Implementation of the Travel Management Rule Gila National
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Implementation of the Travel Management Rule Gila National Forest Air Quality Specialist Report Prepared by: Carolyn Koury Watershed and Air Program Manager And Brian Park GIS Analyst for: Gila National Forest December 2013 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) Air Quality Specialist Report Implementation of the Travel Management Rule, Gila National Forest Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Existing Condition ...................................................................................................................... 1 Regulatory Setting ................................................................................................................... 1 Gila Wilderness Areas (Hoadley 2008) ................................................................................... 3 Air Quality Values at Risk .......................................................................................................... 4 Pollution Sources ........................................................................................................................ 4 Laws, Regulations and Policies................................................................................................. 12 Applicable Laws .................................................................................................................... 12 Methodology and Analysis Process .......................................................................................... 16 Data Sources .......................................................................................................................... 16 General Assumptions: ........................................................................................................... 16 Relative Risk Analysis .......................................................................................................... 18 Indicators ............................................................................................................................... 18 Effects ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Alternative B – No Action ..................................................................................................... 20 Effects Unique to each Action Alternative based on Measure of the Indicator .................... 21 Alternative C ......................................................................................................................... 21 Alternative D ......................................................................................................................... 22 Alternative E .......................................................................................................................... 22 Alternative F .......................................................................................................................... 23 Alternative G ......................................................................................................................... 23 Summary of Effects ............................................................................................................... 24 Visibility Impairment of Wilderness Areas: .......................................................................... 25 Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................................ 30 Irreversible and/or Irretrievable Commitment of Resource................................................... 31 Conclusions about Alternative Effects .................................................................................. 31 Effects of Forest Plan Amendments ...................................................................................... 31 Best Available Science .......................................................................................................... 32 References Cited ....................................................................................................................... 33 Appendix A. Tables and Graphs of Miles and Associated Acres of Disturbance ..................... 39 Motorized Miles/Acres by Airshed ........................................................................................... 41 Motorized Miles/Acres Adjacent to Wilderness Areas ......................................................... 46 Motorized Dispersed Recreation and Motorized Area Acres by Airshed ............................. 50 Motorized Dispersed Recreation and Motorized Area Acres Adjacent to Wilderness Areas 55 Motorized Big Game Retrieval Acres by Airshed ................................................................. 59 Motorized Big Game Retrieval Areas Adjacent to Wilderness ............................................. 64 Tables Table 1: National Ambient Air Quality Standards .......................................................................... 2 Table 2: New Mexico Ambient Air Quality Standards ................................................................... 3 Table 3: Emissions in Tons per year from sources in Greenlee, Graham, and Cochise counties in Arizona; Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, and Dona Ana counties in New Mexico and El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas (1999 data) ........................................................................... 1 Table 4. Maximum pollutant concentrations (PM10) monitored near the study area (Silver City, NM), 2008-2011 ...................................................................................................................... 3 Table 5: Maximum pollutant concentrations (PM2.5) monitored near the study area (Silver City, NM), 2008-2010 ...................................................................................................................... 3 i Air Quality Specialist Report Implementation of the Travel Management Rule, Gila National Forest Table 6: Gila National Forest acres within New Mexico airsheds .................................................. 9 Table 7: Assumed average road widths by maintenance level ...................................................... 17 Table 8: Forestwide—Potential air quality impacts by alternative ............................................... 25 Table 9. Miles/acres of motorized routes within 1 mile of Gila Wilderness Class I Airshed ....... 26 Table 10: Motorized dispersed recreation and area acres forestwide ............................................ 27 Table 11: Motorized dispersed recreation and area acres within 1 mile of Gila Wilderness (Class I) ............................................................................................................................................ 28 Table 12: Forestwide motorized big game retrieval acres ............................................................. 29 Table 13: Motorized big game retrieval within 1 mile of Gila Wilderness (Class I) .................... 30 Figures Figure 1: Gila Wilderness Areas ..................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2: Location of IMPROVE site ............................................................................................. 1 Figure 3: Visibility trends on the 20 percent best days at Gila Wilderness, 2000 through 2064 (VIEWS 2012) ......................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 4: Visibility Trends on the 20% worst days at Gila Wilderness, 2000 through 2064 (VIEWS 2012) ......................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 5: PM10 Air Quality 1990-2009 (State of New Mexico, 2013) ............................................ 4 Figure 6: PM2.5 emissions by source sector ................................................................................... 6 Figure 7: PM2.5 emissions in 2008 (tons per square mile) ............................................................... 6 Figure 8: PM10 emissions by source sector ..................................................................................... 7 Figure 9: PM10 emissions in 2008 (tons per square miles) .............................................................. 7 Figure 10: Airsheds of the Gila National Forest.............................................................................. 9 Figure 11: Forestwide percentage increase or decrease of acres associated with motorized routes that have potential to contribute to fugitive dust (from no action) ........................................ 26 Figure 12: Percentage increase or decrease of acres associated with motorized routes within 1 mile of Gila Wilderness Class 1 Airshed that have potential to contribute to visibility impairment (from no action)