environmental assessment for the hog lake road improvement project

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Ramona Hog Lake Road Improvement Project August 2011 Existing Condition California is currently divided geographically into 15 air basins and 58 counties. The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has jurisdiction over an area of approximately 10,743 square miles, consisting of the four-county South Coast Air Basin (Basin), and the Riverside County portions of the Salton Sea Air Basin (SSAB) and Mojave Desert Air Basin (MDAB) (SCAQMD, 2007). As illustrated in Figure 7, The Ramona Reservation and the Hog Lake Road Improvement Project site are located near the southeastern corner of the South Coast Air Basin (SCAB). The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the SQAWMD, and the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains lie to the north and the east of the SCAQMD. The SCAQMD is home to over 16.7 million people - about half the population of the whole state of California. It is the second most populated urban area in the United States and one of the smoggiest (CARB, 2006). The topography and climate of Southern California combine to make the SCAB an area of high air pollution potential. With very light average wind speeds, the SCAB atmosphere has a limited capability to disperse air contaminants horizontally. The dominant daily wind pattern is a daytime sea breeze (onshore breeze) and a nighttime land breeze (offshore breeze), broken only occasionally by winter storms and infrequent strong Santa Ana winds from the Great Basin, Mojave, and deserts to the north. Within the SCAQMD, a majority of the pollution is derived from the nearby urban areas. The largest source of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and reactive organics gases (ROG) in the SCAB are on-road motor vehicles (CARB, 2005). Major sources of particulates (PM10 and PM2.5) include miscellaneous processes that include activities such as construction, dust from paved and unpaved roads, fugitive dust, automobiles, waste burning, fuel combustion, cooking, industrial processes and agricultural activities. Pollutant transport from the SCAB impacts the Antelope Valley, Mojave Desert, Ventura county, and San Diego county. SCAQMD data indicates that mobile sources represent 64 percent of VOC emissions, 92 percent of NOx emissions, and 98 percent of CO emissions. For directly emitted PM2.5, mobile sources represent 39 percent of the emissions with another 20 percent due to vehicle-related entrained road dust. EPA has established NAAQS for six principal pollutants, which are called “criteria pollutants”: ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM), particulate matter 10 microns or less (PM10), particulate matter 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and lead (Pb). For some of these pollutants, notably O3 and PM10, the State standards are more stringent than the Federal standards. The State has also established ambient air quality standards for sulfates, hydrogen sulfide, vinyl chloride and visibility reducing particles. The abovementioned pollutants are generally known as “criteria pollutants.” Frank Springer & Associates, Inc. Page 31 of 79 Environmental Assessment
Ramona Hog Lake Road Improvement Project August 2011 The California Air Resource Board (CARB) is required to designate areas of the State as: attainment, non-attainment, or unclassified for any State standard. An “attainment” designation for an area signifies that pollutant concentrations did not violate the standard for that pollutant in that area. A “non-attainment” designation indicates that a pollutant concentration violated the standard at least once, excluding those occasions when a violation was caused by an exceptional event, as defined in the criteria. An “unclassified” designation signifies that data do not support either an attainment or non-attainment status. According to CARB 2009 Area Designations for State Ambient Air Quality Standards, the Project area is located in a non-attainment area for several State ambient air quality standards for criteria air pollutants including ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has similarly classified air basins or counties based on whether those areas have met Federal Ambient Air Quality Standards for air pollutants including ozone (O3 – 1 hour and 8 hour standards), carbon monoxide (CO), fine particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), lead (Pb), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). According to US EPA 2010 Area Designations for National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the Project area is located in a non-attainment area for Federal ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter, and is designated as being in a “maintenance area” for nitrogen dioxide. Hog Lake Road is an existing residential road serving Ramona Reservation residents and Forest Service personnel who use the road to access National Forest System lands. The road terminates in a cul-de-sac on the Ramona Reservation; therefore, once paved the road will not provide the public through access to any other destination. The Ramona Reservation currently supports two homes. Tribal offices are located offsite. Future development may include additional homes, though none are currently planned and the Ramona Reservation population is not expected to increase substantially. Therefore, the number of vehicles using the road, and the number of trips per day per person are not expected to increase substantially due to the improvements being made to the road. The Ramona Tribe is in the early planning stages of developing an Eco-tourist site. The current plans are conceptual, but could potentially be completed in the next two to five years. The Eco-tourist site would consist of eight or more individual lodges and a central conference building. Several of the lodges are already constructed, which would minimize new development. The lodges would support 2-4 persons. Additional day visitors could visit the Eco-Center conference building where Tribal members will teach people Cahuilla Culture including basketry, pottery, gathering, health and healing, and flora and fauna. This facility would be supplied by clean energy sources, solar and wind. Frank Springer & Associates, Inc. Page 32 of 79 Environmental Assessment
Page 1 and 2: FINAL FRANK SPRINGER & ASSOCIATES,
Page 3 and 4: LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Mitigation
Page 5 and 6: Ramona Hog Lake Road Improvement Pr
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