[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1246-1247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00134]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-R-2012-N270; FXRS12610800000-134-FF08RSDC00]
Otay River Estuary Restoration Project; South San Diego Bay Unit
and Sweetwater Marsh Unit of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife
Refuge, California; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent; reinitiation of scoping and request for
public comment.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are
reinitiating scoping with regard to the environmental impact statement
(EIS) for the proposed Otay River Estuary Restoration Project. As
originally proposed, the project involved the restoration of estuarine
and salt marsh (subtidal and intertidal wetlands) habitats within the
western terminus of the Otay River and a portion of the salt ponds in
the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge-South San Diego Bay Unit.
Based on information developed since the original scoping period, the
proposed project may now also include the restoration of a portion of
the D Street Fill, located within the San Diego Bay National Wildlife
Refuge-Sweetwater Marsh Unit. We originally published a notice of
intent on November 14, 2011 (76 FR 70480), and scoping comments were
accepted through January 12, 2012. Since then, we have expanded the
Area of Potential Effect of the restoration project to include the salt
ponds and D Street Fill within the San Diego Bay National Wildlife
Refuge. This second notice advises the public that we intend to gather
additional information through scoping regarding an EIS for the
expanded project. We encourage the public and other agencies to
participate in the NEPA scoping process by sending written suggestions
and information on the issues and concerns that should be addressed in
the draft EIS, including the range of alternatives, appropriate
mitigation measures, and the nature and extent of potential
environmental impacts. Comments submitted during the earlier scoping
period do not need to be resubmitted.
DATES: To ensure that we have adequate time to evaluate and incorporate
suggestions and other input, we must receive your comments on or before
February 8, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments or requests for more information by one
of the following methods.
Email: Otay_NOI@fws.gov. Please include ``Otay Estuary NOI'' in
the subject line of the message
Fax: Attn: Brian Collins, (619) 476-9149
U.S. Mail: Brian Collins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, San Diego
National Wildlife Refuge Complex, P.O. Box 2358, Chula Vista, CA 91912
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Collins, Refuge Manager (619-
575-2704, extension 302), or Andrew Yuen, Project Leader (619-476-9150,
extension 100).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In 2006, we completed a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and
EIS/Record of Decision (ROD) to guide the management of the San Diego
Bay National Wildlife Refuge over a 15-year period (71 FR 64552,
November 2, 2006). The wildlife and habitat management goal of the
selected management alternative in the CCP for the South San Diego Bay
Unit is to ``Protect, manage, enhance, and restore * * * coastal
wetlands * * * to benefit the native fish, wildlife, and plant species
supported within the South San Diego Bay Unit.'' One of the strategies
identified to meet this goal is to restore native habitats in the Otay
River floodplain and the salt ponds. The wildlife and habitat
management goal of the selected alternative for the Sweetwater Marsh
Unit is to ``Protect, manage, enhance, and restore coastal wetland and
upland habitats to benefit native fish, wildlife, and plant species
within the Sweetwater Marsh Unit.'' The proposed restoration project
represents step-down restoration planning for the western portion of
the Otay River floodplain, salt ponds, and D Street Fill. The site-
specific EIS for this project will tier from the programmatic EIS and
ROD prepared for the CCP. Funding for the proposed restoration is being
provided by the Poseidon Resources Carlsbad Desalination Project to
fulfill part of their mitigation requirement for the desalination
project. On November 15, 2007, the California Coastal Commission
(Commission) approved a Coastal Development Permit (CDP No. E-06-013)
for the Poseidon desalination facility in Carlsbad, San Diego County.
As part of that approval, the Commission required Poseidon to implement
a Marine Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP).
In early 2010, Poseidon submitted an initial proposal to the
Commission identifying possible mitigation sites. The submittal
compared about a dozen potential sites in the Southern California Bight
and concluded that the Otay River floodplain portion of the San Diego
Bay NWR was most suited to provide the type and amount of mitigation
the MLMP required. Commission staff and members of the Commission's
Scientific Advisory Panel reviewed Poseidon's analysis and concurred
that the Otay River floodplain site was most likely to meet the MLMP
requirements and objectives. Final site selection required approval by
both the Commission and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control
Board (SDRWQCB). On February 9, 2011, the Commission unanimously
approved the Otay River floodplain site, and the site was approved by
the SDRWQCB on March 9, 2011. On October 15, 2012, the Commission's
Executive Director approved an 18-month extension to Poseidon Resources
to submit a Coastal Development Permit application based on the
potential additional benefits of restoration or partial restoration of
salt ponds as part of the Otay River Estuary Restoration Project. The
MLMP requirements and objectives are consistent with the goals and
objectives set forth in our CCP for the Otay River floodplain, salt
ponds, and D Street Fill.
Prior to implementation of the restoration project, the California
Coastal Commission must approve a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for
the proposed restoration. In accordance with the California
Environmental Quality Act, the CDP process is exempt from the
requirement of preparing an environmental impact report. The
Commission's staff report and findings related to the CDP application
for the project will be the environmental analysis document prepared
under the Commission's certified regulatory program. The Commission
will allow sufficient opportunity during the CDP process for public
review and comment.
Proposed Project
We propose to convert disturbed uplands within the western portion
of the Otay River floodplain and salt ponds
[[Page 1247]]
to functional estuarine and salt marsh habitats. We may also restore a
portion of the D Street Fill to salt marsh habitat. Upland buffers to
be provided around portions of the restored wetlands would be planted
with native upland and wetland/upland transitional vegetation. The
major goals of the project are to protect, manage, enhance, and restore
open water coastal wetlands and native upland to benefit native fish,
wildlife, and plant species supported within the South San Diego Bay
Unit and Sweetwater Marsh Unit of the San Diego Bay NWR and to provide
habitat for migratory shorebirds and other salt-marsh-dependent
species.
The uplands portion of the project site, which is located within
the City of San Diego to the west of Interstate 5 between Main Street
to the north and Palm Avenue to the south, is included entirely within
an area managed by the Service as a National Wildlife Refuge. The
eastern portion of the uplands site is owned by the Service in fee
title, while the western portion is leased to the Service by the State
Lands Commission. D Street Fill is located west of Interstate 5 and
south of the Sweetwater River. The Salt Ponds are located west of
Interstate 5 and south of the Chula Vista Marina.
In order to restore estuarine habitat in the Otay River floodplain,
we have initially estimated that approximately 75 acres would need to
be graded to provide both the wetland and upland components of the
proposed restoration. To achieve elevations appropriate for supporting
the desired estuarine habitat types, excavation of 3 to 11 feet of soil
over an area of approximately 65 acres would be required, generating an
estimated 750,000 to 1 million cubic yards of material. The excavated
soil may be used to create estuarine and salt marsh habitats in the
salt ponds, with the remainder being transported off site to an
approved disposal site. The proposed wetlands would be tidally
connected to San Diego Bay, directly and through the existing Otay
River channel. Additional grading to potentially deepen and widen the
Otay River channel from the western edge of the project site out to the
mouth of the river, and potentially dredging channels in the mudflats
to increase tidal circulation to the adjacent restored salt ponds, may
be needed pending hydraulic modeling. At the D Street Fill, material
would be excavated and removed to restore historic salt marsh.
Public Comment
We are furnishing this second notice in accordance with section
1501.7 of the NEPA implementing regulations, to obtain suggestions and
information from other agencies and the public on the scope of issues
to be addressed in the EIS. The Service is currently developing a range
of restoration alternatives to be analyzed in the draft EIS, and we
invite written comments from interested parties to ensure
identification of the full range of alternatives, issues, and concerns.
Information gathered through this scoping process will assist us in
developing a range of alternatives. A detailed description of the
proposed action and alternatives will be included in the EIS. The EIS
will also address the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the
alternatives on environmental resources and identify appropriate
mitigation measures for adverse environmental effects.
Written comments we receive become part of the public record
associated with this action. Before including your address, phone
number, email 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. 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.
In addition to providing written comments, the public is encouraged
to attend a public scoping meeting to provide us with suggestions and
information on the scope of issues and alternatives to consider when
drafting the EIS. A public scoping meeting will be held in San Diego
County, California, in early 2013. We will mail a separate announcement
to the public with the exact date, time, and location of the public
scoping meeting. Requests to be contacted about the scoping meeting
should be directed to the contact provided under ADDRESSES above. We
will accept both oral and written comments at the scoping meeting.
Written comments previously provided in response to the November 2011
notice of intent and during the December 2011 scoping meeting are part
of the public record and will be considered during our NEPA review.
Comments submitted previously do not need to be resubmitted.
NEPA Compliance
We will conduct environmental review in accordance with the
requirements of NEPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), its
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), other applicable
regulations, and our procedures for compliance with those regulations.
We anticipate that a draft EIS will be available for public review in
the winter of 2014.
Alexandra Pitts,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-00134 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
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