Crystal River Airport Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements Tree Clearing Citrus County, Florida Environmental Report
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Crystal River Airport Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements Tree Clearing Citrus County, Florida Environmental Report Prepared for: Citrus County Board of County Commissioners 3600 W Sovereign Path Lecanto, Florida 34461 Prepared by: AECOM 7650 W Courtney Campbell Causeway Tampa, Florida 33572 June 2018 Crystal River Airport Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 EXISTING CONDTIONS ...................................................................................................... 1 2.1. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 1 2.2. Soils .................................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Existing Land USe/Vegetative Cover .................................................................. 4 2.4. Individual Wetlands ............................................................................................. 7 3.0 Listed Species Potentially in the Project Area ................................................................. 8 3.1. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 9 3.2. Results ................................................................................................................ 9 3.2.1. Federally Listed Species ........................................................................10 3.2.2. State Listed Species ...............................................................................11 3.2.3. Other Species of Concern ......................................................................11 4.0 Wetland and Listed Species Impacts ...............................................................................12 4.1. Wetland Impact Avoidance and Minimization .....................................................12 4.2. Wetland Impacts ................................................................................................12 4.2.1. Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method .................................................13 4.2.2. UMAM Analysis Results .........................................................................14 4.3. Listed Species Impacts ......................................................................................15 4.3.1. Federally Listed Species ........................................................................15 4.3.2. State Listed Species ...............................................................................16 4.3.3. Other Species of Concern ......................................................................16 4.4. Critical Habitat ...................................................................................................16 5.0 Wetland Mitigation ............................................................................................................16 6.0 Commitments ....................................................................................................................17 7.0 References .........................................................................................................................17 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Existing Soil Types within the Project Area ................................................................... 4 Table 2: Existing Land Use and Vegetative Cover within the Project Area ................................. 7 Table 3: Wetlands within the Project Area .................................................................................. 7 Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements - Tree Clearing i Environmental Report Crystal River Airport Table of Contents Table 3: Listed Species1 Potentially Occurring within the Project Area ....................................... 9 Table 4: Existing and Proposed Tree Heights within OCS .........................................................13 Table 5: Representative UMAM Scores for Temporary Impacts ................................................14 Table 6: Representative UMAM Scores for Secondary Impacts ................................................14 Table 7: UMAM Summary for Wetland Impacts .........................................................................14 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Project Location Map ................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2 - Project Area Boundaries ............................................................................................ 3 Figure 3 - Soils Map ................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 4 - Land Use and Vegetative Cover ................................................................................ 6 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A Photographs Appendix B Wetland Impact Drawings Appendix C UMAM Worksheets Appendix D Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo Snake Appendix E Letter of Mitigation Credit Availability Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements - Tree Clearing ii Environmental Report Crystal River Airport 1.0 INTRODUCTION AECOM, on behalf of the Citrus County Board of Commissioners, has prepared this Environmental Report as part of the Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) application for the clearing and trimming of trees within wetlands located at the Crystal River Airport (CGC) in Citrus County. The project consists of reducing tree heights as required for the establishment of runway clear zones at CGC in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Federal Regulation Title 14 Part 77 establishes standards and notification requirements for objects affecting navigable airspace. Pursuant to Part 77, trees have been identified in both uplands and wetlands that penetrate the proposed obstacle clearance surface (OCS) and must be trimmed and/or removed to meet FAA specifications. The trees to be cleared are above the required height clearance east of Runway 9-27 and north of the Florida Armory National Guard facility (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). The project area is located in Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Sections 34 and 35. The purpose of this Environmental Report is to describe the existing environmental conditions of the project area and the potential impacts to wetlands and federally/state listed species that may occur as a result of the proposed project. 2.0 EXISTING CONDTIONS This section describes the existing conditions within the project area with respect to soils and land use/vegetative cover types. 2.1. METHODOLOGY Prior to a field visit, the following information was reviewed to characterize habitat features and land use patterns within the project area: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute Topographical Quadrangle Map, Homosassa, Florida, 1988; Aerial photos, scale: 1 inch = 200 feet (ESRI 2017); U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Web Soil Survey, Accessed from https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov, April 2018; Florida Association of Professional Soil Scientists, Hydric Soils of Florida Handbook, Fourth Edition (Hurt, 2007); Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System Handbook (FLUCFCS), Third edition, 1999; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States (Cowardin, et al., 1979); Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), FLUCFCS Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Database (SWFWMD 2011); Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements - Tree Clearing 1 Environmental Report Project Location Project Location Figure 1 Project Location Map Legend Crystal River Airport Project Location Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements . MAP SOURCE: ESRI, 2017 Tree Clearing 0 5 10 20 Citrus County, FL Miles Project Location N. Golf Course Dr. US 19 Runway 9-27 W. Venable St W. Flight Path Ct Figure 2 Legend Project Boundary Project Boundary Crystal River Aiport MAP SOURCE: ESRI Aerial, 2017 Runway 9-27 Safety Improvements DATA SOURCE: AECOM 2018 0 500 1,000 Tree Clearing Feet . Citrus County, FL Crystal River Airport Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Map Direct Gateway (http://ca.dep.state.fl.us/mapdirect/gateway.jsp). On April 27, 2018, a field review of the proposed project area was conducted. The proposed project area is defined as the areas of direct impact resulting from the proposed project (see Figure 2 – Project Area Boundaries). The purpose of the review was to verify and refine preliminary wetland boundaries and classification codes established through previous permits, literature reviews and photo-interpretation. During the field review, the vegetative community and land use types within the project area was visually inspected to verify approximate boundaries and dominant vegetation. Exotic plant infestations and any other disturbances, such as soil subsidence, canals, power lines, etc. were noted. Field activities also included identifying wildlife and signs of wildlife usage at each wetland and adjacent upland habitat. Based on in-house and field reviews, a total of four soil types, one upland and three wetland community types are present within the project area. Descriptions of each soil and vegetative community/land use type present within the project area are provided below. 2.2. SOILS Based on the USDA, NRCS Web Soil Survey, four soil types are reported within