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CRAPTERTHREE Enuironment2~~ Consequences <br />• Some increase in mule deer/vehicle collisions is likely to be unavoidable. • <br />• Some inactive raptor nests would be removed, or would remain in place in habitat that may <br />no longer be suitable for nesting. <br />• Short-term increases in stream sediment and minor modifications to streatnbanks along the <br />pipeline corridor would have minor and short-term impacts to aquatic habitat. <br />• Forage production would be lost for several years following pipeline construction, and long- <br />term habitat modification would occur in wooded azeas along the pipeline comdor. <br />3.9 WETLANDS <br />3.9.1 Direct and Indirect Impacts <br />Piceance Site <br />No wetlands would be affected at the Piceance Site, the same as tinder the Pn~posed Action. <br />Pipeline Corridor <br />The Agency Preferred Alternative includes the following changes that aze relevant to analysis of <br />wetland impacts: • <br />• The proposed locations of each of the three wetland crossings along the pipeline corridor <br />have changed slightly. <br />• The Pipeline Plan of Development includes construction specifications for wetland and <br />waterbody crossings (Section 14 of Attachment 2 of the Pipeline Plan of Development). <br />• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has confirmed that construction of the pipeline would be <br />covered under Nationwide Permit 12 (Utility Line Dischazges), a copy o1'which is provided <br />as Attachment 5 of the Pipeline Plan of Development. <br />The impacts of the Agency Prefeaed Alternative would be the same as those described for the <br />Proposed Action. Although the locations of the wetland crossings would change, the crossing <br />widths, affected azeas, and wetland types would remain the same. The more detailed description <br />of construction methods in the Pipeline Plan of Development does not involve any significant <br />changes in construction procedures in wetlands. The permit conditions discussed in the Draft <br />EIS would be applicable. <br />With the application of appropriate construction methods required under the Nationwide Section <br />404 Permit, impacts would be limited to short-term losses of vegetation and localized disruption <br />and compaction of wetland soils. Wetland conditions should return to pre-construction <br />conditions within 1 to 3 yeazs after construction. <br />Parachute Site • <br />No wetlands would be affected at the Parachute Site, the same as under the Proposed Action. <br />3-14 Wetlands <br />