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Wetlands: 8-13

It appears that there is no mention of sensitive natural areas such as vernal pools. Please explain/clarify.

During the initial wetland assessment, delineation and edge verification process completed in cooperation with RIDEM’s Office of Water Resources at the proposed CREC site, no vernal pools were observed. This was confirmed in a letter dated January 28, 2016 from a RIDEM Senior Environmental Scientist in response to a request to verify the delineated edge of freshwater wetlands onsite.

Other sensitive natural areas and protected species were discussed in detail in the EFSB Application. Section 6.6.2.1 (Northern Long Eared Bat) discusses a USFWS-vetted Northern long-eared bat (NLEB, the only federally listed species potentially occurring within the project area) survey which resulted in no NLEB being identified onsite.  Section 6.6.2.2 (Impacts to Wildlife and Ecology) discusses impacts to forest interior habitat and the criteria used for establishing the square footage of these impacts. The studies on fish and benthos that were conducted in streams onsite resulted in a determination that no cold water fisheries exist within the proposed project area.