[Federal Register: February 5, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 24)]
[Notices]
[Page 6058-6060]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05fe10-115]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-MB-2009-N286; 80213-9410-0000-7B]
Federal Sport Fish Restoration; California Department of Fish and
Game Fish Hatchery and Stocking Program
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability: Final environmental impact report/
environmental impact statement (EIR/EIS).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announces the
availability of the final EIR/EIS for the California Department of Fish
and Game's (CDFG) Fish Hatchery and Stocking Program (Program). FWS is
lead agency, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended, for the EIR/EIS jointly prepared with CDFG. Under the
Sport Fish Restoration Act (SFRA), FWS proposes to fund actions
associated with the operation of CDFG's 14 trout hatcheries and the Mad
River Hatchery for the anadromous steelhead, and stocking from the 15
hatcheries. The Federal action does not include funding CDFG's other
anadromous fish hatcheries and associated stocking, nor its issuance of
private stocking permits. SFRA funding may also support CDFG's Fishing
in the City and Classroom Aquarium Education Programs. CDFG is the lead
agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and
proposes to implement hatchery operations and stocking funded by FWS,
as well as all other components of the CDFG Program, including
anadromous fish hatchery operations and associated stocking, and
issuance of stocking permits to private parties seeking to stock fish
in California's inland waters. The final EIR/EIS presents Program
impact analysis, mitigation for impacts, selection of the preferred
alternative, and response to comments received during the comment
period for the draft EIR/EIS.
DATES: We anticipate that a Record of Decision will be issued by FWS in
2010, but no sooner than 30 days after the Federal Register publication
date for this notice of availability.
ADDRESSES: Download copies of the final EIR/EIS from the CDFG Web site
at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/pubnotice/hatchery/. Alternatively, you
may send your request for copies of the final EIR/EIS to Mr. Bart Prose
by mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-
1729, Sacramento, CA 95825; by e-mail to bart_prose@fws.gov; or by fax
to (916) 978-6155.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bart Prose: (916) 978-6152
(phone); bart_prose@fws.gov (e-mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the SFRA (Pub. L. 106-408), FWS has
authority to grant Federal funds from the Sport Fish Restoration and
Boating Trust Fund to support actions associated with CDFG's Program.
The Trust Fund is financed through collection of excise taxes on sport-
fishing equipment, electric motors, and sonar; import duties on fishing
tackle, yachts, and pleasure craft; the portion of gasoline tax
attributable to motorboats and small engines; and interest on the Fund.
CDFG has been rearing and stocking fish in the inland waters of
California since the late 1800s, when the State of California enacted
legislation to restore and preserve fish in State waters. This
legislation called for the newly formed California State Fish and Game
Commission to establish ``fish breederies'' to stock and supply
streams, lakes, and bays with both foreign and domestic fish. Since
that time in the late 1800s, CDFG has continued that mandate by rearing
and stocking both inland trout and anadromous species of fish reared at
24 hatcheries and planting bases located throughout the State.
For the past approximately 100 years, CDFG has stocked nonnative
trout throughout the State. CDFG's Program currently operates 14 trout
hatcheries throughout the State, rearing 6 trout species and 3 salmon
species. Trout hatcheries rear rainbow, golden, cutthroat, brown, lake,
and brook trout. Salmon species reared include Chinook, Coho, and
kokanee. CDFG's Mad River Hatchery for anadromous fish presently rears
only steelhead. Over the past 5 years, CDFG planted over 3.6 million
pounds of combined trout and inland salmon, annually, from its 14 trout
hatcheries into hundreds of locations, including high mountain lakes,
low-elevation reservoirs, and various streams and creeks. The Mad River
[[Page 6059]]
Hatchery planted over 39,000 pounds of steelhead, annually, into the
Mad River.
Funding CDFG Program activities provides freshwater angling
opportunities and recreation throughout the State. Operations and
stocking associated with the 14 trout hatcheries and the Mad River
anadromous fish hatchery are eligible for SFRA grants. FWS does not
fund operations or stocking associated with other anadromous hatcheries
because they are mitigation hatcheries, which are funded through other
sources.
In 2005, State Assembly Bill 7 added Section 13007 to the
California Fish and Game Code (FGC 13007), which established annual
minimum release targets for hatchery trout based upon sport-fishing
license sales, and required CDFG to deposit one-third of sport-fishing
license fees into its Hatchery and Inland Fisheries Fund for specified
fisheries management purposes. Per CDFG's implementation plan for FGC
13007, funding for the stocking program was scheduled to increase from
almost $8 million for State fiscal year (FY) 2005-2006, to $15 million
for State FY 2006-2007. In addition, a State court order in 2006
required CDFG to complete an environmental review for its Program. To
expedite Program changes due to FGC 13007, the court-ordered
environmental review, and associated SFRA funding contributions to the
Program, FWS and CDFG agreed to prepare a joint EIR/EIS. FWS published
a notice of intent to prepare the EIR/EIS in the Federal Register on
August 5, 2008 (73 FR 45470). The notice of availability for the draft
EIR/EIS and 45-day comment period published in the Federal Register on
October 8, 2009 (74 FR 51872).
The objectives of CDFG's Program are to continue the rearing and
stocking of fish for the recreational use of anglers, while balancing
the interaction between State- and privately stocked fish and
threatened and endangered species. The purpose of FWS's proposed SFRA
funding is to support operations of CDFG's 14 trout hatcheries and the
Mad River Hatchery for the anadromous steelhead, and associated
stocking of fish produced at those hatcheries. SFRA funding also
supports CDFG's Fishing in the City and Classroom Aquarium Education
Programs. The need addressed by the proposed action is the support of
viable recreational fishing in California, through increased angler
success that is provided by stocking of hatchery fish in both urban and
rural water bodies. Provision of SFRA funds for support of private
stocking permits, or operation of other anadromous fish hatcheries and
their associated stocking efforts, is outside the scope of actions
contemplated by FWS at this time.
Hatchery operations and stocking activities associated with CDFG's
inland water hatchery program, including potential increases in fish
rearing and stocking in the future, have been evaluated for their
effects on the environment. Potential impacts to native amphibians and
fish, which have experienced declines within the state, are of chief
interest. Results of the evaluations and alternative courses of action
are presented in the draft EIR/EIS, in accordance with CEQA (PRC 21000
et seq.) and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Alternatives
Four alternatives were developed for CDFG's Fish Hatchery and
Stocking Program, and each was included for detailed analysis in the
draft EIS/EIR. All Program components are subject to CEQA, but only the
subset of components with Federal discretionary involvement (associated
with SFRA funding) are subject to NEPA; i.e., operations of CDFG's 14
trout hatcheries and the Mad River Hatchery for steelhead, associated
stocking of fish produced at those hatcheries, and the Fishing in the
City and Classroom Aquarium Education Programs. Only the components of
the 4 alternatives pertinent to NEPA are described here.
Preferred Alternative
Under the Preferred Alternative, FWS will continue to provide
funding, as modified by certain mitigation provisions, for operations
of CDFG's 14 trout hatcheries and the Mad River Hatchery for steelhead,
and associated stocking of fish produced at those hatcheries. Hatchery
operations will remain largely unchanged from those conducted during
the last 5 years, with mitigation applied in some instances to protect
water quality, check the spread of invasive species and pathogens, and
manage ground water. Decisions on stocking of trout, where potential
for significant impacts exist, will be made using a state-wide, pre-
stocking evaluation protocol that emphasizes protection of native,
sensitive, or legally-protected species. In high mountain lake areas
where Aquatic Biodiversity Management Plans (ABMPs) have been prepared,
stocking will continue to follow guidelines that ensure expansion of
habitats for native amphibians and fish. In areas without ABMPs, trout
stocking will be based on site-specific, pre-stocking evaluations of
risk to native, sensitive, or legally protected species. ABMPs or other
similar plans may be developed and implemented prior to stocking in
those locations. Such plans could include eradication of nonnative fish
from water bodies currently or formerly harboring sensitive native
species, genetic analysis of native fish to determine degree of
hybridization, cessation of nonnative trout stocking in waters occupied
by native trout populations, and implementation of measures consistent
with FWS recovery plans and CDFG management plans. Stocking of Mad
River steelhead will continue with measures intended to reduce the
interaction between hatchery reared fish and naturally reproducing
populations and consistent with the Draft Hatchery and Genetic
Management Plan submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service. The
Fishing in the City and Classroom Aquarium Education Programs will
continue using conservation measures and uniform protocols developed to
ensure that stocking locations are properly screened to protect native,
sensitive, and legally protected species. Implementation of Program
activities associated with application of pre-stocking evaluation
protocols or development of ABMPs, may require additional, site-
specific NEPA compliance tiered from the EIR/EIS.
Continuation of Interim Program Provisions Alternative
Under the Continuation of Interim Program Provisions Alternative,
FWS will continue to provide funding for operations of CDFG's 14 trout
hatcheries and the Mad River Hatchery for steelhead, and associated
stocking of fish produced at those hatcheries, consistent with the
court-ordered prohibitions and exceptions on fish stocking that were
put into place for the interim period between the date of the court
order and completion of the EIR/EIS. The interim provisions prohibit
stocking nonnative fish in any California fresh water body where
surveys have demonstrated the presence of 25 specified amphibian or
fish species, or where a survey for those species has not yet been
completed. The order does not address the stocking of native fish into
native waters. Exceptions to the prohibitions include stocking in
human-made reservoirs larger than 1000 acres; stocking in human-made
reservoirs less than 1000 acres that are not connected to a river or
stream, are not within California red-legged frog critical habitat, or
are not where California red-legged frogs are known to exist; stocking
as required for State or Federal mitigation; stocking for the purpose
of enhancing salmon and steelhead populations and funded by
[[Page 6060]]
the Commercial Trollers Salmon Stamp; stocking of steelhead from the
Mad River Hatchery into the Mad River Basin; CDFG's Aquarium in the
Classroom program; stocking actions to support scientific research; and
stocking done under an existing private stocking permit or to be
completed under a new permit with terms similar to one that was issued
in the last 4 years. The Fishing in the City and Classroom Aquarium
Education Programs will continue under uniform protocols developed to
ensure that stocking locations are properly screened to protect native,
sensitive, and legally protected species.
Continuation of Existing Program Alternative
The Continuation of Existing Program Alternative (equivalent to the
CEQA No Project Alternative) is continuation of SFRA funding for the
existing Fish Hatchery and Stocking Program. The hatcheries' operation
and stocking activities undertaken by CDFG over the past 5 years would
continue unchanged (some activities may be inconsistent with the court-
ordered prohibitions and exceptions), and the SFRA funding process for
these activities will continue as it has over the same period.
No Action Alternative
Under the No Action Alternative, FWS would not approve SFRA grant
funds to be used by CDFG to support actions associated with operations
of the CDFG Fish Hatchery and Stocking Program. Because of State
statutory and public trust requirements related to the hatchery
program, CDFG would attempt to continue to implement its State hatchery
program, seeking other funding sources to replace the Federal funds.
Authority: National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.); Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR 1500-1508).
Dated: December 16, 2009.
Ren Lohoefener,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-2509 Filed 2-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P