Port of Richmond Terminal 3 Log Processing and Export Facility
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CITY OF RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA Port of Richmond Terminal 3 Log Processing and Export Facility INITIAL STUDY & MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION APRIL 2016 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Environmental Checklist Form 1. Project Title: Terminal 3 Log Processing and Export Facility (PLN15-420) 2. Lead Agency Name and Address: City of Richmond Planning and Building Services Department 450 Civic Center Plaza, Second Floor Richmond, CA 94804-1630 3. Contact Person and Phone Number: Lina Velasco, Senior Planner (510) 620-6841 [email protected] 4. Project Location: 1411 Harbour Way South Richmond, CA 94804 Assessor’s Parcel Number: 560-270-060 The project site is located on the west side of Harbour Way South, near its southern terminus, on the southern shoreline of the City of Richmond. The site is located on the east side of Harbor Channel, adjacent to the Richmond Inner Harbor on San Francisco Bay. It is approximately 3,500 feet (0.66 miles) south of Interstate 580, at the intersection of Harbour Way South and Hall Avenue. 5. Project Sponsor’s Name and Address: RJJ Resource Management Corporation 1411 Harbour Way South Richmond, CA 94804 Contact: Richard Lyu, President (510) 816-6671 [email protected] 6. General Plan Designation: Port 7. Zoning: M-4 Marine Industrial Initial Study TERMINAL 3 LOG PROCESSING AND EXPORT FACILITY 1 8. Description of Project: Introduction This Initial Study has been prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines, which are codified in Title 14, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations. A recent legal ruling will alter the scope of environmental review pursuant to CEQA in comparison with how it has been practiced throughout the State in recent decades. In California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area Quality Management District (CBIA v. BAAQMD)((2015) 60 Cal.4th 1086), the California Supreme Court ruled that CEQA does not require an analysis of the existing environment's impact on a potential project, except in limited circumstances. The Court found the term "environmental effects" to mean only the impacts arising from the project's effect on the environment, and not the environment's effect on the project (sometimes referred to as a "CEQA-in-reverse" analysis). Although this ruling limits the scope of CEQA review, the Court noted that a reverse analysis is still required in certain conditions, such as when a project could exacerbate or worsen existing environmental hazards. In addition, a lead agency has authority other than CEQA to require measures to protect public health and safety, as well as the environment. The CBIA v. BAAQMD decision notwithstanding, one of the primary functions of a CEQA document continues to be for informational purposes, to disclose environmental effects of a proposed project to the public. Accordingly, the City of Richmond is publishing this Initial Study, which includes an evaluation of the environment's impacts on a project, consistent with the current version of CEQA Guidelines Appendix G, including mitigation recommendations to reduce or avoid these impacts where feasible. The Initial Study assesses both the existing setting and the project's impacts, and thus addresses the extent to which a project could "exacerbate" an existing environmental condition that is otherwise excluded by the CBIA v. BAAQMD decision. Project Overview RJJ International (RJJ), the project applicant, is proposing to develop and operate a log export facility at Terminal 3 of the Port of Richmond. The proposed project would be located at an already developed site at 1411 Harbour Way South that would be leased from the Port of Richmond. As shown on Figures 1 and 2, the project site is located adjacent to Harbor Channel on the City of Richmond’s southern shoreline along San Francisco Bay. RJJ will operate the log export facility jointly with J.W. Bamford, Inc., which would be responsible for managing the work crews and the day-to-day operations at the site. The proposed project would not require new construction; however, minor repairs to the existing building and facility improvements are proposed as further described in the facility improvement section below. The proposed facility would receive harvested timber from California forests that would be prepared for shipment, then loaded onto ocean-going ships that would berth at Terminal 3. Once loading of a ship is complete, the processed logs would be exported to China. It is anticipated that no more than six shiploads of timber would be exported each year. The tree species to be exported by RJJ would include Douglas fir, white fir, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and cedar. The trees would be harvested in accordance with an approved Timber Harvest Plan (THP). Additional information about THPs is provided below. Terminal 3 Facilities The proposed project would be implemented at an existing facility at Terminal 3, shown on Figure 3. The approximately 12.4-acre site is enclosed by a 6-foot-high chain-link security fence topped with barbed wired. (Another 1.1 acres at the southern end of the Terminal 3 property Initial Study 2 TERMINAL 3 LOG PROCESSING AND EXPORT FACILITY W T T I T T T T T S T L G R A T T N T A V T S S T S S S S S S T S T S S T T H S O H S S T D D H H S T S H H D T H T N S 1 H T T R N T T H H R S T 6 D 1 H 1 4 8 T 3 T 2 0 A 4 T T 3 8 3 T * 1 5 N S 2 H 2 3 6 8 3 V * T 0 3 2 T * 2 2 O 4 S 2 7 R 10A B A AR 3 T RE T TT T A T S V S S A MAC DONALD AV S N E H C V IN D T A V T R T S 80 9 T 3 BISSELL AV S 3 1 4 S R 4 R H H T F T 6 6TH ST 8TH ST 1ST ST S 8 1 N W OHIO AV 1 B OHIO AV CENTER AV FLORIDA AV * * * * * MAINE AV WALL AVE * * * C 580 S 7TH ST A VIRGINIA AV R S 2ND ST L W. CUTTING BLVD S CUTTING BLVD O N B POTRERO AVE L V D S a n t a S F S 4TH ST P e * WRIGHT AV T POTRERO AVE T C C S h F a O R n A n R H e R W l PIERSON AV HARBOR WAY S. DR 580 C H F MARINA WY S. F A LI N a C r V A A A E L b HALL AV S B o N L A V r N D R C O Richmond D h a Marina n n Bay e l Ford Channel PROJECT SITE Point Potrero r b o r I n n e r H a R i c h m o n d San Pablo Bay 0 300 600 1200 PINOLE FEET P a c i SITE f i S a c n F r O a n c c i e s c a o n B a y Figure 1 Site Location Source: Douglas Herring & Associates Maine Ave Harbour Way Marina Way Cutting Blvd 23rd St 580 Wright Ave RICHMOND Harbor Channel Marina Way Regatta Blvd Harbour Way PROJECT LOCATION Inner Harbor Basin Richmond Inner Harbor 0 1000 Feet Figure 2 Aerial Overview of Site and Surroundings Source: Google Earth 0 200 FEET Figure 3 Site Plan Source: BKF will be used as a parking lot serving the planned future ferry terminal at the southern end of Harbour Way South. Gated entrances to the site are located near the northern and southern ends of the site. A small guard house is located at the southern entrance, with a small three- story administration building located about 180 feet north of the guard house. A truck scale is located along the east side of the administration building. A large one-story corrugated metal warehouse building is located along the eastern edge of the Terminal 3 site. This flat-roofed building is 800 feet long and has a floor area of approximately 88,000 square feet. A recently-installed shoreline 480-volt, three-phase power terminal is located at the edge of the ship berth. This terminal provides power to ships while they are docked at Terminal 3 so they don’t need to idle the ship engines for power. The remainder of the site consists of asphalt pavements. Proposed Operations The proposed facility would receive logs both with and without bark. Logs without bark would arrive by truck from an RJJ site in West Sacramento. Loaded trucks would enter the facility through the northern gated entrance to Terminal 3, and would first be weighed by staff at the truck scales at the southeastern corner of the site. Trucks would then proceed to the Debarked Logs Deck area shown on Figure 3, where crews would unload the logs using a front loader, stacking them in piles not to exceed 25 feet in height. The unloaded trucks would be weighed again prior to departing from the site in order to determine the weight of the unloaded logs. It would take approximately 15 minutes to unload each truck. Logs would remain stockpiled in this area until ready for shipment; they would generally be stockpiled for no longer than one month. Logs arriving with bark still on would also be weighed upon arrival at Terminal 3.