2008-02-22_APPLICATION CORRESPONDENCE - C2008086 (39)

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CHAPTERFOUR Environmental Consequences and Mitigation The applicant would construct a primary substation at the end of the alignment, as described in Section 2.10.4. This area is under the jurisdiction of Mesa County and is currently zoned Agricultural, Forestry, Transitional District (AFT). Two or three secondary substations would be located around the mine site as necessary to provide electrical power to the mine facilities as described previously. Land use impacts from the secondary substations are the same as the mine and facilities section. The transmission line crosses BLM-administered lands and private lands under the jurisdiction of Mesa County. Compliance with these land use plans is addressed in the Railroad section. Temporary Impacts Temporary land use impacts will result from construction of the access roads, conveyor belt, material storage sites, railroad corridor, and construction lay-down areas. Temporary impacts would result from equipment and topsoil storage areas and temporary access roads. Construction activities of the railroad include cut-and-fill, compaction, and track laying along the railroad corridor. Construction of the water pipeline and use of material storage sites and construction lay-down areas would result in temporary impacts to wildlife habitat, livestock grazing, and agricultural lands along the pipeline corridor. After reclamation and revegetation, wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and agricultural productivity should return to normal within approximately two growing seasons. Permanent Impacts Long-term impacts to land use would result from the aboveground facilities associated with the mine; surface facilities would displace livestock grazing, recreation, and wildlife use from the immediate area for the life of the project. Upon decommissioning of the mine, surface facilities would be removed and the land would be restored to its original vegetative cover per BLM policy. Permanent impacts to land use would arise from construction of benches for the mine facilities and the waste rock disposal area. Cuts and fills associated with construction of the loadout area would also permanently impact land use. Up to 90-foot deep cuts are projected for the loadout area. The coal waste disposal area is approximately 190 acres. These areas would be permanently converted from the existing land use to energy development. The long-term impacts to land use would be the operation of a linear utility corridor for the life of the project. Land use along the railroad and pipeline corridor would be converted to a utility ROW. Construction of the railroad would result in loss of agricultural lands, livestock grazing, recreation, and wildlife habitat along the railroad corridor for the life of the project. This may also result in permanent alteration of trails and lack of recreational access along the railroad and pipeline corridor. Construction of the railroad would result in long-term impacts to transportation corridors. The trains would cross public roads in three locations. CAM proposes agrade-separated crossing with State Highway (SH) 139, and at-grade crossings for CR 10 and CR M8. Permanent impacts to land use would result from construction of the railroad corridor. As previously discussed in Chapter 2, to improve the sight distance at the CR 10 crossing, CR 10 4-5 DBMS 560