SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected Environmentics on SBMR and PTA produce small amounts of regulated chemical and medical waste. The medicalwaste is combined and temporarily stored before being disposed of at a regulated off-base disposalsite. Emergency medical training medics accompany units on deployment at KTA and DMR, andbiomedical waste is shipped back to SBMR with the units.3.1.9 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCESThis section describes biological resources in the SBCT project areas and surrounding areas. Biologicalresources include plant and animal species and the habitats or communities in which they occur.Discussion of resources occurring in the SBCT ROI includes vegetation, habitat types, general wildlife;and sensitive wildlife, vegetation, and habitats. The SBCT ROI for biological resources is composedof the direct area where SBCT actions are proposed and surrounding areas that would likely beaffected by these actions. The ROIs are based on the extent of fire, erosion, and boat and helicopteractivity, as well as the area where all other impacts, including construction and training-related impacts,would occur.Sensitive Species. Sensitive species include special status, or regulated, species such as USFWS orstate listed endangered, threatened, candidate species, or proposed candidate species, Marine MammalProtection Act (MMPA) species, federal and state species of special concern, and locally regulatedspecies. Also considered sensitive are rare species whose populations have rapidly declined orwhose habitat has markedly decreased in recent years. All Army operations take into considerationany published biological opinions, listing, or recommendations regarding any special status speciesand take appropriate action to protect these species from impact.Critical Habitat. Areas of habitat considered essential to the conservation of a listed endangered orthreatened species may be designated as critical and are protected under the Endangered Species Actof 1973 (ESA). These areas may require special management considerations or protection. Althoughcritical habitat may be designated on private or government land, activities on these lands are not restrictedunless there is federal involvement in the activities or direct harm to listed wildlife. Federalagencies are required to conduct Section 7 consultation if a proposed action could affect designatedcritical habitat, even if the effects are expected to be beneficial. The Army, as a federal agency, isprohibited from adversely modifying critical habitat. The Army has completed Section 7 consultationsfor proposed SBCT actions on Oahu and the Island of Hawaii. Reasonable and prudent measures,as determined by the USFWS, will be incorporated into the Proposed Action. The USFWS hasestablished critical habitat for 101 species of plants on Oahu (USFWS 2003a) and 46 plants on the Islandof Hawaii (USFWS 2003b). Critical habitat is mostly located in remote rugged locations of noreal development value (USFWS 2003a). Army training areas were excluded from being designatedplant critical habitat because of the essential contribution that Army-led natural resource conservationplays in the recovery of threatened and endangered species. These contributions include ongoing andproposed management actions specified in the INRMPs and other natural resource conservation programs.More than 90 percent of the land is already restricted for development because it is part of theState Conservation District.In 2003, the Army began consultation with the USFWS regarding federally listed endangered specieson the Hawaii Training Areas. A draft Oahu Implementation Plan (OIP) was completed to guide theconservation efforts for the plant, snail, and avian species potentially affected by military training onthese installations. The Draft OIP also includes a full description and list of the invasive plants to bemanaged by the Natural Resource Staff. Selected invasive species are listed for the installations below.In addition, several Biological Opinions have been published in recent years, which include areasin the ROI for many of the alternatives. The initial Biological Opinion (BO) that triggered the de-February 2008 3–58 2/25th SBCT Final EIS