[Federal Register: May 20, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 96)]
[Notices]
[Page 23741-23742]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20my09-81]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-R-2009-N0063;1261-0000-80230-W2]
Cullinan Ranch Unit Restoration Project, San Pablo Bay National
Wildlife Refuge, Solano County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; abbreviated final environmental impact
statement and environmental impact report.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) announce that the
abbreviated final environmental impact statement/environmental impact
report (EIS/EIR) for the Cullinan Ranch Restoration Project is now
available. The abbreviated final EIS/EIR, which we prepared and now
announce in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), describes the restoration plan for 1,500 acres (ac) of
former hayfield farmland in the San Pablo Bay. The abbreviated final
EIS/EIR responds to all comments we received on the draft document.
This restoration project would combine tidal salt marsh habitat for
endangered species, waterfowl, waterbirds, and fish, as well as public
access features to increase accessibility to wildlife resource values
in the San Pablo Bay, while minimizing project-induced flood impacts to
Highway 37.
ADDRESSES: The abbreviated final EIS/EIR is available at the following
locations:
Refuge Headquarters Office, San Pablo Bay National
Wildlife Refuge, 2100 Highway 37, Petaluma, CA 94954; (707) 769-4200
(telephone).
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 9500
Thornton Avenue, Newark, CA 94560; (510) 792-0222 (telephone).
John F. Kennedy Public Library, 505 Santa Clara, Vallejo,
CA 94590.
Internet: http://www.fws.gov/cno/refuges/cullinan/
index.cfm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christy Smith, Refuge Manager, San
Pablo Bay NWR, (707) 769-4200 (phone), christy_smith@fws.gov (e-mail);
or Louis Terrazas, Wildlife Refuge Specialist, San Pablo Bay NWR, (707)
769-4200 (phone), louis_terrazas@fws.gov (e-mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Location
Located within the existing Refuge boundary, the Cullinan Ranch
Unit is bordered by the South Slough and Dutchman Slough to the north
and State Route 37 to the south. California Department of Fish and Game
Pond 1 borders Cullinan Ranch to the west. Guadalcanal Village Wetlands
(Guadalcanal), which is owned by the State of California and is
currently being restored to tidal marsh, borders Cullinan Ranch to the
east.
Background
The Cullinan Ranch restoration project would restore approximately
1,500 acres of diked baylands to historic tidal conditions by
reintroducing tidal flow into the project area. This area, Cullinan
Ranch, is located in an area of the Napa River Delta that was
historically defined by a network of meandering sloughs and extensive
estuarine tidal marshes. Reintroduction of tidal flow will restore
vital salt marsh habitat for endangered species, including the salt
marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris) and the California
clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus), as well as provide
foraging and roosting habitat for fish, migratory waterfowl and
waterbirds.
The proposed restoration is based on the concept that
reintroduction of tidal waters will naturally develop saltwater marsh
habitat conditions. The existing perimeter levee currently prevents
tidal flows into the area, and, as a result, the land has subsided
several feet in elevation and becomes inundated with fresh water during
the rainy season. Once restored, twice-daily tidal flows would carry
and deposit sediment, eventually establishing marsh plain elevations
sufficient to support tidal marsh vegetation. As tidal waters enter and
exit the site, tidal channels would develop or re-establish from
previous channels. Continued tidal action would maintain an active
exchange of water, sediment, and nutrients between the marsh habitat
and the bay, further enhancing the value of the habitat for plants and
wildlife.
In keeping with one of the purposes of the Refuge, ``to conserve
fish, wildlife, or plants which are listed as endangered species or
threatened species,'' the Cullinan Ranch restoration project would
restore historic salt marsh habitat for the benefit of threatened and
endangered species as well as many other estuarine-dependent species.
Because some of the proposed project area includes State lands, we
prepared the DEIS/EIR to satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The California Department
of Fish and Game is the CEQA lead agency for this project.
Public Review
The formal public comment period for the draft EIS/EIR opened on
May 2, 2008, and closed on June 17, 2008, although we received several
comments during the 2 months following the comment period close. We
announced the availability of the draft document by several methods,
including press releases and public notice, including a notice in the
Federal Register (73 FR 24302, May 2, 2008). The draft EIS/EIR
identified and evaluated three alternatives for restoration. We
received seven comment letters on the draft EIS/EIR. No comments
received from interested individuals, groups, or agencies required us
or CDFG to add new alternatives, significantly alter existing
alternatives, or make changes to the impact analysis of the effect of
any alternative. Thus, we were able to use an abbreviated format to
fully document all our responses to comments in our final EIS/EIR, in
compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1503.4 [c]) for NEPA.
Alternatives We Considered
No-Action Alternative
Under the No-Action Alternative, the lead agencies would take no
action to
[[Page 23742]]
restore tidal influence to the site; however, continued maintenance of
the Dutchman and South Slough levees would occur. Under this
alternative, because the lead agencies would be required to maintain
the northern levee along Dutchman Slough in perpetuity, maintenance
activities would likely increase as the levees age and as scour
increases in response to activities undertaken by the Napa Sonoma
Restoration Project. Under the No-Action Alternative, the components of
the Proposed Action would not be implemented.
Preferred Restoration Alternative
The Preferred Restoration Alternative would restore the entire
1,500-ac Cullinan Ranch Site with implementation of the following
project components:
Component 1: Construct boardwalk to provide access to
existing electrical towers.
Component 2: If needed, drainage ditches would be blocked
to promote redevelopment of natural sloughs.
Component 3: Improve the DFG Pond 1 levee and install
water control structures.
Component 4: Protect Highway 37 from project-induced
flooding and erosion, through levee construction.
Component 5: Construct public access areas.
Component 6: Breach the levees along Dutchman and South
Sloughs and Guadalcanal Village.
Component 7: Implement long-term monitoring.
Partial Restoration Alternative
The Partial Restoration Alternative would restore 300 ac of the
Cullinan Ranch Site. The Partial Restoration Alternative was developed
in order to limit potential impacts to the hydrology of Dutchman
Slough. While it would meet the purpose and need of the project, a
smaller overall area within Cullinan Ranch would be restored, and
connectivity with other adjacent restoration projects would be limited.
The Partial Restoration Alternative would include implementation of
the following project components:
Component 1: If needed, drainage ditches would be blocked
to promote redevelopment of natural Sloughs.
Component 2: Construct internal levee.
Component 3: Protect Highway 37 from project-induced
flooding and erosion, through levee construction.
Component 4: Breach the levee along Dutchman Slough.
Component 5: Long-term monitoring.
The final EIS/EIR contains our responses to all comments received
on the draft document. Following the release of the abbreviated final
EIS/EIR, we will prepare a Record of Decision not sooner than 30 days
after the Environmental Protection Agency has published its notice of
filing of the document in the Federal Register. We anticipate that we
will issue a Record of Decision in the summer of 2009.
We provide this notice under regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR
1506.6).
Dated: May 13, 2009.
Stephen M. Dyer,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. E9-11778 Filed 5-19-09; 8:45 am]
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