3.15 Environmental Justice

Transcription

1 3.15 Environmental Justice Introduction and Summary This section describes environmental justice concepts and issues related to federal actions in three of the four geographic subregions: LCR, IID water service area and AAC, and the Salton Sea. An evaluation of environmental justice effects was not performed for the SDCWA service area because the Project does not provide increased water supply within the service area, and no new construction would occur. The Project would increase the reliability of the water supply for the SDCWA and such benefits would be distributed evenly throughout the service area. Thus, no disproportionate effects would occur within the SDCWA service area, and this area was excluded from further analysis. The direct effects of the federal actions would occur: (1) along the LCR as a result of the Secretary s IA to change the locations of diversions along the River; and (2) in the IID water service area and Salton Sea because USFWS will approve an Incidental Take Permit within these two areas. Table 1-2 in Chapter 1 of this Draft EIR/EIS further describes the federal actions related to the Proposed Project. The purpose of the environmental justice evaluation is to determine whether the federal actions would disproportionately affect minority and low-income areas. Information on population, demographic characteristics, and income for the three geographic subregions is provided in Section US Census Bureau income and demographic data were used to identify those communities within the Project region of influence that would be considered low-income or have a high minority and/or Hispanic population compared to the counties in which they are located. Within this section, the term minority includes Hispanic population groups (even though the percentage of Hispanics in the Project area exceeds 70 percent). Table summarizes the environmental justice impacts of federal actions of the Proposed Project and alternatives for the three geographic subregions. TABLE Summary of Environmental Justice Impacts 1 Proposed Project: 300 KAFY All Conservation Measures Alternative 1: No Project Alternative 2: 130 KAFY On-farm Irrigation System Improvements Only Alternative 3: 230 KAFY All Conservation Measures Alternative 4: 300 KAFY Fallowing Only LOWER COLORADO RIVER No impact. Same as existing condition. No impact. No impact. No impact. IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

2 TABLE Summary of Environmental Justice Impacts 1 Proposed Project: 300 KAFY All Conservation Measures Alternative 1: No Project Alternative 2: 130 KAFY On-farm Irrigation System Improvements Only Alternative 3: 230 KAFY All Conservation Measures Alternative 4: 300 KAFY Fallowing Only IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. Same as existing condition. No impact. A3-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. A4-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. HCP2-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. Same as existing condition. Same as HCP2-EJ- 1. Same as HCP2-EJ- 1. Same as HCP2-EJ- 1. SALTON SEA No impact. Same as Baseline condition. No impact. No impact. No impact. SDCWA SERVICE AREA No impact. Same as existing condition. No impact. No impact. No impact. 1 Programmatic level analyses of USFWS biological conservation measures in LCR subregion and HCP (Salton Sea Portion) Approach 1: Hatchery & Habitat Replacement in Salton Sea subregion are not summarized in the table because no significance determinations have been made. Subsequent environmental documentation will be required if potential impacts are identified Regulatory Framework Federal Regulations and Standards In 1994, the President of the US issued Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority and Low -Income Populations. The objectives of the Executive Order include developing federal agency implementation strategies, identifying minority and low-income populations where proposed federal actions could have disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects, and encouraging the participation of minority and low -income populations in the NEPA process. For the Proposed Project and alternatives, an analysis was performed to determine whether any of the adverse effects associated with the federal actions would disproportionately affect low -income or minority populations IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

3 Environmental Setting Lower Colorado River Reclamation performed an analysis of environmental justice effects within the LCR geographic subregion as part of the Draft IA EIS (Reclamation 2002). This analysis identified census tracts in the subregion that contain minority populations. In some census tracts, the percentage of minorities exceed the county average for these population groups. Figure shows the locations of these census tracts. The Draft IA EIS also documented census tracts within the LCR geographic subregion that contain households with incomes below the poverty level. Poverty level, as defined by the federal government, is used to define low-income households for the purpose of this analysis. In some census tracts, the percentage of low-income households exceeds the county average. Figure shows which tracts within the subregion have a percentage of low-income households that exceeds the county average. Some of the census tracts identified for the subregion area consist of tribal lands associated with the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation; Colorado River Indian Tribes; and the Chemehuevi, Quechan, and Cocopah Indian Tribes IID Water Service Area and AAC The same approach used by Reclamation in the Draft IA EIS for the LCR subregion was also used for the IID water service area and AAC geographic subregion. Census tracts within the subregion were analyzed to identify those census tracts that are considered to have high minority populations and those tracts that have a percentage of low-income households that exceeds the county average. Figure shows the locations of minority populations within the subregion. Figure shows the census tracts with a percentage of lowincome households that exceeds the county average. Some of the census tracts identified for the subregion area consist of tribal lands associated with the Quechan Indian Tribe (Fort Yuma Indian Reservation). In addition, farm laborers, which are a predominantly low-income, minority population group, comprise a substantial component of the overall population demographics within the subregion, though they are not necessarily concentrated permanently at specific geographic locations Salton Sea The census tract data for the Salton Sea geographic subregion has been included with the IID water service area and AAC subregion for this analysis. Low-income and minority population areas are shown on Figures and In addition to the farm laborer populations mentioned above, the Salton Sea subregion also includes the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation in the northern part of the subregion Impacts and Mitigation Measures Methodology Direct environmental effects associated with the Proposed Project s impacts were evaluated based on their physical proximity to communities that are classified as having high minority and/or low-income populations. Information regarding minority populations for census IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

4 tracts located in the Project region of influence was obtained from the recent 2000 census (US Census Bureau 2000). Information regarding low-income populations was obtained from the 1990 census (US Census Bureau 1990). Year 2000 census data regarding income are not yet available for all of the Project s region of influence. For the three geographic subregions analyzed in this section, data regarding minority populations were collected and reviewed for each census tract within the respective subregion. Countywide statistics were reviewed to determine the percentage of the population classified as non-caucasian and the percentage classified as Hispanic. Using the county average for comparison, each of the census tracts in the study area was evaluated to determine whether the minority population percentages were greater than the county average. If a census tract percentage exceeded the county average, the tract was evaluated for environmental justice effects based on its minority population. The second criteria for an environmental justice analysis is income. To determine the locations of low-income populations, the income data for each county in the subregions was reviewed to determine the countywide percentage of households that have incomes below poverty levels. Then, the individual census tracts were evaluated to determine the percentage of households within the tract that have incomes below poverty levels. If a census tract percentage exceeded the county average, the tract was included in the analysis based on income levels. Once the minority and low-income tracts had been identified for each subregion to be analyzed, the environmental effects of the Proposed Project and alternatives were analyzed to determine whether those impacts disproportionately affect the low-income and minority tracts compared to other census tracts. The analysis of environmental justice effects for the LCR geographic subregion has already been performed by Reclamation in the Draft IA EIS. The conclusions of this analysis are summarized below. Subregions Excluded from Impact Analysis. An evaluation of environmental justice effects was not conducted for the SDCWA service area because no impacts are anticipated in that subregion, as stated previously in Section Proposed Project LOWER COLORADO RIVER Water Conservation and Transfer As documented by Reclamation in the Draft IA EIS (Reclamation 2002), the Proposed Project would result in a slight lowering of the surface water elevation along the LCR. This could have an adverse effect on biological resources in this area, particularly riparian and aquatic communities. These changes would occur throughout this reach of the river, affecting each community to an approximately equal degree. For this reason, the Proposed Project would not have a disproportionate effect on any low -income and minority populations. Reclamation also evaluated environmental justice effects associated with the IOP and biological conservation measures in the USFWS Biological Opinion and found that no disproportionate effects would result from these actions IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

5 Insert Figure Minority Communities, Lower Colorado River IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

6 Insert Figure Low-Income Communities, Lower Colorado River IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

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8 Insert Figure Minority Communities, IID Water Service Area, AAC and Salton Sea IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

9 Insert Figure Low-Income Communities, IID Water Service Area, AAC and Salton Sea IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJEC

10 IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC Water Conservation and Transfer Impact EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. As indicated on Figures and , several areas within this subregion have minority and low-income census tracts. Although such populations exist in specific areas within the subregion, the environmental effects associated with water conservation and transfer would not disproportionately affect those areas specifically. Rather, physical impacts would occur throughout the subregion at locations to be determined based on technically feasibility and other factors. No tribal lands would be disproportionately affected within this subregion. However, farm laborers could be affected as a group by fallowing activities and on-farm irrigation system conservation measures, which would reduce the demand for farm labor in some areas. This effect would not disproportionately affect a specific community or area but could affect farm laborers, which are predominantly minority and low-income, as a population group. At the present time, no specific locations for fallowing have been identified. Under the worst case, up to 50,000 acres could be fallowed to provide conserved water for the transfer. Another 25,000 acres could be fallowed to provide water for mitigation. The locations of land to be fallowed will depend on the willingness of the farmer to do so. Crop selection would likely have a role in determining the locations of fallowed lands. For example, lands that support lower value crops, such as hay, may tend to be the first to be fallowed. Inadvertent Overrun and Payback Policy (IOP) In addition to the acres described above, under the IOP another 9,800 acres of land may be fallowed to meet the requirements of the policy. As described in Section 3.14, Socioeconomics, the estimated worst case for the loss of farm employment is 1,400 jobs. To put this into context, this represents approximately 2.8 percent of the year 2000 total county employment of 48,900. Focusing on the agricultural sectors alone, this loss of farm employment represents about 12 percent of the total county agricultural employment estimate of 11,300 jobs. Impacts resulting from the implementation of the IOP would be the same for Alternatives 2, 3, and 4; therefore, they are not discussed under each alternative. Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) (IID Water Service Area Portion) Implementation of the HCP would not have any disproportionate effects on minority and low-income populations within the IID water service area. Any physical changes within the service area resulting under the HCP would be related to creation of habitat and minimizing disturbance and mortality/injury to covered species and would involve relatively small acres of land. Farm laborer and tribal populations would not be adversely affected. HCP (Salton Sea Portion ) Approach 1: Hatchery and Habitat Replacement This approach has only been developed to a programmatic level at this point, and the nature and extent of physical impacts are not known at this time. One of the potential measures under this approach would be creation of 5,000 acres of fish ponds and one or more hatcheries, which could be located on irrigated farmland. If this occurs, a decrease in farm employment could result; however, this effect is still speculative at this point. Details IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/ 3.15-I3

11 related to this approach will be evaluated for specific project-level impacts at a future date, as necessary. No disproportionate effects on minority or low-income communities, including tribal and farm laborer populations, have been identified thus far under this approach. HCP (Salton Sea Portion ) Approach 2 (HCP2): Use of Conserved Water as Mitigation Impact HCP2-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. Under this HCP approach, there is the potential for fallowing up to 75,000 acres of land under worst-case conditions. Up to 50,000 acres could be fallowed to provide conserved water for the transfer. Another 25,000 acres could be fallowed to provide water for mitigation. Additionally, fallowing may also be required to comply with the IOP, as described above. As noted previously, land fallowing has the potential to directly affect farm laborer populations depending on the scale of the fallowing program that is implemented. The effect on this population group would be a loss of employment resulting from the reduction in acres that are in agricultural production. It should be noted that 75,000 acres is a worstcase scenario, and that the number of acres to actually be fallowed may be substantially less, with a correspondingly smaller overall effect on farm employment. No other disproportionate effects are expected with respect to other minority and low-income communities, including tribal groups. Impacts resulting from the implementation of the HCP would be the same for Alternatives 2, 3, and 4; therefore, they are not discussed under each alternative. SALTON SEA Water Conservation and Transfer Within the Salton Sea geographic subregion, this component of the Proposed Project would accelerate the decline of the Salton Sea s elevation and water quality, and induce other environmental effects that have been described elsewhere in this Draft EIR/EIS. The environmental effects in this subregion would directly impact communities and landowners located along the shoreline of the Salton Sea, which includes minority and low-income communities. The Torres Martinez Indian Reservation is included within the areas that would be impacted. Although the environmental effects for this component of the Project would be significant within this subregion, these effects would generally impact all communities along the shoreline in an equal fashion. No disproportionate effects are expected to occur within this subregion Alternative 1: No Project LOWER COLORADO RIVER If the No Project alternative were to be implemented, conditions in the LCR geographic subregion would not change dramatically. The changes that would occur would not produce physical conditions that would adversely or disproportionately affect low-income or minority populations (Reclamation 2002). IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC Under the No Project alternative, a land fallowing program would not be implemented and there would be no loss of farm employment to farm laborers within the IID water service area. No disproportionate effects to minority or low-income populations would result IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

12 SALTON SEA As discussed above, a land fallowing program would not be implemented in the Salton Sea subregion under the No Project Alternative and there would be no loss of farm employment to farm laborers within the study area. No disproportionate effects to minority or low-income populations would result Alternative 2 (A2): Water Conservation and Transfer of Up To 130 KAFY to SDCWA (On-Farm Irrigation System Improvements as Exclusive Conservation Method) LOWER COLORADO RIVER As described in Section , no environmental justice effects would occur with implementation of the Proposed Project in the LCR geographic subregion. This alternative would have even fewer impacts to the LCR s hydrology than the Proposed Project; no environmental justice effects would occur. IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC Under this alternative, there would be no land fallowing component implemented as a water conservation method. Thus, there would be no loss of farm employment to farm laborer populations. No disproportionate effects to minority and low-income populations are expected under this alternative. SALTON SEA Under this alternative, there would be no land fallowing component used as a water conservation method. Thus, there would be no loss of farm to farm laborer populations. No disproportionate effects to minority and low-income populations are expected under this alternative Alternative 3 (A3): Water Conservation and Transfer of Up To 230 KAFY to SDCWA, CVWD, and/or MWD (All Conservation Measures) LOWER COLORADO RIVER As described in Section , no environmental justice effects would occur with implementation of the Proposed Project in the LCR geographic subregion. This alternative would have even fewer impacts to the LCR s hydrology than the Proposed Project; no environmental justice effects would occur. IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC Impact A3-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. Under this alternative, fallowing would be used as one component of the overall water conservation strategy. As described under the Proposed Project, fallowing results in a loss of farm employment that directly affects farm laborers, a population primarily comprised of minority and low-income workers. No tribal lands would be disproportionately affected within this subregion. IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/

13 As described in Section 3.14, Socioeconomics, the net employment decrease of 1,090 jobs is about 2.2 percent of the year 2000 total county employment of 48,900. Focusing on the agricultural sectors alone, a total of 990 agricultural sector jobs are assumed to be lost, representing about 8 percent of the total county agricultural employment estimate of 11,300 jobs. SALTON SEA Under this alternative, there would be no land fallowing component used as a water conservation method in the Salton Sea subregion. Thus, there would be no loss of farm laborer employment. No disproportionate effects to minority and low-income populations are expected under this alternative Alternative 4 (A4): Water Conservation and Transfer of Up To 300 KAFY to SDCWA, CVWD, and/or MWD (Fallowing As Exclusive Conservation Measure) LOWER COLORADO RIVER As described in Section , no environmental justice effects would occur with implementation of the Proposed Project in the LCR geographic subregion. This alternative would have even fewer impacts to the LCR s hydrology than the Proposed Project; no environmental justice effects would occur. IID WATER SERVICE AREA AND AAC Impact A4-EJ-1: Potential Effects on Minority and Low-Income Populations. Under this alternative, fallowing would be used as one component of the overall water conservation strategy. As described under the Proposed Project, fallowing results in a loss of farm employment that directly affects farm laborers, a population primarily comprised of minority and low-income workers. No tribal lands would be disproportionately affected within this subregion. As described in Section 3.14, Socioeconomics, the estimated worst case for the loss of farm employment is 1,400 jobs. To put this into context, this represents approximately 2.8 percent of the year 2000 total county employment of 48,900. Focusing on the agricultural sectors alone, this loss of farm employment represents about 12 percent of the total county agricultural employment estimate of 11,300 jobs. SALTON SEA Under this alternative, there would be no land fallowing component used as a water conservation method in the Salton Sea subregion. Thus, there would be no loss of farm laborer employment. No disproportionate effects to minority and low-income populations are expected under this alternative IID WATER CONSERVATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT/