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Biological Evaluation for the Proposed Senm Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico

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Biological Evaluation for the Proposed Senm Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION FOR THE PROPOSED SENM GATHERING SYSTEM, EDDY AND LEA COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO Prepared for Bureau of Land Management Carlsbad Field Office On behalf of Oxy SENM Gathering, L.P. Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants September 2016 BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION FOR THE PROPOSED SENM GATHERING SYSTEM, EDDY AND LEA COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO Prepared for BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Carlsbad Field Office 620 E. Greene Street Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6292 On behalf of Oxy SENM Gathering, L.P. 5 Greenway Plaza, Suite 110 Houston, Texas 77046 (713) 215-7241 Prepared by Doug Faulkner and Jennifer Hyre SWCA ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS 5647 Jefferson Street NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109 (505) 254-1115 www.swca.com SWCA Project No. 37370 October 2016 Biological Evaluation for the Proposed SENM Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................. 4 2.1 Purpose and Need for the Project ................................................................................. 4 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 5 3.1 Survey Methodology .................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Special Aquatic Sites and Other Waters Delineation ................................................... 6 3.2.1 Special Aquatic Sites ............................................................................................ 6 3.2.2 Other Waters ......................................................................................................... 6 4 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 7 4.1 Climate ......................................................................................................................... 7 4.2 Soils and Geology ........................................................................................................ 7 4.3 Vegetation Communities .............................................................................................. 8 4.3.1 Noxious Weeds ................................................................................................... 10 4.4 Wildlife....................................................................................................................... 10 4.5 Lesser Prairie-chicken and Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Zoning Areas .......................... 12 4.6 Waters of the U.S. and Special Aquatic Sites ............................................................ 12 5 EFFECTS ANALYSIS .................................................................................................... 14 6 SPECIAL STATUS SPECIES........................................................................................ 17 6.1 Pecos River Species ................................................................................................... 17 6.2 Federally Threatened, Endangered, and Proposed Species ........................................ 32 6.3 Other Conservation Sensitive Species........................................................................ 32 6.3.1 Scheer’s Beehive Cactus (Coryphantha robustispina var. scheeri) .................... 32 6.3.2 Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum)................................................... 33 6.3.3 Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) ....................................... 34 6.3.4 Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) ...................................................................... 36 6.3.5 Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) ................................................................. 37 6.3.6 Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) .......................................................... 38 6.3.7 Common Ground-Dove (Columbina passerina) ................................................. 39 6.4 Migratory Bird Treaty Act ......................................................................................... 40 6.5 Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ...................................................................... 40 7 CONCLUSION AND MITIGATION RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 41 7.1 Federally Listed and Other Special Status Species .................................................... 41 7.2 MBTA and BGEPA ................................................................................................... 41 7.3 Waters of the U.S. and Special Aquatic Sites ............................................................ 41 7.4 Noxious Weeds .......................................................................................................... 41 8 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................... 43 APPENDIX A PROJECT AREA PHOTOGRAPHS ...................................................... 48 APPENDIX B PROJECT AREA SOILS ......................................................................... 59 APPENDIX C LPC MAP AND SURVEY POINTS ....................................................... 67 APPENDIX D PROJECT AREA MAPS OF BIOLOGICAL FINDINGS.................... 87 APPENDIX E MAPS OF WATERWAYS IN PROJECT AREA ................................ 108 SWCA Environmental Consultants i October 2016 Biological Evaluation for the Proposed SENM Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1. Soils in the Project Area ........................................................................................... 7 Table 4.2. Plant Species Observed during Biological Surveys .................................................. 9 Table 4.3. Wildlife Detected during Biological Surveys ......................................................... 10 Table 4.4. Streams and Other Water Body Characteristics...................................................... 13 Table 6.1. Species Federally Listed as Endangered or Threatened in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico 19 Table 6.2. Other Special Status and State Listed Species in Eddy and Lea Counties ............. 22 SWCA Environmental Consultants ii October 2016 Biological Evaluation for the Proposed SENM Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico 1 INTRODUCTION Oxy SENM Gathering, L.P. (Oxy) proposes to obtain a right-of-way (ROW) grant and temporary use permit from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) to construct, operate, and maintain approximately 51 miles for the proposed SENM Gathering System (project) in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico (Figure 1.1). The project crosses federal public lands, and therefore it must comply with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Specifically, Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA directs all federal agencies to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out does not jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or designated or proposed critical habitat. In addition to requirements to comply with Section 7(a)(2), BLM national policy directs State Directors to afford state-designated sensitive species the same level of protection as provided for federal candidate species (Manual 6840 [BLM 2008a]). Specifically, the policy direction states: “[The] BLM shall carry out management, consistent with the principles of multiple use, for the conservation of candidate [and sensitive] species and their habitats and shall ensure that actions authorized, funded, or carried out do not contribute to the need to list any of these species as threatened/endangered.” A Biological Evaluation (BE) is prepared for federal actions that do not entail major construction activities (also defined as a project that does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment as defined under the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA]) to evaluate the potential effects on listed or proposed species. The special status species for Eddy and Lea Counties evaluated in this BE consist of all federally listed endangered, threatened, and proposed species, federal candidate and species under review, state-listed endangered and threatened wildlife and plant species, and BLM sensitive species. SWCA Environmental Consultants 1 October 2016 Biological Evaluation for the Proposed SENM Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico Figure 1.1. SENM Gathering System Project Area. SWCA Environmental Consultants 2 October 2016 Biological Evaluation for the Proposed SENM Gathering System, Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico The completion of the ESA consultation based on the analysis presented in this BE will facilitate the BLM’s compliance with the following federal and state laws and regulations: • ESA of 1973 (Public Law [PL] 93-205) and amendments of 1988 (PL 100-478); • NEPA of 1969 (PL 91-190, 42 United States Code [USC] 4321 et seq.); • Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 (16 USC 668–668d, 54 Stat. 250); • Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) (16 USC 703–712); • Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act; all federal consultations, including the ESA, must be completed prior to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issuance of 404 authorizations; • New Mexico Endangered Plant Species Act (9-10-10 New Mexico Statutes Annotated and attendant Regulation 19 New Mexico Annotated Code 21.2); and • New
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