Appendix B Comment Letters & Emails
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APPENDIX B Comment Letters and Emails Received during CSLC Stakeholder Outreach Vandenberg Offshore Wind Energy Projects APPENDIX B-1 – Outreach Meetings Participants APPENDIX B-2 – Agency Written Comments APPENDIX B-3 – ENGO Written Comments APPENDIX B-4 – Fishing Organization Written Comments APPENDIX B-5 – Environmental Justice and Tribal Outreach APPENDIX B-1 – Outreach Meetings Participants List of Participants at the Stakeholder Outreach Meetings Agencies • Bureau of Ocean Energy Management • California Coastal Commission • California Department of Fish and Wildlife • California Energy Commission • California Natural Resources Agency • California Public Utilities Commission • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • U.S. Coast Guard ENGOs • Audubon and Audubon California • California Central Coast Joint Venture • Citizens Climate Lobby • Center for Biological Diversity • Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation • Community Environmental Council • Defenders of Wildlife, CA • Defenders of Wildlife, Renewable Energy and Wildlife • EDC Marine Conservation Program • Environmental Defense Center • Environmental Science Associates • League of Women Voters Santa Maria Valley • Natural Resources Defense Council • Offshore wind us.org • Regional Economic Action Coalition (REACH) • Responsible Offshore Science Alliance • Santa Barbara Audubon Society • Sierra Club Fishing Organizations • Aguero fish • Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries • American Fishermen's Research Foundation • Blue Fisheries • California Sea Urchin Commission Port representative Ventura and Channel Islands Harbor • Commercial Fishermen from Port San Luis F/V Sunshine Lady • Commercial Fisherman, Home port Morro Bay • Commercial Fisherman Morro Bay • Commercial Fisherman and fishery business owner Morro Bay & Avila Beach (Port San Luis) • Commercial Fisherman, Sea Urchin dive • Commercial fisherman, MBCFO, WFOA • Commercial Fishing • Commercial fisherman of Santa Barbara • Fiber Fish • Fisherman out of Fort Bragg • Fisherman and fish buyer Avila Beach Port San Luis • Fisheries Consultant for Pacific Seafood • Fresh Fish Fanatics • Fv trailblazer Swordfish albacore rockfish fisheries • F/V Sea HAVEN • J Bateman commercial Fisherman • Joint Oil/Fisheries Liaison Office • Lobster / crab fisherman • Marine Alliances Consulting • Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization • Net Flea • Noyo Fish • Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery & Legislative Constituent Services Director for North Coast Oregon State Rep • Pac seafood • Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association • Pacific Seafood • Port San Luis Commercial Fishermen Association • Port San Luis Fisherman Association • Port San Luis comm. Fishermen • Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) Fisheries Santa Barbara based CPFV Owner, Board of director for Sportfishing Association of Ca. • Santa Barbara based CPFV Owner, Board of director for Sportfishing Association of Ca • SF Community Fishing Association • Teya Services LLC • The Sportfishing Conservancy • Wilcox Fisheries • 350 Humboldt Local Government/Port Representatives • Office of Assembly member Steve Bennett, AD 37 • Office of Senator Monique Limón, SD 19 • City of Lompoc • Coastal Band of Chumash Nations • County of Santa Barbara • Harbor Manager Port San Luis Harbor District • Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District • Pacific Ocean Energy Trust • Pacific Fisheries Management Council • Port of Hueneme • South Coast Air Quality Management District Other Groups • Atkins Global Principal Consultant, Houston Offshore Engineering • California polytechnic University (Calpoly) • Epsilon Systems • Green Investments Group • Hancock College • ICF International • Institute for Global Communications • International-law-offices • International Law offices of San Diego • Kg Consulting • Lawrence Berkeley National Lab • Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara • Noble Construction • ODE Renewables LLC, North America Offshore Wind Energy • Office of Assembly member Steve Bennett, AD 37 • Office of Senator Monique Limón, SD 19 • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) • Padre Associates, Inc. • sei-innovation • Stantec Consulting Ltd. APPENDIX B-2 – Agency Written Comments California Energy Commission CEC Informal Comments on Wind Turbine applications to SLC • It would be helpful for CIERCO and IDEOL to provide a more detail on what they plan to do with the electricity their turbines would generate. • These projects have the potential to provide a fair amount of energy, but we are still missing information on how/if they plan to connect to the grid. The transmission system around Vandenberg AFB consists of lower voltage lines and is at the southern end of PG&E service territory. Any substantial amount of new power coming in could cause problems on the grid and the system should be evaluated to identify the need for potential transmission upgrades. If the power is just utilized on Vandenberg AFB, the potential effect on the transmission system should still be evaluated. Since the proposed projects are potential “technology demonstration” projects, if they are not going to use the generated electricity onshore, then what would they do with it? The end use of the electricity generated should be part of the project description and should be evaluated as part of the project. • If they do plan to sell electricity to the grid, IDEOL and CIERCO will need to open dialogue with CAISO. (http://www.caiso.com/planning/Pages/GeneratorInterconnection/Default.aspx) Has either company submitted a request to interconnect (at above website) and if so, where are they in the process? CDFW – Marine Region From: Canepa, Amanda@Wildlife <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, April 8, 2021 3:00 PM To: Mattox, Jennifer@SLC <[email protected]> Cc: Ota, Becky@Wildlife <[email protected]>; Wilkins, Eric@Wildlife <[email protected]>; Potter, Christopher@Wildlife <[email protected]>; Schmoker, Kelly@Wildlife <[email protected]> Subject: Offshore Wind Projects in State Waters Attention: This email originated from outside of SLC and should be treated with extra caution. Dear Ms. Mattox, The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) has reviewed the available information on the offshore wind projects proposed in state waters off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in Santa Barbara County: the CADEMO Demonstration Project and the Ideol USA Vandenberg Air Force Pilot Project (from here on, collectively referred to as the “Project”). The Department’s Marine Region offers the following comments and recommendations to assist the California State Lands Commission (Commission) in its development of the Project’s Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) and subsequent California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents. The Department’s South Coast Region (Region 5) has also provided comments, which are included as an attachment to this email. Department Role The Department is California’s Trustee Agency for fish and wildlife resources and holds those resources in trust by statute for all the people of the state. (Fish and Game Code, Section 711.7, subd. (a) & 1802; Pub. Resources Code, Section 21070; CEQA Guidelines Section 15386, subd. (a).) The Department, in its trustee capacity, has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. (Id., Section 1802.) The Department is also responsible for marine biodiversity protection under the Marine Life Protection Act in coastal marine waters of California and ensuring fisheries are sustainably managed under the Marine Life Management Act. Similarly, for purposes of CEQA, the Department is charged by law to provide, as available, biological expertise during public agency environmental review efforts, focusing specifically on projects and related activities that have the potential to adversely affect fish and wildlife resources. The Department is also submitting comments as a Responsible Agency under CEQA (Pub. Resources Code, Section 21069; CEQA Guidelines, Section 15381) and may need to exercise regulatory authority as provided by the Fish and Game Code. As proposed, the Project may result in “take,” as defined by State law, of species protected under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA; Fish and Game Code, Section 2050 et seq.), and related authorization as provided by the Fish and Game Code may be required. Likewise, the Project may be subject to the Department’s lake and streambed alteration regulatory authority (Fish and Game Code, Section 1600 et seq.). Lastly, Fish and Game Code Sections 1002, 1002.5 and 1003 authorize the Department to issue permits for the take or possession of wildlife, including mammals, birds and the nests and eggs thereof, reptiles, amphibians, fish, certain plants, and invertebrates for scientific, educational, and propagation purposes. The Department currently implements this authority through Section 650, Title 14, California Code of Regulations, by issuing Scientific Collecting Permits to take or possess wildlife for such purposes. Project Impacts The Department, given its jurisdiction, is particularly concerned about the Project’s potential significant impacts on the state’s fisheries and biological resources. Adverse impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries could result from the loss of accessible fishing area, loss