Smart Energy Transport System Recirculated Sections Of The Draft Environmental Impact Report (Archived)

EIR-11-009-BE. The City of Los Angeles, as the Lead Agency in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, has prepared the Recirculated Sections of Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Smart Energy Transport System (the "Project") (EIR No. ENV-2002-6129-EIR, SCH No. 2007031007) (the "RS-DEIR"), to analyze the potential environmental impacts of the Project. The RS-DEIR is available for review and comment by responsible and trustee agencies and other interested parties.

In 2009, the City of Los Angeles certified a Final Environmental Impact Report for the Project (“Original FEIR”), and approved the portions of Phase 1 that would be built within its jurisdiction. (The Original FEIR included the Original Draft EIR prepared for the proposed Project in 2007 [“Original DEIR”] as well as an Introduction; Summary; Corrections and Additions to the Original DEIR; Comments and Responses to all comment letter submitted to the City during the Original DEIR public review period; a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP); and a tabular listing of the comment letters received regarding the Original DEIR and the respective topical section the comment relates to in the Original DEIR; and all Attachments to the Comment Letters and Responses.) The Original FEIR was challenged in a CEQA lawsuit filed by the City of Gardena, entitled City of Gardena v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BS121134. On July 7, 2010, the court ruled that the Original FEIR met CEQA’s requirements in all respects but one, that is, the analysis of alternatives to the Proposed Project. This RS-DEIR replaces one section of the Original DEIR (Section V., Alternatives to the Proposed Project) and certain related portions of the Original FEIR (Corrections and Additions, Section III, Section V., Alternatives to the Proposed Project) in response to the Superior Court’s ruling in City of Gardena v. City of Los Angeles. The City is re-circulating this RS-DEIR pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15088.5, Subdivision a (4) and (c), which requires the modified sections of an Environmental Impact Report to be recirculated. The full Original FEIR is available at the City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, 1149 South Broadway, Suite 600, Los Angeles, California 90015, or on-line at Environmental Management.

WesPac Pipelines-Los Angeles LLC ("WesPac") is the Project applicant. The purpose of the proposed Project is to provide an updated and consolidated jet fuel pipeline system to improve efficiency and ensure a long-term, reliable source of product to support airport operations at LAX and other airports throughout the Western United States. The project is proposed to occur in two phases that are anticipated to occur approximately three years apart. Construction of Phase 1 of the project is anticipated to begin following Project approvals and end in 2012, while Phase 2 is expected to begin as early as 2015.

The pipeline route crosses six jurisdictions, including unincorporated Los Angeles County and the Cities of Carson, Compton, Gardena, Hawthorne, and Los Angeles. Permits would be required for the pipeline in each affected jurisdiction. In Phase 1, a 16-inch pipeline that originates at the Vopak Inland Terminal in the Wilmington area of the City of Los Angeles would initially travel south, then west, crossing the Dominguez Channel, before heading north to the Watson Pump Station in the City of Carson, passing along the way off-airport jet fuel storage facilities at the Kinder Morgan Carson and Shell Carson terminals. In Phase 2, a 12-inch pipeline would continue north and west from the Watson Pump Station, passing through the communities of Carson, unincorporated Los Angeles County, Compton and additional areas within the City of Los Angeles, as well as the Cities of Gardena and Hawthorne, before entering the LAX property. The pipeline would terminate at the LAX tank farm located within the western portion of the LAX facility itself. The total pipeline would be approximately 24 miles long; Phase 1 would comprise approximately 6.5 miles, while the remaining 17.5 miles of the route would be constructed during Phase 2. In addition to the pipeline, the project consists of a new pump station at the Vopak Inland Terminal, a new delivery connection to the Watson Pump Station, and a new receiving system at LAX.

The RS-DEIR is being made available for review for forty-seven (47) days, beginning on May 12, 2011, here on the City’s Bureau of Engineering website, and at the following libraries:

• Los Angeles Central Library, 630 W. Fifth Street, Los Angeles;
• Westchester-Loyola Village Library, 7114 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles;
• El Segundo Library, 111 W. Mariposa Avenue, El Segundo;
• Hawthorne Library, 12700 Grevillea Avenue, Hawthorne;
• Lawndale Library, 14615 Burin Avenue, Lawndale;
• Masao W. Satow Library, 14433 S. Crenshaw Boulevard, Gardena;
• Gardena Mayme Dear Library, 1731 W. Gardena Street, Gardena;
• Compton Public Library, 240 W. Compton Boulevard, Compton;
• West County Regional Office Library, 151 E. 216th Street, Carson; and
• Wilmington Library, 1300 N. Avalon Boulevard, Wilmington.

Comments must be received in writing by 5:00 P.M. on June 27, 2011. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. William Jones at (213) 485-5760. Please send comments by E-mail (william.jones@lacity.org), or Fax (213) 847-0656, or Mail to:

William Jones
Department of Public Works
Bureau of Engineering Environmental Management Group
City of Los Angeles
1149 South Broadway, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90015