[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39072-39074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16781]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
RIN 0648-XA439
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement
and Final Habitat Conservation Plan
AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability; Final Environmental Impact Statement
and Habitat Conservation Plan.
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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS) (collectively the Services) announce the
availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
associated with the applications received from the City of Kent (Kent),
Washington, for Incidental Take Permits (ITPs) under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). We also announce the
availability of Kent's Clark Springs Water Supply System Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP) and Implementing Agreement (IA). The final EIS
addresses the Services' proposed issuance of ITPs to Kent for water
withdrawal and habitat restoration actions on Rock Creek, King County,
Washington. The proposed ITPs would authorize incidental take of three
listed and six unlisted species of fish covered by Kent's Clark Springs
Water Supply HCP. This notice provides an opportunity for the public to
review the final EIS, HCP, and IA.
DATES: Comments must be received from interested parties on or before
August 4, 2011. The Services' decisions on issuance of ITPs will occur
no sooner than 30 days after the publication of the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) notice of the final EIS in the Federal
Register.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Tim Romanski, Project Lead, FWS, 510
Desmond Drive SE, Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503; by facsimile at (360)
753-9518. Alternatively, you may send comments to Matt Longenbaugh,
Project Lead, NMFS, 510 Desmond Drive SE, Suite 103, Lacey, WA 98503;
by facsimile at (360) 753-9517.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The final documents are posted on the
[[Page 39073]]
Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/. For further information, or to
receive the documents on CD ROM, please contact Tim Romanski, at the
FWS address above or by telephone at (360) 753-5823; or Matt
Longenbaugh, at the NMFS address above or by telephone at (360) 753-
7761.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1538) and implementing regulations
prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or
threatened. The term ``take'' is defined under the ESA (16 U.S.C.
1532(19)) as to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,
trap, capture, or collect, or attempt to engage in any such conduct.
``Harm'' is defined by FWS regulation to include significant habitat
modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife
by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3, 50 CFR 222.102). NMFS'
definition of harm includes significant habitat modification or
degradation where it actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, spawning, migrating, rearing, and sheltering (64 FR
60727; November 8, 1999).
Section 10 of the ESA and implementing regulations specify
requirements for the issuance of ITPs to non-Federal landowners for the
take of endangered and threatened species. Any proposed take must be
incidental to otherwise lawful activities, not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild, and
minimize and mitigate the impact of such take to the maximum extent
practicable. In addition, an applicant must prepare a conservation plan
describing the impact that will likely result from such taking, the
strategy for minimizing and mitigating the incidental take, the funding
available to implement such steps, alternatives to such taking, and the
reasons such alternatives are not being implemented. FWS regulations
governing permits for Federally endangered and threatened species can
be found in 50 CFR part 17. NMFS regulations governing permits for the
incidental take of Federally endangered and threatened species are
found in 50 CFR 222.307.
The ITP applications are for the operation and maintenance of
Kent's Clark Springs Water Supply System adjacent to Rock Creek, King
County, Washington. The Clark Springs Water Supply System consists of a
spring-fed infiltration gallery and three well pumps. This facility is
located adjacent to Rock Creek 1.8 miles upstream of the creek's
confluence with the Cedar River. The facility is surrounded by 320
acres of Kent-owned land that is geographically separated from Kent.
Covered activities can be summarized as follows:
Water diversions of Kent's existing groundwater and
surface water rights via infiltration gallery, well pumps, and
infrastructure;
Operation and maintenance of Clark Springs Water Supply
facilities;
Maintenance of 320 acres of Kent-owned property as it
relates to the protection of its water supply; and
Operation and maintenance of a water augmentation system
for the enhancement of instream flows.
The ITP applications Kent submitted to the Services address the
potential take of three ESA-listed threatened fish species and six non-
listed fish species that may be affected by Kent's water withdrawal
activities at the Clark Springs facility in the Rock Creek Watershed.
The listed species under FWS jurisdiction is the bull trout (Salvelinus
confluentus), listed as threatened. Non-listed species under FWS
jurisdiction include coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki
clarki), Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentatus), and river lamprey (L.
ayresi). Listed species under NMFS jurisdiction are the Puget Sound
Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) and Puget Sound steelhead trout (O.
mykiss), both listed as threatened. Non-listed species under NMFS
jurisdiction include coho salmon (O. kisutch), chum salmon (O. keta),
and sockeye salmon (O. nerka).
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) requires Federal agencies to conduct an environmental analysis of
their proposed actions to determine if the actions may significantly
affect the human environment. The Services' proposals to issue ITPs are
Federal actions that trigger the need for compliance with NEPA.
Accordingly, as the Federal agencies responsible for compliance under
NEPA, the Services have jointly prepared an EIS that analyzes
alternatives associated with issuance of the ITPs. The analysis
provided in the final EIS is intended to accomplish the following:
Inform the public of the agencies' proposed action and alternatives;
address public comments received on the draft EIS and draft HCP; and
disclose the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects on the human
environment resulting from our proposed action and alternatives. The
final EIS reflects changes made to the draft documents resulting from
comments received during the public comment period. Responses to
comments received from the public are included in the final EIS.
The final EIS analyzed two alternatives: The ``No-Action''
alternative, under which Kent would continue operating the Clark
Springs facility without benefit of incidental take coverage from the
Services; and, the ``Proposed Action'' alternative involving
implementation of Kent's HCP, FWS issuance of an ITP for bull trout and
three unlisted species, and NMFS issuance of an ITP for Chinook salmon,
steelhead trout, and three unlisted species. Five other alternatives
were considered, but dismissed from detailed analysis. Four of the
dismissed alternatives were not analyzed in detail because they did not
meet the purpose and need. They would not produce reliable water
sources with sufficient excess capacity to augment or replace water
withdrawals at the Clark Springs Facility during the low-flow periods
between October 1 and December 31 to a level that would meet the City's
current and future water demands. The fifth dismissed alternative
considered a shorter permit term. The Services determined that the
environmental impacts between a 20-year and 50-year term would not
differ, and analysis of a shorter permit term in the EIS would not
garner additional information to make an informed decision regarding
impacts to the listed species or the human environment.
Public Involvement
The Services formally initiated an environmental review of the
project through publication of a Notice of Intent to prepare a draft
EIS in the Federal Register on June 19, 2006 (71 FR 35286). That notice
also announced a public scoping period during which interested parties
were invited to provide written comments expressing their issues or
concerns relating to the proposal, and to attend a public scoping
meeting held in Kent, Washington. Utilizing public scoping comments,
the Services prepared a draft EIS to analyze the effects of
alternatives on the human environment. On April 23, 2010, the Services
published a notice of availability in the Federal Register (75 FR
21344) of the draft EIS, draft HCP, and draft IA for a 60-day public
comment period. On May 7, 2010, the EPA published in the Federal
Register
[[Page 39074]]
(75 FR 25238) their notice of availability of the draft EIS.
Public Review
Copies of the final FEIS, HCP, and IA are available for review (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above). Any comments we receive will
become part of the administrative record and will be available to the
public. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. If you wish us
to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently
at the beginning of your comment. While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying information from public review,
we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will honor your
request to withhold your personal information to the extent allowable
by law.
We will evaluate the application, associated documents, and
comments submitted to determine whether the application meets the
requirements of the ESA and NEPA. A permit decision will be made no
sooner than 30 days after the publication of the EPA's final EIS notice
in the Federal Register, completion of the Record of Decision and the
Services' ESA decision documents. If the Services determine that all
requirements are met, we will issue ITPs under section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the ESA to Kent for take of the covered species, incidental to
otherwise lawful activities in accordance with the HCP, the IA, and the
ITPs.
Dated: June 28, 2011.
Richard Hannan,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1,
Portland, Oregon.
Dated: June 28, 2011.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-16781 Filed 7-1-11; 8:45 am]
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