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Cultural Resources Assessment Report for the South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project Orange and San Diego Counties, California May 2012 Prepared For: San Diego Gas & Electric Company 8315 Century Park Court San Diego, CA 92123 Prepared By: 123 Technology Drive West Irvine, California 92618 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TITLE: Cultural Resources Assessment Report for the South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project Orange and San Diego Counties, California AUTHOR: Susan Underbrink, M.A., RPA 123 Technology Drive West Irvine, California 92618 DATE: May 2012 National Archaeological Data Base Information: Type of Study: Cultural Resource Monitoring Project Area: Approximately 8 linear miles U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5’ Quadrangles: San Juan Capistrano, Cañada Gobernadora, San Clemente Key Words: Survey, Orange County, San Diego County, Camp Pendleton, relocated 30-179873 ABSTRACT: This cultural resource assessment was conducted for the San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E). This report documents the results of the cultural resource survey for the South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project located primarily in Orange County, California. No new cultural resources were identified during any of the surveys, and none of the previously recorded prehistoric cultural resources were relocated. Monitoring during construction is recommended in project locations near previously recorded archaeological sites. The historic cultural resource 30- 179873 (the Capistrano Substation) was relocated. i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................1 3.0 REGULATORY SETTING .................................................................................................6 4.0 NATURAL SETTING .......................................................................................................11 5.0 CULTURAL HISTORY ....................................................................................................12 6.0 KNOWN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES ..............................................................16 7.0 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ......................................................................................21 8.0 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................27 9.0 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................29 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Project Overview Map Figure 2: Areas surveyed for Cultural Resources LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Cultural Resources Previously Recorded within 1/4-mile of SOCRE Table 2: Structure/Pole Number and Associated Cultural Resources LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Confidential Record Search Results Attachment B: Native American Correspondence Attachment C: Confidential Map TRC Cultural and Natural Resources-Irvine May 2012 Cultural Resources Assessment Report ii South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project FINAL 1.0 INTRODUCTION San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) is a regulated public utility that provides electric service to three million customers within a 4,100 square mile service area, covering parts of southern Orange County and San Diego County. The South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project (Proposed Project) is intended to meet the area load growth and service reliability for approximately 118,000 customers (462 megawatts) within southern Orange County. The purpose of this Cultural Resource Assessment Report (Report) is to summarize and document the findings of the cultural surveys, analyze Proposed Project impacts, and outline mitigation measures, if required to compensate for unavoidable impacts. TRC Solutions, Inc. (TRC) prepared this report on behalf of SDG&E. SDG&E is proposing the construction and/or replacement of facilities at two existing substations as well as the installation and/or relocation of multiple 230, 138, and 69 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines along approximately 8-miles of an existing utility corridor. TRC conducted a cultural resource records search, Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) Sacred Lands File search, and a cultural resource survey in support of the Report, to determine the potential for impacts to significant cultural resources. This Report will be included as a supplement to SDG&E’s Proponent’s Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Proposed Project, and filed as part of its application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Proposed Project will involve rebuilding the existing 138/12kV Capistrano Substation with a new 230/138/12kV substation, conducting minor alterations to the existing Talega Substation, and bringing two new 230kV transmission lines into the southern Orange County area by replacing an existing 138kV transmission line between the Talega and Capistrano Substations. The transmission line portion of the Proposed Project is approximately eight miles in length. As shown in Figure 1 Project Overview Map, the Proposed Project components are primarily located in portions of the cities of San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, as well as unincorporated Orange County, and the United States Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (Camp Pendleton). This Proposed Project has an anticipated in-service date of November 2017. The following sections describe each segment in more detail. 2.1 CAPISTRANO SUBSTATION The existing Capistrano Substation site is 6.4 acres and is located within an urbanized area in the City of San Juan Capistrano. The Proposed Project entails rebuilding the existing Capistrano Substation to a new combined bulk power transmission and distribution substation (230/138/12kV). The new substation will be named the San Juan Capistrano Substation. TRC Cultural and Natural Resources-Irvine May 2012 Cultural Resources Assessment Report 1 1 2 Capistrano Substation (!(! "/!( ( (! (! (! (! (!(! (! (! (! (! (! (! (! (! (! s k (! 2 1 0 2 / 8 San Juan Capistrano 1 / Canada Gobernadora 2 (! 0 d x (!(! m Dana Point (! . (! 2 (! ( San Clemente 1 0 (! 2 8 1 2 0 o p (! o t 0 0 0 4 2 k o (! o b p a M l a e (! r u t l u C \ D X M \ P U R C O S \ (! : G Legend (! South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project Created For: Created By: (! Proposed New Transmission Line Structures (Including 69kV, 138kV and 230kV) County Boundary Mary Turley Project Overview Map Proposed New Transmission Line - Overhead USGS Quadrangle Boundary Figure 1 Date: 4/25/2012 Proposed New Transmission Line - Underground "/ Capistrano, Pico and Talega Substations ± Page 1 of 2 SDG&E is providing this map with the understanding that the map is 0 1,000 2,000 4,000 not survey grade. Notes: Transmission line structure locations based upon preliminary engineering. Feet (! (! 1 (! (! 2 (! (! (! (! (! e t t n (! n e i o m P e l a C n a n (! Pico Substation a D S (! (! (! s "/ k ! Talega Substation ( 2 1 (! 0 2 (! / 8 (! (! 1 (! ! (!! / (! (! ((! ( 2 (!(! (! (! 0 (! (! (! (! d ! ! (! !( (! x (! (! (! (! (! (! (!(! (! (! (! (! (! m (! "/ . (! 2 1 0 2 8 1 2 0 o p o t 0 0 (! 0 Orange County 4 2 k o o b San Diego County p a M l a e r u t l u C \ D X M \ P U R C O S \ : G Legend South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project Created For: Created By: (! Proposed New Transmission Line Structures (Including 69kV, 138kV and 230kV) County Boundary Mary Turley Project Overview Map Proposed New Transmission Line - Overhead USGS Quadrangle Boundary Figure 1 Date: 4/25/2012 Proposed New Transmission Line - Underground "/ Capistrano, Pico and Talega Substations ± Page 2 of 2 SDG&E is providing this map with the understanding that the map is 0 1,000 2,000 4,000 not survey grade. Notes: Transmission line structure locations based upon preliminary engineering. Feet South Orange County Reliability Enhancement Project FINAL This segment of the Proposed Project will involve: • Replacement of the aging and obsolete 138/12kV substation that currently exists on the Capistrano Substation site; • Addition of a new 230kV gas insulated substation; and • Rebuilding and expanding the existing 12kV distribution substation and the 138kV transmission substation, utilizing gas insulated technology (138kV only). 2.2 TALEGA SUBSTATION The existing facilities at the Talega Substation are located on a 6.1 acre property located partially on Camp Pendleton. The existing facility is a 230/138/69kV bulk transmission substation. This segment of the Proposed Project will involve: • Connection of one new 138kV and two new 230kV transmission line to the existing substation; • Rearranging the 138kV and 230kV transmission line configurations and eliminating two 230/138kV transformer banks; and • Disconnection of one 230kV transmission line. 2.3 TRANSMISSION LINES The Proposed Project will involve the installation of new 69kV, 138kV, and 230kV structures, overhead conductor and underground cable, and removal of existing transmission structures. All transmission line work will be completed within SDG&E’s existing right-of-way (ROW) between the Capistrano Substation and the Talega Substation, as well as within small portions of acquired additional ROW near the Talega Substation and Rancho San Juan development. For the purposes of this discussion, the transmission line work associated with the Proposed