[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 150 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46512-46514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18978]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-ES-2012-N098; FXHC1122055COM0Z5--123--FF05E00000]
Adoption and Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental
Assessment for the Penobscot River Restoration Project
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) hereby gives
notice of
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its intent to adopt the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's
(Commission) existing Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) for the
Application for Surrender of License of the Veazie, Great Works, and
Howland Projects.
The FEA, issued on May 18, 2010, evaluates the environmental
impacts that would result from the Commission approving the
applications for license surrender. The Penobscot River Restoration
Project (PRRP) seeks to restore diadromous fish to the Penobscot River
and key tributaries in accordance with the Lower Penobscot River Basin
Comprehensive Settlement Agreement (Agreement), to which the U.S.
Department of the Interior (Department) is a signatory. The Service
intends to approve mechanisms to assist with funding the PRRP because
it will provide substantial benefits for diadromous fish. Based on the
Service's independent evaluation, adoption of the FEA would meet the
Department's and the Service's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
procedures and guidelines, as the Service is funding the precise
actions, the effects of which have already been analyzed by the
Commission. As part of that process, the Service is recirculating the
FEA as its final Environmental Assessment in accordance with the
Service's adoption requirements.
DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before
August 20, 2012. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES section, below) must be received by
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain copies of the notice
and the FEA on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket
Number FWS-R5-ES-2012-0046, or at http://www.fws.gov/mainefieldoffice/index.html (Web site for the Service's Field Office in Maine, or by
mail from the Service's Maine Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT). The full administrative record is available though the
Commission's eLibrary at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/eLibrary.asp.
To use eLibrary, enter the docket number (either P-2403, P-2312, or P-
2721) to access the document. For assistance, contact the Commission's
online support toll free at (866) 208-3676, or TTY at (866) 208-3372.
Comment submission: You may submit written comments by one of the
following methods:
Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R5-ES-2012-0046,
which is the docket number for this notice. Then, on the left side of
the screen, under the Document Type heading, click on the Notices link
to locate this document and submit a comment.
By compact disk (CD) or hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-
delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R5-ES-2012-0046;
Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
We request that you send comments only by the methods described
above. We will post all information received on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any
personal information you provide us (see the Public Comments section
below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Shepard, Maine Field Office, by
mail at 17 Godfrey Drive, Suite 2, Orono Maine 04473; by
telephone at (207) 866-3344, extension 116; or by electronic mail at
steve_shepard@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service hereby gives notice of its
intent to adopt the Commission's existing FEA for the Application for
Surrender of License of the Veazie, Great Works, and Howland Projects
(FERC Project Nos. 2403, 2312 and 2721, respectively) (Project). The
FEA, issued on May 18, 2010, evaluates the environmental impacts that
would result from the Commission approving the applications for license
surrender for the Veazie, Great Works, and Howlands hydroelectric
projects. The FEA makes it clear that surrender of the licenses would
lead to removal of Veazie and Great Works Dams and construction of a
nature-like fish bypass around the Howland Dam, which are key elements
of the PRRP. The dams are located in the towns of Veazie, Old Town, and
Howland in Penobscot County, Maine.
The PRRP seeks to restore diadromous fish to the Penobscot River
and key tributaries in accordance with the Lower Penobscot River Basin
Comprehensive Settlement Agreement (Agreement), to which the Department
is a signatory. The Service intends to approve grants, cooperative
agreements, memoranda of agreement or understanding, or other
administrative mechanisms to assist with funding the PRRP because the
project will provide substantial benefits for diadromous fish.
The May 2010 FEA assessed the environmental effects of five
alternatives of the PRRP: (1) No action; (2) the proposed action (the
removal of the Veazie and Great Works Dams and the construction of a
nature-like fish bypass at the Howland Dam); (3) the removal of all
three dams; (4) the removal of the Veazie and Great Works Dams and
surrender in place at the Howland Project; and (5) the surrender in
place of all three projects. The Service commented on the draft FEA and
is satisfied that all of its comments have been adequately addressed by
the Commission in the FEA. Based on its review, the Service finds that
the FEA would satisfy the Department's and the Service's NEPA
compliance requirements with respect to the Service's decision to
provide funds for the PRRP. Therefore, by this notice, the Service is
recirculating the FEA for written public comment to meet its NEPA (40
CFR 1506.3 and 1506.6) requirements for the approval of future
administrative mechanisms or funds in support of the PRRP. The Service
encourages interested persons to review the FEA and submit written
comments.
Availability of Documents
Those who do not have access to the Web site or cannot visit our
office can request copies by telephone at (207) 866-3344 or by letter
to the Maine Field Office (see ADDRESSES).
Location
The dams are located in the towns of Veazie, Old Town, and Howland
in Penobscot County, Maine. They are currently operated as
hydroelectric facilities under a Federal license with the Commission.
Background
The Commission's FEA was based on license applications from the
Penobscot River Restoration Trust, a not-for-profit organization
founded to implement the PRRP on behalf of the parties involved in the
Agreement. The Service is a party to the Agreement, along with other
State and Federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and PPL
Corporation, which owned the hydroelectric facilities and three dams at
the time of the Agreement. The specific purpose of the PRRP is to
restore diadromous fish to the Penobscot River. Diadromous fish are
species that use both marine and freshwater habitats during their life
cycles. The species can be anadromous like Atlantic salmon, which are
born and grow in freshwater, migrate out to sea to finish growing, and
migrate back to freshwater, and for many species their natal river, to
spawn. The species can also be catadromous like American eel, which are
born and grow at sea, migrate to freshwater rivers, ponds, and lakes
where they finish growing, and
[[Page 46514]]
migrate back to their natal area at sea to spawn. Diadromous fish are
one of the Service's trust resources for which the Service has been
given specific responsibilities under Federal law. The Service's trust
resources include migratory birds, interjurisdictional fishes (fish
species that may cross State lines and include diadromous fish),
federally listed threatened or endangered species, some marine mammals,
and lands owned by the Service such as National Wildlife Refuges. The
PRRP is consistent with the Service's mission to conserve trust
resources. Therefore, the Service intends to assist in funding the PRRP
through a variety of administrative mechanisms.
The FEA evaluates five alternatives, including the no action
alternative. Details of these alternatives and their environmental
effects are described in the FEA. The Service intends to approve
grants, cooperative agreements, memoranda of agreement or
understanding, or other administrative mechanisms to assist with
funding the PRRP. Those future Federal actions trigger the need for
compliance with NEPA. Based on its review, the Service finds that the
FEA adequately addresses appropriate alternatives and their
environmental effects and accurately describes the future actions that
the Service may fund. The Service finds, therefore, that the FEA meets
the Department's and the Service's NEPA procedures and guidelines and
is appropriate for adoption.
Public Comments
The Service invites the public to comment on the Service adopting
the FEA in order to comply with NEPA in association with future
decisions to fund the PRRP (see DATES). You may submit your comments
and materials concerning the notice by one of the methods listed in
ADDRESSES. We request that you send comments only by the methods
described in ADDRESSES.
If you submit a comment via http://www.regulations.gov, your entire
comment--including any personal identifying information--will be posted
on the Web site. We will post all hardcopy comments on http://www.regulations.gov as well. If you submit a hardcopy comment that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as documents associated
with the notice, will be available for public inspection on http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R5-ES-2012-0046, or by
appointment, during normal business hours, at the Service's Maine Field
Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You may obtain copies of
the notice on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No.
FWS-R5-ES-2012-0046, or by mail from the Service's Maine Field Office
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Conclusion
Based on the information summarized above, the Service intends to
adopt the Commission's FEA to fully comply with the regulations for
implementing NEPA for Federal funding decisions the Service may make in
the future. After the close of the comment period, the Service
anticipates issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in
conjunction with adopting the FEA. The FONSI will be available on the
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket Number FWS-R5-ES-2012-
0046, and at http://www.fws.gov/mainefieldoffice/index.html (Service's
Maine Field Office Web site), or may be obtained by mail from the
Service's Maine Field Office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Authority
This notice is provided pursuant to NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1506.3
and 1506.6).
Dated: July 17, 2012.
Henry Chang,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-18978 Filed 8-2-12; 8:45 am]
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