Abstract
This Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to evaluate the potential impacts of repowering the Alameda County portion of the Altamont Pass Wind Resources Area (APWRA), including two individual wind energy repowering projects: the Golden Hills Wind Energy Facility Repowering Project (Golden Hills Project), and the Patterson Pass Wind Farm Repowering Project (Patterson Pass Project). The PEIR is intended to identify the anticipated environmental impacts of conditional use permits (CUPs) that may be approved by Alameda County (County) for repowering windfarm projects in the Alameda County portion of the APWRA—a modified boundary of which is hereafter referred to as the program area —through 2018 and beyond: both those currently proposed—the individual projects —and those expected to be proposed (collectively, the program addressed in this PEIR). This PEIR is intended to enable the County to comply with CEQA in approving the Golden Hills and Patterson Pass projects described in this PEIR, as well as to provide a basis for the preparation of CEQA documentation and review of applications for subsequent wind repowering projects. The County is the CEQA Lead Agency for the proposed and anticipated subsequent CUPs. This PEIR is the first tier of environmental documentation, providing program‐level analysis of the complete repowering of the program area with new turbines, and project‐level analysis of the two repowering projects. This analysis will be augmented or supplemented by second‐tier environmental documents as appropriate when additional details for other specific repow ering projects are developed.
The proposed and anticipated subsequent repowering projects that are evaluated in this PEIR would be located in eastern Alameda County, California. As required by Section 15123 of the State CEQA Guidelines, this Executive Summary contains the following.
- A brief summary of the proposed actions (wind repowering CUPS), including goals and objectives.
- Significant impacts and proposed mitigation measures.
- Alternatives that would reduce or avoid identified significant effects.
- Areas of controversy known to the Lead Agency, including issues raised by agencies and the public.
- Issues to be resolved.