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West Heating Plant Disposal FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT/ SECTION 106 REVIEW

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West Heating Plant Disposal FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT/ SECTION 106 REVIEW U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION West Heating Plant Disposal FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT/ SECTION 106 REVIEW ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT December 2012 Section 508 Accessibility Elements Included in this Document The PDF version of this report includes features that address applicable accessibility standards in the 1998 amendment to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These features include tagged text, which is available to assistive technologies such as screen readers; alternative text (alt text), which complements graphic materials; and bookmarks and hyperlinks, which allow efficient navigation of the report. If you require an alternative format of this report, or interpretive services, please contact Suzanne Hill, U.S. General Services Administration, at 202-205-5821. Final Environmental Assessment West Heating Plant Disposal Washington, DC December 2012 U.S. General Services Administration Public Buildings Service, National Capital Region 301 7th Street, SW Washington, DC 20407 Abstract The United States (U.S.) General Services Administration (GSA), National Capital Region, has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed disposal of the West Heating Plant parcel (approximately 2.08 acres), located in the west Georgetown area of Washington, District of Columbia (DC or District). The parcel contains a decommissioned heating plant that was previously used to produce steam to heat Federal buildings in the District, as well as associated infrastructure. While the proposed action is the disposal of the property, this EA also analyzes the indirect impacts from a reasonably foreseeable development scenario on the parcel once GSA disposes of the property. For the purposes of impacts analysis in the EA, it is assumed that any redevelopment would be consistent with surrounding land use zoning, W-2 Waterfront District, Medium Density (Mixed Use). The EA has been prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended; Council on E nvironmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA; and the GSA Public Buildings Service NEPA Desk Guide. This EA contains an analysis of potential environmental impacts for the No-Action Alternative and the Disposal Alternative. For information concerning this document contact: Ms. Suzanne Hill, NEPA Program Lead U.S. General Services Administration National Capital Region 301 7th Street, SW, Room 4004 Washington, DC 20407 [email protected] This page was intentionally left blank. WEST HEATING PLANT DISPOSAL FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Table of Contents 1. PURPOSE OF AND NEED FOR THE PROPOSED ACTION ........................................... 1-1 1.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 WHAT IS GSA PROPOSING? ........................................................................................ 1-2 1.3 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED ACTION? ................................................... 1-4 1.4 WHAT IS THE NEED FOR THE PROPOSED ACTION? ...................................................... 1-4 1.5 WHAT IS THE PROJECT BACKGROUND? ....................................................................... 1-4 1.6 WHAT ARE THE RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS? ................. 1-7 1.7 WHAT RESOURCE TOPICS WERE DISMISSED FROM FURTHER STUDY IN THIS EA? .... 1-11 1.8 WHAT RESOURCE TOPICS ARE STUDIED IN DETAIL IN THE EA? ............................... 1-17 2. DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVES ................................................................................ 2-1 2.1. WHAT IS THE NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE AND WHY IS IT CONSIDERED? .................... 2-1 2.2. WHAT ACTION ALTERNATIVE HAS GSA EVALUATED IN THIS EA? ............................ 2-1 2.3. WHAT ALTERNATIVES WERE CONSIDERED BUT DISMISSED? ..................................... 2-2 2.4. WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS FROM EACH ALTERNATIVE? ............................................... 2-3 3. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES ............... 3-1 3.1. WHAT IS THE AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT? ................................................................... 3-1 3.2. HOW ARE IMPACTS EVALUATED? ............................................................................... 3-1 3.3. WHY IS GSA ANALYZING A REASONABLY FORESEEABLE DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO (RFDS)? ..................................................................................................................... 3-2 3.4. WHAT IS THE RFDS AND HOW WAS THE RFDS DETERMINED? ................................... 3-2 3.5. TRANSPORTATION ....................................................................................................... 3-9 3.6. WATER RESOURCES .................................................................................................. 3-42 3.7. HISTORIC RESOURCES ............................................................................................... 3-52 3.8 VISUAL RESOURCES .................................................................................................. 3-68 3.9 NOISE ........................................................................................................................ 3-70 3.10 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS AND WASTE/PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY ...................... 3-75 3.11 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ............................................................................................. 3-89 4. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 4-1 5. LIST OF PREPARERS.......................................................................................................... 5-1 6. EA DISTRIBUTION ............................................................................................................. 6-1 7. COMMENT RESPONSES .................................................................................................... 7-1 TABLE OF CONTENTS i | Page WEST HEATING PLANT DISPOSAL FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT APPENDIX A: CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION .................................................. A-1 APPENDIX B: HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT ...................................................... B-1 APPENDIX C: TRAFFIC/TRANSPORTATION STUDY ....................................................... C-1 APPENDIX D: CULTURAL RESOURCES SURVEY REPORT ............................................ D-1 APPENDIX E: DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FORM ................................................ E-1 APPENDIX F: NOTICES AND COVENANTS ......................................................................... F-1 ii | Page TABLE OF CONTENTS WEST HEATING PLANT DISPOSAL FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT List of Tables Table 2-1 Comparison of Alternatives. ...................................................................................................... 2-3 Table 3-1 Development Scenario. .............................................................................................................. 3-9 Table 3-2 AM and PM Peak Hour Weekday Existing Intersection Analysis. ......................................... 3-22 Table 3-3 Saturday Peak Hour Existing Intersection Analysis. ............................................................... 3-23 Table 3-4 No-Action Alternative Weekday Peak Hour Trip Generation. ................................................ 3-25 Table 3-5 No-Action Alternative Saturday Peak Hour Trip Generation. ................................................ 3-25 Table 3-6 2017 Disposal Alternative AM and PM Weekday Trip Generation. ....................................... 3-31 Table 3-7 2017 Disposal Alternative Saturday Trip Generation.............................................................. 3-31 Table 3-8 No-Action Alternative and Disposal Alternative AM Peak Hour Intersection Analysis. ....... 3-36 Table 3-9. No-Action Alternative and Disposal Alternative PM Peak Hour Intersection Analysis. ....... 3-37 Table 3-10. No-Action Alternative and Disposal Alternative Saturday Peak Hour Intersection Analysis. ... ................................................................................................................................................................. 3-38 Table 3-11 Example TDM Measures Extracted from TDM Guidelines for All District Development Proposals. ................................................................................................................................................. 3-40 Table 3-12 Significant Historical Flood Events Affecting Rock Creek................................................... 3-46 Table 3-13 Common Noise Sources and Sound Levels. .......................................................................... 3-71 Table 3-14 Noise Abatement Thresholds. ................................................................................................ 3-72 Table 3-15 Typical Construction Equipment Noise Levels (dBA at 50 feet). ......................................... 3-73 Table 3-16 Soil Analytical Summary - Ash Truck Rack. ........................................................................ 3-80 Table 3-17 Groundwater Detection Summary – Ash Truck Rack (µg/L). .............................................. 3-80 Table 3-17 Soil Analytical Summary – Former Coal Yard. .................................................................... 3-80 Table 3-18 Groundwater Detection Summary – Former Coal Yard (µg/L). ........................................... 3-81 Table 3-20 Soil Analytical Summary
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