[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73332-73333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28891]
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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R8-FAC-2014-N224]
Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report Regarding
the Delta Research Station--Estuarine Research Station and Fish
Technology Center Project
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
and State CEQA Guidelines, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) intend to
prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact
Report (EIS/EIR) to evaluate impacts regarding construction and
operation of the Delta Research Station (DRS) in the San Francisco Bay/
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta), California. The
planned DRS would consist of two facilities, a proposed Estuarine
Research Station (ERS) and Fish Technology Center (FTC). The USFWS will
be the lead Federal agency responsible for coordinating the
environmental analysis for the proposed action under NEPA. DWR will be
the lead State agency responsible for coordinating the environmental
analysis under CEQA. With this notice, USFWS and DWR are announcing the
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and
identify issues.
DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping processes for the EIS/
EIR. Comments on issues must be submitted in writing and postmarked
January 9, 2015. Two scoping meetings will be held during the scoping
period, one in Rio Vista and one in Stockton. The dates and locations
of these scoping meetings will be announced at least 15 days in advance
through the project Web site at www.deltaresearchstation.com.
ADDRESSES: Comments and requests for information related to the
preparation of the EIS/EIR should be sent to USFWS, Attn: Barbara
Beggs, 650 Capitol Mall Suite 8-300, Sacramento, CA 95691; and/or
emailed to barbara_beggs@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Beggs, USFWS, at 916-930-5637.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview of the DRS
USFWS and DWR are currently planning development of the DRS, a
science and research center in the Bay-Delta, which would consolidate a
number of existing and new activities into the proposed ERS and FTC and
bring together Federal and State agency staff working on similar Bay-
Delta issues.
Project Purpose
The purpose of the DRS is to enhance interagency coordination and
collaboration by developing a shared research facility. The DRS would
advance the interests of researchers, local communities, and others
that are dependent on the Bay-Delta. The DRS is needed because current
Federal and State agency staff working on similar Bay-Delta issues are
spread out in different locations, located in areas remote from the
Bay-Delta, or have limited resources, inhibiting efficient research and
monitoring efforts and collaboration.
The specific objectives of each component of the DRS are as
follows:
ERS--
[cir] Establish a research station in a central location within the
Bay-Delta to facilitate ease of conducting monitoring and research; and
[cir] Co-locate the research station with a facility capable of
studying fish in captivity (i.e., the FTC); and
[cir] Provide facilities to conduct monitoring and research on the
Bay-Delta's aquatic resources.
FTC--
[cir] Develop captive propagation technologies for the Bay-Delta's
rare fish species;
[cir] Test and refine the captive propagation techniques;
[cir] Locate the facility where suitable water quality and quantity
are available, and ability to discharge waste water given its various
functions and operations is available; and
[cir] Co-locate the FTC with a facility conducting conservation
research on Bay-Delta rare fish species (i.e., the ERS).
Proposed Action and Alternatives
At this time, USFWS and DWR are proposing development of the ERS
and FTC, as these facilities would be co-located with one another and
potentially built at the same time. Collectively, these facilities are
referred as the proposed action. Currently, three potential
alternatives plus the no action/no project alternative are being
considered for the proposed ERS and FTC. The first two potential
alternatives involve locating the facilities at the Rio Vista Army Base
in the City of Rio Vista, with each alternative representing a
different site configuration within the base. The third alternative is
to locate the facilities in the City of Stockton, California. All
alternatives would be evaluated at an equal level of detail in the EIS/
EIR. Below is a description of the two proposed facilities.
Proposed Facilities
The ERS would be a center for research and study of the Bay-Delta
ecosystem. The ERS would provide improved and additional facilities for
science and research activities and would consolidate over 160 State
and Federal employees from the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP).
The IEP is a multi-agency cooperative effort to provide ecological
information to support management of the Bay-Delta. The IEP monitors,
researches, models, and synthesizes critical information in the Bay-
Delta to support water management and planning and protection of fish
and aquatic ecosystems. ERS facilities would include office and
workspace, wet and dry laboratory facilities, warehouse and boat
storage space, a marina, and a vehicle and boat repair shop. Laboratory
facilities would include optical equipment (e.g., microscopes), fume
hoods, computer stations, and water tanks of various sizes for
processing of field samples and experimental studies of fish and
ecology. The ERS would also include a dry electrical lab to house
electronic sensing, monitoring, and telecommunications equipment used
to monitor tagged fish and the estuarine environment. The ERS would be
managed by DWR.
The FTC would be a center for propagation, research, conservation,
and study of rare Bay-Delta fishes. The FTC is also intended to house
and maintain a refugial population of rare fish species (i.e.,
captively raised fish). The FTC would include research and study
facilities, an office and administration building, a shop and vehicle
storage building, a water treatment facility for surface water, and an
effluent treatment facility. The FTC would include separate aquaculture
and research components for individual study species and a laboratory
space to support water quality, genetic, and fish health analysis. The
FTC would be managed by USFWS and would be sited immediately adjacent
to the ERS.
Statutory Authority
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that Federal agencies
conduct an environmental analysis of their
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proposed actions to determine if the actions may significantly affect
the human environment. Under NEPA and its implementing regulations (40
CFR 1500 et seq.), a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed
action is developed and considered in the EIS/EIR. In addition, the
EIS/EIR will identify potentially significant direct, indirect, and
cumulative effects, and possible mitigation for those significant
effects on environmental issues that could occur with implementation of
the proposed action.
Identification of Environmental Issues
The EIS/EIR will evaluate potential environmental impacts from the
ERS and FTC. This notice is intended to inform agencies and the public
of the potential environmental impacts of the facilities, and to
solicit comments and suggestions for consideration in the preparation
of the EIS/EIR. To help the public frame its comments, the following is
a list of several potential environmental issues that USFWS and DWR
have identified for analysis:
1. Aesthetics
2. Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
3. Biological Resources--Terrestrial
4. Biological Resources--Fisheries
5. Cultural Resources
6. Geology and Soils
7. Hazards and Hazardous Materials
8. Hydrology and Water Quality
9. Land Use and Planning
10. Noise
11. Population and Housing
12. Public Services, Utilities, and Energy
13. Socioeconomics and Environmental Justice
14. Traffic and Transportation
Request for Comments
Environmental review of the EIS/EIR will be conducted in accordance
with the requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), its
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), other applicable
regulations, and the USFWS' procedures for compliance with those
regulations; and according to the requirements of CEQA (PRC Section
21000 et seq.) and State CEQA Guidelines (California Code of
Regulations Title 14 Section 15000 et seq.). This notice is being
furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22 to obtain
suggestions and information from interested agencies, organizations,
Native American Tribes, and members of the public on the scope of
issues and alternatives that will be addressed in the EIS/EIR. The
primary purpose of the scoping process is to identify important issues
raised by the public related to development of the proposed action.
Written comments from interested parties are invited to ensure that the
full range of issues related to the development of the proposed action
is identified. Comments during this stage of the scoping process will
only be accepted in written form. All comments received, including
names and addresses, will become part of the official administrative
record and may be made available to the public.
Public Availability of Comments
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.
Next Steps
After this scoping process, USFWS and DWR will review public
comments and then prepare and make publicly available a draft EIS/EIR
for comment.
Alexandra Pitts,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-28891 Filed 12-9-14; 8:45 am]
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