Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Teayawa Energy
Center, Riverside County, CA
[Federal Register: October 5, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 194)]
[Notices]
[Page 51056-51057]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05oc01-117]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Proposed Teayawa Energy
Center, Riverside County, CA
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) intends to file a draft Environmental Impact Statement /
Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/EIR) for the proposed Teayawa Energy
Center to be constructed and operated on 41.5 acres of the Torres
Martinez Indian Reservation in Riverside County, California. The
purpose of the proposed project is to conjointly help provide for the
economic development and progress of the Torres Martinez Desert
Cahuilla Indians and for the power needs of southern California.
Details on the project location, proposed action and areas of
environmental concern are addressed in the DEIS/EIR provided in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. This notice also announces a public
hearing to receive comments on the DEIS/EIR.
DATES: Written comments on the DEIS/EIR must arrive by December 3,
2001. The public hearing will be held on Thursday, October 25, 2001,
from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., or until the last public comment is received.
ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Ronald
Jaeger, Regional Director, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825-1846. Please include
your name, return address and the caption, ``DEIS/EIR Comments, Teayawa
Energy Center, Riverside County, California,'' on the first page of
your written comments.
The public hearing will be held at the Tribal Hall, Torres Martinez
Indian Reservation, 66725 Martinez Road, Thermal, California. This
hearing will be co-hosted by the BIA and the Torres Martinez Indians.
[[Page 51057]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the DEIS/EIR,
please write or call William Allan, Environmental Protection
Specialist, Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way,
Sacramento, California 95825-1846, telephone (916) 978-6043. Copies of
the DEIS/EIR are also available for public review in the Torres
Martinez Tribal Administrative Headquarters at the Thermal, California,
address given above and at public libraries throughout the Coachella
Valley, California.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Calpine Corporation, through an agreement
with the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, proposes to
construct, own and operate the Teayawa Energy Center (TEC), a 600
megawatt, natural-gas-fired power plant to be located on a 41.5 acre
parcel of tribal trust land in Riverside County, California. The parcel
is located along 62nd Avenue, east of Johnson Street near the Coachella
Canal, northeast of the town of Mecca, California.
Natural gas would be supplied to TEC through a new gas pipeline
connection to the nearest, Southern California Gas Company intrastate
pipeline. The preferred route for this connecting pipeline is north
from the proposed TEC site along an existing utility corridor, to an
interconnection point on the intrastate line located north of the
Interstate 10 freeway.
To provide cooling for TEC, approximately 4000 acre-feet per year
of process water would be needed. The preferred source for this water
is via connection to the Coachella branch of the All American Canal
(Coachella Canal). TEC would use a ``zero liquid discharge'' system for
treatment of process wastewater, including cooling tower blowdown.
Water cycled in a cooling tower is concentrated into a sludge-like
consistency and evaporated from onsite ponds. The resulting mineral
concentration that builds up in the ponds would be stored, dried and
eventually hauled off site for disposal at an appropriate landfill.
Potable water would be supplied to TEC by a groundwater well on
site. This would also provide a backup source of cooling water when
canal water is unavailable. Sanitary waste would be collected in a
storage tank and periodically trucked to an offsite treatment plant, or
disposed using a septic tank and leach field, if soil conditions
permit.
Electricity produced by TEC would be transformed up to transmission
level voltage at an onsite switch yard that would be connected to the
double circuit, 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines owned by the
Imperial Irrigation District (IID). These existing transmission lines
are located immediately east of the proposed TEC site, on the eastern
edge of the Coachella Canal. To mitigate potential, localized
transmission system congestion and reliability problems, TEC would
include a new electrical transmission line segment to an IID substation
in the city of Coachella, California. In addition, re-conductoring and
related improvements will be made to existing offsite transmission
lines owned by IID and Southern California Edison (SCE) and situated
between the Coachella substation and the SCE grid.
Alternatives to the proposed project that are considered in the
DEIS/EIR include alternative natural gas pipeline routes, alternative
water sources, a smaller energy center and no action (no project).
Resources and issues discussed in the DEIS/EIR include water,
biological, agricultural, mineral, paleontological, cultural and visual
resources, geology and soils, land use, air quality, noise, traffic and
transportation, public health/environmental hazards, worker safety,
hazardous materials, hazardous waste handling, public services and
utilities, socioeconomic, environmental justice and Indian trust
assets.
Public Comment Solicitation
As an alternative to submitting written comments regarding the
content of the DEIS/EIR to the location identified in the ADDRESSES
section, interested persons may instead comment via the Internet to
billallan@bia.gov. Please submit Internet comments as an
ASCII file, avoiding the use of special characters and any form of
encryption. Include your name, return address and the caption, ``DEIS/
EIR Comments, Teayawa Energy Center, Riverside County, California,'' on
the first page of your Internet message. If you do not receive
confirmation from the system that your Internet message was received,
contact William Allan at (916) 978-6043.
Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will
be available for public review at the BIA address shown in the
ADDRESSES section, during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may
request confidentiality. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent
allowed by law. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their
entirety.
Authority
This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through
1508), implementing the procedural requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian
Affairs by 209 DM 8.1.
Dated: September 27, 2001.
Neal A. McCaleb,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 01-24982 Filed 10-4-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P