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Uinta Basin Railway Draft

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Uinta Basin Railway Draft BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE UINTA BASIN RAILWAY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT March 2021 Summary On May 29, 2020, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (Coalition) filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) requesting Board authority to construct and operate a new rail line in Carbon, Duchesne, Uintah, and Utah Counties, Utah. The Coalition’s proposed rail line would provide a new rail connection between the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah (Basin) and the interstate freight rail network. It would extend approximately 85 miles from terminus points in the Basin near Myton, Utah and Leland Bench, Utah to an existing Union Pacific (UP) rail line near Kyune, Utah. As part of the process, the Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to address potential effects of the proposed project. After screening multiple alternatives, OEA analyzed the environmental impacts of three Action Alternatives and a No-Action Alternative in the Draft EIS. All of the Action Alternatives would connect two terminus points near Myton, Utah and Leland Bench, Utah to an existing rail line near Kyune, Utah. The purpose of this Biological Assessment (BA) is to fulfill OEA’s obligations under Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and NEPA to determine the proposed project’s potential effects on federally listed species and designated critical habitat. Based on the analysis of the potential effects of the proposed project on federally listed species that may occur in the action area, OEA determined that the proposed project May Affect, but is Not Likely to Adversely Affect Canada lynx and Mexican spotted owl; May Affect, and is Likely to Adversely Affect Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, bonytail, razorback sucker, Barneby ridge- cress, Pariette cactus, Uinta Basin hookless cactus, and Ute ladies’-tresses; and would have No Effect on June sucker and Western yellow-billed cuckoo. Biological Assessment for the March 2021 S-1 Uinta Basin Railway Environmental Impact Statement Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... v List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... vi Page Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Proposed Rail Line Action Alternatives ............................................................................ 1-2 1.1.1 Indian Canyon Alternative ............................................................................................... 1-2 1.1.2 Wells Draw Alternative .................................................................................................... 1-4 1.1.3 Whitmore Park Alternative (Coalition’s Preferred Alternative) ...................................... 1-6 Chapter 2 Description of the Proposed Project .................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Construction and Design Features ................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Rail Line, Temporary, and Project Footprints .................................................................. 2-1 2.1.2 Railbed and Track Construction ....................................................................................... 2-2 2.1.3 Rail Line Construction Equipment and Methods ............................................................. 2-2 2.1.4 Materials for Rail Line Construction ................................................................................ 2-4 2.1.5 Construction Staging Areas .............................................................................................. 2-4 2.1.6 Staffing and Worker Housing ........................................................................................... 2-4 2.1.7 Bridges, Culverts, and Stream Realignments ................................................................... 2-5 2.1.8 Tunnels ............................................................................................................................. 2-5 2.1.9 Grade Crossings ............................................................................................................... 2-6 2.1.10 Road Relocations ....................................................................................................... 2-6 2.1.11 Associated Facilities................................................................................................... 2-6 2.1.12 Construction Schedule .............................................................................................. 2-7 2.2 Operations ....................................................................................................................... 2-8 2.2.1 Rail Traffic ........................................................................................................................ 2-8 2.2.2 Maintenance .................................................................................................................... 2-9 2.2.3 Staffing ............................................................................................................................. 2-9 Chapter 3 Federally Listed Species in Action Area .............................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Endangered Species Act Consultation History ................................................................. 3-1 3.2 Action Area ...................................................................................................................... 3-2 3.3 Federally Listed Species Considered ................................................................................ 3-3 3.3.1 Species Dismissed from Further Consideration ............................................................... 3-4 Chapter 4 Methods ........................................................................................................................... 4-1 Biological Assessment for the March 2021 i Uinta Basin Railway Environmental Impact Statement Surface Transportation Board, Office of Environmental Analysis Contents 4.1 Literature Search and Consultation ................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Habitat Suitability Surveys ............................................................................................... 4-2 4.2.1 Mexican Spotted Owl ....................................................................................................... 4-2 4.2.2 Barneby Ridge-Cress ........................................................................................................ 4-6 4.3 Species Descriptions and Occurrences .......................................................................... 4-10 4.3.1 Canada Lynx ................................................................................................................... 4-10 4.3.2 Mexican Spotted Owl ..................................................................................................... 4-12 4.3.3 Upper Colorado River Basin Fish (Colorado Pikeminnow, Humpback Chub, Bonytail, Razorback Sucker) ........................................................................................................ 4-15 4.3.4 Barneby Ridge-Cress ...................................................................................................... 4-18 4.3.5 Pariette Cactus ............................................................................................................... 4-20 4.3.6 Uinta Basin Hookless Cactus .......................................................................................... 4-23 4.3.7 Ute Ladies’-Tresses ........................................................................................................ 4-23 Chapter 5 Environmental Baseline .................................................................................................... 5-1 Chapter 6 Effects Analysis ................................................................................................................. 6-1 6.1 Canada Lynx ..................................................................................................................... 6-1 6.1.1 Construction..................................................................................................................... 6-1 6.1.2 Operations ....................................................................................................................... 6-2 6.1.3 Canada Lynx Impact Summary ......................................................................................... 6-4 6.2 Mexican Spotted Owl ....................................................................................................... 6-4 6.2.1 Construction..................................................................................................................... 6-4 6.2.2 Operations ....................................................................................................................... 6-6 6.2.3 Mexican Spotted Owl Impact Summary .......................................................................... 6-8
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