Carson Lake Geothermal Exploration Project Environmental Assessment March 2008 LEAD AGENCIES U.S. Navy Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Carson City Field Office COOPERATING AGENCY U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Lahontan Basin Area Office Carson Lake Geothermal Exploration Project Environmental Assessment March 2008 LEAD AGENCIES U.S. Navy Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Carson City Field Office COOPERATING AGENCY U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Lahontan Basin Area Office TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction and Purpose and Need...................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Purpose and Need ...................................................................................................... 1-5 1.3 Land Use Plan Conformance Statement...................................................................... 1-6 Chapter 2: Proposed Action and Alternatives......................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Location and Overview ................................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 Project Description ...................................................................................................... 2-2 2.3 Alternatives ............................................................................................................... 2-17 2.4 Applicable Statues, Regulations, and Policies ........................................................... 2-21 Chapter 3: Affected Environment............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 3-1 3.2 Air Quality.................................................................................................................... 3-3 3.3 Biological Resources ................................................................................................... 3-5 3.4 Geology and Soils ..................................................................................................... 3-15 3.5 Water Resources....................................................................................................... 3-21 3.6 Cultural Resources and Native American Religious Concerns................................... 3-26 3.7 Land Use................................................................................................................... 3-38 3.8 Wastes, Hazardous or Solid ...................................................................................... 3-40 3.9 Visual Resources ...................................................................................................... 3-41 3.10 Socioeconomics and Environmental Justice.............................................................. 3-42 Chapter 4: Environmental Consequences............................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Air Quality.................................................................................................................... 4-1 4.3 Biological Resources ................................................................................................... 4-5 4.4 Geology and Soils ....................................................................................................... 4-8 4.5 Water Resources....................................................................................................... 4-10 4.6 Cultural Resources and Native American Concerns .................................................. 4-12 4.7 Land Use................................................................................................................... 4-17 4.8 Wastes, Hazardous or Solid ...................................................................................... 4-20 4.9 Visual Resources ...................................................................................................... 4-21 Carson Lake Geothermal Exploration Project TOC-i March 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4.10 Socioeconomics and Environmental Justice .............................................................. 4-23 4.11 Residual Impacts ....................................................................................................... 4-24 4.12 Cumulative Impacts ................................................................................................... 4-25 4.13 Monitoring.................................................................................................................. 4-29 Chapter 5: Consultation and Coordination .............................................................................. 5-1 5.1 Lead Agency................................................................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Consultant Team ......................................................................................................... 5-2 5.3 Agencies/Persons Contacted....................................................................................... 5-3 Chapter 6: References............................................................................................................... 6-1 Appendix A: Biological Study Appendix B: Nevada and Federal Air Quality Standards Appendix C: Geothermal Leases Appendix D: Standard Operating Procedures from 2006 Geothermal Leasing EA List of Figures Figure 1.1-1: Land Management and Jurisdiction in the Project Area....................................... 1-3 Figure 2.1-1: Well Pad Locations and Access Roads ............................................................... 2-3 Figure 2.2-1: Typical Well Pad Site Layout............................................................................... 2-6 Figure 2.2-2: Example of Different Types of Drill Rigs .............................................................. 2-8 Figure 2.2-3: Cross-section Examples of Temperature Gradient, Slim, and Exploration Wells .............................................................................................. 2-11 Figure 2.3-1: Location of Well Pad Sites Under Alternative 1 ................................................. 2-19 Figure 3.3-1: Terrestrial Vegetation Communities in the Project Area ...................................... 3-7 Figure 3.4-1: The Carson Desert............................................................................................ 3-16 Figure 3.4-2: Regional Faulting .............................................................................................. 3-18 Figure 3.4-3: Soils in the Project Area .................................................................................... 3-19 Figure 3.5-1: Surface Waters in the Project Area ................................................................... 3-23 Figure 4.6-1: Visual Simulation of Drill Rigs Appearance from Grimes Point .......................... 4-15 List of Tables Table 2.1-1: Well Pad Locations............................................................................................... 2-2 Table 2.2-1: Ground Disturbance by Pad ................................................................................. 2-7 TOC-ii Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS Table 2.3-1: Well Pad Locations under Alternative 1.............................................................. 2-18 Table 2.4-1: Permits and Approvals Required for Exploration Activities ................................. 2-21 Table 3.1-1: Critical Elements Pertinent to the Project ............................................................. 3-3 Table 3.2-1: 2001 EPA Emissions Report, Churchill County, Nevada ...................................... 3-5 Table 3.3-1: Potential for Occurrence of Key Great Basin Game Species ................................ 3-9 Table 3.3-2: Well Pads and Associated Habitat Type............................................................. 3-13 Table 3.3-3: Special Status Species with Potential to Occur in the Project Region................. 3-13 Table 3.4-1: Soil Types at Drill Pad Locations........................................................................ 3-21 Table 3.5-1: Groundwater Depths in Project Area .................................................................. 3-26 Table 3.5-2: Carson Desert Watershed Impaired Waters ....................................................... 3-26 Table 3.7-1: Land Ownership/Management in Churchill County............................................. 3-38 Table 3.7-2: Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) Counts in the Project Vicinity ................... 3-40 Table 3.10-1: Population in the Project Area ............................................................................ 3-42 Table 3.10-2: Demographic Changes in Churchill County (1990-2000).................................... 3-43 Table 3.10-3: Earnings by Industry (in Thousands of Dollars) .................................................. 3-44 Table 3.10-4: Income and Poverty Statistics (2004) ................................................................. 3-44 Table 4.2-1: Estimated Emissions from Large