RESOLUTION NO. _____________

BOARD OF SUPERVIORS, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA

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RESOLUTION (1) AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF DEED GRANTING EASEMENTS BENEATH AND ADJACENT TO PORTIONS OF POLHEMUS ROAD

IN THE SAN MATEO HIGHLANDS AREA

TO THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO AND (2) MAKING REQUIRED FINDINGS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA), INCLUDING ADOPTION OF A MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM AND A STATEMENT OF OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS

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RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo, State of California, that

WHEREAS, earth movement and land sliding in 1995 threatened the structural integrity of the City and County of San Francisco’s (City) existing Crystal Springs Bypass Pipeline located beneath Polhemus Road in the unincorporated area of San Mateo County; and

WHEREAS, the Bypass Pipeline is a critical part of the region’s water delivery infrastructure, delivering 215 million gallons of water per day to northern San Mateo County and San Francisco; and

WHEREAS, in connection with the resolution of litigation arising from the 1995 landslide, the County executed a Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims (“Settlement”), the terms of which included, among other things, a requirement that the County convey, at no cost to the City, a subsurface easement for the City’s water pipelines beneath the County of San Mateo’s Polhemus Road; and

WHEREAS, the City has determined that the existing pipeline remains vulnerable to potential failure due to landslide risk from unstable slopes along Polhemus Road; and

WHEREAS, in response to the seismic and water infrastructure reliability concerns noted above and after several years of planning, engineering evaluations of potential projects, and environmental review, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission ("SFPUC") has chosen to pursue construction of the New Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel Project ("Bypass Tunnel"), a water infrastructure project in unincorporated San Mateo County required as part of a 2002 voter-approved bond measure (Assembly Bill 1823) to improve the seismic and delivery reliability of the Hetch Hetchy water system; and

WHEREAS, the Bypass Tunnel consists of the construction of a 4,200-foot (0.8-mile) long tunnel, at depths between 80 and 200 feet below ground, extending from the decommissioned SFPUC Polhemus Road Fluoride Facility on Polhemus Road northward to near the intersection of Polhemus Road and Crystal Springs Road. The tunnel will replace the existing Crystal Springs Bypass Pipeline, a 96-inch pipeline that is located approximately ten feet below Polhemus Road along the Bypass Tunnel alignment; and

WHEREAS, the objectives of the Bypass Tunnel are to improve the seismic reliability of the existing Crystal Springs Bypass System ("CSBS"), reduce vulnerability to slope stability hazards and seismic hazards, and provide operational flexibility allowing continuous and reliable water delivery through the CSBS during planned and unplanned shutdowns; and

WHEREAS, the Project contemplated by the SFPUC will include a tunnel along Polhemus Road which will require the Easement contemplated by the Settlement; and

WHEREAS, the SFPUC and the San Francisco Planning Department as lead agency have conducted environmental review of the Bypass Tunnel project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), California Public Resources Code §§ 21000 et seq., including publication of an environmental impact report; and

WHEREAS, a Draft Environmental Impact Report ("DEIR") was published for public review on August 7, 2007, public comments on the DEIR were received between August 7, 2007, and October 9, 2007, and responses to those comments were prepared and published; and

WHEREAS, on June 5, 2008, the San Francisco Planning Commission reviewed and considered the Project Final EIR (“FEIR”) by Motion No. 17162, and found that the contents of said report and the procedures through which the FEIR was prepared, publicized and reviewed complied with CEQA, the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, §§ 15000 et seq.), and Chapter 31 of the San Francisco Administrative Code; and

WHEREAS, on July 22, 2008, the SFPUC approved the Bypass Tunnel in Resolution No. 08-0134 ("SFPUC Approval Resolution"), which also authorized and directed the General Manager of the SFPUC to work with the Director of Real Estate to seek San Francisco Board of Supervisors' approval of the Easement Deed with San Mateo County; and

WHEREAS, the SFPUC Approval Resolution contains environmental findings (referred to herein as "SFPUC CEQA Findings") and adopted a mitigation monitoring and reporting plan (referred to herein as the "MMRP") for the construction and implementation of the Bypass Tunnel and easement agreements, as required by CEQA; and

WHEREAS, the SFPUC CEQA Findings include extensive CEQA findings regarding the Project's potential environmental impacts, the sufficiency of mitigation measures, responsibility for implementation of mitigation measures including a mitigation and monitoring report, and a statement of overriding circumstances regarding potentially significant and unavoidable aesthetic and noise impacts; and

WHEREAS, the SFPUC CEQA Findings and MMRP are on file with the San Mateo County Planning Department in File No. PLN 2008-00196 and are incorporated herein by reference; and

WHEREAS, the SFPUC CEQA Findings and MMRP reflected the SFPUC's independent review and consideration of the relevant environmental information contained in the FEIR and the administrative record; and

WHEREAS, San Mateo County is a responsible agency under CEQA (Cal. Code. Reg. § 21069) because it has responsibility for approving the Easement Deed for the Bypass Tunnel; and

WHEREAS, this Board has reviewed and considered the SFPUC CEQA Findings made with respect to the construction and implementation of the Project, including materials related to the Easement Deed, and finds that, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines § 15162, there are no changed circumstances or other factors present that would trigger the need or requirement for additional environmental review for this action and, specifically, that no new information of substantial importance to the Easement Agreement or Bypass Tunnel project has become available which would indicate (a) that the Bypass Tunnel will have significant effects not discussed in the FEIR, (b) significant environmental effects will be substantially more severe; (c) mitigation measures or alternatives found not feasible which would reduce one or more significant effects have become feasible; or (d) mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerably different from those in the FEIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment; and

WHEREAS, this Board finds that social, economic, technological and other benefits warrant approval of the Project notwithstanding the unavoidable significant aesthetic and noise impacts identified in the FEIR, as described in the SFPUC CEQA Findings (see, e.g., Article VII); and

WHEREAS, this Board finds that the granting of the Easement Deed is in the public’s interest because of the water supply's importance for public safety and welfare, and that the easement will not substantially conflict or interfere with the use of the property by the County; and

WHEREAS, there has been presented to this Board of Supervisors for its consideration, an Easement Deed between the County of San Mateo and the City, which includes the granting of the subsurface easements to the City for the existing and proposed 96-inch diameter water pipelines in compliance with the terms of the said Settlement and the granting of the surface easement for the vaults and facilities needed for the operation of the said water pipelines, reference to which is hereby made for further particulars (the “Deed”), and the Board of Supervisors has examined and approved the same as to form and content and desires to grant the same; and

NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY DETERMINED AND ORDERED that:

The President of the Board of Supervisors be and is hereby authorized and directed to grant the required perpetual exclusive subsurface easements and perpetual nonexclusive surface easement, beneath and adjacent to portions of Polhemus Road as described in said Deed for and on behalf of the County of San Mateo, and the Clerk of the Board shall attest the President’s signature thereto; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this Board of Supervisors has reviewed and considered SFPUC Approval Resolution authorizing the Bypass Tunnel and Easement Deed, the SFPUC CEQA Findings, and the MMRP, incorporated herein by reference the SFPUC CEQA Findings and MMRP with respect to the Bypass Tunnel project and Easement Deed, and hereby adopts said findings as its own.

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