Draft Environmental Impact Report - California Off Highway Vehicle ...

4.0 Cumulative Analysis
contribution to an existing air quality impact. However, the General Plan identifies and requires
BMPs for operation that are consistent with Butte County AQMD’s requirements for mitigation of
any project that emits greater than 80 lbs/day (Level B) but less than 137 lbs/day (Level C). Refer
to Table 3.2‐4 for further clarification regarding Butte County AQMD’s tiered thresholds. Because
the OHMVR Division would implement emission reduction measures and would comply with
Butte County AQMD rules and regulations, and because emissions would not exceed Level C
thresholds for PM10 (or any criteria pollutant), implementing the General Plan would not be
considered inconsistent with the Butte County AQMD AQAP. As a result, cumulative impacts
related to long‐term criteria pollutant emissions, including PM10, would be less than significant.
Furthermore, CARB identifies the 2006 Attainment Plan as the local air quality plan applicable to
emission controls of the ozone precursors NOX and ROG. Although the attainment plan doesn’t
address Clay Pit SVRA specifically, it does include increased emissions from off‐road recreational
vehicles as part of its future emissions inventory for NOX and ROG through 2020. According to the
plan’s emission inventory, emissions of ROG from off‐road recreational vehicles are expected to
increase from 1.775 tons per day (TPD) in 2005 to 2.427 TPD in 2020 1 , while emissions of NOX are
expected to increase from 0.106 TPD in 2005 to 0.147 TPD in 2020. These emission increases
demonstrate that the 2006 Attainment Plan accommodates increased emissions from OHVs,
making implementation of the General Plan consistent with the local air quality plan. Therefore,
implementing the General Plan, including constructing and operating the headquarters facilities,
would not make a considerable contribution to a cumulatively significant impact to air quality.
4.4.3 Noise
In Clay Pit SVRA, the primary noise sources include vehicle traffic, aircraft overflights, and
shooting range activities. Ambient noise levels in the area are influenced by traffic on major roads
such as Larkin Road and SR 162. Because noise can travel only a limited distance, noise is a local
rather than a regional issue; thus, the use of the cumulative project list is appropriate for the
cumulative noise analysis. No development projects are close enough to Clay Pit SVRA to cause a
significant cumulative noise impact. The nearest cumulative project is the Oro Bay Specific Plan
project, located approximately 0.75 mile to the west, which is too far away for noise from that
project to combine with noise from implementation of the Clay Pit SVRA General Plan. In addition,
as described in Impact 3.3‐1, “Increased Off‐Site Noise Levels Related to OHV Use,” ambient noise
levels would increase by only 1.5 dBA, a minimal amount well below the threshold of 5 dBA.
Implementing the General Plan, including constructing and operating the headquarters facilities,
would increase traffic in the local area because the SVRA would have more visitors. Other projects
in the area would also add traffic to the roadways. However, the majority of traffic generated by
Clay Pit SVRA is during weekends and would not overlap or combine with the typical traffic
1 The updated attainment plan is expected to project NOX and ROG emissions beyond 2020 and include emissions for
2030.
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
February 2012 4-14 Draft EIR