City of Hermosa Beach
NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT(FEIR) AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS AND A STUDY SESSION BEFORE THE HERMOSA BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE CITY COUNCIL REGARDING AN OIL DRILLING AND PRODUCTION PROJECT IN HERMOSA BEACH E & B OIL DRILLING AND PRODUCTION PROJECT PROJECT TITLE: E & B Oil Drilling and Production Project (SCH# 2013071038). PROJECT APPLICANT: E & B Natural Resources Management Corp., 1600 Norris Road, Bakersfield, CA 93308 PROJECT LOCATION: 555 6th Street, Hermosa Beach (site for proposed oil project; currently the City’s Maintenance Yard) and 1315 Valley Drive/552 11th Place (site for relocation of City Maintenance Yard; currently City Hall parking and Hermosa Self-Storage) within the City of Hermosa Beach. Proposed oil and gas pipelines and associated meters and valve stationswill extend into the Cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Applicant proposes to develop the 1.3-acre Project Site at 555 6th St., Hermosa Beach, currently used as the City Maintenance Yard, as an onshore oil drilling and production site using directional drilling to access oil and gas reserves in the tidelands and uplands within the Torrance Oil Field, with 30 production wells, 4 water injection wells, liquid and gas separating equipment, and gas processing unit. In addition, the Proposed Project would result in the installation of offsite underground pipelines for the transportation of the processed crude oil and gas from the Project Site to purchasers, extending through the Cities of Redondo Beach and Torrance. The Applicant proposes a laydown site for supply staging/storage within the basement level of the industrial building at 601 Cypress Avenue during the construction phases. The Applicant also proposes to construct a parking lot at 636 Cypress Avenue for use by some of its construction employees/contractors on weekdays and by the public at other times. The Proposed Oil Project would occur in the following four phases: Phase 1: Site Preparation, including relocation of the City Maintenance Yard to the temporary facility; Phase 2: Drilling and Testing of three oil wells and one water disposal/injection well; Phase 3: Final Design and Construction of both the oil and gas facility and the permanent City Maintenance Yard; and Phase 4: Development and Operations, including drilling of the remaining wells over 30 months and re-drill of wells periodically through the life of the project. The Applicant proposes a facility designed for a maximum capacity of 8,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 2.5 million standard cubic feet per day of produced gas at completion of the drilling stage of the Proposed Oil Project in Phase 4. Proposed Oil Project approvals, which will require voter approval, include General Plan, Coastal Land Use Plan, Zoning and Municipal Code, and Oil Code amendments, and a Development Agreement, and an oil franchise. The Environmental Impact Report for the Project also evaluates relocation of the existing City Maintenance Yard to City property adjacent to and south of Hermosa Beach City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive/552 11th Place, Hermosa Beach (Assessor’s Parcel Numbers 4187-031-900, 4187-020-907/904). Parking at both sites will be relocated. The City Maintenance Yard is proposed to be relocated to a temporary facility to be established on the rear (westerly) portion of the City Hall site (1315 Valley Drive) prior to and during the initial phase of the Proposed Oil Project so that the maintenance operations could continue when the existing City Maintenance Yard is demolished as part of Proposed Oil Project activities. The construction of the permanent City Maintenance Yard would be undertaken on the site now occupied by Hermosa Self-Storage (552 11th Place) after the Applicant completes the testing phase of the Proposed Oil Project in Phase 2. The permanent City Maintenance Yard and the oil and gas facility on the Project Site would be constructed at the same time. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT: Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA),the City of Hermosa Beach,as lead agency, has prepared aFinal Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the project identified above. THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT IS AVAILABLE online on June 9, 2014 at http://www.hermosabch.org. You may review a paper copy starting June 10, 2014 at the office of the Community Development Dept., 1315 Valley Drive and at the Hermosa Beach Library, 550 Pier Avenue. Starting June 16, 2014 you may obtain a copy of the document from the Community Development Dept., 1315 Valley Drive. The EIR discusses whether the project will create significant impacts to areas including Aesthetics/Visuals, Biological Resources, Air Quality, Drainage/Absorption, Fire Hazard/Safety, Flood Plain/Flooding, Water Quality, Water Supply/Groundwater, Archeological/Historical, Geologic/Seismic, Minerals, Soil Erosion/Compaction/ Grading, Coastal Zone, Noise, Sewer Capacity, Solid Waste, Land Use, Recreation/Parks, Public Services/ Facilities/Utilities, Traffic/Circulation, Vegetation, Toxic/Hazardous, Cumulative Effects, and Growth Inducement. The FEIR includes, without limitation, all public comments on the Draft EIR, responses to those comments, revisions to the EIR, and a summary of the environmental mitigation measures and monitoring plan. The Planning Commission and City Council of the City of Hermosa Beachwill hold a joint study session on the Final Environmental Impact Report on Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, California. ThePlanning Commissionof the City of Hermosa Beachwill hold a public hearing on Monday, June 23, 2014, at 6:00 p.m. , in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, California, toconsider a recommendation to the City Council on (1) certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report(including all relevant CEQA documents), and (2) the legislative changes that the Hermosa Beach voters will need to adopt in order for the project to proceed, including: a) amendments to the City General Plan land use designations to allow the Proposed Project to proceed; b) amendments to the City’s Coastal Land Use Plan (part of the City’s General Plan) to adopt an energy policy consistent with E&B’s proposed project and to amend land use designations to allow the Proposed Project to proceed; c) amendments to various provisions of the City’s Municipal Code (including the zoning ordinance and oil code) to allow E&B’s proposed project to proceed but continue to prohibit oil drilling elsewhere in the City; and d) a development agreement between the City and E&B in order to provide E&B with a statutory vested right to proceed with its proposed project and to set forth all conditions of approval and mitigation measures that will govern the project. ANY AND ALL PERSONS interested are invited to participate and speak at these hearings at the above times and places. For inclusion in the agenda packet to be distributed, written comments of interested parties should be submitted to the Community Development Department, Planning Division, in care of City Hall at 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 no later than 12:00 noon, one week prior to the hearing date. All written testimony by any interested party will be accepted prior to or at the scheduled time on the agenda for the matter. IF YOU CHALLENGE THIS PROJECT IN COURT, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Community Development Department, Planning Division, at, or prior to, the public hearing [Government Code Section 65009 (b), (c)]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, please contact the Community Development Department, Planning Division, at (310) 318-0242 or fax to (310) 937-6235. The Department is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Please contact a staff planner to discuss any project on the Planning Commission agenda. A copy of the staff reports in the City Council and Planning Commission packets will be available for public review at the end of the business day on Thursday before the meetings at the Hermosa Beach Police Department, Public Library and on the City’s web site at www.hermosabch.org.Click on “agendas/minutes/video,”click on “City Council Agenda”for the June 18 meeting and on “Planning Commission Agenda” for the June 23 meeting. Relevant Municipal Code sections are also available on the web site. Elaine Doerfing City Clerk Easy Reader Inc/Redondo Beach News/June 12, 2014/HD14-039
