[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 148 (Friday, August 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44856-44857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17917]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-FHC-2014-N128; FXFR13340300000-145-FF03F00000]
Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Programmatic
Agreement; Ballville Dam Project, Sandusky County, Ohio
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is advising the public of the
availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the
Ballville Dam Project, in Sandusky County Ohio. Additionally, the
Service is advising the public of the availability of the final
Programmatic Agreement under Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act and its implementing regulations. The Service is
furnishing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an
opportunity to review and comment on these documents. All comments
received will become part of the public record and will be available
for review pursuant to NEPA.
DATES: Comments: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or
before September 2, 2014. The issuance of the Record of Decision (ROD)
will occur no sooner than 30 days after the publication of the
Environmental Protection Agency's notice of the Final Environmental
Impact Statement in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain copies for review by
one of the following methods:
Internet: You may obtain copies of the documents on the
Internet at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/ballville-dam.html.
U.S. Mail: You may obtain the documents by mail from the
Fisheries Office in the Midwest Regional Office (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
In-Person: You may view hard copies of the documents in
person at the following locations:
[cir] Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan Street, Fremont, OH
43420.
[cir] Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 4625
[[Page 44857]]
Morse Road, Suite 104, Columbus, OH 43230 (614-416-8993, voice; 614-
416-8994, fax).
[cir] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Regional Office,
Fisheries, 9th Floor, 5600 American Boulevard West, Suite 990,
Bloomington, MN 55437-1458 (612-713-5350, voice; 612-713-5292, fax).
Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following
methods:
U. S. Mail or Hand-Delivery: Brian Elkington, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Midwest Regional Office, Fisheries, 9th Floor,
5600 American Boulevard West, Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458.
Email: Ballvilledam@fws.gov.
Fax: 612-713-5289 (Attention: Brian Elkington).
We request that you send comments by only the methods described
above (see the Public Comments section below for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Elkington, 612-713-5168.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
We publish this notice in compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). The Service,
in conjunction with our cooperating agencies, prepared this FEIS for
the Ballville Dam Project with the intent to address the environmental,
economic, cultural and historical, and safety issues associated with
the proposed removal of the dam and a suite of alternatives.
Ballville Dam is currently a complete barrier to upstream fish
passage and impedes hydrologic processes. The purpose for the award of
Federal funds and preparation of this FEIS are to restore natural
hydrological processes over a 40-mile stretch of the Sandusky River,
re-open fish passage to 22 miles of new habitat, restore flow
conditions for fish access to new habitat above the impoundment, and
improve overall conditions for native fish communities in the Sandusky
River system both upstream and downstream of the Ballville Dam,
restoring self-sustaining fish resources.
Pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; 16 U.S.C.
470, 470f), the Service has initiated section 106 consultation with the
Ohio State Historic Preservation Office for the project. The section
106 process has been completed and the signed Programmatic Agreement is
included as an appendix to the FEIS.
Public Involvement
Public scoping for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
was first initiated in the form of a notice of intent to conduct a 30-
day scoping period published in the Federal Register on October 21,
2011 (76 FR 65526). Utilizing the public scoping comments, the Service
prepared a DEIS to analyze the effects of the alternatives. The DEIS
was released for a 60-day public comment on January 27, 2014 (79 FR
4354). A public meeting was held on February 19, 2014, at Terra State
Community College, 2830 Napoleon Road, Fremont, OH 43420 to solicit
additional input from the public on the DEIS. The official comment
period ended on March 28, 2014. Twenty-nine comments were received, and
were used to further focus the EIS. The comments and responses have
been included as an appendix to the FEIS.
Public Comments
You may submit your comments and materials concerning this notice
by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you send
comments only by one of the methods described in ADDRESSES.
If you submit a 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.
Authority
We provide this notice under NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and it's
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR Part 46), and section
106 of the NHPA (16 U.S.C. 470, 470f) and its implementing regulations
(36 CFR part 800). A decision in the form of a ROD will be made no
sooner than 30 days after the publication of the EPA's FEIS notice in
the Federal Register.
Aaron Woldt,
Deputy Assistant Regional Director, Fisheries, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-17917 Filed 7-31-14; 8:45 am]
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