Upper and Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Projects Into Two Developments Within a Single Project
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Upper Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project—FERC Project No. 2593-031 Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project—FERC Project No. 2823-020 New York Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Energy Projects Division of Hydropower Licensing 888 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20426 October 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................... v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................... vi 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 APPLICATION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PURPOSE OF ACTION AND NEED FOR POWER ........................................... 1 1.2.1 Purpose of Action ........................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Need for Power ............................................................................................... 5 1.3 STATUTORY AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS .................................. 5 1.3.1 Federal Power Act .......................................................................................... 5 1.3.1.1 Section 18 Fishway Prescriptions .............................................................. 5 1.3.1.2 Section 10(j) Recommendations................................................................ 5 1.3.2 Clean Water Act ............................................................................................. 6 1.3.3 Endangered Species Act ................................................................................. 6 1.3.4 Coastal Zone Management Act ...................................................................... 7 1.3.5 National Historic Preservation Act ................................................................. 7 1.4 PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT ................................................................... 8 1.4.1 Scoping ........................................................................................................... 8 1.4.2 Interventions ................................................................................................... 9 1.4.3 Comments on the Application ........................................................................ 9 2.0 PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES ........................................................ 9 2.1 NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE ............................................................................. 9 2.1.1 Existing Project Facilities and Project Boundary ......................................... 10 2.1.2 Project Safety ................................................................................................ 10 2.1.3 Existing Project Operation ............................................................................ 11 2.1.4 Existing Environmental Measures ................................................................ 11 2.2 APPLICANT’S PROPOSAL ............................................................................... 12 2.2.1 Proposed Project Facilities ........................................................................... 12 2.2.2 Proposed Project Operation .......................................................................... 12 2.2.3 Proposed Environmental Measures .............................................................. 13 2.3 STAFF ALTERNATIVE ..................................................................................... 14 2.4 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BUT ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 Retiring the Projects ..................................................................................... 15 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS ................................................................... 16 3.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER BASIN ....................................... 17 3.2 SCOPE OF CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ANALYSIS ........................................... 18 3.3 PROPOSED ACTION AND ACTION ALTERNATIVES .................................. 19 3.3.1 Geology and Soils ......................................................................................... 21 ii 3.3.1.1 Affected Environment .............................................................................. 21 3.3.1.2 Environmental Effects .......................................................................... 21 3.3.2 Aquatic Resources ........................................................................................ 22 3.3.2.1 Affected Environment .......................................................................... 22 3.3.2.2 Environmental Effects .............................................................................. 35 3.3.3 Terrestrial Resources .................................................................................... 42 3.3.3.1 Affected Environment ............................................................................. 42 3.3.3.2 Environmental Effects ............................................................................. 44 3.3.4 Threatened and Endangered Species ............................................................ 46 3.3.4.1 Affected Environment ............................................................................. 46 3.3.4.2 Environmental Effects ......................................................................... 48 3.3.5 Recreational Resources ................................................................................. 49 3.3.5.1 Affected Environment ............................................................................. 49 3.3.5.2 Environmental Effects ............................................................................. 51 3.3.6 Cultural Resources ........................................................................................ 54 3.3.6.1 Affected Environment ......................................................................... 54 3.3.6.2 Environmental Effects ......................................................................... 60 3.4 NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE ........................................................................... 61 4.0 DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 61 4.1 POWER AND DEVELOPMENTAL BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT ............. 62 4.2 COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVES .............................................................. 63 4.3 COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES ................................................... 65 5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................... 72 5.1 COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE ........................................................................................................... 72 5.1.1 Measures Proposed by Beaver Falls LLC .................................................... 72 5.1.2 Additional Staff-Recommended Measures ................................................... 73 5.1.3 Measures Not Recommended by Staff ......................................................... 78 5.2 UNAVOIDABLE ADVERSE EFFECTS ........................................................... 79 5.3 SUMMARY OF SECTION 10(j) RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 80 5.4 CONSISTENCY WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLANS ...................................... 84 6.0 FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT............................................................ 85 7.0 LITERATURE CITED .............................................................................................. 86 8.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ............................................................................................. 90 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. General location of the existing Upper and Lower Beaver Falls projects (Source: Environmental Systems Research Institute, and Google, as modified by staff). ............................................................................................................................. 3 Figure 2. Project location and facilities of the existing Upper and Lower Beaver Falls projects (Source: Google Earth 2018, as modified by staff). ...................................... 4 Figure 3. FERC Projects on the Beaver River (Source: Pre-Application Document, as modified by staff). ....................................................................................................... 20 Figure 4. Annual hydrographs of inflow to the Beaver Falls Project during representative normal (2005), dry (1999), and wet (2003) years (Source: USGS Gage No. 04258000, as modified by staff). ................................................................................ 23 Figure 5. Continuous water quality monitoring stations at the Beaver Falls Project (Source: license application, as modified by staff). ................................................... 27 Figure 6. Monthly water quality monitoring stations at the Beaver Falls Project (Source: license application, as modified by staff). .................................................................. 27 Figure 7. Monthly water temperature at stations WQ-01