The Port of Long Beach on Monday released a draft environmental impact report examining a proposal by Southern California Edison to modify transmission and telecommunication lines crossing the Cerritos Channel. A public hearing on the study is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, in the Board Room at the Port of Long Beach Interim Administrative Offices, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach 90815. The Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project is currently underway. The base of the new bridge will be 205 feet above the Port's Back Channel, while SCE’s existing transmission towers’ electric lines spanning the channel are only 155 feet above the water. In order to ensure these electric lines do not impede navigation through the Back Channel, the transmission lines and associated towers will need to be raised.   SCE is proposing to remove and replace the transmission towers and raise the electric lines where they cross the Cerritos Channel at Piers A and S, consistent with the objectives for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project. The draft EIR is available at www.polb.com/ceqa. Download a fact sheet about the proposed project here. The public is welcome to comment on the study at the Aug. 16 meeting. Comments may also be submitted in writing through Monday, Sept. 11, to Heather Tomley, Director of Environmental Planning, Port of Long Beach, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach, CA 90815, or to [email protected]. Comments submitted via email should include the project title in the subject line.