U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Environmental Assessment Revised Avian and Bat Protection Plan for Spring Valley Wind Energy Facility DOI-BLM-NV-L060-2017-0022-EA May 2018 PREPARING OFFICE U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Ely District Office, Nevada i Environmental Assessment Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1-3 1.2 Identifying Information ...................................................................................... 1-3 1.2.1 Title, Environment Assessment Number and Type of Project ................. 1-3 1.2.2 Location of Proposed Action ................................................................... 1-3 1.2.3 Name and Location of Preparing Office .................................................. 1-3 1.2.4 BLM Case File Number .......................................................................... 1-3 1.2.5 Applicant Name ...................................................................................... 1-3 1.3 Background Information ................................................................................... 1-4 1.4 Purpose and Need for Action ........................................................................... 1-5 1.5 Decision to be Made ........................................................................................ 1-5 1.6 Conformance, Permits, and Approvals ............................................................. 1-5 1.6.1 Conformance with the BLM Ely District Resource Management Plan ..... 1-5 1.6.2 Relationship to Statues, Regulations or Other Plans ............................... 1-5 1.6.3 Permits and Approvals ............................................................................ 1-6 1.7 Scoping, Public Involvement, and Issues ......................................................... 1-6 Chapter 2 Proposed Action and Alternatives ................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 2-3 2.2 Description of the Proposed Action .................................................................. 2-3 2.2.1 Mortality Metric Change .......................................................................... 2-4 2.2.2 Avian and Bat Mortality Thresholds ........................................................ 2-4 2.2.3 Targeted Curtailment Strategy ................................................................ 2-5 2.2.4 Mitigation Phases ................................................................................... 2-6 Phase I/Default .............................................................................................. 2-7 Phase II Mitigation ......................................................................................... 2-7 Phase III Mitigation ........................................................................................ 2-7 2.3 No Action Alternative ....................................................................................... 2-8 2.4 Alternatives Considered but Not Analyzed in Detail ......................................... 2-8 Chapter 3 Affected Environment and Environmental Effects ...................................... 3-1 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3-3 3.2 General Setting .............................................................................................. 3-10 3.3 Special Status Species - Bats ........................................................................ 3-10 Baseline Data from 2010 FEA ..................................................................... 3-10 Bat Activity ............................................................................................ 3-10 Rose Guano Cave Use ......................................................................... 3-14 Post-Construction Surveys Results .............................................................. 3-14 Bat Activity ............................................................................................ 3-14 Rose Guano Cave Use ......................................................................... 3-15 3.4 Environmental Effects .................................................................................... 3-18 3.4.1 General Bat Fatality Patterns at Wind Farms ........................................ 3-19 3.4.2 Turbine Curtailment Studies ................................................................. 3-19 3.4.3 Modeling Predictions of High Fatality Nights ......................................... 3-20 3.4.4 Bat Fatalities at SVWEF and Effectiveness of the Targeted Curtailment Program ................................................................................................ 3-20 3.4.5 Alternative A – Proposed Action ........................................................... 3-22 Direct Effects ............................................................................................... 3-22 Thresholds ............................................................................................ 3-22 Targeted Curtailment Strategy .............................................................. 3-23 Table of Contents May 2018 Environmental Assessment ii Indirect Effects ............................................................................................. 3-23 3.4.6 Alternative B – No Action ...................................................................... 3-23 Direct Effects ............................................................................................... 3-23 Indirect Effects ............................................................................................. 3-24 Chapter 4 Cumulative Effects ......................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4-3 4.2 Special Status Species - Bats .......................................................................... 4-3 4.2.1 Alternative A – Proposed Action ............................................................. 4-3 4.2.2 Alternative B – No Action ........................................................................ 4-3 Chapter 5 Consultation and Coordination ..................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 5-3 Chapter 6 List of Preparers ............................................................................................ 6-1 6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 6-3 Chapter 7 References ..................................................................................................... 7-1 7.1 References ...................................................................................................... 7-3 7.2 Laws, Acts, and Regulations ............................................................................ 7-6 May 2018 Table of Contents iii Environmental Assessment List of Tables Table 2-1. Original ABPP mitigation phases. ........................................................................... 2-3 Table 2-2. Summary of bat mitigation phases for exceedance of overall bat fatality thresholds as revised. .................................................................................................. 2-6 Table 3-1. Resources analysis determination. ......................................................................... 3-4 Table 3-2. Bat Species identified from acoustic surveys, 2007–2008. ................................... 3-10 Table 3-3. Peak bat activity detected during surveys............................................................. 3-15 Table 6-1. List of BLM Preparers ............................................................................................ 6-3 Table 6-2. List of WEST Preparers.......................................................................................... 6-3 List of Figures Figure 3-1. Nightly activity patterns of all bat species, 2007–2008. ....................................... 3-11 Figure 3-2. Nightly activity patterns of western small-footed myotis, long-eared myotis, little brown myotis, and Mexican free-tailed bat, 2007–2008. ..................................... 3-12 Figure 3-3. Seasonal activity patterns for all bat species, 2007–2008. .................................. 3-13 Figure 3-4. Seasonal patterns for migratory versus non-migratory bat species, 2007–2008. .................................................................................................................................. 3-13 Figure 3-5. Beam breaks per year May 1 through October 31. .............................................. 3-17 Figure 3-6. Annual beam break data at Rose Guano Cave, 2014-2017. ............................... 3-18 List of Appendices Appendix A Revised Spring Valley Avian and Bat Protection Plan Appendix B Proposed Revisions Table of Contents May 2018 Environmental Assessment iv List of Acronyms and Abbreviations § Section 2005 PEIS 2005 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement