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Published: 2016

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“On October 25, 2013, Southern California Edison (SCE or the Applicant) submitted Application A.13-10-020 seeking a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the California Public Utilities Com-mission (CPUC) for the West of Devers (WOD) Upgrade Project (Proposed Project). Because the proposed transmission line would cross approximately 3.5 miles of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the project would also require a Right-of-Way (ROW) Grant from the BLM for the portion of the project across BLM-administered land. SCE submitted a ROW Application to the BLM in March 2013. Because a portion of the Proposed Project would cross Trust Land on the Morongo Indian Reservation, the project would require a ROW grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). This project is located within two BLM designated transmission corridors, Corridor K and contingent Corridor S of the California Desert Conservation Area Plan, as a plan amendment would not be required. If this project is approved, then the BLM-managed portions of the three sections of BLM-managed land in contingent Corridor S that are a part of this project will be designated as an active corridor. A Draft Environmental Impact Report/environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) was issued by the CPUC, as lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the U.S. Department of the Interior, BLM, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to inform the public and to meet the needs of local, State, and federal permitting agencies to consider the Proposed Project as described by SCE (Applicant) and alternatives to the project. The Draft EIR/EIS was released on August 7, 2015 and the public comment period ended on September 22, 2015. Under NEPA, BIA will be a Cooperating Agency. The contents of the Draft EIR/EIS, which was published by the CPUC and BLM on August 7, 2015, reflects input by government officials, agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and members of the public during the EIR/EIS scoping period following the CPUC’s publication of the Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an EIR/EIS (May 12, 2014) and the BLM’s publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI) (July 1, 2014). During these comment periods, several public involvement activities were completed: distribution of the NOP, NOI, and a scoping meeting notice, establishment of an Internet web page and a telephone hotline, 5 public scoping meetings (May and July 2014), meetings with a number of affected local jurisdictions, and publication of a CPUC scoping report and a BLM scoping report (see details in Section I, Public Participation and Consultation). Consultation with agencies also continued after the formal scoping period ended. Following publication of the Draft EIR/EIS, a public comment period was held from August 7 to September 22, 2015. This Final EIS presents comments that were submitted on the Draft EIR/EIS, along with responses to all comments”--[Page] ES-1.