Welcome to Morongo
Set at the foot of the beautiful San Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mountains, the Morongo Indian Reservation spans more than 35,000 acres and overlooks the vistas of the Banning Pass. Resilient and resourceful, the Morongo tribe has had to overcome many adversities.
Latest News
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Morongo Travel Center Tribal Minor NSR Permit Application # 2021-001-MNSR
Announcement of Draft Permit and Request for Public Comment on Draft Clean Air Act Minor NSR Permit in Indian Country
Proposed Action: The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (EPA) provides notice of and requests public comment on the EPA’s proposed action relating to the draft minor New Source Review (NSR) permit for the Morongo Travel Center (“Source”). The Source will be located at 48540 Morongo Trail, Cabazon, California 92230, within the Morongo Indian Reservation. The EPA is proposing to issue this minor NSR permit to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, 12700 Pumarra Road, Banning, California, 92220. The contact for the Source is Dana Morey, Environmental Manager, (951) 755-5198.
This draft permit, if finalized, will authorize the construction and operation of a gasoline dispensing facility (GDF), consistent with the minor NSR regulations for Indian country (40 CFR 49.151-161). The gasoline dispensing facility will dispense both diesel and octane gasoline. It will include 22 fuel dispensers, six underground storage tanks, and a convenience store. This project will increase emissions of air pollutants as follows: 12.27 tons per year (tpy) of volatile organic compounds (VOC). More information on the emission limitations associated with this draft permit can be found in Section 5 of the technical support document for this action.
Request for Public Comment: All written comments or requests for a public hearing must be received or postmarked by September 7, 2021. Comments may be submitted via the following methods:
Online: www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0043
E-mail: [email protected]
Other: By contacting Catherine Valladolid for other submission methods. See the Contact Information section below.
Any person may submit written comments on the draft permit and may request a public hearing during the public comment period. These comments must raise any reasonably ascertainable issue with supporting arguments by the close of the public comment period (including any public hearing). Please address comments with the subject “Comments on Draft Minor NSR Permit for Morongo Travel Center.”
All comments that are received via email or through www.regulations.gov will be included in the public docket without change and will be available to the public, including any personal information provided. Comments submitted to the EPA through a non-electronic delivery method will also be included in the public docket without change and will be available to the public, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Information that is considered to be CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as such and should be submitted only through a non-electronic delivery method; such information should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. If a commenter sends e-mail directly to the EPA, the e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. Please note that an e-mail or postal address must be provided with comments if the commenter wishes to receive direct notification of the EPA’s final decision regarding the draft permit following the public comment period. For information about CBI or multimedia submissions and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Public Hearing: A public hearing has not been scheduled for the draft permit action. However, anyone may request a public hearing. Any request for a public hearing must be made in writing and state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised at the hearing. The EPA will hold a hearing whenever there is, on the basis of requests, a significant degree of public interest in a draft minor NSR permit. The EPA may also hold a public hearing at its discretion, whenever, for instance, such a hearing might clarify one or more issues involved in the minor NSR permit decision. The EPA will provide notice at least 30 days in advance of the date and time of any scheduled public hearing. The 30-day public comment period will be extended to the close of any public hearing on the Morongo Travel Center.
Final Action: Before taking final action on the draft permit, the EPA will consider all written comments submitted during the public comment period. The EPA will send notice of our final permit decision to each person who submitted comments and contact information during the public comment period or requested notice of the final permit decision. The EPA will summarize the contents of all substantive comments and provide written responses in a document accompanying the EPA’s final permit decision. The EPA’s final permit decision will become effective 30 days after the service of notice of the decision unless:
1. A later effective date is specified in the permit;
2. The decision is appealed to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board pursuant to 40 CFR 49.159(d); or
3. There are no comments requesting a change to the draft permit decision, in which case the final decision shall become effective immediately upon issuance.
Appeals to the EAB: In accordance with 40 CFR 49.159, within 30 days after a final permit decision has been issued, any person who filed comments on the draft permit or participated in the public hearing may petition the EAB to review any condition of the permit decision. The 30-day period within which a person may request review under this section begins when the Region has fulfilled the notice requirements for the final permit decision. A petition to the EAB is, under section 307(b) of the Act, a prerequisite to seeking judicial review of the final agency action. For purposes of judicial review, final agency action occurs when the EPA denies or issues a final permit and agency review procedures are exhausted.
Contact Information: If you have questions, or if you wish to obtain further information, please contact Catherine Valladolid at (415) 947-4103 or via email at [email protected]. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive future information about this draft permit decision or other permit decisions issued by EPA Region 9, please contact the EPA at [email protected].
***Please bring the foregoing notice to the attention of all persons who would be interested in this matter.***
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Morongo tribe partners with Southern California Edison on upgrade to transmission lines
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
By Amanda UlrichThe Morongo Band of Mission Indians plans to use existing Southern California Edison power lines, a section of which cross its reservation in Banning, to help connect solar, wind and battery resources to the regional power grid.
Morongo partnered with the utility company to develop and finance part of an upgrade to the transmission lines, the tribe reported in a press release Monday.
Morongo Transmission LLC, a partnership between the tribe as majority owner and a New York-registered investment company called Coachella Partners LLC, will operate the project. SCE was able to gain new rights-of-way across the Banning reservation, according to the tribe, while Morongo Transmission LLC was permitted to lease a percentage of the project’s transfer capability.
In return for financing a portion of the project alongside SCE, the tribe will “share in the proceeds” of the transmission lines, Morongo spokesperson Phil Southard said.
Morongo said in the release that it is the first Native American tribe in the country to be approved as a participating transmission owner, or an entity that owns or operates power lines.
“Morongo is honored to be making history once again as the first tribe in the nation to be a participating transmission owner,” said Charles Martin, the tribe’s chairman.
“Our tribe has a deep connection to the environment, and the agreement by Morongo Transmission to lease capacity on Southern California Edison’s newly upgraded system will further that legacy by delivering green energy resources to the Southern California power grid.”
Morongo’s involvement is part of a broader effort from SCE to deliver more renewable power to the Southern California region.
The partnership falls under Southern California Edison’s West of Devers Upgrade, a project several years in the making that replaced nearly 50 miles of aging power lines between a substation near Palm Springs and San Bernardino.
The project tripled the system’s capacity to transmit power generated by renewable resources to major population centers in Southern California, according to the tribe. Those specific renewable energy projects, like solar farms, are located in more eastern parts of Riverside County, Imperial County and outside the state. Southard added that none of the renewable energy sources are located on the Morongo reservation.
Southard did not have specific figures on Monday for the project’s financial impact on the tribe.
In February, the Board of Governors for the California Independent System Operator approved Morongo Transmission’s application to join the nonprofit, a first for a federally recognized tribe. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission then finalized all necessary approvals to allow operations by Morongo Transmission earlier this month.
Elliot Mainzer, CAISO’s board president and CEO, praised Morongo and SCE in February “for their creativity and flexibility in developing an innovative ownership structure that enables this critical transmission project to proceed,” the press release said.
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Morongo Becomes First Native American Tribe to be Approved as a Participating Transmission Owner in Nation
Monday, July 19, 2021
The tribe’s majority-owned partnership will use newly upgraded Southern California Edison transmission lines to connect solar, wind and battery resources to the regional power grid.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Palm Springs, California, has become the first Native American tribe in the nation to become a participating transmission owner as part of a new project that will help California meet its green energy goals.
In early July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finalized all necessary approvals allowing operations by the Morongo Transmission LLC, a partnership between the Morongo Band of Mission Indians as the majority owner and Coachella Partners, LLC, a subsidiary of Axium Infrastructure.
FERC’s action follows a February approval by the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO), marking the first time a federally recognized tribe has received a designation as a participating transmission owner.
“Morongo is honored to be making history once again as the first tribe in the nation to be a participating transmission owner,” said Morongo Tribal Chairman Charles Martin. “Our tribe has a deep connection to the environment, and the agreement by Morongo Transmission to lease capacity on Southern California Edison’s newly upgraded system will further that legacy by delivering green energy resources to the Southern California power grid.”
The agreement is part of SCE’s West of Devers Upgrade Project which replaced four circuits of aging high-voltage power lines along a 48-mile existing corridor that stretches from the Devers substation near Palm Springs to Grand Terrace and San Bernardino.
The project, which crosses the Morongo Indian Reservation west of Palm Springs, tripled the system’s capacity to transmit power generated by solar, wind, and battery resources in eastern Riverside County, Imperial County and outside California to population centers in Southern California at no increased cost to ratepayers.
Approved by the CAL-ISO in 2011, the project supports California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.
Completed in May 2021, SCE spent nearly 24 months the existing transmission lines with high-capacity conductors on new, stronger towers, designed to increase power flow by 3,200 megawatts (MW).
Morongo partnered with SCE to develop and finance the three-fold upgrade (1,600 MW to 4,800 MW) to the transmission lines. As part of that agreement, SCE obtained new rights of way across the Reservation and granted Morongo Transmission, LLC the option to lease a percentage of the project’s transfer capability in return for payment of a pro rata percentage of the project cost, sparing SCE the need to fund the entire project.
FERC’s action follows the February 2021 decision by the Cal-ISO Board of Governors to approve Morongo Transmission, LLC’s application to join the ISO. At that time, Elliot Mainzer, ISO’s Board President and CEO, commended Morongo and SCE “for their creativity and flexibility in developing an innovative ownership structure that enables this critical transmission project to proceed.”
The West of Devers Upgrade Project will help bring more renewable energy to communities in southern California. Photo: Southern California Edison
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