[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 179 (Monday, September 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56921-56922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22438]
[[Page 56921]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-R-2013-N089; FXRS282108E8PD0-134-F2013227943]
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, Phase 2 (Ponds R3, R4,
R5, S5, A1, A2W, A8, A8S, A19, A20, and A21) at the Don Edwards
National Wildlife Refuge; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent; announcement of meeting; request for public
comments.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in
coordination with the California State Coastal Conservancy, are
preparing a joint environmental impact statement/environmental impact
report (EIS/EIR) for the proposed restoration of ponds R3, R4, R5, S5,
A1, A2W, A8, A8S, A19, A20, and A21 at the Don Edwards National
Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo
Counties, California.
The proposed project is Phase 2 of the South Bay Salt Pond
Restoration Project and consists of restoring and enhancing over 2,000
acres of tidal wetlands and managed pond habitats in the South San
Francisco Bay. It would also include storage and use of upland fill and
dredged material in one or more of the seasonal ponds in the Refuge or
on the levees that surround them. Phase 2 may also include
collaborative restoration and/or flood management activities with non-
USFWS landowners or managers of public infrastructure on adjacent
properties.
This notice advises the public that we intend to gather information
necessary to prepare an EIS pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA). We encourage the public and other agencies to
participate in the NEPA scoping process by attending the public scoping
meeting and/or by sending written suggestions and information on the
issues and concerns that should be addressed in the draft EIS/EIR,
including the range of alternatives, appropriate mitigation measures,
and the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts.
DATES: To ensure that we have adequate time to evaluate and incorporate
suggestions and other input, we must receive your comments on or before
October 16, 2013. A public scoping meeting will be held on September
24, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the San Jose Santa Clara Water
Pollution Control Plant located at 700 Los Esteros Road, San Jose,
California. The details of the public scoping meeting will be posted on
the SBSP Restoration Project's Web site (http://www.southbayrestoration.org/events/). Scoping meeting details will also
be emailed to the Project's Stakeholder Forum and to those interested
parties who request to be notified. Notification requests can be made
by emailing the SBSP Restoration Project's public outreach coordinator,
Ariel Ambruster at aambrust@ccp.csus.edu or (510)-528-5006.
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public scoping meeting should contact Ariel
Ambruster, at aambrust@ccp.csus.edu or (510) 528-5006, at least 1 week
in advance of the meeting to allow time to process the request.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Eric Mruz, Refuge Manager, Don
Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1 Marshlands Road,
Fremont, CA 94555, or to Brenda Buxton, Project Manager, State Coastal
Conservancy, 1330 Broadway, 13th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612.
Alternatively, you may send written comments by facsimile to (510)
792-5828, or via email through the public comments link on the SBSP
Restoration Project Web site, at www.southbayrestoration.org/Question_Comment.html. Your correspondence should indicate which pond complex or
issue your comments pertain to.
To have your name added to our mailing list, contact Ariel
Ambruster; telephone (510) 528-5006; email aambrust@ccp.csus.edu.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Morkill, Project Leader, USFWS,
(510) 792-0222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In December 2007, the USFWS and the CDFW published a Final EIS/EIR
for the SBSP Restoration Project at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) and the California Department of Fish
and Wildlife Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. The overall south bay
salt pond restoration area includes 15,100 acres which the USFWS and
the CDFW acquired from Cargill, Inc. in 2003. The lands acquired from
Cargill are divided into three pond complexes. The Ravenswood Pond
Complex, in San Mateo County, is managed by the USFWS. The Alviso Pond
complex is managed by the USFWS, which is mostly in Santa Clara County
with five ponds in Alameda County. The Eden Landing Pond Complex, in
Alameda County, is owned and managed by the CDFW. The SBSP Restoration
Project presented in the Final EIS/EIR was both programmatic, covering
a 50-year period, as well as project-level, addressing the specific
components and implementation of Phase 1.
In January 2008, we signed a Record of Decision selecting the Tidal
Emphasis Alternative (Alternative C) for implementation. This
alternative will result in 90 percent of the USFWS's ponds on the
Refuge being restored to tidal wetlands and 10 percent converted to
managed ponds. Under Phase 1 of Alternative C, we restored ponds E8A,
E8X, E9, E12, and E13 at the Eden Landing complex; A6, A8, A16, and A17
at the Alviso complex; and SF2 at the Ravenswood complex. We also added
several trails, interpretive features, and other recreational access
points. Construction is being completed in 2013.
We now propose restoration or enhancement of over 2,000 acres of
former salt ponds in the second phase of the SBSP Restoration Project.
In this Phase 2 DEIS/EIR, we would provide project level analysis of
proposed restoration or enhancement of portions of the following three
geographically separate pond clusters: the Ravenswood Pond Complex (R3,
R4, R5, and S5), the Alviso Pond Complex--Mountain View Ponds (A1 and
A2W), the Alviso Pond Complex--A8 Ponds (A8 and A8S), and the Alviso
Pond Complex--Island Ponds (A19, A20, and A21). Phase 2 may also
include collaborative restoration and flood management activities with
non-USFWS landowners of adjacent lands and managers of public
infrastructures. These pond clusters are illustrated in Figures 1-5 on
the SBSP Restoration Project Web site at http://www.southbayrestoration.org/planning/phase2/.
Phase 2 of the SBSP Restoration Project is intended to restore and
enhance tidal wetlands and managed pond habitats in South San Francisco
Bay while providing for flood management and wildlife-oriented public
access and recreation. In Phase 2, we would continue habitat
restoration activities in each pond complex, while also providing
recreation and public access opportunities and maintaining or improving
current levels of flood protection in the surrounding communities.
Phase 2 actions are also being planned for implementation at the Eden
Landing Pond Complex, which is owned and managed by the CDFW as part of
the Eden Landing Wildlife
[[Page 56922]]
Sanctuary, but these actions will be addressed under a separate NEPA/
CEQA process. We will address activities at other ponds in subsequent
phases.
Alternatives
We will consider a range of alternatives and their impacts in the
EIS/EIR, including the No Action/No Project Alternative. Scoping will
be an early and open process designed to determine the issues and
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. The range of alternatives
may include varying approaches to restoring tidal marshes and enhancing
managed ponds, as well as varying levels and means of flood management
and recreation and public access components which correspond to the
project objectives. The EIS/EIR will identify the anticipated effects
of the alternatives (both negative and beneficial) and describe and
analyze direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of each alternative.
NEPA Compliance
This EIS/EIR is a project-level environmental document that is
tiered from the 2007 Final EIS/EIR for the SBSP Restoration Project.
Information gathered through this scoping process will assist us in
developing a reasonable range of alternatives to address the
restoration of the Phase 2 salt ponds of the Refuge and collaborative
integration with adjacent landowners and operators of public
infrastructure. A detailed description of the proposed action and
alternatives will be included in the EIS/EIR. For each issue or
potential impact identified, the EIS/EIR will include a discussion of
the parameters used in evaluating the impacts as well as recommended
mitigation, indicating the effectiveness of mitigation measures
proposed to be implemented and what, if any, additional measures would
be required to reduce the impacts to a less-than-significant level. The
EIS/EIR will include an analysis of the restoration, flood management,
and recreation and public access components associated with the
proposed restoration.
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.
The environmental document will be prepared to meet both the
requirements of NEPA and the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). The California State Coastal Conservancy is the CEQA lead
agency. We anticipate that a draft EIS/EIR will be available for public
review early in 2014.
Public Comment
We are furnishing this 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/EIR. We invite written comments from interested
parties to ensure identification of the full range of issues.
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 you comment to withhold your personal identifying information
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Public Scoping Meeting
In addition to providing written comments, the public is encouraged
to attend a public scoping meeting on September 24, 2013, to provide us
with suggestions and information on the scope of issues and
alternatives to consider when drafting the EIS/EIR. The location of the
public scoping meeting is provided in the DATES section above.
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should contact us at the address
listed in the ADDRESSES section no later than 1 week before the public
meeting. Information regarding the proposed restoration is available in
alterative formats upon request. We will accept written comments at the
scoping meeting or afterwards.
Alexandra Pitts,
Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-22438 Filed 9-13-13; 8:45 am]
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