AR-388 ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT SECTION 7 CONSULTATION BIOLOGICAL OPINION Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Activity: Continued Operations of the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station, Units 2 and 3, pursuant to existing and proposed renewed operating licenses NER-2012-2252 Conducted by: NOAA's National MarineFisheries Service Northeast Regional Office Date Issued: Approved by: � Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 4 2.0 BACKGROUND AND CONSULTATION HISTORY ...................................................... 4 2.1 Endangered Species Act Consultation ............................................................................. 5 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTIONS ............................................................ �-7 3.1 NPDES/SPDES Permits ................................................................................................... 9 3.2 401 Water Quality Certificate(WQC) ........................................................................... 12 3.3 Description of Water Withdrawals ................................................................................. 13 3.4 Action Area ................................................................................................................ 1§¼ 4.0 STATUS OF THE SPECIES .............................................................................................. 16 4.1 Shortnose Sturgeon ........................................................................................................ 16 4.2 Atlantic Sturgeon ............................................................................................................ 24 4.2 Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic sturgeon........................................................................ 31 4.3 New York Bight DPS of Atlantic sturgeon.................................................................... 34 4.4 ChesapeakeBay DPS of Atlanticsturgeon ................................................................ 37¾ 4.5 Shortnose Sturgeon in the Hudson River and the action area.................................... 393-& 4.6 Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River andthe action area ............................................ 42 4.7 Factors Affecting the Survival and Recovery of Shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River ............................................................................................................................ 43 1 5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE..................................................................................... 48 6.0 CLIMATE CHANGE ........................................................................................................ 50 6.1 Background Information on predicted climate change .................................................. 50 6.2 Species Specific Information Related to Predicted Impacts of Climate Change ........... 52 6.3 Potential Effects of Climate Change in the Action Area ............................................... 54 6.4 Effects of Climate Change in the Action Area to Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon ....... 55 7.0 EFFECTS OF THE ACTION ............................................................................................ 57 7.1 Effects of Water Withdrawal .......................................................................................... 57 7.1.1 Entrainment ............................................................................................................. 58 7.1.2 Impingement ........................................................................................................... 61 7.1.3 Effects of Impingement and Entrainment on Shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon prey ……………………………………………………………………………………..94 7.1.4 Summary of Effects of Water Withdrawal ............................................................. 94 7.2 Effects of Discharges to the Hudson River .................................................................... 95 7.2.1 Heated Effluent ....................................................................................................... 95 7.2.2 Potential Discharge of Radionuclides to the Hudson River.................................. 105 7.3 Non-Routine and Accidental Events ................................................................................. 111 7.4 Effects of Operation in light of Anticipated Future Climate Change .......................... 111 8.0 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS .............................................................................................. 112 9.0 INTEGRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF EFFECTS ....................................................... 113 9.1 Shortnose Sturgeon ...................................................................................................... 114 9.2 Atlantic sturgeon .......................................................................................................... 119 9.2.1 New York Bight DPS of Atlantic sturgeon........................................................... 120 10.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 126 11.0 INCIDENTAL TAKE STATEMENT ............................................................................. 127 11.1 Amount or Extent of Take ........................................................................................ 128 11.2 Reasonable and Prudent Measures ........................................................................... 132 11.3 Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................... 133 12.0 CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 138 13.0 REINITIATION OF CONSULTATION ......................................................................... 139 14.0 LITERATURE CITED .................................................................................................... 141 APPENDIX I ............................................................................................................................... 157 APPENDIX II ............................................................................................................................. 160 APPENDIX III ............................................................................................................................ 162 APPENDIX IV ............................................................................................................................ 164 2 APPENDIX V ............................................................................................................................. 165 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION This constitutes NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) biological opinion (Opinion) issued in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, on the effects of the continued operation of the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station (Indian Point) pursuant to an existing operating license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended (68 Stat. 919) and Title II of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1242) as well as proposed extended operating licenses. This Opinion is based on information provided in a Biological Assessment (BA) dated December 2010, the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 38 Regarding Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit 2 and 3 dated December 2010, a draft Supplement to that EIS dated June 2012, information submitted to us by the NRC via letter dated May 16, 2012, permits issued by the State of New York, information submitted to NMFS by Entergy and other sources of information. We will keep a complete administrative record of this consultation at the NMFS Northeast Regional Office, Gloucester, Massachusetts. 2.0 BACKGROUND AND CONSULTATION HISTORY Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3 (IP2 and IP3) are located on approximately 239 acres (97 hectares (ha)) of land in the Village of Buchanan in upper Westchester County, New York (project location is illustrated in Appendix I, Figures 1 and 2). The facility is on the eastern bank of the Hudson River at river mile (RM) 43 (river kilometer (RKM) 69) about 2.5 miles (mi) (4.0 kilometers (km)) southwest of Peekskill, the closest city, and about 43 mi (69 km) north of the southern tip of Manhattan. Both IP2 and IP3 use Westinghouse pressurized-water reactors and nuclear steam supply systems (NSSSs). Primary and secondary plant cooling is provided by a once-through cooling water intake system that supplies cooling water from the Hudson River. Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station Unit 1 (IP1, now permanently shut down1) shares the site with IP2 and IP3. IP1 is located between IP2 and IP3. In 1963, IP1 began operations. IP1 was shut down on October 31, 1974, and is in a safe storage condition (SAFSTOR) awaiting final decommissioning. Construction began on IP2 in 1966 and on IP3 in 1969. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the predecessor to the NRC, initially licensed IP2 on September 28, 1973. The AEC issued a 40-year license for IP2 that was set to expire on September 28, 2013. IP2 was originally licensed to the Consolidated Edison Company, which sold that facility to Entergy in September 2001. IP3 was initially licensed on December 12, 1975, for a 40-year period that was set to expire on December 12, 2015. While the Consolidated