BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT PARALLEL FLOW 200 TPH DRUM MIX HOT ASPHALT PLANT Prepared for YAVAPAI-APACHE SAND & ROCK 3750 W. OLD HIGHWAY 279 CAMP VERDE, ARIZONA 86322 January 23, 2018 Prepared by: KETZEL ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING and SERVICES LLC Stuart (Stu) Tuttle, Owner, Manager 3391 S. Gillenwater Dr. Flagstaff, AZ 86005 (928) 607-3302 1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this biological assessment is to review a proposed hot mix asphalt plant project on the extent the proposed action may affect any of the threatened, endangered, proposed, or sensitive species listed below. This biological assessment is prepared in accordance with legal requirements set forth under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536 (c)). This document only addresses the expected effects to federally listed species and state species of concern; it does not address any other environmental resources such as greenhouse gasses or cultural resources. No direct impacts to federally listed species will occur because of the asphalt plant and any indirect effects are insignificant and immeasurable. The Verde River, located approximately 3,100 feet from the project boundary (Figure 1), is designated as Critical or Proposed Critical Habitat for the many of the listed species analyzed in this document. However, no Critical Habitat occurs on the project site. The Yavapai-Apache Sand and Rock has a stormwater pollution prevention plan in place to avoid any potential degradation of the Verde River water quality resulting from stormwater runoff during and after development operations. LOCATION The project area is in Section 11, T14N, R4E. The area is southwest of Middle Verde and the Camp Verde Indian Reservation on the Middle Verde and Cornville, AZ USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles (Figure 1). Elevation ranges between 3,170 and 3,200 feet. The area lies in the Verde River valley; the Verde River serves as the major drainage in the region and the only perennial water source near the project area. The Verde Valley area comprises a transition zone between the high elevation Colorado Plateau physiographic province and the low deserts of the Basin and Range province south of the Black Hills (Brown 1994). Figure 1 General Location map of proposed hot asphalt plant. Red dot indicates plant location. 2 ACTION AREA Elevation ranges between 3,170 and 3,200 feet. The area lies in the Verde River valley; the Verde River serves as the major drainage in the region and the only perennial water source near the project area. The Verde valley area comprises a transition zone between the high elevation Colorado Plateau physiographic province and the low deserts of the Basin and Range province south of the Black Hills (Brown 1994). The project area is underlain by the Verde Formation. This formation consists of limestone beds alternating with fluvial deposits; of silt and sand, resulting from the formation’s history as lake deposition (Chronic 1983, Nations and Stump 1981). Soils within the parcel are generally rocky or sandy, derived from decomposition of the Verde formation (Hendricks 1985). The site location for the asphalt plant is within the area currently mined as a sand and gravel operation (Figure 2). The site is devoid of vegetation, has multiple building units (Figure 3), and frequent vehicle and large equipment traffic. The closest habitat is approximately 800 feet west of the plant location and is comprised of catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii), mesquite (Prosopis velutina), one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma), soapweed yucca (Yucca elata), and Engelmann's prickly pear (Opuntia phaeacantha var. discata). It is not habitat for any of the Listed species, but is utilized by some of the species of concern (Appendix I and II). Wildlife observed in this section included Gambel's quail (Lophortyx gambeli) and desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii). CURRENT MANAGEMENT The property is privately held by the Yavapai-Apache Nation and is managed as a gravel and rock mining operation. This project proposal is to add the hot asphalt plant within the existing mining operations on land that has already been mined and is devoid of habitat. Once mining is complete, some or all of the 230-acre site is expected to be revegetated and used for agricultural purposes. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed project is a Portable Parallel Flow 200 TPH Drum Mix Asphalt Plant (similar to Figure 4) consisting of the following major components: A. 7’ diameter x 34‘long drum mixer with burner, slinger conveyor and discharge hood and recycle collar. B. 8’ x 20’ control house with EZ-Blend asphalt blending controls, feeder bin controls, burner controls, totalizer, damper controls, motor push button panel, MCC, with all cables pre-wire, with plug-in connectors. C. (4) Cold feed bins, size 9’ x 14’, collecting conveyor D. 45’ long weigh conveyor, 4’ x 6’ scalping screen 3 E. 75-ton silo, cone heated and fully insulated F. 225 Ton per hour (TPH) drag elevator 5,000# batcher for loading trucks. However, the plant will probably only result in 185 tph because of elevation and moisture in the aggregate material being used. G. Asphalt injection pump and meter, unloading pump, fuel pump H. 20,000-gallon direct heated asphalt tank I. 42,000 cfm baghouse with interconnecting ducting to drum mixer J. (2) 25 hp air compressors. Figure 2 Proposed site of hot asphalt plant. Although potentially a portable unit, this plant is planned to be permanent but will run only daylight hours during the week and be closed on most weekends. Truck traffic will be approximately 50 loads hot asphalt per month or 600 loads per year. The first year of asphalt production is estimated to be 12,000 tons divided by 185 tons per hour = 65 hours run time for the year. In subsequent years, the production target is 25,000 to 30,000 tons per year for 163 hours run time. The fuel type is natural gas, and with relatively low production levels, the emission and noise levels are calculated well below NSR major source thresholds in the EPA Permit Application (Figure 5). Noise emissions are expected to be insignificant given the plant location will be at least 3100 feet from the riparian zone, resulting in dBA of 36, lower than current levels of truck traffic operating closer to the riparian zone in other operations (Figure 6). 4 Figure 3 Photo looking southwest from site location towards office trailer. Figure 4. Example of a hot asphalt batch plant like the one proposed for this project. 5 Pollutant PM PM102 PM2.53 SO2 NOx CO VOC Emission Factor 0.2 0.7 0.7 0.0 13 84 5.5 Threshold1 (lb/MMSCF) Proposed Plant’s PTE 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.43 0.36 0.02 (ton/yr) Notes: 1 Emission factors are from AP-42, Chapter 1.4, Tables 1.4-1 and 1.4-2 (updated 07/98). 2 PM10 emission factor is condensable and filterable PM combined. PM emission factor is for filterable PM only. 3 Assume PM2.5 emissions are equal to PM10 emissions. Figure 5 Worst Case Potential to Emit (PTE) (ton/yr) expected for Yavapai-Apache Sand & Rock Asphalt Plant. PTE (ton/yr) is calculated using the following formula: PTE= Heat Input (MMBtu/hr) x 1 MMSCF/1,020 MMBtu x EF (lb/MMSCF) x 8760 hr/yr x 1 ton/2000 lb. Noise Level Distance from Center of Plant 85 dBA 50 feet (measured reference level) 78 dBA 100 feet 70 dBA 200 feet 63 dBA 400 feet 55 dBA 800 feet 46 dBA 1,600 feet 3,200 feet (The approximate closest distance 36 dBA of the plant to the Verde River) 24 dBA 6,400 feet Figure 6 The typical noise emissions from a Hot-Mix Asphalt Plant. We do not know the assumptions that went into the measurements in this noise summary table. SPECIES CONSIDERED The list below of Endangered and Threatened species was obtained from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’ IPAC system and the Arizona Game and Fish On-Line Environmental Tool. 6 SPECIES COMMON SCIENTIFIC NAME CRITICAL HABITAT STATUS NAME Northern Thamnophis eques Mexican Critical proposed Threatened megalops Gartersnake Yellow-billed Coccyzus americanus Critical proposed Threatened Cuckoo Proposed Roundtail Chub Gila robusta None Threatened Proposed Headwater Chub Gila nigra None Threatened Southwestern Empidonax traillii Critical Endangered Willow Flycatcher extimus Gila Chub Gila intermedia Critical Endangered Razorback Sucker Xyrauchen texanus Critical Endangered Loach Minnow Tiaroga cobitis Critical Endangered Spikedace Meda fulgida Critical Endangered Plagopterus Woundfin None EXPN argentissimus Purshia (=Cowania) Arizona Cliffrose None Endangered subintegra Narrow-headed Thamnophis Critical proposed Threatened Gartersnake rufipunctatus The effects analysis took into consideration the current condition of the proposed project site (within active gravel and rock mining site and devoid of vegetation), the distance of the site from the nearest habitat and riparian zone (Figure 7) and a berm or ridge of land that surrounds the site. 7 Verde River ~3100’ ~5400’ ~700’ ~3600’ Figure 7 Site location of proposed Hot Asphalt Batch Plant. Red rectangle represents approximate footprint of construction and operation. Orange line indicates approximate location of stormwater containment berm. ANALYSIS OF SPECIES EFFECTS BIRDS Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) Endangered Although there is final critical habitat designated for this species, the project location is outside the critical habitat. https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6749 Habitat and description: The southwestern willow flycatcher is an insectivorous, neotropical migrant that breeds in the southwestern United States and winters in Mexico and Central America. It is found in riparian habitats along perennial drainages where dense growth of willows, tamarisk, and other shrubs and medium-sized trees are present with a scattered overstory of cottonwoods. Breeding and foraging occurs throughout this habitat (Spencer et al.