[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28065-28068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-10802]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ADMINISTRATION

Western Area Power Administration


Record of Decision for the San Luis Transmission Project (DOE/
EIS-0496)

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Record of decision and statement of floodplain findings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a power 
marketing administration within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 
and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (Authority), a 
California joint powers agency, have prepared a joint Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the San 
Luis Transmission Project (SLTP or Proposed Project). Western is the 
Federal lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
and the Authority is the state lead agency under the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) is a NEPA Cooperating Agency. The California Department 
of Water Resources (DWR) is a CEQA Responsible Agency. Western proposes 
to construct, own, operate, and maintain approximately 95 miles of new 
transmission lines within easements ranging from 125 to 250 feet wide 
through Alameda, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced Counties along the 
foothills of the western San Joaquin Valley. Western also would upgrade 
or expand its existing substations, make the necessary arrangements to 
upgrade or expand existing Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) 
substations, or construct new substations to accommodate the 
interconnections of these new transmission lines. The Notice of 
Availability (NOA) of the Final EIS/EIR was published in the Federal 
Register on March 25, 2016 (81 FR 16175). After considering the 
environmental impacts, Western has decided to construct, operate, and 
maintain the transmission line and other project components within the 
corridors identified as the Agency Preferred Alternative in the Final 
EIS/EIR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Donald Lash, NEPA Document 
Manager, Western Area Power Administration, Sierra Nevada Region, 114 
Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA 95630-4710; telephone (916) 353-4048. Hard 
copies of the EIS/EIR are available from Mr. Lash upon request. For 
general information on DOE's NEPA review

[[Page 28066]]

process, please contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of 
NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-20, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Washington, DC 20585; telephone (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756.
    For information related to Reclamation's participation, contact Mr. 
Russell Grimes, Chief, Environmental Compliance and Conservation, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, CA 95818, telephone (916) 978-5051, email at 
[email protected]. For information related to the Authority's 
participation and the CEQA process, contact Ms. Frances Mizuno, General 
Manager, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, 15990 Kelso Road, 
Byron, CA 94514, telephone (209) 832-6200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western delivers Federal electric power 
(mostly hydroelectric power) to Federal preference customers defined to 
include municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, public utilities, 
irrigation districts, Federal and state agencies, and Native American 
tribes. Western also is responsible for making the necessary 
arrangements to deliver federal power to Federally authorized projects.
    Reclamation is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, 
supplying more than 31 million people, and providing one out of five 
western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland. 
Reclamation is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power 
in the western United States with 53 power plants that provide more 
than 40 billion kilowatt hours annually and generate nearly a billion 
dollars in power revenues. Reclamation's mission is to assist in 
meeting the increasing water demands of the West while protecting the 
environment and the public's investment in these structures. 
Reclamation emphasizes fulfilling its water delivery obligations, water 
conservation, water recycling, and reuse goals; developing partnerships 
with customers, states, and Native American tribes; and finding ways to 
address the competing needs for limited water resources.
    The Authority is a California joint powers agency, comprised of 
water agencies representing approximately 28 Federal and exchange water 
service contractors within the western San Joaquin Valley, San Benito 
and Santa Clara counties. One of the primary purposes of establishing 
the Authority was to assume the operation and maintenance 
responsibilities of certain Reclamation facilities located in the 
Central Valley, and to do so at an optimum level and at a lower cost 
than Reclamation. The Authority also has the mission of pursuing 
additional reliable water supply for its member districts and 
delivering the water with a reliable system in a cost efficient manner.
    Reclamation entered into a contract with PG&E in 1965 for power 
transmission and distribution service between Western's Tracy 
Substation and Reclamation's San Luis Unit (SLU) facilities. The 
existing transmission contract with PG&E expired in March 2016, and 
PG&E has stated it will not be renewed. Without the contract or a 
federal transmission line to serve the primary SLU facilities, the 
Federal Government will have to take transmission service under the 
California Independent System Operator Tariff. This would substantially 
increase Reclamation's transmission costs, which are paid by its water 
service contractors, including members of the Authority. Reclamation 
submitted a transmission service request to Western to consider various 
transmission service arrangements, including the construction of new 
Federal transmission lines for Reclamation's continued delivery of 
federal water after the PG&E contract expires. To meet its purpose and 
need Western must respond to Reclamation's request for transmission 
service consistent with Western's Open Access Transmission Tariff and 
existing laws. In October 2013, Duke American Transmission Company 
(DATC) submitted a transmission service request to Western for 
transmission service within the same corridor as requested by 
Reclamation. Western evaluated both requests jointly in order to 
determine if it can satisfy Reclamation's need and DATC's request with 
a single project.
    The Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS/EIR was published in 
the Federal Register on November 22, 2013 (78 FR 70035). Formal public 
scoping for the EIS/EIR began with the publication of the NOI and ended 
on January 21, 2014. Two public scoping meetings were held on January 8 
and 9, 2014. Western distributed notices to 75 local agencies, 8 state 
agencies, 6 Federal agencies, 21 organizations, and 39 elected 
officials. Western also sent postcards announcing the public scoping 
meetings and comment period to all property owners within or adjacent 
to the Proposed Project or alternative routes, and published 
advertisements on the meetings and comment period in five local 
newspapers. The NOA for the Draft EIS/EIR was published in the Federal 
Register on July 17, 2015 (80 FR 42491). The NOA established a 45-day 
public comment period that ended August 31, 2015. Two public meetings 
on the Draft EIS/EIR were held in Tracy, California, on August 10, 2015 
and Los Banos, California, on August 11, 2015. Notice of the meeting 
was provided through an advertisement in the local newspaper and direct 
mailing to approximately 475 addressees. Four individuals provided oral 
comments during the public meetings. Western received 26 comment 
letters and emails on the Draft EIS/EIR during the comment period, and 
Western considered all comments received in developing the Final EIS/
EIR. The NOA for the Final EIS/EIR was published in the Federal 
Register on March 25, 2016 (81 FR 16175). Approximately 500 
notifications were sent to landowners in the Project area and other 
agencies and stakeholders, and notices were published in online and 
printed versions of the local newspaper on March 25, 2016. Copies of 
the Final EIS/EIR were available for review at two local reading rooms 
and were available for download from Western SNR's Web site and the 
project Web site. A copy of the EIS/EIR was sent to those who requested 
one.

Proposed Action

    The SLTP would consist of: (1) A new 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission 
line about 65 miles in length between the new Tracy East and Los Banos 
West Substations; (2) a new 230-kV transmission line about 3 miles in 
length between the new Los Banos West Substation and Western's existing 
San Luis Substation; (3) a new 230-kV transmission line about 20 miles 
in length between Western's existing San Luis Substation and Western's 
existing Dos Amigos Substation or a new 230-kV transmission line about 
18 miles in length between the new Los Banos West Substation and 
Western's existing Dos Amigos Substation; (4) an interconnection with 
the existing Western 500-kV Los Banos-Gates No. 3 transmission line 
just south of PG&E's existing Los Banos Substation into the new Los 
Banos West Substation; and (5) a new 70-kV transmission line about 7 
miles in length between the existing San Luis and O'Neill Substations.
    Additional components of the SLTP would include new 230-kV line 
terminal bays at Western's San Luis and Dos Amigos Substations, as well 
as a new 230/70-kV transformer bank and interconnection facilities at 
the San Luis Substation. The SLTP also would include ancillary 
facilities, such as communication facilities, improvements to existing 
access roads, new permanent access roads, and temporary access roads to 
facilitate construction activities. Western would acquire the

[[Page 28067]]

necessary easements and fee land for the Proposed Project.
    Western implements Environmental Protection Measures (EPMs) and 
Construction Standards to reduce environmental consequences associated 
with its construction and maintenance activities. The Final EIS 
analysis of environmental consequences considered the EPMs listed in 
Table 2-5 and the Construction Standards presented in Appendix F to the 
Final EIS as integral components of the Proposed Action. These EPMs and 
Construction Standards would be implemented as part of the Proposed 
Project.

Description of Alternatives

    Western analyzed six corridor alternatives and the No Action/No 
Project alternative in the EIS/EIR. An additional seven alternatives 
were considered in a screening process and eliminated from further 
review based on feasibility considerations. Western divided the 
Proposed Project, at common points of the corridors, into four segments 
(North, Central, San Luis, South) and examined available alternatives. 
Alternative corridors are presented by segment in Table 1, with the 
Agency Preferred Alternative shown in highlight: 
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN09MY16.295

    The No Action/No Project Alternative is the Environmentally 
Preferred Alternative because it would avoid any adverse direct, 
indirect, or cumulative environmental impacts. However, the No Action/
No Project Alternative would not achieve the purpose and need or basic 
project objectives. Therefore, an environmentally preferred action 
alternative was identified among the other (i.e., action) alternatives. 
The Environmentally Preferred Action Alternative is comprised of:

North Segment--Proposed Route;
Central Segment--Patterson Pass Road Alternative;
San Luis Segment (500-kV)--Proposed Route;
San Luis Segment (70-kV)--Proposed Route; and
South Segment--San Luis to Dos Amigos Alternative.

    After analysis of public comments and further internal review of 
the EIS/EIR, Western has determined its Agency Preferred Alternative is 
the same as the Environmentally Preferred Action Alternative in the 
Northern and San Luis (500-kV and 70-kV) segments. In the Central 
Segment, the Proposed Route is the Agency Preferred Alternative. 
Although it would be closer to residences and have slight increases in 
the associated visual and temporary noise impacts, it would have less 
of an impact on biological resources. In particular, it would impact 
fewer special-status plant species. Additionally, it would require 
fewer crossings of the existing high voltage transmission lines, which 
would increase reliability by providing more space between circuits. In 
the South Segment, the Billy Wright Road Alternative is the Agency 
Preferred Alternative. Although it would have greater recreation 
impacts by crossing the Path of the Padres Trail and slightly greater 
soil disturbance due to its longer length, it would avoid conflicts 
with the Wright Solar Park, which is now fully permitted and expected 
to begin construction in 2016.
    The Agency Preferred Alternative is comprised of:

North Segment--Proposed Route;
Central Segment--Proposed Route;
San Luis Segment (500-kV)--Proposed Route;
San Luis Segment (70-kV)--Proposed Route; and
South Segment--Billy Wright Road Alternative.

Mitigation Measures

    All methods identified in Final EIS Table 6.1 to avoid, minimize, 
and mitigate environmental impacts from the selected alternative are 
adopted in this Record of Decision. Western's standard practices and 
project-specific protection measures, listed in the Final EIS/EIR, will 
be implemented as part of the Proposed Action, as will all terms and 
conditions of any required permits or consultation agreements.

Floodplain Statement of Findings

    In accordance with 10 CFR part 1022, Western considered the 
potential impacts of the Project on floodplains and wetlands. The 
Project could affect floodplains through ground disturbance associated 
with construction and operations and maintenance activities, including 
operation of heavy equipment, grading, and vegetation clearing for 
access roads, site leveling,

[[Page 28068]]

auguring of transmission tower foundations, and other infrastructure 
excavations. The Project will place new structures outside of 
floodplains where possible. In areas where floodplains cannot be 
avoided, Western will engineer transmission towers to withstand a 100-
year flood. Additionally, new structures will be located and designed 
so as not to impede flood flows. All construction within a designated 
100-year floodplain will be undertaken in consultation with the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers. No floodwater will be blocked, nor will 
floodwater be diverted outside of an existing floodplain. If avoidance 
is infeasible, transmission towers will be located and engineered so as 
not to block or substantially alter the natural drainage pattern. In 
accordance with Western's Environmental Protection Measures and 
Construction Standard 13, culverts or bridges will be installed where 
needed to avoid surface water impacts during construction of 
transmission line structures.

Decision

    Western's decision is to construct the project along the Agency 
Preferred Alternative described in the Final EIS/EIR. The measures 
identified in Final EIS Table 6.1 are adopted as part of this decision. 
The selection of the Agency Preferred Alternative, the adopted measures 
from Final EIS Table 6.1, and all terms and conditions of required 
permits and consultation agreements satisfies Western's statutory 
mission while minimizing harm to the environment. This decision is 
based on the information in the Final EIS/EIR. The EIS including this 
Record of Decision was prepared according to the requirements of NEPA 
(42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality's 
regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and DOE's 
procedures for implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 1021).

    Dated: April 29, 2016.
Mark A. Gabriel,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-10802 Filed 5-6-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P