2012-10-29_PERMIT FILE - P2011012

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1.9.6 Additional Issues and Resources Considered But Eliminated from Analysis The following critical elements and /or natural resources are not present or do not occur within or near the Project Area, would not be affected by the Proposed Action and /or any Alternatives, including the No Action Alternative and will not be carried forward in the analysis. • Areas of Critical Environmental Concern: No ACEC's occur within the Project Area. • Environmental Justice (Executive Order 12898): Given the scale of the Project, and that the proportion of minorities and overall income level of people living near the Project Area is likely similar to those figures for San Miguel and Dolores Counties, it is not expected that the Project would cause disproportionate adverse human health or environmental effects on minority or low- income communities. • Fish Habitat: There are no fisheries in or near the Project Area. • Floodplains (Executive Order 11988): No floodplains occur in the Project Area. • Native American Religious Concerns: Potentially affected Native American tribes were included in the distribution of the NOS. No responses or concerns from any of the notified tribes have been received or expressed. • Prime or Unique Farmlands: No prime or unique farmlands occur within the Project Area. • Wetlands/Riparian Zones (Executive Order 11990): The proposed disturbance within the Project Area does not include any wetlands or riparian zones. • Wilderness: The Project Area is not located within a designated wilderness, proposed Wilderness Area or wilderness study area. • Wild Horses and Burros: No wild horses or burros, or wild horse /burro management areas, occur within or near the Project Area. • Wild and Scenic Rivers: There are no wild and scenic rivers within the Project Area. • Visual Resources: Based on a preliminary review of data provided in the DEIS for San Juan Public Lands, it appears that the Project Area has a visual resource management (VRM) designation of Class III. The Project would be in conformance with the VRM objectives for the Project Area. 1.10 Summary This chapter has presented the purpose and need of the proposed RM Potash Exploration Project, as well as the relevant issues, i.e., those elements of the human environment that could be affected by the implementation of the proposed Project. The Proposed Action, as well as a No Action Alternative, is presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 presents the affected environment of the Project. The potential environmental effects or consequences resulting from the implementation of each alternative are then analyzed in Chapter 4 for each of the identified issues. RM Potash Exploration Project 13 Environmental Assessment