Rising Tree Wind Farm Project Notice of Preparation - County of Kern

KERN COUNTY PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
RISING TREE WIND ENERGY PROJECT
Table of Contents
1. Project Description .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Project Location .................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Environmental Setting ........................................................................................................ 1
1.3 Project Description ............................................................................................................. 5
1.4 Project Facilities and Operations ........................................................................................ 9
1.4.1 Project Components Overview .............................................................................. 9
1.4.2 Construction ......................................................................................................... 13
1.5 Project Objectives ............................................................................................................. 14
1.6 Proposed Discretionary Actions/Required Approvals ...................................................... 15
2. Environmental Determination Kern County Environmental Checklist Form ................................ 17
2.1 Environmental Factors Potentially Affected ..................................................................... 17
2.2 Environmental Determination ........................................................................................... 17
3. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts: .......................................................................................... 18
Aesthetics ........................................................................................................................... 19
Agriculture Resources ........................................................................................................ 21
Air Quality .......................................................................................................................... 23
Biological Resources. ......................................................................................................... 25
Cultural Resources. ............................................................................................................ 27
Geology and Soils............................................................................................................... 28
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ................................................................................................ 30
Hazards and Hazardous Materials ...................................................................................... 31
Hydrology and Water Quality ............................................................................................ 34
Land Use and Planning ....................................................................................................... 37
Mineral Resources .............................................................................................................. 38
Noise .................................................................................................................................. 39
Population and Housing ..................................................................................................... 41
Public Services ................................................................................................................... 42
Recreation .......................................................................................................................... 44
Transportation/Traffic ........................................................................................................ 45
Utilities and Service Systems ............................................................................................. 48
Mandatory Findings of Significance .................................................................................. 50
List of Tables
1 Project Site and Surrounding Land Uses ......................................................................................... 8
2 Proposed Discretionary Actions/Required Approvals ................................................................... 16
List of Figures
1 Project Location and Vicinity Map .................................................................................................. 2
2 Project Site Boundaries .................................................................................................................... 3
3 Existing General Plan Land Use Designations ................................................................................ 4
4 Existing Kern County Zoning Designations .................................................................................... 6
5 Proposed Zoning .............................................................................................................................. 7
July 2011 i Initial Study/Notice of Preparation