Imperial County extends public comment period on draft Lithium Valley plan; officials highlight education and workforce programs

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors on March 18 publicized an extension of the public comment period for the draft Lithium Valley specific plan and heard a presentation on local education and workforce initiatives tied to Lithium Valley development.

Deputy CEO Barry Bean, Natural Resources, said the county will extend the public comment period for the draft Lithium Valley specific plan (LVSP) from its prior deadline to Friday, May 2, 2025, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. He said the county will host two additional virtual workshops: a Spanish-language session Wednesday, April 16 at 6 p.m. (with an in-person viewing location to be announced in Niland) and an English-language session Thursday, April 17 at 6 p.m. at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 940 West Main St., Floor 2, El Centro. Comments will be accepted in writing via the county form at imperialcounty.org/lvsp or at the Planning and Development Services Department, 801 Main Street, El Centro, Bean said.

Bean summarized the county’s estimate of long-term local revenue and education impacts if several proposed Lithium Valley projects are developed. Using the county’s analysis of five projects in the Lithium Valley area, Bean said those projects “if developed over 30 years, would have an impact of over $640,000,000 on the Calipatria Unified School District” and “over $133,000,000” for the Imperial Community College District (Imperial Valley College) over the same period. He also described local K–12 and community college programs preparing students for industry jobs, including STEM labs in Brawley elementary schools, robotics programs, and Imperial Valley College’s one-year certification pathways (the LIFT program) for plant operators, chemical lab technicians and instrumentation technicians.

Bean also read statements attributing higher-education commitments to San Diego State University and cited an $80 million state investment to build an SDSU STEM campus in Brawley. He emphasized that the county has not completed the programmatic draft environmental impact report (EIR) and said correspondence submitted before the notice of availability/notice of completion for that EIR “shall not be considered a comment on the programmatic draft environmental impact report.”

The county said it is referring the LVSP to California Native American tribes, public agencies, utilities, water suppliers and community groups identified in Government Code section 65352 for comment.

Ending: The board received the presentation and recorded the county’s extension of the LVSP public-comment deadline and workshop schedule. The extension and workshop dates were announced; no regulatory decision on the LVSP or the programmatic draft EIR was made at the meeting.