DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE CARPINTERIA AVENUE BRIDGE (51C-172) REPLACEMENT PROJECT City Project no. 14-1719-CUP/CDP Federal Project no. BRLS-5397(010) SCH NO. 2014071007 Lead Agency: March 2016 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE CARPINTERIA AVENUE BRIDGE (51C-172) REPLACEMENT PROJECT City Project no. 14-1719-CUP/CDP Federal Project no. BRLS-5397(010) SCH NO. 2014071007 Prepared by: City of Carpinteria 5775 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, California 93013 With assistance from: Padre Associates, Inc. 1861 Knoll Drive Ventura, California 93003 805/644-2220, 805/644-2050 (fax) March 2016 Carpinteria Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Draft EIR Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 DOCUMENT PURPOSE AND LEGAL AUTHORITY .................................. 1-1 1.2 PROJECT PROPONENT AND LEAD AGENCY ......................................... 1-1 1.3 PROJECT PURPOSE AND NEED .............................................................. 1-1 1.4 PROJECT BENEFITS ................................................................................. 1-2 1.5 PROJECT OBJECTIVES ............................................................................ 1-2 1.6 SCOPE AND CONTENT ............................................................................. 1-2 1.7 RESPONSIBLE AND TRUSTEE AGENCIES ............................................. 1-5 1.8 PROJECT APPROVALS AND PERMITS ................................................... 1-6 1.9 MITIGATION MONITORING PLAN ............................................................. 1-6 1.10 CERTIFICATION OF THE FINAL EIR ......................................................... 1-7 2.0 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 PROJECT SYNOPSIS ................................................................................ 2-1 2.2 ALTERNATIVES ......................................................................................... 2-3 2.3 SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES .................................................................................................................... 2-5 2.4 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE .................................... 2-5 3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ...................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 PROJECT LOCATION ................................................................................ 3-1 3.2 PROJECT COMPONENTS ......................................................................... 3-1 3.3 CONSTRUCTION........................................................................................ 3-3 3.4 CUMULATIVE PROJECTS ......................................................................... 3-6 Page i Carpinteria Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Draft EIR Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS ................................................................ 4.1-1 4.1 AESTHETICS .............................................................................................. 4.1-1 4.2 AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY RESOURCES .................................... 4.2-1 4.3 AIR QUALITY .............................................................................................. 4.3-1 4.4 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES ....................................................................... 4.4-1 4.5 CULTURAL RESOURCES .......................................................................... 4.5-1 4.6 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ............................................................. 4.6-1 4.7 GEOLOGY AND SOILS .............................................................................. 4.7-1 4.8 HAZARDS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS .............................................. 4.8-1 4.9 WATER RESOURCES ................................................................................ 4.9-1 4.10 LAND USE AND PLANNING....................................................................... 4.10-1 4.11 NOISE AND VIBRATION ............................................................................ 4.11-1 4.12 TRANSPORTATION/CIRCULATION .......................................................... 4.12-1 4.13 OTHER IMPACTS NOT CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT .............................. 4.13-1 5.0 ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT ................................................ 5-1 5.1 NO PROJECT ALTERNATIVE .................................................................... 5-2 5.2 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED ................................................................. 5-2 5.3 IMPACTS OF THE ALTERNATIVES .......................................................... 5-4 5.4 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE .................................... 5-12 6.0 GROWTH INDUCEMENT ....................................................................................... 6-1 6.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 6-1 6.2 URBANIZATION OF LAND IN ISOLATED LOCALITIES ............................ 6-1 6.3 REMOVAL OF AN IMPEDIMENT TO GROWTH ........................................ 6-1 6.4 ECONOMIC GROWTH ............................................................................... 6-2 6.5 PRECEDENT SETTING ACTION ............................................................... 6-2 6.6 CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 6-2 Page ii Carpinteria Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Draft EIR Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page 7.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ........................................................................................... 7-1 7.1 CITY OF CARPINTERIA ............................................................................. 7-1 7.2 PADRE ASSOCIATES, INC. ....................................................................... 7-1 7.3 CONEJO ARCHEOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS .......................................... 7-1 7.4 DRAKE HAGLAN & ASSOCIATES ............................................................. 7-1 8.0 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 8-1 APPENDICES A Notice of Preparation B Environmental Scoping Document C Responses to the Notice of Preparation D Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program E Biological Inventory F Tree Removal Data and Map LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 3-1 Project Location Map .................................................................................. 3-9 Figure 3-2 Views of the Project Site from Carpinteria Avenue ...................................... 3-11 Figure 3-3 Bridge Replacement Plan ............................................................................ 3-13 Figure 3-4 Project Plan View – Western Portion........................................................... 3-15 Figure 3-5 Project Plan View – Eastern Portion............................................................ 3-17 Figure 3-6 Construction Staging Plan ........................................................................... 3-19 Figure 4.1-1 View of the Project Site – Existing Conditions ............................................. 4.1-9 Figure 4.1-2 View of the Project Site – Proposed Conditions .......................................... 4.1-11 Figure 4.4-1 Biological Study Area Map .......................................................................... 4.4-3 Figure 4.4-2 Photographs of Carpinteria Creek at the Project Site .................................. 4.4-5 Page iii Carpinteria Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Draft EIR Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2-1 Summary of Project-Specific Significant but Mitigable (Class II) Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures ................................................................ 2-7 Table 2-2 Summary of Project-Specific Less than Significant (Class III) Environmental Impacts ........................................................................................................ 2-22 Table 4.3-1 Air Quality Summary from the Carpinteria Monitoring Station ..................... 4.3-2 Table 4.3-2 Construction Air Pollutant Emissions Summary .......................................... 4.3-7 Table 4.4-1 Definitions of Special-Status Plant Species................................................. 4.4-11 Table 4.4-2 Special-Status Plant Species of the Project Area........................................ 4.4-11 Table 4.4-3 Definitions of Special-Status Wildlife Species ............................................. 4.4-12 Table 4.4-4 Special-Status Wildlife Species of the Project Area .................................... 4.4-13 Table 4.4-5 Tree Removal Summary ............................................................................. 4.4-22 Table 4.6-1 Peak 12-Month Period Construction GHG Emissions Summary ................. 4.6-6 Table 4.7-1 Project Site Seismic Parameters ................................................................. 4.7-2 Table 4.8-1 Aerially-Deposited Lead Contaminated Soil Management .......................... 4.8-9 Table 4.9-1 100-Year Flood Elevation Data ................................................................... 4.9-13 Table 4.10-1 Affected Parcel Summary ............................................................................ 4.10-1 Table 4.11-1 Typical A-Weighted