Call for comments re Altamont Pass Wind Power Resources Area
Alameda County Community Development Agency
Alameda County Community Development Agency
Notice of Preparation (Notice) of a Program Environmental Impact Report for the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) revisions to Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) for repowering and continued maintenance and operation of wind turbines in Alameda County:
SUMMARY:
The County of Alameda (County) is issuing this Notice to advise other agencies and the public that the County will be preparing a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) for the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area revised conditional use permits (CUPs)(proposed project) within the Alameda County portion of the APWRA in northern California. The County is proposing to issue revised CUPs to wind power companies that are currently operating wind turbines in the APWRA. The PEIR will be prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and all relevant state and Federal laws. The County will serve as the lead agency under CEQA for preparation of the PEIR.
The County is issuing this Notice to alert interested parties and solicit public and agency input into the development of the scope of the PEIR and to advise the public that outreach activities conducted by the County and their representatives will be considered in the preparation of the PEIR.
Concurrent with preparation of this PEIR, the County is also preparing a Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP) and joint Program Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (PEIS/PEIR) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and CEQA, respectively. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will serve as the federal lead agency under NEPA. This Notice is being issued to comply with CEQA requirements for the revised CUPs only. An additional, but separate, scoping process is anticipated to be held in fall of 2010 by the County and the Service for the HCP/NCCP PEIS/PEIR.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the Altamont Pass Wind Power Resources Area PEIR, including the project objectives, the alternatives to be considered, the impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used in the evaluations, should be provided to the County by October 8, 2010. A public scoping meeting is scheduled on September 2, 2010 at the time and location listed below.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Sandra Rivera, Assistant Planning Director, ATTN: Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area CUP PEIR, Alameda County Community Development Agency, 224 W. Winton Avenue, Suite 110, Hayward, CA, 94544, or via email with subject line “Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area CUP PEIR” to: APWRACUPEIR@acgov.org . Comments may also be provided orally or in writing at the scoping meeting scheduled at the following location:
City of Dublin Public Library:
Thursday, September 2, 2010 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
200 Civic Plaza, Dublin, CA 94568
The project objectives, description of proposed repowering activities, revisions to the existing CUPs, and alternatives currently under consideration will be presented at this meeting. The meeting facilities will be accessible to persons with disabilities. If special translation or signing services or other special accommodations are needed, please contact Maria Palmeri, at 510.670.5400 or maria.palmeri@acgov.org at least 48 hours before the scoping meeting. Also scoping materials will be made available through the County’s Internet site: www.acgov.org/cda/planning/landuseprojects/currentprojects/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Rivera, Assistant Planning Director, ATTN: APWRA CUP PEIR, Alameda County Community Development Agency, 224 W. Winton Avenue, Suite 110, Hayward, CA, 94544, or at (510) 670-5400.
… Alternatives
The PEIR will consider the proposed project and a reasonable range of alternatives. Alternatives to the project will include a No Project scenario, and at least one alternative to the proposed project. This alternative may vary by the level of conservation, repowering activities, planning area, or some combination of these or other factors. The County welcomes comments from the public on the alternatives that should be considered.
… EIR Process and the Role of Participating Agencies and the Public
The County encourages broad participation in the EIR process during scoping and review of the resulting environmental documents. Comments and suggestions are invited from all interested agencies and the public at large so that the full range of issues related to the proposed project and all reasonable alternatives are addressed and that all significant issues are identified. In particular, the County is interested in learning whether there are areas of environmental concern where there might be a potential for significant impacts. For all potentially significant impacts, the PEIR will identify mitigation measures where feasible, to reduce these impacts to a level below significance. …
Due to the time limits mandated by state law, public agencies are requested to send their responses to this Notice to the County at the address provided above at the earliest possible date but not later than 45 days after receipt of this Notice. Members of the general public should provide scoping comments by October 8, 2010.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2010/09/06/call-for-comments-re-altamont-pass-wind-power-resources-area/
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[1] Download original document: “Notice of Preparation of a PEIR for the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) revisions to Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) for repowering and continued maintenance and operation of wind turbines in Alameda County”: http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/CUP-NOP_final-ltrhd_combined.pdf