[Federal Register: May 28, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 103)]
[Notices]
[Page 30057-30059]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28my10-120]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2010-N098; 80221-1112-0000-F2]
Proposed Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit to Energy
Northwest for Construction and Operation of the Radar Ridge Wind
Project LLC
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct 30-day public scoping period and
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), intend to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regarding an application from Radar
Ridge LLC for an incidental take permit for take of the threatened
marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in accordance with the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Radar Ridge LLC is
proposing to construct and operate the Radar Ridge Wind Project near
Naselle, Washington.
[[Page 30058]]
The project would consist of up to 32 wind turbines with a generating
capacity of 82 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Power generated by the
wind turbines would be transmitted to the existing Bonneville Power
Administration substation at Naselle, Washington. We are furnishing
this notice to announce the initiation of a 30-day public scoping
period, during which we invite other agencies, and the public, to
provide comments on the range of alternatives and scope of issues to be
included in the EIS.
DATES: Comments: To ensure consideration, please submit your comments
by June 28, 2010.
Public Meeting Dates and Locations
1. Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 7-9 p.m. at the USFWS office at 510
Desmond Dr., Lacey, WA 98503.
2. Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 7-9 p.m. at Naselle High School, 793
State Route 4, Naselle, WA 98638.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
1. U.S. mail or hand delivery to: Mr. Mark Ostwald, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, 510 Desmond
Drive, SE., Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503-1263; or
2. E-mail to: radarridgewindproject@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mark Ostwald, at (360) 753-9564,
e-mail at Mark_Ostwald@fws.gov, or on the Internet at http://
www.fws.gov/wafwo.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.), Radar Ridge LLC is preparing a habitat conservation plan in
support of an application for a permit from the USFWS to incidentally
take the marbled murrelet in conjunction with the construction,
operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the Radar Ridge Wind
Project. The marbled murrelet is listed as threatened under the Act.
The USFWS has determined that an EIS should be prepared under NEPA as
part of the USFWS consideration of the permit application. The USFWS
will be the lead agency (40 CFR 1501.5) for preparation of the EIS. The
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is a cooperating agency (40 CFR
1501.6) in the NEPA process. The EIS will analyze the impacts of both
agencies' proposed actions: USFWS's issuance of an incidental take
permit, and BPA's approval of an interconnection to its transmission
facilities.
Background
Radar Ridge LLC is requesting an incidental take permit for a
period of 40 years to authorize incidental take of marbled murrelets in
conjunction with the construction, operation, maintenance, and
decommissioning of the Radar Ridge Wind Project.
The project is proposed in a rural, forested area approximately 10
miles north of the Columbia River and 12 miles east of the Pacific
Ocean. The small community of Naselle, Washington, is approximately 3
miles south of the project. Radar Ridge ranges in elevation from
approximately less than 1,000 feet to 1,900 feet. Some of the ridge has
gravel roads that are used for logging or assessing the existing
communication facility at the south end of the ridge. The ridge also
contains an operating gravel quarry used by the Washington State
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) as a source of gravel for its
roads. The forests on the ridge within the project area are generally
second growth conifer forests, mostly younger than 60 years old.
Construction for the project will require forest clearing, upgrade
of existing roads, construction of new roads, a new project substation
on the ridge, and a new overhead transmission line (adjacent to an
existing BPA power-line) from the project substation to an existing BPA
substation in Naselle, Washington. Within the project area, up to 32
wind turbines would be located in a single row along the approximately
4.35-mile ridge-top. The project footprint is approximately 500 feet
wide by 4.35 miles long on the top of the ridge. The wind turbines will
be set on towers up to 265 feet tall with a possible rotor diameter
ranging from 254 to 333 feet. Using the largest diameter rotor, the
maximum total wind turbine height from tower base to blade tip would be
430 feet. The project might also include one permanent freestanding (no
guy wires) meteorological tower with a height equivalent to the wind
turbine tower/hub height.
The Radar Ridge Wind Project is planned on forest lands owned and
managed by the WDNR in Pacific County, southwest Washington. These
lands are currently included in the 1997 WDNR Forest Practices Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP), which covers 1.8 million acres of forest land.
The marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis), and
several other listed species are covered by the WDNR HCP. The WDNR HCP
provides the WDNR with incidental take coverage for forest management
activities and some non-timber activities. Wind energy is not a covered
activity of the WDNR HCP. Consequently, Radar Ridge LLC is developing a
separate HCP to address incidental take of marbled murrelets that could
result from the Radar Ridge Wind Project.
Radar Ridge Wind Project LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy
Northwest, has received a 40-year conditional lease for the project
from the WDNR that covers approximately 3,360 acres. It is the WDNR's
opinion that it has the unilateral right to terminate the lease if, in
the State's opinion, the proposed activity poses too large a risk and
could jeopardize its continued operation of the Forest Practices HCP,
Incidental Take Permit and Implementation Agreement with the USFWS and
the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Radar Ridge Wind Project LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy
Northwest, has received a 40-year conditional lease for the project
from the WDNR that covers approximately 3,360 acres. It is the WDNR's
opinion that it has the unilateral right to terminate the lease if, in
the State's opinion, the proposed activity poses too large a risk and
could jeopardize its continued operation of the Forest Practices HCP,
Incidental Take Permit and Implementation Agreement with the USFWS and
the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The WDNR Forest Practices HCP and Incidental Take Permit provides
incidental take coverage for the marbled murrelet for the WDNR. When
the WDNR HCP was written in 1997, there was not sufficient information
available on the conservation needs of the marbled murrelet on WDNR
lands. For that reason the WDNR developed an interim HCP strategy for
this species. The interim conservation strategy required the DNR to do
a habitat relationship study and locate marbled murrelet occupied sites
on their lands (HCP, page IV. 39). Once the necessary steps of the
interim strategy were completed, the WDNR would transition to a long-
term marbled murrelet conservation strategy (HCP, page IV. 40).
The WDNR HCP states that the long-term conservation strategy would
``result in a comprehensive, detailed landscape-level plan that would
help meet the recovery objectives of the USFWS, contribute to the
conservation efforts of the President's Northwest Forest Plan, and make
a significant contribution to maintaining and protecting marbled
murrelet populations in western Washington over the life of the HCP.''
The WDNR has completed the interim strategy for southwest Washington
and the Olympic Peninsula and is now
[[Page 30059]]
required to develop a long-term conservation strategy to be consistent
with their HCP.
To help develop a scientifically credible long-term marbled
murrelet conservation strategy, the WDNR convened a science team to
develop murrelet conservation recommendations for WDNR lands in
southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. This team published
their findings in 2008 as a report entitled Recommendations and
Supporting Analysis of Conservation Opportunities for the Marbled
Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy. This report rated the 13,748-
acre Nemah Block as the most important WDNR landscape in southwest
Washington for marbled murrelet conservation. The proposed wind project
would be located on Radar Ridge, which is within the Nemah block. To
date, the WDNR has not completed its final long-term conservation
strategy for the marbled murrelet.
To our knowledge, there is no forest on the ridge-top within the
project footprint that resembles mature or old growth forest that might
provide nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet. However, through the
use of radar surveys, Radar Ridge LLC has documented the presence of
marbled murrelets flying over the ridge, primarily above proposed wind
turbine heights, both during the summer breeding season and during the
winter. There are 89 murrelet-occupied nest sites within 30 miles of
the project area and the northwest end of the project is within
approximately 1,800 feet of the South Nemah Natural Resources
Conservation Area, the highest known marbled murrelet nesting use site
in Washington. While the project footprint does not appear to have any
suitable nesting habitat for the species, marbled murrelets have been
documented flying over the project location, likely commuting to and
from nest sites. Some of these birds would be at risk of collision with
the wind project.
Environmental Impact Statement
We will conduct an environmental review of the permit application,
including the HCP. We will prepare an EIS in accordance with NEPA
requirements, as amended (40 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and NEPA
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), and in accordance with
other Federal laws and regulations, and the policies and procedures of
the USFWS for compliance with those regulations.
We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the
public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific
community, Tribes, industry, or any other interested party on this
notice. We will consider all comments we receive in complying with the
requirements of NEPA and in the development of the HCP and ITP. We
particularly seek comments concerning:
(1) The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects that
implementation of any reasonable alternative could have on endangered
and threatened species;
(2) Other reasonable alternatives, and their associated effects;
(3) Measures that would minimize and mitigate potentially adverse
effects of the proposed project;
(4) Baseline environmental conditions in and adjacent to the
project;
(5) Biological information regarding the marbled murrelet;
(6) Monitoring and adaptive management that might be relevant to
the project;
(7) Other plans or projects that might be relevant to this project;
(8) Pertinent information concerning wind energy and wildlife
response; and
(9) Pertinent information concerning wind energy and its
relationship to the human environment.
The EIS will analyze the effects that the various alternatives
would have on the marbled murrelet as well as all other aspects of the
human environment, including but not limited to geology and soils, land
use, air quality, water quality, wetlands, socioeconomics, recreation,
cultural resources, noise, visual resources, climate change, and
cumulative impacts from the proposed action. A notice of availability
is expected to be published in the Federal Register in early 2011 and
the DEIS will be circulated for public review and comment. The USFWS
will consider and respond to comments received on the draft EIS in the
final EIS. The final EIS is expected to be published sometime later in
2011. The USFWS and BPA will each document their decision in a Record
of Decision following completion of the final EIS.
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable accommodations to attend and participate
in public meetings should contact Mark Ostwald (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT) as soon as possible. To allow sufficient time to
process requests, please call no later than one week before the public
meeting. Information regarding this proposed action is available in
alternative formats upon request.
Dated: May 10, 2010.
Carolyn A. Bohan,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1,
Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2010-12906 Filed 5-27-10; 8:45 am]
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