(DOE/EIS-0414-S1) SUPPLEMENTAL TO THE ENERGIA SIERRA JUAREZ U.S. TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT September 2018 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Washington, DC 20585 COVER SHEET Responsible Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Electricity (OE) Title: Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Energia Sierra Juarez (ESJ) Transmission Line Project Final EIS (DOE/EIS-0414-S1) Location: San Diego County, California, Baja California, Mexico Contacts: For additional information on this Draft SEIS) contact: Brian Mills, Document Manager Office of Electricity, OE-20 U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585 Telephone: (202) 586-8267 [email protected] Abstract: A DOE Presidential permit (PP) is required before anyone can construct, operate, maintain, and connect an electric transmission line across the U.S. border. In December, 2007, Energia Sierra Juarez U.S. Transmission, LLC (ESJ) applied to DOE for a PP for an electric transmission line that would cross the international border between the U.S. and Mexico, near the town of Jacumba, California. In May 2012, DOE completed and released the ESJ Transmission Line Project Final EIS (DOE/EIS-0414) (Final EIS) that analyzed the potential environmental impacts associated with the PP requested by ESJ. DOE issued PP-334 to ESJ on August 31, 2012. The ESJ U.S. Transmission line, and an associated transmission line and wind farm in Mexico (constructed by an ESJ affiliate) were completed and operational by June 2015. DOE’s issuance of PP-334 was challenged in an action filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California (“the Court”) in December 2012. 1 In August, 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California cited ‘deficiencies’ in DOE’s FEIS and ordered DOE to prepare this Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) (DOE/EIS-0414-S1) for the Energia Sierra Juarez U.S. Transmission Line Project EIS. As a result, this SEIS includes the consideration of distributed power generation (generating power closer to the point of consumption, such as rooftop solar panels) as an alternative to the U.S. ESJ transmission line. This SEIS also includes an evaluation of potential environmental impacts in Mexico from the associated transmission line and wind farm in Mexico by incorporating analyses previously performed by the appropriate regulatory or permitting agencies in Mexico. DOE is preparing this SEIS in compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE’s NEPA regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). Copies of the SEIS may be obtained through requests submitted to Brian Mills. The SEIS will also be made available for public review via the project Website (http://www.esjprojecteis.org/). 1 The Court did not vacate PP-334 pending DOE’s completion of the SEIS. The permit currently remains in effect and the ESJ transmission line continues to operate, transmitting electricity generated at the Mexican Wind Farm to the electric grid in California. ESJ SEIS Table of Contents COVER SHEET SUMMARY S.1 Background .......................................................................................................... S-1 S.2 Purpose and Need .............................................................................................. S-2 S.3 Distributed Generation Alternative ...................................................................... S-2 S.4 Impacts in Mexico................................................................................................ S-2 S.4.1 ESJ U.S. Transmission Line …………………………………………………....S-2 S.4.2 ESJ Wind project in Mexico…………………………………………………...S-2 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background………………………………………………………......…………1 1,1,1 Overview of the ESJ U.S. Transmission Line Project Presidential Permit Process……………………………………………………..1 1.1.2 Description of the ESJ U.S. Transmission Line………………………………..3 1.1.3 Description of the ESJ Wind project and transmission line in Mexico...............3 1.2 Purpose and Need………………………………………………………………6 1.2.1 The purpose and need from the Final ESJ EIS …………………………6 SECTION 2 PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES 2.1 Proposed Action and Alternatives …………………………………………6 2.1.1 DOE Proposed Action……………………………………………………6 2.1.2 Applicants Project Overview……………………………………………..6 2.2 Distributed Generation Alternative ……………………………………......7 2.3 ESJ Wind Project in Mexico……………………………………………......9 SECTION 3 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, IMPACT ANALYSIS, AND MITIGATION 3.1 Affected Environment of the ESJ Wind Project in Mexico………………10 3.1.1 Mexican Permits and Approvals ………………………………………..11 3.2 ESJ Wind Project in Mexico Environmental Impacts and Mitigation…….12 3.3 ESJ U.S. Transmission Line Environmetal Impacts in Mexico and Mitigation…………………………………………………………14 SECTION 4 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………….14 SECTION 5 LIST OF PREPARERS……………………………………………………………..15 i LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix-1 Energía Sierra Juarez, LLC Comparative Environmental Analysis for the Energía Sierra Juarez Wind Project Baja California, Mexico (April 2012) Appendix-2 Energía Sierra Juarez, LLC Wind Project General Department of Environmental Impact and Risk (DGIRA) (translation) July 2010) Appendix-3 Energia Sierra Juarez LLC Wind Project MIA Summary (translation) (September 2009) ii DOE/EIS-0414-S1 SUMMARY S.1 Background A Department of Energy (DOE) Presidential permit (PP) is required before anyone can construct, operate, maintain, and connect an electric transmission line across the U.S. border. In December, 2007, Energia Sierra Juarez U.S. Transmission, LLC (ESJ), then a subsidiary of Sempra U.S. Gas and Power (Sempra), applied to DOE for a PP for an electric transmission line (ESJ U.S. Transmission Line) that would connect across the international border between the U.S. and Mexico, near the town of Jacumba, California, to a transmission line in Mexico and ultimately to a wind farm in Mexico. DOE determined that issuance of a PP for this proposed project would constitute a major federal action that may have a significant impact upon the environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). In May 2012, DOE completed and released the ESJ Transmission Line Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS-0414) that analyzed the potential environmental impacts associated with the PP requested by ESJ. Based on the EIS and other analyses, DOE issued a Record of Decision on August 17, 2012, and on August 31, 2012, issued PP-334 authorizing the border crossing for the ESJ U.S. Transmission Line. The ESJ U.S. Transmission Line, the Mexican Transmission Line and the Mexican Wind Farm were completed and operational by June 2015. In December 2012. several parties brought an action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), in the United States District Court, Southern District of California to challenge PP-334. Backcountry Against Dumps v. Moniz (S.D. Cal.) On August 29, 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California (“Court”) remanded the case to DOE for preparation of a Supplemental EIS (SEIS) to address two deficiencies identified in the Court’s previous orders: First, the Court found that DOE must consider distributed power generation (generating power closer to the point of consumption, such as rooftop solar panels) as an alternative to the ESJ Project, rather than dismissing it from detailed consideration as inconsistent with the purpose and need for the Presidential permit. Second, the Court found that DOE must take a “hard look” at potential impacts in Mexico from the ESJ transmission line in the U.S., the Mexican portion of the transmission line, and the wind farm in Mexico. The Court found that these deficiencies were not serious, were not likely to have resulted in an erroneous permitting decision, and could be readily addressed in a SEIS by incorporating analyses previously performed by other regulatory agencies in the United States and in Mexico. For these reasons (among others), the Court did not vacate PP-334 pending DOE’s completion of this SEIS. The permit remains in effect and the ESJ transmission line continues to operate, transmitting electricity generated at the Mexican Wind Farm to the electric grid in California. S-1 DOE/EIS-0414-S1 S.2 Purpose and Need The purpose and need for DOE’s preparation of this SEIS of the ESJ Transmission Line Project Final EIS is to respond to the Court’s direction to prepare an SEIS addressing the environmental impacts in Mexico of the Mexican Wind Project and the U.S. and Mexican transmission line, as well as including a more detailed explanation of why "Distributed Solar" was dismissed as an Alternative to DOE issuing a PP for a transmission line to cross the US border. S.3 Distributed Generation Alternative Concerning the first deficiency identified by the Court, the Court stated that in preparing the supplemental EIS, DOE could rely on the analysis of distributed generation contained in a 2011 EIS prepared by the Bureau of Land Management and the California Public Utilities Commission for three energy projects proposed in San Diego County (BLM/CPUC EIS). The BLM/CPUC EIS considered but rejected distributed power generation as a feasible alternative to those projects. In accordance with the Court’s Order on Remedy, DOE has reviewed the BLM/CPUC EIS, herein incorporates by reference its alternative analysis of distributed generation, and relies