from the Press-Enterprise, Riverside Co., CA
LOS ANGELES – An environmental group sued the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday for designating an energy corridor in Arizona and California that will bypass normal reviews for new high-voltage power lines.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, naming the Energy Department and Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman as defendants.
In October, the federal government designated two corridors across broad swaths of the Southwest and mid-Atlantic, which have raised the ire of conservation groups around the country. While the purpose was to ease rules for new power lines where they’re most needed, critics say the designation would also give power companies blanket approval.
“There are some loopholes in this designation that are really problematic,” said Megan Anderson, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center who worked on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims the fast-track federal approval process would allow energy companies to bypass state jurisdiction, environmental laws and even private land ownership in pursuit of constructing transmission lines. The lawsuit also accused the Energy Department of violating the National Environmental Policy because it failed to analyze the environmental impacts of the corridor.
A call seeking comment from the Department of Energy on Thursday was not immediately returned.
The 70,000-square-mile Southwest corridor includes seven counties in Southern California and three counties in southwestern Arizona. It crosses several national parks including Joshua Tree, as well as national monuments such as the Carrizo Plain and the Sonoran Desert. The area contains at least 95 threatened and endangered species.
“The Energy Department cannot turn Southern California and western Arizona into an energy farm for Los Angeles and San Diego without taking a hard look at the environmental impacts of doing so,” said Amy Atwood, staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Full Story: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/WST_Energy_Corridors_322955C.shtml