El ideal de escrituralidad y la lengua ejemplar: la lengua de la distancia

The Proposed Action is a Federal Project on Federal land that includes leasing land to and entering into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a private developer, who would design, construct, operate and maintain an unmanned PV solar energy facility at the former EHA on VAFB. The Project will serve the Base’s energy needs and is not expected to export energy to PG&E’s distribution system. The Project is designed to have a useful life of 20 to 30 years, although the life span could be extended by upgrades and refurbishments. In the event that the Project is decommissioned, the facility would be removed and the site prepared for

subsequent land use according to the terms of the real property authorization.

Currently, a 20 MW solar energy facility would provide sufficient energy to meet the Base’s peak load and would meet the project’s 25 percent renewable energy goal. Future increases in the Base’s energy needs or future escalations in renewable energy goals could require a larger solar facility and the EHA site could support a larger solar project (e.g., 30 MW). The future developer would determine the most efficient and cost effective

layout of the facility in coordination with the Base. Therefore, to allow for design flexibility and future needs, the Proposed Action

assumes the entire site could be developed subject to Base approval. The analysis thus assumes any resource within the project site could be affected; environmental protection measures are identified to ensure avoidance of sensitive resources adjacent to the project site.

The Proposed Action would reduce risk and achieve important financial benefits for the Base, including: (1) no initial capital

investment is required; (2) the Base only pays for the solar electricity that is produced; (3) electricity is purchased at fixed rates that are locked in over the term of the contract; (4) the Base has no responsibility for owning,

operating, or maintaining the equipment; and (5) the Base can indirectly benefit from the Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and accelerated depreciation, which are not directly available to the Base but can be passed to it in the form of lower PPA rates.

2.2.1 Project Site

The proposed solar facility is located on a part of a highly disturbed site known as the East Housing Area (EHA) located near the VAFB main gate at the intersection of SR-1 and California Boulevard in northern Santa Barbara County, California. The solar site measures approximately 182-acres in size (Figures 2-1 and 2-2).

The EHA was developed as a residential neighborhood in the late 1950s and early 1960 and once included several hundred homes, utilities, roads, and schools. The EHA was demolished between 2006 and 2012 as part of a long-term project addressed in a 1996 Environmental Assessment for the Replacement of Military Family Housing. Demolition included removal of structures, building slabs, most streets, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, fire hydrants, manholes, power poles, catch basins, fences, and abandoned utilities. Most underground utilities were cut, capped and abandoned in

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place as close to the mains as practicable, although electrical, water and gas lines along Mountain View Boulevard and Timber Lane remain in service and will continue to be in service. The most visible reminders of the former housing area are a few asphalt-paved streets and ornamental and native trees. See Figure 2-2 for a 2013 aerial view of the site. Since the aerial photo was taken, the site has remained unused; however, vegetation has re-grown to cover graded areas to some extent (varies across site).

Two schools are located adjacent to the proposed solar site along Mountain View Boulevard, including Manzanita Public

Charter School (K-6) and Vandenberg Middle School (see Figure 2-2). Manzanita Public Charter School is authorized by the Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) to operate independently. Vandenberg Middle School is operated by LUSD.

2.2.2 Project Design and Construction

The site facility would include the following major components: non-reflective PV solar module arrays mounted on a fixed tilt racking system supported by embedded piers

(preferred), buried collector lines, and

electrical equipment on small concrete pads. The solar power generation facility would also include a small, unmanned communications enclosure that would contain supervisory control and data acquisition equipment. The photograph below provides a close view of a typical PV solar panel array.

Internal site circulation would include a perimeter road with an all-weather surface and interior roadways (minimally graded, dirt or gravel) to provide maintenance access to the solar panels. A chain link security fence will be installed around the facility. All Project lighting will be designed to provide the

minimum illumination needed to achieve safety and security objectives. Lighting will be directed downward and shielded to focus illumination on desired areas.

Power from the proposed solar facility would be transmitted approximately 0.75-mile north to Substation A on an existing distribution line (12 kV or 70 kV) along SR-1 and Lompoc- Casmalia Road (see Figure 2-1). To deliver the power, upgrades to the existing

distribution line, including installing new cross arms, adding or replacing conductors

(electrical lines), and installing or upgrading other equipment as needed to safely

interconnect the system would be required. No new power poles or pole relocations are expected. Any upgrades at the substation are expected to be minor (King, 2014).

Construction of the proposed Project is estimated to require approximately 80

workers at its peak. Construction is currently estimated to start in 2015 or early 2016. Construction duration will depend on final project design but is estimated to be completed within an 8 to 12 month period. Construction activities at the Project site include vegetation clearing, grubbing, grading, trenching for buried cables and installation of pile-driven pier foundations to support the solar panels. Grading is

estimated to include approximately 20,000 to 35,000 cubic yards of cut and fill that would be balanced on-site. Several paved roads inside the site are likely to be retained and used to access the solar panels, although they could be removed and replaced if their current configuration is deemed problematic during project design. Any new interior roads would be pervious and likely surfaced with gravel.

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Environmental protection measures described throughout Chapter 4 would avoid and

minimize potential impacts to the nearby schools from dust, traffic and noise.

The row of eucalyptus between the solar site and Vandenberg Middle School would be preserved. The row of eucalyptus trees along SR-1 south of Timber Lane may need to be removed to reduce shading and improve solar exposure, although such removal is

considered unlikely at this point. If the trees were removed, they could be replaced with lower-growing native shrubs to help screen the facility.

Approximately 10 to 20-acre-feet of water would be used during construction for dust suppression and ancillary construction activities. Water would be provided by an on- site water truck that would be filled from existing fire hydrants located along Mountain View Boulevard.

During peak months, the workforce is estimated to include approximately 80 workers that would likely commute from Lompoc and Santa Maria. Carpooling can be expected and would be encouraged.

Construction deliveries of local construction materials, solar panels and other materials are expected to range from an estimated 4 trucks per day at the beginning of the project up to approximately 20 per day during the peak month. Commuters and truck deliveries would enter the site via Timber Lane or at the southern intersection of SR-1 and Mountain View Boulevard. No commuters or

construction trucks would be allowed to enter the site at the northern SR-1/Mountain View Boulevard intersection while Vandenberg Middle School is in session.

2.2.3 Operations/Maintenance

The proposed solar facility would be unmanned. Several part-time employees would visit the site periodically. A few times per year, designated representatives would visit the site to wash the PV panels. Panel washing may require approximately 1-2 acre- feet of water per year. Panel washing will be

conducted with water from existing on-site fire hydrants without the addition of chemicals in a manner that water run-off will infiltrate prior to reaching the storm drain system along SR-1.

2.3 Alternative B: No-Action

Alternative

Under the No-Action Alternative, the proposed solar project would not be developed at this location. Based on the VAFB General Plan, the No-Action Alternative might result in the EHA being developed as a business park, shopping center or for other commercial uses that can be expected to have environmental impacts similar to or greater than the Proposed Action.

Under the No-Action Alternative, AFB could:

 Continue to purchase electricity from PG&E and be exposed to expected but unknown increases in energy costs;

 Choose to develop other renewable energy sources at other sites, which would be much more costly because such developments could not be completed in time to take advantage of tax credits that expire on December 31, 2016. Development of other projects at other sites would have environmental impacts similar to or greater than the Proposed Action, depending on location (see Section 2.5); or

 Purchase renewable energy

certificates (RECs), which are costly and, unlike the Proposed Action, would not protect the Base from unanticipated increases in energy costs.

The No-Action Alternative thus would not meet the project’s purpose and need.

2.4 Environmental Protection

Measures

Environmental Protection Measures (EPM) have been identified for the Proposed Action. The specific EPMs are discussed in Chapter 4 for each resource for which they have been identified. Mandatory EPMs (denoted by “shall” or “would”) are part of the project design and will be implemented as part of the Proposed Action so as to avoid, minimize, and/or reduce anticipated environmental impacts. Discretionary measures (denoted by “may” or “could”) may or may not be

implemented to further reduce environmental impacts.

2.5 Other Alternatives