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4. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS 4.3 AGRICULTURAL.RESOURCES The physical and chemical make-up of the soil materials within the upper soil horizon may change during stockpiling. Improper soil stockpiling and management of the stockpiles could result in increased decomposition of soil organic materials, increased leaching of plant-available nitrogen and depletion of soil biota communities4(e.g.,Rhizobium or Frankia). Each could have an adverse effect on the future productivity of the soil stockpiles. In addition,reductions in the amount of direct sunlight would be most pronounced during the — winter months and early spring months when the sun angle in low. The loss of direct sunlight during winter and early spring months would likely have more of an effect on seedling mortality rates rather than crop growth, since most crop growth occurs during the later spring and stunner — months when the sun angle is higher and temperatures tend to be much warmer. Nonetheless, the adverse effects to seedling mortality during the planting months could be potentially significant. Implementation of the prescribed mitigation would effectively reduce this impact to a less-than- significant level. This impact is considered potentially significant. Implementation of the following mitigation — would reduce this impact to a less-than-significant level. Mitigation Measure 43.4: The Reclamation Plan for the proposed project shall be modified to incorporate elements of a comprehensive soil resource extraction,maintenance and reintroduction plan. The ultimate goal of the plan will be to ensure the future productivity of the soil resource and its availability for future agricultural cultivation in compliance with the performance standards for prime agricultural land reclamation,PRC Section 3707 Appendix B At a minimum,the plan shall consist of the following elements: a. Existing Conditions. This element of the plan shall identify the existing soil fertility in terms of pertinent soil physical,chemical, and biological attributes. It will identify the soil attributes that are most to maintain during the 30-year life of the mining plan and will be used as the baseline, in which to compare the soil resource following reclamation and better enable rehabilitation of the mining site. b. Soil Harvesting and Transport. This element will identify appropriate soil harvesting and transport methods to limit the compaction of the soil resource,maintain the existing soil profile, and to the extent feasible during transport,ensure the viability of existing soil biota. In addition,during soil harvesting, an emphasis shall be placed on the collection of organic soil materials from concurrent agricultural operations. These materials should be integrated with the stockpiles. c. Soil Stockpile Maintenance and Monitoring. This element of the plan will outline performance standards and monitoring procedures for the soil stockpiles over the 30-year life of the proposed mining plan. In general, this element will identify suitable vegetative species (e.g.,legumes)to be planted on the soil stockpiles,monitoring protocols for any periodic analytical analysis determined necessary,and procedures for 4 Nitrogen cannot be weathered out of most rock,but rather is biologically introduced into the soil resource. Rhizobium(a nitrogen-fixing bacteria)and Franlda(a nitrogen-fixing actinomycete)are two common species that infect various plant species[e.g.,clover(Trifolium)or alder(Alnus)l and are able to,through a symbiotic relationship,fix atmospheric nitrogen by incorporating it into organic compounds(e.g.,proteins). — RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Reclamation Project 4.3-12 ESA/203015 Administrative Draft EIR Match 2004