Categorical Exclusion Form (NEPA).pdf

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

TN ERFO FS 2019-1(4)

Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form

Project Number: TN ERFO FS 2019-1(4) Date: 7/6/2022

Project Name: TN ERFO FS 2019-1(4)

Location: U.S. Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest Watauga Ranger District, Unicoi, TN FS-98, Greene Mountain Road, MP 4.19 FS-88, Round Knob Road, MP 1.5 – 3.0 FS-88 Round Knob Road, MP 3.0 – 4.5 FS-88A Greystone Mountain Spur Greene County, TN

CE Category 23 CFR 771.117 (c)(22): Projects, as defined in 23 U.S.C. 101, that would take place entirely within the existing operational right-of-way [...]

36 CFR 220.6(d) Repair and maintenance of roads, trails, and landline boundaries.

Decision Memo: Forest Wide Road Maintenance – Cherokee National Forest – see attached

See 23 CFR 771.117 for full description of CE categories, including additional requirements when applying (c)26-28.

Project Description In the Spring of 2019, a series of heavy rain events caused significant roadway damage within the Cherokee National Forest. The purpose of this project is to repair the roadway and landslides along Round Knob Road (FS-88), Greystone Mountain Spur (FS-88A) and Greene Mountain Road (FS-98), in Cherokee National Forest in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

FS-88 Round Knob Road:

MP 1.5 to 3.0: Aggregate resurfacing, ditch reconditioning, clean culverts, and repair the slide between MP 2.42 - 2.5 by constructing a MSE wall. MP 3.0 to 4.5: Aggregate resurfacing and ditch reconditioning. There are two slides at MPs 4.0 and 4.1. A deep patch repair is proposed for MP 4.0. An MSE wall is proposed for MP 4.1.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=842bb87055f89f1d0ff242f2b9e20ff7&mc=true&node=pt23.1.771&rgn=div5#se23.1.771_1117

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

FS-88A Greystone Mountain Spur:

Aggregate resurfacing and ditch reconditioning.

FS - 98 Greene Mountain Road:

MP 4.19 - Remove and replace existing MSE wall, clean culverts, construct new headwalls and reshape riprap.

Environmental Commitments and Mitigation Measures N/A

Summary of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act Compliance There are three (3) listed bats and seven (7) listed mussels. The proposed project will re-establish an existing roadbed with side ditches and cross culverts. The culverts that will be replaced are in extremely steep topography. There is no suited habitat for snails or bats in the project areas.

There is no designated critical habitat for any listed species in the project areas. Therefore, the project will have no effect to listed species.

Summary of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act Compliance There are no historic properties in the project areas. Therefore, there will be no effect to historic properties from the re-establishment of the forest roads.

Additional Agency Coordination and Compliance N/A

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

Categorical Exclusion Recommendation:

On the basis of the environmental impact information in the statutory compliance file, with which I am familiar, I believe the project should be categorically excluded from further NEPA analysis.

____________________________________ July 6, 2022 Nicholle Braspennickx Environmental Protection Specialist

Federal Highway Administration

Date

Categorical Exclusion Determination:

On the basis of the environmental impact information in the statutory compliance file, with which I am familiar, I am categorically excluding the described project from further NEPA analysis. The project meets the 23 CFR 771.117(a) definition of a categorical exclusion. No unusual circumstances per 23 CFR 771.117(b) apply.

Kevin S. Rose Environmental Team Leader

Federal Highway Administration

Date

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

Appendix A: Environmental Checklist

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act:

• Are Federally-listed species potentially present in the study area? ☐Yes, see Notesi ☒No If Yes, effects determination:

☒No Effect ☐May Affect, Not Likely to Adversely Affect ☐May Affect, Likely to Adversely Affect

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act:

• Are historic properties known to be present in the study area? ☐Yes ☒No

If Yes, will they be impacted by the project? ☐Yes ☐No

• Will previously undisturbed ground be disturbed?

☐Yes ☒No

• Effects determination:

☒No Historic Properties Affected ☐No Adverse Effect ☐Adverse Effect, MOA Executed

• Was tribal consultation completed? ☐Yes ☒No

Water and Wetlands:

• Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

Are impacts to Waters of the US anticipated? ☐Yes ☒No If Yes, approval anticipated:

☐Nationwide Permit (NWP) ☐Regional General Permit ☐Individual Permit

• Section 401 of the Clean Water Act ☐NWP certified by State ☐Individual Certification

• Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Will the land disturbance threshold likely be exceeded to require a permit and SWPPP?

☐Yes ☒ No

• Is post-construction stormwater management review/approval anticipated? ☐Yes ☒No

• ☒Project is consistent with Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands

Floodplains:

• Is the project in a FEMA floodplain?

☐Yes ☒No ☐ Floodplain not mapped

• ☒ Project is consistent with Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management

Section 4(f) of the USDOT Act:

• Does the project meet the Section 4(f) exemption for Federal lands transportation facilities under

Section 1119(c)(2) of MAP-21, 23 U.S.C. 138(a)? ☒Yes ☐No

• Is there a use of a Section 4(f) property in the study area? ☐Yes ☒No

If Yes, De Minimis Finding:☐ Programmatic:☐ Individual 4(f): ☐

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

Section 6(f) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund:

• Was the property purchased with grant funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund?

☐Yes ☒No

• If Yes, was documentation of approval from National Park Service Director received for the conversion or replacement of 6(f) property? ☐Yes ☐No Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972:

• Is the project in a Coastal Zone? ☐Yes ☒No

• If yes, will a Federal Consistency Review be completed? ☐Yes ☐No

Right of Way:

• Is the project completely within the transportation facility’s right-of-way? ☒Yes ☐No

• If no, will the project require relocations or easements? ☐Yes ☐No

Hazardous Waste and Materials:

• Are hazardous materials or contamination exceeding regulatory thresholds (as set by U.S. EPA, County Environmental Health, etc.) present? ☐Yes ☒No

• If Yes, is the nature and extent of the hazardous materials or contamination fully known? ☐Yes ☐No, plan for securing information provided in Notes Section 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act:

• Are there Wild and Scenic Rivers? ☐Yes ☒No ☐Eligible If Yes, has review by the river-administering agency been completed? ☐Yes ☐No

Clean Air Act:

• Is the project in a non-attainment area? ☐Yes ☒No

If Yes, is the project on the Transportation Improvement Program(TIP)/State Implementation Plan(SIP)? ☐ Yes ☐No

Highway Traffic and Construction Noise Regulations:

• ☐ The proposed project is a Type I project (highway on a new location, substantial horizontal or vertical alteration, new through or auxiliary lanes). Noise analysis is required.

• ☐ The proposed project is a Type II project (retrofit for noise abatement).

• ☐ The proposed project is a Type III project (noise analysis not required).

• ☒ Does not apply.

Environmental Justice and Title IV Act:

• Is an Environmental Justice population, as identified in Executive Order 12898, present?

☐Yes, explanation provided in Notes section ☒No

• Will the project induce disproportionately high and adverse impacts to minority, low income, or special groups? ☐Yes, additional analysis is needed ☒No Farmland Protection Policy Act for Highway Projects:

• Does the project displace, require acquisition of, or require an easement from farmland?

☐Yes ☒No

EFLHD NEPA Categorical Exclusion Form EFL-TM-ENV-03(04)

Does the project affect any other resources not listed above? Explain below and list anticipated permits:

N/A. No permits are anticipated for the project.

i Federally-listed species per U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s IPaC:

Decision Memo – Forest Wide Road Maintenance

Decision Memo

Forest Wide Road Maintenance

Cherokee National Forest Johnson, Sullivan, Washington, Carter, Unicoi, Greene, Cocke, McMinn, Monroe, and Polk Counties, Tennessee

Background Road maintenance is needed to provide for a safe and efficient transportation system to execute forest management activities and reduce natural resource impacts from erosion and sedimentation. The proposed action includes routine road maintenance activities in all four Cherokee National Forest Ranger Districts (Watauga, Unaka, Tellico, and Ocoee).

The proposed activities are intended to maintain the existing Forest Service road network and are consistent with recurring road maintenance activities on the forest. The proposed actions include maintenance activities on existing roads; road maintenance activities are designed to preserve the existing road and are not intended to increase the service level of the road. The proposed activities are only utilized to restore infrastructure to applicable safety and hydrologic standards, ensuring they are consistent with the approved Road Management Objectives. The proposed maintenance activities would be consistent with the current designed class of the road and would include but not be limited to the activities listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Road Maintenance Activities Travel Way and Shoulder Maintenance Road grading Seal coats and asphalt resurfacing of existing paved roads Surface aggregate replacement Placing fill material and aggregate Grubbing of stumps in traveled way Road Prism – Full Roadbed Depth Full depth reconditioning of road prism Road stabilization Roadside Maintenance Roadside mowing, brushing Vegetation maintenance1 within the original clearing limit Removal of hazard trees2 Fill slope stabilization Slide removal Re-vegetating cut & fill slopes Road Drainage Maintenance

1 Vegetation maintenance refers to manual or mechanical clearing of vegetation; it does not include the removal of topsoil or groundcover.

2 Hazard trees are those considered unsafe due to damage or risk of falling as well as those that pose an impact danger or vertical obstruction.

Cleaning road drainage features –culverts (including aquatic organism passages), and dips Cleaning/re-establishing existing roadside ditches, wing ditches and/or lead-off ditches Cleaning and re-establishing catch basins and culvert outlets Replacement or repair of existing ditch relief culverts, natural drainage crossing culverts and surface crossings Rocking ditches, catch basins, and culvert outlets Installing new drainage features including minor cross culverts, drainage dips (surface cross drains) and ditches Road Traffic Control Features Maintenance Replacing gates Replacing berms, boulders and other roadside diversions or road closure devices Replacing or repairing traffic control signs and direction and information signs Road Safety Management Maintenance Installing additional traffic control devices

All work will take place within the original clearing limits. If road maintenance activities extend outside the original clearing limits, additional NEPA analysis would be required.

Project Design Criteria and Best Management Practices The proposed road maintenance activities include elements that may result in limited, short-term impacts to ecological and social conditions. The considerations and practices that follow are intended to reduce or minimize the potential impacts, or the risk of such.

The proposed activities will adhere to Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines and the USDA National Best Management Practices for Water Quality on National Forest System Lands (BMPs), Forest Service FS-990a.

Design Criteria

1. To protect spawning habitat and breeding activity where threatened, endangered, sensitive, viability concern aquatic species or Brook Trout are known to occur; restrict culvert and stream crossing replacement construction activities to periods outside of the spawning season. Replacement of culverts or stream crossings will be coordinated with fisheries and/or hydrology staff.

2. In areas where the riparian width between the road edge and the stream edge is 100 feet or less or at road-stream crossings, only select hazard trees that have been damaged or are leaning directly over the road may be removed. Preferred means for disposal of hazard trees in this area should be large wood additions to the stream channel. The need for additions of large wood will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Hazard tree removal in these locations will be coordinated with fisheries and/or hydrology staff.

3. Coordinate with the Forest Botanist/Ecologist for hazard tree removal or other clearing activities within a designated rare community prior to clearing.

4. Clean and inspect equipment used on site to ensure that it does not contribute to the introduction and spread of non-native invasive plant species.

5. Coordinate with Zone Wildlife Biologists to coordinate and track removal of trees that occurs between April 1 and October 15 for Incidental Take reporting to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for bats.

6. To ensure compliance with the final 4(d) rule for the Northern long-eared bat, hazard tree removal conducted between June 1 and July 31 will be coordinated with the Zone Wildlife Biologist on the following National Forest System roads:

a. On NFSR 190 (Rich Mountain Road), between mile marker 2.8 and 3.1 (Patty Creek crossing) and within 0.2 miles of mile marker 10.8 (junction with NFSR 53988 (Mill Creek Road)

b. On NFSR 53988 (Mill Creek Road), between mile marker 3.8 and 4.0 (junction with Rich Mountain Road)

c. On NFSR 54B (Cummins Branch Road), between mile marker 0.6 and 0.9

d. On NFSR 54 (Paint Mountain Road), between mile marker 3.75 and 4.25

(Cummins Branch crossing)

7. All new and replacement culverts on streams shall span bankfull and be installed at stream grade with no perch at the outfall.

8. Water control will be required for culvert replacement work items where water flow is present at a volume that may produce undesirable amounts of sediment or other impact to the waterbody. Water control should consist of an excavated catch-basin and appropriately sized pump on the inlet side of the crossing. Water control is required to be in place prior to removal of existing structure and should be maintained until new structure is suitably bedded and in place. Water control is not required during excavation and back fill operations. The need for water control will be determined by qualified USFS engineering staff.

Decision I have decided to implement the Forest Wide Road Maintenance project on the Cherokee National Forest.

This action is categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental impact statement (EIS) or an environmental assessment (EA). The applicable category of actions is identified in agency procedures as 36CFR§220.6(d)(4) Repair and maintenance of roads, trails, and landline boundaries.

I find that there are no extraordinary circumstances that would warrant further analysis and documentation in an EA or EIS. I took into account resource conditions identified in agency procedures that should be considered in determining whether extraordinary circumstances might exist:

Federally listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat, species proposed for Federal listing or proposed critical habitat, or Forest Service sensitive species There are federally threatened and endangered species and Regional Forester’s sensitive species that are either known to occur within or immediately adjacent to the area selected for the proposed activities. A detailed analysis of the potential effects of the proposed activities was completed for the biological assessment and biological evaluation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurred with the determinations of effect for wildlife species. Based on the analysis, if the design criteria are followed there would be no extraordinary circumstances to threatened, endangered, proposed, or

Region 8 sensitive species in relation to the implementation of the Forest Wide Road Maintenance Project.

Flood plains, wetlands, or municipal watersheds All projects would be implemented using Best Management Practices and RLRMP direction. Maintenance of existing roads would serve to reduce erosion and sedimentation, maintain compliance with BMPs required by the Clean Water Act Silvicultural Exemption, and protect any wetlands (mapped or unmapped) or waterbodies in proximity to roads. Thus, the project is consistent with Executive Order 11990 and watershed management objectives and would not adversely affect drinking water intakes regardless of location in a state-designated source water protection watershed.

Congressionally designated areas such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, or national recreation areas No Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, National Recreation Areas will be affected.

Inventoried roadless areas or potential wilderness areas The proposed project spans the entire Cherokee National Forest, and potentially covers actions taking place in Inventoried Roadless Areas. However, as the proposed actions include maintenance activities on existing roads, designed to preserve the existing road and not intended to increase the service level of the road, there are no extraordinary circumstances related to Inventoried Roadless Areas in this project.

Research natural areas No research natural areas will be affected.

American Indians and Alaska Native religious or cultural sites Through consultation with the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Officer and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, no American Indian or Alaska Native religious or cultural sites were on record or found.

Archaeological sites, or historic properties or areas Through consultation noted above, no archeological sites or historical properties were known or found.

Scoping and Public Involvement Scoping consisted of reviewing management direction for the project in the Forest Plan, consulting with Forest Service specialists, tribes, agency officials, and the public. This action was published in the Cherokee National Forest Schedule of Proposed Actions in September 2021. A scoping letter was emailed on September 8, 2021, to notify interested parties about the proposed project. Four responses were received; three of which expressed support for the project. The fourth response expressed several concerns that were taken into consideration by the project interdisciplinary team; the initial proposed action was refined and additional design criteria were developed in response. The response to comments can be found at the following link:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=60756.

Findings Required by Other Laws and Regulations This decision is consistent with the direction set forth in the 2004 Revised Cherokee National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, as required by the National Forest Management Act. The project conforms with specific goals and objectives within the plan.

Goal 47: Construct, reconstruct and maintain roads to reduce sediment delivery to water bodies.

Goal 48: Provide a transportation system that supplies safe and efficient access for forest users while protecting forest resources. Emphasize acquisition of rights-of-way or fee-simple titles as appropriate to facilitate maintenance and meet access needs.

This project was designed in conformance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Administrative Review This project is not subject to an administrative review.

Implementation Date This decision may be implemented immediately.

Contact For additional information concerning this decision, contact: Laura Wood, Forest Environmental Coordinator at laura.wood@usda.gov.

Michael Wright Date Acting Forest Supervisor

We make every effort to create documents that are accessible to individuals of all abilities; however, limitations with our word processing programs may prevent some parts of this document from being readable by computer-assisted reading devices. If you need assistance with any part of this document, please contact the Cherokee National Forest at 423-476-9700.

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