Biological Assessment Bethel Energy Center Anderson County, Texas Prepared for APEX Bethel Energy Center, LLC Revised September 2013 Five Penn Center West Suite 300 Pittsburgh, PA 15276 Contents Section Page Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. iii Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1‐1 1.1 Background and Consultation History ............................................................................................. 1‐1 1.2 Description of the Proposed Action ................................................................................................ 1‐2 1.3 Impact Avoidance and Minimization Measures .............................................................................. 1‐3 1.4 Action Area ...................................................................................................................................... 1‐3 1.4.1 Property .............................................................................................................................. 1‐4 1.4.2 Utility Corridor .................................................................................................................... 1‐5 1.4.3 Trinity River ......................................................................................................................... 1‐5 1.4.4 Offsite Wells and Pipeline Corridors ................................................................................... 1‐5 1.4.5 Transmission Corridor ........................................................................................................ 1‐6 Listed Species/Critical Habitat in Action Area ....................................................................................... 2‐1 2.1 Species and Critical Habitat List ....................................................................................................... 2‐1 2.2 Descriptions of Listed Species ......................................................................................................... 2‐1 2.2.1 Federal Listed Species ......................................................................................................... 2‐1 2.2.2 Non‐Designated Federal Listed Species.............................................................................. 2‐2 2.3 Federally Designated & Proposed Critical Habitat .......................................................................... 2‐5 Environmental Setting ......................................................................................................................... 3‐1 3.1 Property ........................................................................................................................................... 3‐1 3.2 Utility Corridor ................................................................................................................................. 3‐1 3.3 Trinity River ...................................................................................................................................... 3‐1 3.4 Offsite Wells and Pipeline Corridors ................................................................................................ 3‐1 Effects of the Proposed Action ............................................................................................................. 4‐1 4.1 Direct Effects .................................................................................................................................... 4‐1 4.1.1 Construction Traffic ............................................................................................................ 4‐1 4.1.2 Construction Stormwater ................................................................................................... 4‐1 4.1.3 Construction Noise ............................................................................................................. 4‐2 4.1.4 Wastewater Discharge to the Trinity River ........................................................................ 4‐2 4.2 Indirect Effects ................................................................................................................................. 4‐2 4.2.1 Air Emissions ....................................................................................................................... 4‐2 4.2.2 Noise ................................................................................................................................... 4‐3 4.2.3 Wastewater Discharge to the Trinity River ........................................................................ 4‐4 4.3 Effects from Interrelated & Interdependent Actions ...................................................................... 4‐4 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 5‐1 5.1 Earth fruit (Geocarpon minimum) ................................................................................................... 5‐1 5.2 Interior Least Tern (Sterna antillarum anthalassos) ........................................................................ 5‐1 5.3 Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) ................................................................................................. 5‐2 5.4 Red‐cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) ............................................................................... 5‐2 5.5 Spragues Pipit (Anthus spragueii) .................................................................................................... 5‐2 5.6 Whooping Crane (Grus americana) ................................................................................................. 5‐3 5.7 Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) ........................................................................... 5‐3 5.8 Red Wolf (Canis rufus) ..................................................................................................................... 5‐4 5.9 Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni) ....................................................................................... 5‐4 References ........................................................................................................................................... 6‐1 APEX CAES BETHEL DOME BA_091213 i CONTENTS, CONTINUED List of Preparers ................................................................................................................................... 7‐1 Appendixes A APEX CAES, Biological Resources Review, Anderson County, Texas (February 2012) B APEX CAES, Biological Resources Review for Trinity River Pipeline, Water Well Pad and Pipeline Areas, and ETC Connector Pipeline Area, Anderson County, Texas (October 2012) C Addendum APEX CAES, Biological Resources Review for Trinity River Pipeline, Water Well Pad and Pipeline Areas, and ETC Connector Pipeline Area, Anderson County, Texas (September 2013) D Air Deposition Calculations Tables 1‐1 Air Pollutant Emission Estimates for the Proposed Bethel Energy Center 1‐2 Modeled Emission Source Parameters 1‐3 Air Dispersion Modeling Results 4‐1 Projected Wastewater Quality for the APEX BEC, Anderson County Texas Figures 1‐1 Site Map ‐ Proposed Bethel Energy Center Property Location and Boundary 1‐2 Proposed Bethel Energy Center Plot Plan 1‐3 Simplified Schematic of CAES Operation 1‐4 Modeled Receptor Grid (Large Scale) 1‐5 Modeled Receptor Grid (Small Scale) 1‐6 Action Area – APEX Bethel Energy Center 2‐1 Sensitive Wildlife Areas and Potential Earth Fruit Habitat APEX CAES BETHEL DOME BA_091213 ii Acronyms and Abbreviations AERMOD An air emissions model APEX APEX Bethel Energy Center, LLC. BA Biological assessment BEC Bethel Energy Center BMP Best management practice CAES Compressed Air Energy Storage CCN Certificate of Convenience and Necessity CO Carbon monoxide CWA Clean Water Act ERCOT Electric Reliability Council of Texas ESA Endangered Species Act ETC Energy Transfer Company ITP Incidental take permit MBTA Migratory Bird Treaty Act MW Megawatt NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards NED National Evaluation Dataset (for air modeling) NOx Nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2) NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service NWI National Wetland Inventory NWS National Weather Service PEM Palustrine emergent PFO Palustrine forested PM Particulate matter PM10 10‐micron particulate matter PM2.5 2.5‐micron particulate matter PSD Prevention of Significant Deterioration PSS Palustrine scrub‐shrub PUC Texas Public Utility Commission SCR Selective catalytic reduction SIL Significant impact level SO2 Sulfur dioxide TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality APEX CAES BETHEL DOME BA_091213 iii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS TDU Transmission and Distribution Utility TPWD Texas Parks and Wildlife Department TXNDD Texas Natural Diversity Database USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service USGS United States Geological Survey VOC Volatile organic compound WMA Wildlife Management Area APEX CAES BETHEL DOME BA_091213 iv SECTION 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background and Consultation History APEX Bethel Energy Center, LLC proposes to construct the Bethel Energy Center (BEC), a 317 MW Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) facility located near Tennessee Colony, Anderson County, Texas. CAES is a commercially available, economically attractive form of bulk energy