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Third Park Federal Coal Exploration License Environmental Assessment WASTES, HAZARDOUS OR SOLID Affected Environment: The equipment and materials needed for the Proposed Action have the potential for regulated or hazardous waste substance release. These materials include motor fuel and drilling fluids (bentonite). The drilling operator would maintain all the appropriate Material Safety Data Sheets for all chemicals, compounds, and substances to be used during drilling and hole plugging. Environmental Consequences/Mitigation: Effects to the environment from the release of hazardous or solid waste are not expected. The potential for effects from substance release depend on responsible use of chemicals and immediate containment and adequate cleanup in the event of unintentional releases. The potential for exposure to hazardous or solid wastes would be low and short- term during drilling activities. Under the No Action Alternative, there would be no effects associated with hazardous or solid wastes. WATER QUALITY, SURFACE AND GROUND (includes a finding on Standard 5) Affected Environment: The Third Park Project Area is set in a region of diverse terrain. The area is confined by three deeply incised perennial streams: Tabeguache Creek along the northern border, the San Miguel River extending along the western border, and Coal Draw which drains the southern portion of Third Park. Both Tabeguache Creek and Coal Draw are tributary to the San Miguel River. Within this incised perimeter is terrain dominated by a plateau of high elevation (5,500 to 6,000 feet) that encompasses Box Canyon. This canyon extends across the entire area, but i[ is incised more deeply on its southern extent along the perimeter of the Project Area. The climate in the area is characterized as dry air, sunny, clear nights, low to moderate precipitation, high evaporation rates, and extreme temperature differences throughout the day. Precipitation is dominated by summer thunderstorms, which contribute to the total of 12 to 15 inches per year. Snowfall generally ranges between 20 to 30 inches per year and also contributes to a portion of the total annual precipitation. The Project Area is located within the San Miguel watershed (Hydrologic Unit Code [HUC] 14030003) (USEPA 2007). No flow data were available for streams within the Project Area; however, data were available from three U.S. Geological Society (USGS) gauging stations on San Miguel River and from one USGS station on Tabeguache Creek. Stream flow data for San Miguel River were available from two monitoring stations upstream and one station downstream of the Project Area, near Uravan, Colorado. Mean annual streamflow at the upstream stations varied between 67.4 and 789.2 cubic feet per second (cfs) and at the downstream station between 78.4 to 758.4 cfs. Peak flaws generally occurred between April and June and ranged from 800 to 9,502 cfs at the upstream stations and from 1,040 to 8,910 cfs at [he downstream station (USGS 2007). Stream flow data for Tabeguache Creek are only available from a station upstream of the Project Area between 1946 and 1957. During this period, the mean annual flows varied between 4.3 to 18.9 cfs, with peak flows occurring in April or May, ranging from 114 to 303 cfs (USGS 2007). The quality of water in the rivers and streams within the Project Area is protected for designated uses in accordance with State of Colorado water quality standards. These uses are set forth in the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission's Classifications and Numeric Standards for the Gunnison and Lower Dolores River Basin, Regulation No. 35 (CDPHE 2006b). Western Fuels CEL Environmenml Assessment 16