PG&E DIGS

Industry: Utilities

Services: Land Planning, Environmental Planning, Biological Resources, Stormwater

Surf to Snow serves as Prime consultant on this project valued at $2M providing ongoing environmental planning, biological resource and cultural resource compliance support services for the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Gas Transmission (GT) Digs Workstream for two PG&E Regions (covering a total of 36 counties across Norther California including Contra Costa County). Since initiation of the Prime contract, we have provided support for 150 Digs sites which range in size from single-point access with minimal associated impacts to repair Digs involving vegetation clearance, crossing water bodies, creation of construction access and staging, development and application of Best Management Practices (BMPs), and multi-agency coordination and permitting and associated mitigation measures. Environmental project managers work with agencies to obtain clearance, particularly for more complex Digs and for those requiring permitting. Agency involvement includes California Coastal Commission, USACE, Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), CDFW, National Marine Fisheries Service (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries), and Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB). Permitting includes Section 404 Clean Water Act nationwide permits; Section 401 Clean Water Act certifications; Section 10 Rivers and Harbors Act permits; CDFW Section 1600 LSAA notifications, Coastal Development Permits, and local and regional agency permits. Our biologists conduct desktop reviews and routine construction support surveys, special-status species and associated habitat surveys (protocol and reconnaissance) for species such as CRLF, CTS, Swainson’s hawk, giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas), and BUOW and other raptors, as well as wetlands and water surveys to determine permitting needs, if applicable. A representative example Dig site occurred in 2021 along the Sacramento River east of Willows, CA. The Dig site was initially proposed within a levee on the west side of the Sacramento River under the jurisdiction of the CVFPB. Our team also performed agency consultation with the USFWS as the Dig Site work area extended into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) administered Llano Seco Riparian Management Area. Our permitting and biological resources team collaborated to develop appropriate BMPs, biological AMMs including necessary pre-construction surveys, and all other necessary environmental release to construction documents. Our team successfully worked with the engineering team to fit the project just outside the toe of the CVFPB jurisdictional levee, reducing the regulatory burden from a full CVFPB permit to a minor alteration letter of authorization. This strategy reduced the permitting-associated schedule from at least one year down to only three months, significantly reducing overall project costs while not reducing the quality of the Dig site repair.