DOE/EIS-0365 Volume 2 FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE IMPERIAL-MEXICALI 230-kV TRANSMISSION LINES Volume 2: Comment and Response Document U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management El Centro, CA Cooperating Agency December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS CONTENTS NOTATION .......................................................................................................................... v ENGLISH/METRIC AND METRIC/ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS..................................... ix 1 PUBLIC REVIEW OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Overview of the Public Review Process ............................................................. 1-1 1.2 Comments on the Draft Environmental Statement ............................................. 1-2 2 COMMENT DOCUMENTS.......................................................................................... 2-1 3 KEY ISSUES RAISED IN COMMENTS ..................................................................... 3-1 4 RESPONSES TO COMMENTS.................................................................................... 4-1 5 REFERENCES............................................................................................................... 5-1 TABLES 2.1 Index of Commentors by Organization .......................................................................... 2-3 2.2 Index of Documents by Document Number................................................................... 2-4 2.3 Index of Individual Commentors by Last Name ............................................................ 2-7 2.4 Index of Campaign Commentors by Campaign and Last Name.................................... 2-9 iii December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS iv December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS NOTATION The following is a list of acronyms and abbreviations, chemical names, and units of measure used in this document. Some acronyms used only in tables may be defined only in those tables. GENERAL ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AERMOD AMS/EPA Regulatory MODel ARB California Air Resources Board BACT best available control technology BLM Bureau of Land Management CAA Clean Air Act CEQ Council on Environmental Quality CFR Code of Federal Regulations CWA Clean Water Act DEIS draft environmental impact statement DOE U.S. Department of Energy EA environmental assessment EAX Energiá Azteca X, S. de R.L. de C.V. EBC Energiá de Baja California EIS environmental impact statement EKMA Empirical Kinetic Modeling Approach EMF electric and magnetic fields EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FEIS final environmental impact statement FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact FR Federal Register HC hydrocarbons ICAPCD Imperial County Air Pollution Control District IID Imperial Irrigation District LAER lowest achievable emission rate LNG liquefied natural gas LRPC La Rosita Power Complex v December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards NAFTA North America Free Trade Agreement NEPA National Environmental Policy Act OZIPR OZone Isopleth Plotting Program Revised PM10 particulate matter with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 10 PRUOHVV PM2.5 SDUWLFXODWHPDWWHUZLWKDPHDQDHURG\QDPLFGLDPHWHURI PRUOHVV PSD Prevention of Significant Deterioration ROG reactive organic gas ROW right-of-way SCR selective catalytic reduction (system) SL significant impact level TDM Termoeléctrica de Mexicali TDS total dissolved solids TMDL total maximum daily load TOG total organic gas USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USGS U.S. Geological Survey VOC volatile organic compound(s) WTP wastewater treatment plant CHEMICALS CO carbon monoxide CO2 carbon dioxide HC hydrocarbons HNO3 nitric acid NH3 ammonia NH4NO3 ammonium nitrate NOx nitrogen oxides O3 ozone UNITS OF MEASURE ac-ft acre-foot (feet) km kilometer(s) °C degree(s) Celsius kV kilovolt(s) °F degree(s) Fahrenheit m meter(s) ft foot (feet) m2 square meter(s) vi December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS m3 cubic meter(s) t metric ton(s) mph mile(s) per hour MW megawatt(s) yr year(s) J ppb part(s) per billion microgram(s) ppm part(s) per million vii December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS viii December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS ENGLISH/METRIC AND METRIC/ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS The following table lists the appropriate equivalents for English and metric units. Multiply By To Obtain English/Metric Equivalents acres 0.4047 hectares (ha) cubic feet (ft3) 0.02832 cubic meters (m3) cubic yards (yd3) 0.7646 cubic meters (m3) degrees Fahrenheit ((F) –32 0.5555 degrees Celsius ((C) feet (ft) 0.3048 meters (m) gallons (gal) 3.785 liters (L) gallons (gal) 0.003785 cubic meters (m3) inches (in.) 2.540 centimeters (cm) miles (mi) 1.609 kilometers (km) pounds (lb) 0.4536 kilograms (kg) short tons (tons) 907.2 kilograms (kg) short tons (tons) 0.9072 metric tons (t) square feet (ft2) 0.09290 square meters (m2) square yards (yd2) 0.8361 square meters (m2) square miles (mi2) 2.590 square kilometers (km2) yards (yd) 0.9144 meters (m) Metric/English Equivalents centimeters (cm) 0.3937 inches (in.) cubic meters (m3) 35.31 cubic feet (ft3) cubic meters (m3) 1.308 cubic yards (yd3) cubic meters (m3) 264.2 gallons (gal) degrees Celsius ((C) +17.78 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit ((F) hectares (ha) 2.471 acres kilograms (kg) 2.205 pounds (lb) kilograms (kg) 0.001102 short tons (tons) kilometers (km) 0.6214 miles (mi) liters (L) 0.2642 gallons (gal) meters (m) 3.281 feet (ft) meters (m) 1.094 yards (yd) metric tons (t) 1.102 short tons (tons) square kilometers (km2) 0.3861 square miles (mi2) square meters (m2) 10.76 square feet (ft2) square meters (m2) 1.196 square yards (yd2) ix December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS x December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS 1 PUBLIC REVIEW OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT On May 14, 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register (Volume 69, page 26817 [69 FR 26817]) for the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) evaluating the impacts in the United States of constructing, operating, maintaining, and connecting two transmission lines from two power plants in Mexico. In accordance with Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, the DEIS was distributed to interested agencies, organizations, and the general public to allow them to provide oral and written comments. The May 14, 2004, date marked the beginning of a 45-day comment period, which was to end on June 19, 2004. However, at the request of the plaintiff, (Border Power Plant Working Group), the comment period was extended to July 30, 2004 (A Notice of Comment Period Extension was published in the Federal Register on May 26, 2004 [69 FR 29934].) This volume contains the comments received during the review period and DOE’s responses to those comments. All comments received were considered in the preparation of the Final EIS (FEIS). The remainder of this chapter contains an overview of the public review process and summarizes the main revisions made to the DEIS. 1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PUBLIC REVIEW PROCESS The DEIS was also made available in its entirety on the project Web site (http://web.ead.anl.gov/bajatermoeis/index.cfm). E-mail notification was sent to those on the project Web site mailing list. Stakeholders were encouraged to provide comments on the DEIS during a 78-day review period, from May 14, 2004, until July 30, 2004. To facilitate public involvement, stakeholders could submit comments on the DEIS via telephone, letter, e-mail, or the project Web site. DOE and BLM held two public hearings during the review period in the City Halls at El Centro, California (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), and Calexico, California (6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.), on July 14, 2004. The dates and times of the public hearings were announced on the project Web site and in local newspapers. The hearings on the DEIS were an important component in the agencies’ continuing efforts to provide the public with opportunities to participate in the decision-making process. The hearings included a presentation by DOE, a question and answer period, and an oral comment session where attendees were invited to formally enter comments into the public record. Transcripts of the public hearing proceedings were recorded by a court reporter and are available on the project Web site and in this EIS (Chapter 2 of this volume of the EIS). 1-1 December 2004 Comment and Response Document Imperial-Mexicali FEIS 1.2 COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DOE received 4,804 comment submissions. These submissions came from individuals, Federal and State agencies, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations, such as environmental groups. Of these submissions, 4,696 took the form of mass e-mails and facsimiles based on one of five different campaign letters. Eighty-two of the comment submissions were individually drafted letters, and 26 were transcripts of oral testimony from individuals. Chapter 2 of this volume provides an index of the commentors as well as copies of the actual letters or other documents containing