Final Environmental Assessment
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Final Environmental Assessment Addressing Effects of Implementing the Kaua‘i Seabird Habitat Conservation Plan Under Associated Applications for Incidental Take Permits/Licenses May 2020 Joint NEPA and HRS Chapter 343 Document Prepared for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service & Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife State of Hawai‘i Estimated Lead Agency Total Costs Associated with Developing and Producing this Environmental Assessment $685,000.00 1. Table of Contents 1. Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. 1 Environmental Assessment of the Federal Action of Issuance of Incidental Take Permits to Qualifying Applicants..........................................................................................................................................1 1. Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Purpose and Need of Action.................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Authority for Action and Authorities Governing the Action .................................................. 2 1.3. Purpose of this Analysis .......................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Resource Areas to be Analyzed .............................................................................................. 4 2. Alternatives ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1. Alternatives Development ....................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Scoping and Public Involvement ............................................................................................. 6 2.3. Alternatives Being Considered ................................................................................................ 8 2.4. Alternative A: No-Action Alternative ..................................................................................... 8 2.5. Alternative B: Proposed Action Alternative (implementation of the proposed KSHCP) ..... 10 2.6. Alternative C: Translocation ................................................................................................. 19 2.7. Alternatives Considered but not Analyzed in Detail ............................................................. 21 3. Affected Environment .................................................................................................................... 23 3.1. Location................................................................................................................................. 23 3.2. Covered Species: ʻAʻo, ʻUaʻu, and ʻAkēʻakē ........................................................................ 24 3.3. Other Federally Listed Species & Critical Habitat ................................................................ 31 3.4 Fauna ..................................................................................................................................... 34 3.5 Flora ...................................................................................................................................... 35 3.6 Hydrology and Water Resources ........................................................................................... 36 3.7 Air Quality ............................................................................................................................ 36 3.8 Archaeological, Historic, and Cultural Resources ................................................................ 36 3.9 Soils ....................................................................................................................................... 37 4 Environmental Consequences and Mitigation ............................................................................... 38 4.1 Overview of Effects Analysis ............................................................................................... 38 4.2 Effects on the Covered Seabirds ........................................................................................... 38 4.3 Effects on Threatened and Endangered Species.................................................................... 45 4.4 Effects on Fauna .................................................................................................................... 48 4.5 Effects on Flora ..................................................................................................................... 50 4.6 Effects on Soils ..................................................................................................................... 51 4.7 Effects on Hydrology and Water Resources ......................................................................... 54 4.8 Effects on Air Quality ........................................................................................................... 55 4.9 Effects on Historic Properties ............................................................................................... 56 4.10 Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................................ 58 4.10.2 Past, Present, and Reasonable Foreseeable Future Actions that Contribute to Cumulative Effects of Listed Plants and Critical Habitat. .................................................................................... 66 4.10.3 Past, Present, and Reasonable Foreseeable Future Actions that Contribute to Cumulative Effects of Demographics, Economics, Land Use, and Infrastructure ................................................ 68 4.10.5 Past, Present, and Reasonable Foreseeable Future Actions that Contribute to Cumulative Effects of Scenic Resources ................................................................................................................ 69 5 Required Approvals and Permits .................................................................................................... 71 6 List of Preparers ............................................................................................................................. 72 7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 73 8 Appendix A: List of Agencies and Persons Consulted ..................................................................... 81 9 Appendix B: Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of a Portion of Kahuamaʻa Flat ................... 83 10 Appendix C: Additional Information and Analysis Required for State Environmental Assessment Under HRS Chapter 343 ........................................................................................................................ 103 10.1 Supplemental Information: Affected Environment ............................................................. 103 10.2 Supplemental Analysis: Environmental Consequences and Mitigation .............................. 108 10.3 Relationship to Land Use Plans, Policies and Controls ...................................................... 112 10.4 Consistency of KSHCP with Hawai‘i Coastal Zone Management ........................................ 120 10.5 Anticipated Determination under HRS Chapter 343 and Supporting Findings and Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 127 11 Appendix D: Response to Public Comment .................................................................................. 131 List of Tables Table 2.1. Maximum Take Amounts of Covered Species as Proposed under the KSHCP ____ 11 Table 4.1. Threshold of Impact (Effect) ___________________________________________ 38 Table 4.2. Annual Island-wide Take Estimates due to Light Attraction __________________ 40 Table 4.3. Total (30-year) Lethal and Non-Lethal Take Requested by Applicants _________ 410 Table 4.4. Lethal Take Requested by Applicants for ITPs and ITLs _____________________ 71 Table 4.5. Summary of Anticipated Take and Benefits Under Each Alternative ____________ 45 Table 5.1. Required Permits and Approvals for the Proposed Action ____________________ 71 List of Figures Figure 3.1. Area map of the proposed Kahuamaʻa Seabird Preserve _____________________ 24 Figure 3.2. Map of seabird activity ______________________________________________ 25 Figure 4.1. Annual take of fledgling ‘a‘o and annual increase in ‘a‘o fledglings (i.e. annual mitigation gain) likely to result from KSHCP conservation program ____________________ 43 List of Acronyms BLNR Board of Land and Natural Resources CEQ Council of Environmental Quality CZM Coastal Zone Management DBEDT Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism DLNR Department of Land and Natural Resources DOFAW Division of Forestry and Wildlife EA Environmental Assessment ESA Endangered Species Act ESRC Endangered Species Recovery Committee (State of Hawai‘i) GCP General Conservation Plan GIS Geographic Information Systems HAR Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules HCP Habitat Conservation Plan HEPA Hawaiʻi Environmental Policy Act HRS Hawai‘i Revised Statutes ITL Incidental Take License ITP Incidental Take Permit KESRP Kaua‘i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project KIUC Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative KSHCP Kaua‘i Seabird