San Diego Gas and Electric Master Special Use Permit and Permit to Construct Power Line Replacement Projects
SDG&E undertook a power line replacement of nine 12- and 69-kilovolt (kV) electric facilities spread throughout an approximate 880-square-mile area in eastern San Diego County, within and around the Cleveland National Forest (CNF). Power line replacement included fire-hardening, relocating, and undergrounding facilities along 145 miles.
Project Facts
- California Public Utilities Commission
- Project area within and around Cleveland National Forest
- 145 miles of power lines
- Combined 70 individual permits into single Special Use Permit
- Replaced 2,100 wood poles with weatherized steel poles
The Challenge
The CPUC needed to issue a Permit to Construct (PTC) for the purposes of project construction, which required environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The USFS needed to issue a Master Special Use permit to consolidate SDG&E’s individual permits for operating and maintaining its facilities in the Cleveland National Forest (CNF), which required environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The challenge was developing a joint CEQA/NEPA document for the CPUC and USFS as lead state and federal agencies who operated under a Memorandum of Understanding, as well as monitoring compliance with the project’s Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program during construction.
The Solution
Dudek provided expertise during the project’s environmental review/permitting phase and construction phase. The EIR/EIS provides an evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with the combined issuance of 70 separate permits for SDG&E electric facilities located within the 800-square-mile Cleveland National Forest study area, as well as the combined effects of fire hardening and replacing 11 separate SDG&E power lines located within and outside the CNF. Throughout construction, Dudek compliance monitors undertook duties including processing requests for construction and minor project refinements, reviewing pre-construction submittals, as well as resolving compliance issues.
What We Did
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