Comment (2) of Ross Melinchuk on Behalf of Texas Parks and Wildlife
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HULY'VjVLCIVES ~7r~ ~~/2 November 5, 2010 ~NOV~F I Ac 'N- 8:5 3 UEAPAKU Life's better outside.: Ms. Cindy K. Bladey Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch R .HF\Ac:D Commissioners Office of Administration Mail Stop: TWB-05-BOIM Peter M.Holt Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission San Antonio Washington, DC 20555-0001 T. Dan Friedkin Vice-Chairman Houston RE: Proposed Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plants Units 3 and 4 Combined Mark E. Bivins Amarillo License Application Review, Draft Environmental Impact Statement Ralph H. Duggins (DEIS), Somervell and Hood Counties Fort Worth Antonio Falcon, M.D. Rio Grande City Dear Ms. Bladey: Karen J. Hixon San Antonio Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) received the August 6, 2010 Dan Allen Hughes, Jr. notification for issuance of and request for comment on the above-referenced Beeville DEIS. The notification was submitted in accordance with the National Margaret Martin Boerne Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Fish and S. Reed Morian Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934, as amended. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Houston (NRC) prepared the DEIS as part of its review of Luminant Generation Company Lee M. Bass Chairman-Emeritus LLC (Luminant) application for combined licenses for construction and operation Fort Worth of two new nuclear units at its existing Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant (CPNPP) site near Glen Rose, Texas. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth Carter R Smith District (USACE) is a cooperating agency in the DEIS so that the EIS can be used Executive Director to decide on issuance of permits pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Based on TPWD staff review of the information provided, TPWD offers specific recommendations regarding the DEIS and concerns regarding the project that can be found in Attachment A to this letter. Listed below are TPWD's principal concerns, which are more fully addressed in Attachment A: * Hydrologic changes in the Brazos River ecosystem will result from increased withdrawals and consumptive water losses and associated alterations in water management from Possum Kingdom Lake to the Brazos River below Lake Granbury. Impacts on aquatic and wetlands biota and habitat could be substantial as a result of hydrologic alterations to the Brazos River system, particularly Lake Granbury, Possum Kingdom Lake, and the river below Lake Granbury. The reductions in water levels would likely change shoreline vegetation, affect shallow water habitats, and affect access to both public and private boat docks and ramps, especially during drought conditions. Reduced Brazos River flows downstream of Lake Granbury may impact aquatic ,4F-ý_411)5 -:::: &,DIA4- 03 L~W5~ ~ 4200 SMITH SCHOOL ROAD 6 h~e1~-i/-~ AUSTIN, TEXAS 78744-3291 512.389.4800 To manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing www.tpwd.state.tx.us and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Ms. Cindy K. Bladey Page Two November 5, 2010 resources including the state-threatened Brazos Water Snake (Nerodiaharteri) and state-threatened and rare mussels. Proposed new location 345-kV transmission line routes have not been fully assessed through a routing and alternatives evaluation, thus impacts associated with the proposed new lines are not fully articulated. Without an assessment of routes and their alternatives for inclusion in the DEIS, the NRC may be segmenting project impacts under Section 1508.27 (7) of NEPA. This section states, "Significance [of impacts] cannot be avoided by terming an action temporary or by breaking it down into small component parts." * Because the new transmission lines are in the vicinity of potential habitat, known occurrences, and migratory corridors of endangered species, there may be unforeseen impacts to the federal- and state-endangered Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla) (BCV), Golden-cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) (GCW), and Whooping Crane (Grus americana). Potential impacts to these species associated with transmission line construction and operation cannot be determined from the information presented in the DEIS, as site surveys along the routes for suitable breeding and/or migratory stopover habitat have not been conducted. * The approximate location of the proposed 345-kV Whitney transmission line shown in the DEIS crosses Dinosaur Valley State Park. In addition to providing habitat for the BCV and GCW, this state park offers public recreation activities that would be impacted by construction of a transmission line across or in sight of the park. This park and its viewshed should be avoided if at all possible. If the final project design requires that transmission lines cross any state-owned or managed lands, such as Dinosaur Valley State Park, the NRC, Luminant, and Oncor should be aware of the requirements of Chapter 26 of TPW Code (Chapter 26) discussed in Attachment A. TPWD appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on this important project and participate in the NEPA process. Please direct any questions to Kathy Boydston at (512) 389-4638. Sincerely, Ross Melinchuk Deputy Executive Director, Natural Resources RM:KB:CB:KH:gg Attachments Attachment A This attachment contains Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) specific recommendations regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and concerns regarding Luminant Generation Company LLC's (Luminant's) construction and operation of two new nuclear units at its existing Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant (CPNPP) site near Glen Rose, Texas. This attachment has been affixed to TPWD's November 5, 2010 cover letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). These recommendations are organized to parallel the DEIS format. TPWD provided scoping comments for the project, as follows: * August 3, 2007, Letter to William Wenstrom, Enercon Services, Inc. for preliminary rare, threatened and endangered species information from Celeste Brancel * February 16, 2009, Letter to Michael Lesar, NRC for scoping comments on Environmental Report for preparation of Draft Environmental Impact Statement from Carter Smith via e-mail from Kathy Boydston " April 24, 2009, Letter to Michael Lesar, NRC follow-up to site audit visit on February 2, 2009 from Karen Hardin Project Description The proposed project involves construction andoperation of two new Mitsubishi Heavy Industries U.S. Advanced Pressurized-Water Reactors, Units 3 and 4, to be located within the 7,950-acre property boundary that includes Luminant's existing reactors, Units 1 and 2. The new units would be 0.5 miles from the existing units and placed within a previously disturbed site. The project includes construction of two wet mechanical draft cooling towers for each nuclear reactor. Cooling water would be obtained from Lake Granbury in Hood County by way of two new 42-inch pipelines. A new 400-acre blowdown water treatment facility (BDTF), including two large ponds, would be built to reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorides of blowdown water. The BDTF would produce a treated permeate stream, which would then be blended with the remaining untreated blowdown and routed to Lake Granbury via two new 42-inch pipelines and underwater diffusers in the lake. Potable water for personnel and support activities would be obtained from Wheeler Branch Reservoir (WBR). The Somervell County Water District recently built WBR to supply water to the City of Glen Rose, the CPNPP and surrounding communities. Additionally, the project would require associated construction of five new 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines, three of which would be single-circuit lines located on existing tower structures and two of which would be double-circuit expansions requiring new or expanded 160-foot wide right-of-ways' (ROW). The transmission lines requiring new ROW include a 45-mile line to Whitney and a 17-mile line to DeCordova. The proposed action evaluated three alternative sites within Texas, referred to as the Coastal (Victoria-Refugio County), Pineland (near Pineland, Sabine County) and Tradinghouse (near Waco, McLennan County) sites. In addition to site location alternatives, the DEIS included a no action alternative, system design alternatives and onsite mitigation alternatives to minimize impacts. TPWD Attachment A -1I- General Comments The NRC transmittal letter indicated that the NRC and USACE have different regulatory authorities and requests that if TPWD issues an incidental take statement then TPWD should specify within the statement which terms and conditions are imposed on which agency. Under Chapter 68, Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) Code, state-listed species are prohibited from take. TPW Code does not establish an incidental take permit analogous to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Section 10 permit established under the Endangered Species Act. TPWD cannot provide an incidental take permit in response to a DEIS. Recommendation: Although TPWD does not provide incidental take permits, only personnel with a TPWD scientific collection permit are allowed to handle and move state-listed species. Should the applicant require moving state-listed species out of harms way for construction activitieS, the person handling the species must possess a scientific collection permit, which can be obtained from TPWD Permitting Specialist, Chris Maldonado, at (512) 389-4647 or at Chris.Maldonado(tpwd~state.tx.us. TPWD notes various inconsistencies in the DEIS including