UNITED STATES GYPSUM COMPANY EXPANSION/MODERNIZATION PROJECT IMPERIAL COUNTY, CALIFORNIA DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DOI-BLM-CA-D070-2018-0049-EIS Lead Agency: U.S. Bureau of Land Management El Centro Field Office, BLM 1661 S. 4th Street El Centro, CA 92243 In Cooperation With: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, Regulatory Division 5900 La Place Ct., Suite 100 Carlsbad, CA 92008-8832 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Estimated Lead Agency Total Region 9 Costs Associated with Developing 75 Hawthorne Street And Producing This Supplemental EIS San Francisco, CA 94105 $268,250.00 JULY 2019 El Centro Field Office United States Gypsum Company (USG) Expansion Modernization Project Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to the 2006 Draft and 2008 Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the United States Gypsum Company (USG) Expansion/Modernization Project. Proposed Right-of- Way (ROW) Grant CACA-044014 and CACA-056908 and Plan of Operations (POO) Lead Agency: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) El Centro Field Office 1661 S 4th St, El Centro, CA 92243 ABSTRACT The El Centro Field Office of the BLM has prepared this Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Supplemental EIS) supplementing the 2006 Draft and 2008 Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the United States Gypsum Company (USG) Expansion/Modernization Project. The 2006 Draft and 2008 Final EIR/EIS evaluated the proposed expansion and modernization of USG’s manufacturing facilities at its Plaster City Plant (Plant) and gypsum quarrying operations at its Plaster City Quarry (Quarry). This supplement considers the Proposed Action and seven alternatives, including a No Action alternative; it includes new alternatives, new information related to threatened and endangered species, and new circumstances or new information related to the federal aspects of the Proposed Action. The BLM and the USACE will use this document in their consideration of land use and other federal decisions associated with the project. The BLM is the Lead Agency for this environmental review and the USACE is a Cooperating Agency. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has the authority to review projects requiring a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit; USEPA Region 9 joins as a Cooperating Agency but does not have a direct permitting role in the project. USG owns and operates a gypsum quarry and processing plant in Imperial County, California. USG’s Quarry holdings total approximately 2,105 acres, of which 2,032 acres are owned by USG and 73 acres are active unpatented mineral claims under BLM jurisdiction. Previously, USG proposed an expansion and modernization of its Plaster City Plant and Quarry facilities. This proposal included replacing an existing 8-inch diameter water pipeline from USG’s wells in Ocotillo to the Plant, installing an approximately 14.4 megawatt (MW) cogeneration unit for the Plant operation, and constructing an off-specification material recycling system. In December 2001 and May 2002, Imperial County published the Notice of Preparation of the joint EIR/EIS for the USG Project. The BLM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a joint EIR/EIS in the Federal Register on May 1, 2002 (Federal Register/Vol. 67, No. 84, p 21713). Subsequent Federal Register notice publications included a Notice of Availability (NOA) for the United States Gypsum Company Expansion/Modernization Project Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement on April 21, 2006 (Federal Register/Vol. 71, No. 77, p 20660) and a Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Final EIR/EIS (Federal Register/Vol. 73, No. 51, p 13918). In 2008 the BLM initiated Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation with United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The BLM and the USFWS did not complete the ESA Section 7 Consultation, and the BLM did not issue a Record of Decision (ROD). The 2008 Final EIR/EIS determined that under baseline conditions (i.e., no increase in water usage by U.S. Gypsum above the average 347 AF per year), water levels in the Basin would decline by up to 10 feet over the next 80 years. With the project, the Final EIR/EIS estimated that the drawdown within the alluvial aquifer after 80 years of pumping would be approximately 30 feet. The Final EIR/EIS noted that this drawdown could potentially lower the water level in some wells, and that if the water level in a particular well were to drop to near the base of the screened interval, the ability to maintain current pumping rates at that well could potentially be reduced. Two Mitigation Measures were presented to reduce the level of significance of identified impacts on groundwater levels and groundwater quality. After the County released the 2008 Final EIR/EIS the Imperial County Board of Supervisors certified the EIR/EIS, adopting findings of fact, a statement of overriding consideration, and a mitigation monitoring program in compliance with CEQA. The County Board of Supervisors filed a Notice of Determination on March 19, 2008. In 2014 USG requested the BLM issue a Record of Decision on the project. The BLM determined that the project conformed to the applicable land use plan. However, USG would not be able to obtain its regulatory permits from the USACE because the BLM did not issue a Record of Decision for the Final EIR/EIS, and because the USACE did not participate in the original NEPA process as a cooperating agency. A supplemental EIS with the USACE participating as a cooperating agency would be necessary. In 2016, the BLM amended its California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, which further contributed to the need for a supplement. The regulations (40 CFR Section 1502.9 (c)(1)) and (c)(4)) state that agencies shall prepare supplements to either draft or final environmental impact statements if: i) the agency makes substantial changes in the proposed action that are relevant to environmental concerns; or ii) there are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action or its impacts. 40 CFR Section 1502.9 (c)(4)) states that agencies shall prepare, circulate, and file a supplement to a statement in the same fashion (exclusive of scoping) as a draft and final statement unless alternative procedures are approved by the Council on Environmental Quality. The USACE intends to adopt this Supplemental EIS to support its decision regarding USG’s CWA Section 404 Permit application. The BLM’s purpose and need for the Proposed Action is to respond to USG’s request for two right-of-way applications and a decision regarding its revised Plan of Operations. The BLM is required under the General Mining Law of 1872 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA) to respond to an applicant's requests for right-of-way authorizations on BLM lands and for approval of the quarry Plan of Operations. Decisions to be made: Authorize, grant with modifications, or deny USG’s application for a right-of-way for its Ocotillo Water Pipeline Replacement (Case file number CACA 044014) Authorize, grant with modifications, or deny USG’s application for a right-of-way for its Quarry Pipeline and Electric Transmission Alignment (Case file number CACA 056908) Approve, approve with conditions, or deny USG Quarry Plan of Operations The Field Manager of the BLM El Centro Field Office has the authority for site management of future activities related to the ROW Grant requests, Plan of Operation and is the BLM Authorized Officer for this Draft Supplemental EIS. United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT El Centro Field Office 1661 S. 4th Street El Centro, CA 92243 www.blm.gov/california July 2019 Dear Reader: I am pleased to announce the availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Supplemental EIS) to the United States Gypsum Company Expansion/Modernization Project 2006 Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS), and 2008 Final EIR/EIS. In December 2001, Imperial County published the Notice of Preparation of the joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the United States Gypsum Company Expansion/Modernization Project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As the Lead Agency for the project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a joint EIR/EIS in the Federal Register on May 1, 2002. The Draft EIR/EIS was prepared for the project and was circulated for comment by the public and other interested agencies from April through July of 2006. The BLM also initiated an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Final EIR/EIS was released in January of 2008. On March 18, 2008 the Imperial County Board of Supervisors certified the EIR/EIS, adopted Findings of Fact, a Statement of Overriding Considerations, and a Mitigation Monitoring Program in compliance with CEQA, and filed a Notice of Determination on March 19, 2008. On March 14, 2008 the BLM published in the Federal Register the Notice of Availability (NOA) of the U.S. Gypsum Company Expansion/Modernization Project Final EIR/EIS. The BLM did not issue a Record of Decision (ROD) pending completion of its ESA Section 7 Consultation. In 2014, U.S. Gypsum Company (USG) applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit for the expanded quarry impacts on “waters of the United States”. The USACE was not a Cooperating Agency in the development of the 2006 Draft EIR/EIS or the 2008 Final EIR/EIS documents.