Public Scoping Summary Report Plains Pipeline, L.P
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U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Public Scoping Summary Report Plains Pipeline, L.P. Replacement Project Environmental Impact Statement Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern Counties, California September 2019 Public Scoping Summary Report Plains Replacement Pipeline Project SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND KERN COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA Bakersfield Field Office 3801 Pegasus Drive Bakersfield, CA 93308 Phone: (661) 391-6000 September 2019 PUBLIC SCOPING SUMMARY REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 2 SCOPING OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................ 1 3 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 2 4 SCOPING PROCESS .................................................................................................................... 3 4.1 Federal Register ................................................................................................................ 3 4.2 Press Release and Public Outreach ................................................................................... 3 4.3 Internal Scoping ................................................................................................................ 4 4.4 Tribal Consultation ........................................................................................................... 4 5 COMMENT COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 5 5.1 Comment Collection ......................................................................................................... 5 5.2 Comment Analysis ............................................................................................................ 5 6 SUMMARY OF PUBLIC SCOPING COMMENTS ................................................................. 6 LIST OF TABLES Table 4-1. Tribal Consultation ...................................................................................................................... 4 Table 6-1. Scoping Representative Submissions, by Affiliation ................................................................ 6 Table 6-2. Scoping Summary, Unique Substantive Comments taken from Submissions by Topic ........... 7 ATTACHMENTS Attachment A Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... A-1 Attachment B References ........................................................................................................................ B-1 Attachment C Federal Register Notice of Intent ...................................................................................... C-1 Attachment D Press Release .................................................................................................................... D-1 Attachment E Public Scoping Stakeholder List ....................................................................................... E-1 Attachment F Scoping Comment Submissions ........................................................................................ F-1 Plains Replacement Pipeline Project Public Scoping Summary Report i September 2019 PUBLIC SCOPING SUMMARY REPORT 1 INTRODUCTION The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bakersfield Field Office, California, is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the impacts of a proposal by Plains Pipeline, L.P. (Plains) to replace an existing 123-mile pipeline within an existing right-of-way which includes approximately 11 miles of Federal public lands in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern Counties (Project). The Project is intended to replace the existing, and currently out of service, Lines 901 and 903 portions of the pipeline system from Las Flores Canyon Pump Station in Santa Barbara County to the Pentland Delivery Point in Kern County. The Project would include the in-place abandonment and/or removal of the existing pipeline system—Lines 901 and 903, respectively—and replacement of the existing system with the installation and operation of approximately 123.4 miles of new pipeline, referred to as Line 901R and Line 903R. On January 9, 2018, Plains filed a right-of-way amendment application for the replacement and abandonment of approximately 122.9 miles of existing oil pipelines. On Friday, May 3, 2019, the BLM released a Notice of Intent (NOI) to initiate public review of the proposed Project. The Project spans multiple local, State and Federal jurisdictions. On August 7, 2018, the DOI determined that the Project would be addressed under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). 2 SCOPING OVERVIEW Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Public Law 91-190) and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA, Federal agencies are required to consider the environmental impacts of their proposed actions prior to implementation. Compliance with NEPA is required of all Federal actions, including the approval of specific projects, whether the action is developed by or submitted to the BLM. The NEPA compliance process within the BLM is guided by Federal agency regulations and policies. NEPA mandates that every Federal agency prepare a detailed statement of the effects of “major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment” (BLM 2008). The purpose of the Federal action is to respond to Plains’ application to amend their right-of-way to construct (replace), operate, maintain, and decommission a crude oil pipeline and ancillary facilities across Federal lands. The need is established by the BLM’s responsibilities under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (MLA) (30 United States Code [U.S.C.] 185) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 35). The need is further established by the policy set forth in Executive Order 13868: Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth. The BLM, in conjunction with Cooperating Agencies, will decide whether to approve, approve with modification(s), or deny issuance of the right-of-way grant. Public involvement is a vital component of both the FLPMA and NEPA, vesting the public in the decision- making process and allowing for full environmental disclosure (BLM 2001). Guidance for implementing public involvement is codified in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1506.6, thereby ensuring that Federal agencies make a diligent effort to involve the public in preparing NEPA documents. Over the course of the planning and NEPA process, public involvement for this EIS is being conducted in four phases: 1. Public scoping prior to NEPA analysis to identify potential issues and planning criteria to help determine the scope of the EIS; Plains Replacement Pipeline Project Public Scoping Summary Report September 2019 1 PUBLIC SCOPING SUMMARY REPORT 2. Public outreach via news releases; 3. Collaboration with other Federal, State, and Tribal government agencies; and 4. Public review and comment on the Draft EIS, which will analyze and disclose potential environmental effects related to the Project. This Scoping Summary Report documents the results of the public scoping phase of the NEPA process. This process has two components: internal scoping and external scoping. Internal scoping is conducted within the agency, and with Cooperating Agencies, to determine preliminary and anticipated issues and concerns. Internal scoping primarily consisted of the BLM and Cooperating Agencies’ internal assessment of new information and discussions of the Project. External scoping is a public process designed to reach beyond the BLM in order to discern the public’s important issues. The public process is designed to determine and frame the scope of pertinent issues and alternatives to be addressed in a NEPA document. External scoping helps ensure that: . Issues are identified early in the process and are properly analyzed; . Issues of no consequence or concern do not consume time and effort; and . The proposed action and alternatives are balanced, thorough, and able to be implemented. In accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7, the BLM has prepared this Scoping Summary Report to document the scoping results. In accordance with the BLM’s NEPA guidance, this Scoping Summary Report captures public input in one document and summarizes the comments received during the formal external scoping period (BLM 2008). 3 BACKGROUND On May 18, 1985, the BLM approved the Celeron/All American Pipeline Project. Pipeline construction occurred from 1988 to 1991, and Line 903 became operational in 1991; Line 901 became operational a few years later in 1994. The Lines 901 and 903 pipeline system was considered an interstate pipeline and was operated under Federal jurisdiction. On May 19, 2015, Line 901 ruptured approximately 100 yards north of Highway 101, approximately 0.25 miles west of Refugio State Park, and oil traveled through a drainage culvert to the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 140,000 gallons, or 3,333 barrels, of crude oil were released. On May 20, 2015, the Santa Barbara County Director of Planning and Development gave verbal and email authorization to Plains to conduct emergency response operations pursuant to the County’s Coastal Zoning Ordinance. Site cleanup and monitoring activities continued