PURPOSE AND NEED
The purpose of this Federal action is to evaluate the proposed
action and related impacts; and the need is to respond to a right-of-way
application for the Ivanpah-Control 115 kilovolt subtransmission line on Bureau of
Land Management administered lands for construction, operations, and
maintenance.
The need is established by the Bureau of Land Management’s
responsibility under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).
The applicant
is Southern California Edison and their purpose for the Project is to ensure
compliance with California Public Utilities Commission’s General Order 95 and
National Electric Reliability Corporation reliability standards. Their proposed
action is implementing engineering solutions to remediate approximately 2,950
discrepancies along the Ivanpah-Control alignment, continue to provide safe and
reliable electrical service, meet Project needs while minimizing environmental
impacts, and to design and construct the physical components of the Project in
conformance with industry and/or Southern California Edison’s approved
engineering, design, and construction standards for substation and sub transmission system projects.
The BLM is the lead
federal agency for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and will conduct an analysis of the proposed action, potential alternatives and related impacts to include
regulatory compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, which will include other entities as required
by law and regulation. The BLM will work in a parallel fashion with the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) throughout the process, though both entities will conduct their own
analysis.
Cooperating agencies
include the following: National Park Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers; Environmental Protection Agency; Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Naval
Air Weapons Station China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, and Fort Irwin National Training Center and Marine Corps
Logistics Base Barstow; and San Bernardino, Inyo, and Kern Counties.
