Purpose:

To present City Council with draft comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) regarding sewer system improvements proposed by the City of Los Angeles.

Background:

On November 15, 2005, Public Works presented information to the City Council regarding a sewer tunnel proposed by the City of Los Angeles that may be located in the Rancho District.  This sewer tunnel, known as the Glendale-Burbank Interceptor Sewer (GBIS), is a part of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR), which was released on November 30, 2005. 

On December 13, 2005, Public Works updated City Council on the release of the Draft EIR and the outreach efforts being made to inform the public on how they can provide input to the City of Los Angeles.  Public outreach has included:

1. A letter was sent to approximately 1,500 Burbank residential properties that are within 1,000 feet of the proposed GBIS alignments.  This letter gave a brief summary of the Draft EIR and how it may affect Burbank.  Also included in the letter was information on how residents can review the Draft EIR and how they may submit comments to LA.

2. Copies of the Draft EIR have been made available at Burbank Public Libraries.

3. Electronic copies of the Draft EIR have been made available at the Public Works counter.

4. An index has been created which lists the pages that are most pertinent in regards to the GBIS.

5. Information about the Draft EIR has been made available on the City of Burbank website.

In addition to these efforts, a draft comment letter has been created to provide Burbank residents information on GBIS project concerns discovered by City staff.  This draft comment letter can also be used by residents to formulate their own comment letters to send to the City of Los Angeles.  Comments are due to the City of Los Angeles by February 27, 2006.  An overview of the contents of staff�s draft letter is being presented to City Council tonight for additional direction.

ANALYSIS:

The Draft EIR released by the City of Los Angeles assesses the environmental impacts of project-level components of the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), program-level components of the IRP and the impacts of each of the four alternatives presented in the IRP Facilities Plan.  One of the project-level components analyzed in the Draft EIR is the GBIS. 

The environmental impacts of the GBIS North Alignment and GBIS South Alignment were analyzed separately, which allow for a direct comparison between the two alternative alignments.  Although the Draft EIR does not identify an environmentally superior alternative for the GBIS alignment, staff concludes that the GBIS South Alignment has considerably fewer impacts and should be listed as the preferred alternative.  Staff believes the GBIS North Alignment should be rejected due to the significant environmental impacts.

Public Works staff identified concerns with several comments in the Draft EIR regarding the GBIS North Alignment, and felt that the full extent of the environmental impacts of this alternative was not fully addressed.  The following sections contained areas of concern:

• Section 3.2 � Aesthetics

• Section 3.4 � Air Quality

• Section 3.5 � Biological Resources

• Section 3.7 � Cultural Resources

• Section 3.9 � Geology and Soils

• Section 3.12 � Land Use and Planning

• Section 3.13 � Noise and Vibration

• Section 3.14 � Population, Housing and Employment

• Section 3.16 � Recreation

• Section 3.17 � Transportation and Traffic

These concerns are detailed in the attached draft comment letter.  If additional concerns are raised by the City Attorney or Community Development Department, they will be included in the letter.

RECOMMENDATION:

Direct staff to send the Draft EIR comment letter to the City of Los Angeles.

Attachment:  Draft Comment Letter

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