoping comments may be filed with the Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 
Washington, D.C. 20426, and the City of San Diego, Development Services 
Department, 1222 First Avenue, 5th Floor, San Diego, California, 92107 
until September 23, 1994.
    All written correspondence should clearly show the following 
caption on the first page: Boulder Valley Pumped Storage Project, FERC 
Project No. 11373-000, DEP No. 93-0684.

Site Visit:

    A site visit to the Boulder Valley Hydro Project is planned for 
August 22, 1994. Those who wish to attend should plan to meet at 9:00 
am at the gated entrance to San Vicente Reservoir or contact Alan 
Mitchnick, (202) 219-2826 for details.

Consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer

    With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the State 
Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), as required by Sec. 106 of the 
National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of the Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR at Sec. 800.4.

Additional Scientific Study Requests

    In accordance with section 4.32(b)(7) of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, SHPO, Indian Tribe, or person 
believes that an additional scientific study should be conducted in 
order to form an adequate, factual basis for a complete analysis of 
this project on its merits, they must file a request for the study with 
the Commission, together with justification for such request, not later 
than September 23, 1994, and serve a copy of the request on the 
potential applicant. This substitutes for the request for additional 
scientific studies made at the time of tendering for filing of an 
application under the traditional licensing process.
    For further information on this process, please contact Alan 
Mitchnick, FERC, (202) 219-2826, or Cathy Cibit, City of San Diego 
(619) 236-6267.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-18606 Filed 7-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P