2016 Final Environmental Impact Report / Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS)
CALIFORNIA WATERFIX HEARING EXHIBIT NO. SWRCB-102
Final EIR/EIS Sections
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) is now available. This Final EIR/EIS was prepared jointly by Lead Agencies: the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation).The Final EIR/EIS describes the alternatives, discusses potential environmental impacts, and identifies mitigation measures that would help avoid or minimize impacts. It also provides responses to all substantive comments received on the 2013 Draft EIR/EIS and 2015 Partially Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS).
A Record of Decision under the National Environmental Policy Act will be issued by Reclamation no sooner than 30-days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Federal Register publication of the notice of availability. Certification of the EIR and final decision-making under the California Environmental Quality Act by DWR would not occur until after the 30-day Federal Register notice of availability as well. This distribution of the Final EIR/EIS, including the written proposed responses to comments submitted by public agencies, is intended to satisfy the requirement to provide these responses to commenting public agencies at least 10 days prior to certification, consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15088(b). In addition, the end of the Federal Register notice period is intended by DWR to close the period by which any person may submit to DWR any grounds for noncompliance with CEQA, CA Public Resources Code Section 21177(a).
While the Final EIR/EIS combines the information contained in the Draft EIR/EIS with that of the RDEIR/SDEIS, the Final EIR/EIS Volume I has adopted the organizational structure of the Draft EIR/EIS with the main body of the document organized as Chapters 1 through 35, along with supporting appendices. Final EIR/EIS Volume II contains the comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS and RDEIR/SDEIS and accompanying responses to those comments. Each of these Volumes are provided at the links below. Appendices A-1 and A-2 of Volume II includes copies of the comments submitted during both comment periods. Due to the size of these appendices they are provided on their own pages at the links below.
It is anticipated that the Final EIR/FEIS will be used by multiple parties, including the petitioners, as evidence in the hearing to consider conditional changes to the water right permits of the Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in support of the California WaterFix project. To discourage introducing the same document(s) under different party/exhibit numbers, Board staff copied the Final EIR/EIS documents to a web server under the control of the State Water Board's I.T. Division and labeled it as Exhibit No. SWRCB-102. Parties in the hearing who plan to use the Final EIR/FEIS in their testimony are requested to use this identification when introducing the document(s) by reference. Other party exhibit identification numbers will not be allowed for these documents.
