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Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project Final EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment 3.1-1 Chapter 3: Affected Environment

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Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project Final EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment 3.1-1 Chapter 3: Affected Environment CHAPTER 3 – AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter describes the affected environment (environmental setting) of the Project Study Area. It provides information on the physical, biological, cultural, socioeconomic, and other resources that have the potential to affect or be affected by activities related to implementing the Proposed Action or alternatives that are discussed in detail in Chapter 2. These resources include those that occur within the proposed Project area, or adjacent to or otherwise associated with the area. More detailed information for some resources (noise, air quality, biological resources, hydrology, geology, traffic, and hazardous waste) is provided in the technical reports or supporting information provided as technical appendices to this EIS. For the purpose of this document, the environmental setting, or “baseline,” used for the impact analysis reflects conditions at the time of issuance of the Notice of Intent (NOI) in January 2010. The following resources are evaluated in this EIS: • Air resources; • Vegetation; • Wildlife; • Climate change; • Cultural resources; • Paleontological resources; • Geology and soil resources; • Lands and realty; • Noise; • Public health and safety/hazardous materials (includes wildland fire); • Recreation; • Socioeconomics and environmental justice (includes public services); • Special designations; • Transportation and public access; • Visual resources; and • Water resources. The following resources would not be affected by the Proposed Action or alternatives and are not further evaluated in this EIS: • Livestock grazing―There is no known livestock grazing within or adjacent to the Project Study Area; April 2011 Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project Final EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment 3.1-1 Chapter 3: Affected Environment • Wild horse and burros―There are no known wild horse or burro populations within or surrounding the Project Study Area; and • Mineral resources―There are no known locatable, leasable, or salable mineral resource deposits or mineral resource rights within or adjacent to the Project Study Area. For each resource, a discussion of applicable plans, policies, and regulations is provided. All applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies are summarized and their applicability to the Project explained. It is assumed in the analysis that the Applicant (in this case, Sunlight) and Southern California Edison (SCE) will fully comply with all regulations applicable to their respective Project components, will prepare any required plans, and will obtain any necessary permits or waivers. For the Red Bluff Substation, in accordance with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) General Order 131D, public utility providers such as SCE are not subject to local jurisdiction. CPUC General Order 131D specifically requires public utility providers to consult with local agencies on land use issues, but ultimately the CPUC has the authority to permit public utility projects on private lands. The environmental setting (existing conditions) of the Project area is described using information from literature reviews, fieldwork, and input from appropriate federal, state, and local agencies. Where appropriate, the resource sections in this chapter define and describe a resource-specific region of influence (ROI), which serves as the baseline for the environmental impact analysis. Defining these conditions (such as existing air quality, biological and cultural resources, water resources, and recreational opportunities) allows for characterization and anticipation of the proposed Project’s impacts and forms the basis for the environmental analysis. Sources for the literature reviews included published technical reports, internet resources, data from government sources, aerial photographs, and information provided by the Applicant. Where existing information regarding the Project area was insufficient or outdated, or where surveys or studies were specifically required by jurisdictional agencies, surveys and studies were conducted to determine the existing environmental conditions. This work included gathering information for biological and cultural resources, air quality, geotechnical, visual resources, and jurisdictional delineation surveys. As discussed in Chapter 1, the Project is subject to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In addition, since the CPUC has permitting authority over the Red Bluff Substation, CPUC may use this EIS for its environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As a result, this EIS was written to comply with NEPA and to satisfy CEQA requirements for those project components that require entitlements from state and local agencies, in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15221. Due to the similarity in information requirements for both NEPA and CEQA, the existing conditions setting described in this chapter serves both purposes. April 2011 Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project Final EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment 3.1-2 Chapter 3: Affected Environment 3.2 AIR RESOURCES The term “pollutant emissions” refers to the amount (usually stated as a weight) of one or more specific compounds introduced into the atmosphere by a source or group of sources. In practice, most pollutant emissions data are presented as “emission rates”: the quantity of pollutants emitted during a specified increment of time or during a specified increment of emission source activity. Typical measurement units for emission rates on a time basis include pounds per hour, pounds per day, or tons per year. Typical measurement units for emission rates on a source activity basis include pounds per thousand gallons of fuel burned, pounds per ton of material processed, and grams per vehicle mile of travel. The term “ambient air quality” refers to the atmospheric concentration of a specific compound (quantity of pollutants in a specified volume of air) actually experienced at a particular geographic location that may be some distance from the source of the relevant pollutant emissions. The ambient air quality levels actually measured at a particular location are determined by the interactions among three groups of factors: • Emissions: the types, amounts, and locations of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere; • Meteorology: the physical processes affecting the distribution, dilution, and removal of these pollutants; and • Chemistry: any chemical reactions that transform pollutant emissions into other chemical substances. In a regulatory context, “ambient air” refers to outdoor locations to which the general public has access. Ambient air quality data are generally reported as a mass per unit volume (e.g., micrograms per cubic meter of air) or as a volume fraction (e.g., parts per million by volume). Air pollutants are often characterized as being “primary” or “secondary” pollutants. Primary pollutants are those emitted directly into the atmosphere (such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead particulates, and hydrogen sulfide). Secondary pollutants are those (such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfate particles) formed through chemical reactions in the atmosphere; these chemical reactions usually involve primary pollutants, normal constituents of the atmosphere, and other secondary pollutants. Those compounds which react to form secondary pollutants are referred to as reactive pollutants, pollutant precursors, or precursor emission products. Some air pollutants (such as many organic gases and suspended particulate matter) are a combination of primary and secondary pollutants. 3.2.1 Applicable Plans, Policies, and Regulations Air Quality Standards Federal and state air quality management programs have evolved using two distinct management approaches: • The State Implementation Plan (SIP) process of setting ambient air quality standards for acceptable exposure to air pollutants, conducting monitoring programs to identify locations experiencing air quality problems, and then developing programs and regulations designed to reduce or eliminate those problems; and April 2011 Desert Sunlight Solar Farm Project Final EIS and CDCA Plan Amendment 3.2-1 Chapter 3: Affected Environment • The Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) regulatory process identifying specific chemical substances that are potentially hazardous to human health, and then setting emission standards to regulate the amount of those substances that can be released by individual commercial or industrial facilities or by specific types of equipment. Criteria Air Pollutants Air quality programs based on ambient air quality standards typically address air pollutants that are produced in large quantities by widespread types of emission sources and which are of public health concern because of their toxic properties. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established ambient air quality standards for several different pollutants, which often are referred to as criteria pollutants (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, and lead). Standards for suspended particulate matter have been set for two size fractions: inhalable particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Federal ambient air quality standards are based primarily on evidence of acute and chronic health effects. Federal ambient air quality standards apply to outdoor locations to which the general public has access. Some states have adopted ambient air quality standards that are more stringent than the comparable federal
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