Arizona’s Congressman Raúl Grijalva is disappointed with the Bureau of Land Management’s newly finalized Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a power transmission line despite the fact that it will transport electricity generated by power generation resources, including renewable resources, to western power markets and load centers.
According to the BLM, the Project would enable the development of renewable energy resources including wind, solar, and geothermal generation by creating access to the interstate power grid in the Southwest.
Grijalva says that it is projected to pass through several sensitive riparian areas along the San Pedro River in Southern Arizona. Grijalva hopes that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assesses the San Pedro for its conservation value – a process that could contradict BLM’s findings.
He also cited concerns about the impacts on rural communities from the construction of a 1,400-foot-wide transmission corridor with up to eight 135-foot towers every mile.
However, the BLM says that in consideration of public input and analyzing the consequences of the Project proposal, they have identified a preferred alternative, approximately 515 miles in length. It is estimated that approximately 185 miles, or 36 percent of the right-of-way for the BLM preferred alternative, would be located on federally administered lands in New Mexico and Arizona.
To the extent feasible and practicable, the proposed SunZia Project transmission lines would be located along existing transmission line corridors and designated utility corridors on federal land.
This project is proposed by SunZia Transmission, LLC. The company plans to construct and operate two 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines originating at a new substation in Lincoln County in the vicinity of Corona, New Mexico, and terminating at the Pinal Central Substation in Pinal County near Coolidge, Arizona.
The BLM has been the lead federal agency for the development of the EIS/RMPA for the proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project that is being conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and associated regulations.
Release of this Final EIS/RMPA follows an extensive public involvement process initiated by the BLM in 2009 to identify relevant issues and concerns. A 90-day comment period followed the release of the Draft EIS in May of 2012.