NOTICE OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION
INCORPORATED COUNTY OF LOS ALAMOS
CWSRF 110
BAYO CANYON LIFT STATION ELIMINATION PROJECT
Purpose: The Incorporated County of Los Alamos applied for and received funding from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan program to construct a gravity sewer line to replace the existing Bayo Canyon Lift Station at the Los Alamos Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Bayo Canyon Lift Station needs significant rehabilitation and upgrades because the major components are approaching their useful service life. The Bayo Canyon Lift Station will be replaced by a gravity sewer line, which will remove the risk of sewage being released to the environment from a mechanical or electric failure of the lift station. The project consists of construction of approximately 2,700 feet of new 10-inch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sewer line in an existing access road between the Bayo Canyon Lift Station and the Los Alamos WWTP that follows the alignment of an abandoned sewer line. The funding recipient has requested that the project be granted a Categorical Exclusion (CE) and excluded from the environmental review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Categorical Exclusion Determination:
Categories of actions which individually, cumulatively over time, or in conjunction with other Federal, State, local or private actions that do not have a significant adverse effect on the quality of human health and the environment may be excluded from the environmental review requirements of NEPA. The proposed project is consistent with small scale, routine actions that are solely directed toward minor rehabilitation of existing facilities, functional replacement of equipment, and construction of new ancillary facilities adjacent or appurtenant to existing facilities.
Adequate documentation was provided to demonstrate that the proposed project will have no adverse direct, indirect, secondary, or cumulative effect on cultural resources, endangered and threatened species and their critical habitat, and other environmentally important resource areas such as floodplains, wetlands, prime farmlands, and aquifer recharge zones. The information was examined to identify potential extraordinary or exceptional circumstances which would invalidate or prevent the issuance of a CE under 40 CFR Part 6.204(a)(1). Since the project is exceedingly minor in nature, and does not involve disturbance of previously undisturbed areas, it has been determined that the issuance of the CE is appropriate for the proposed project.
Approval: The request for a CE in order to implement the proposed project without additional delay is approved without the need for additional environmental review. This approval will be revoked if, at any time, the project no longer meets the eligibility for a CE, new evidence determines that significant local or environmental issues exist, or that Federal, state, local or tribal laws are being or may be violated by implementation of the project. Since the project is expected to have a significant beneficial impact upon the citizens and the environmental resources of the area, the proposed construction project is considered to be an appropriate use of Federal funds.
Contact: For copies of available documents or for more information contact: Andrea Telmo, PE, Technical Section Manager, New Mexico Environment Department Construction Programs Bureau, 121 Tijeras Avenue NE, Suite 1000, Albuquerque NM 87102; telephone number: 505-469-2687; email: andrea.telmo@env.nm.gov.
PUBLISHED IN THE LOS ALAMOS DAILY POST THURSDAY JUNE 1, 2023
