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Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: May 30, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 104)]
[Notices]
[Page 34493-34494]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30my00-70]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), this notice advises other agencies and the public that the
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) intends to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) related to the proposed issuance of an
Incidental Take Permit (Permit) to the Foster Creek Conservation
District (District) in Douglas County, Washington for take of
endangered and threatened species, pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). As required by
the Act, the District is preparing a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan).
The Plan is being developed to address agricultural practices
throughout Douglas County, and may include management activities on
dryland crop farms, livestock ranches, and irrigated orchards. With
issuance of the Permit, participating landowners would receive
regulatory certainty with regard to the requirements of the Act by
implementing the measures prescribed in the Plan.
The Service is furnishing this notice in order to advise other
agencies and the public of our intentions and to announce the
initiation of a minimum 30-day public scoping period. During the
scoping period, other agencies and the public are invited to provide
written comments on the scope of issues to be included in the EIS,
which is expected to be available for public review and comment during
the second quarter of 2001. Interested parties are encouraged to attend
the scoping workshops or to provide written comments on the scope of
the issues and range of alternatives for the draft EIS.
DATES: Written comments regarding the scope of the issues and range of
alternatives for the draft EIS should be received on or before July 14,
2000. Scoping workshops will be held on June 29, 2000 (see ADDRESSES
for times and location).
ADDRESSES: Comments and requests for additional information should be
submitted to Chris Warren, Fish and Wildlife Service, 11103 East
Montgomery Drive, Spokane, Washington, 99206, or call (509) 8916839.
Scoping workshops will be held at the North-central Washington,
Fairground, 601 North Monroe Street, Waterville, Washington, 98858. The
workshops will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
on June 29, 2000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Conservation districts are legal
subdivisions of the Washington State government, with powers and duties
set forth in accordance with the Revised Code of Washington (RCW
89.08). Among other things, conservation districts are authorized to
develop comprehensive long-range programs for the conservation of
natural resources within their boundaries, to enter into agreements
with other State and Federal agencies and the districts' landowners,
and to administer the programs of other State and Federal agencies
concerned with the conservation of natural resources. Based upon this
authority, the Service anticipates the development of a programmatic
Plan by the District. Upon completion and approval of detailed, site-
specific farm plans that implement the terms of the programmatic Plan,
individual landowners will receive permit coverage under section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Act through Certificates of Inclusion.
Douglas County is located in central Washington and encompasses
over one million acres of land. It is anticipated that the activities
covered under the Permit will include operation and management of
dryland crop farms, liverstock ranches (each comprising roughly 48
percent of the country's total agricultural land base), and fruit
orchards (comprising roughly 4 percent). Grazing activities that may be
addressed include, among others, stocking types and rates, timing, use
levels, and management of livestock facilities (fencing, holding areas,
transportation, etc.). Farming activities that may be include are,
among others, planting types and techniques, crop rotation, timing,
weed and pest control, management of facilities, and irrigation
activities. It is also anticipated that the measures of proposed Plan
and Permit coverage will be coordinated with existing Federal and State
programs for private landowners in Douglas County (Conservation Reserve
Program, other Farm Bill programs, private lands initiatives, etc.).
The District tentatively proposes that the Plan and Permit be in effect
for 50 years.
Agricultural activities on private lands and the management
activities of the District, along with those of other State and Federal
agencies in Douglas County, have the potential to impact species
subject to protection under the Act, as well as other unlisted species
of concern to the Service. Section 10 of the Act contains provisions
for the issuance of Permits to non-Federal landowners for the take of
endangered and threatened species, provided the take is incidental to
otherwise lawful activities and will not appreciably reduce the
likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild. To
received section 10 coverage under the act, applicants must prepare and
submit to the Service for approval a Plan containing a strategy for
minimizing and mitigating to the maximum extent practicable all take
associated with the proposed activities. Applicants must also
demonstrate that adequate funding will be provided to ensure the Plan
will be implemented and monitored throughout its proposed life span.
The mandatory elements of Plan and the criteria for issuance of Permits
are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR 17.22, 17.32,
and 222.22).
[[Page 34494]]
Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations prohibit the taking of
any species listed as endangered or threatened. The term take is
defined under the Act to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, would,
kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such
conduct. Harm is defined to include significant habitat modification or
degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, and sheltering.
The species currently listed under the Act that are being proposed
for coverage under the Permit include the Columbia River Basin
population of the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and the
coterminous United States population of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus
leucocephalus), both currently listed as threatened. The District also
plan to address a number of unlisted fish and wildlife species in the
Plan, such as the western sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus
phaios), Colombian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus
columbianus), and the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), among
other. Should any of the unlisted species addressed in the Plan be
listed under the Act in the future, participating landowners would
receive incidental take coverage for them under the specific provisions
of the Permit. The District also plans to seek separate Permit coverage
for several species listed under the Act that fall within the purview
of the Secretary of Commerce, as administered by the National Marine
Fisheries Service, including the upper Columbia River Basin populations
of spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead ( O.
mykiss), both listed as endangered, and the middle Columbia River
population of steelhead, listed as threatened.
Under NEPA, reasonable alternatives to a proposed project must be
developed and considered in the Service's environmental review. At a
minimum, the alternatives developed must include: (1) A No Action
alternative, which describes current management and resource conditions
and potential future impacts incurred under this scenario; and (2) the
Proposed Action, with thorough descriptions of its management features
and anticipated resource conservation benefits and potential impacts.
For the present environmental review, the No Action alternative will
reflect the baseline conditions in Douglas County under current
agricultural management practices. The Proposed action alternative will
be represented by the District's Plan and its associated management
measures. Additional project alternatives may be developed based upon
input received from this and future scoping notices during development
of the EIS.
Comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties to
ensure that the full range of issues related to these proposed actions
are addressed and that all significant issues are identified. The
Service requests that comments be as specific as possible. Comments are
specifically requested to include information regarding: the direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts that implementation of the proposal
could have on endangered and threatened species and their habitats;
other possible alternatives; potential adaptive management and/or
monitoring provisions; funding issues; baseline environmental
conditions in Douglas County; other plans or projects that might be
relevant to this project; and minimization and mitigation efforts. In
addition to considering impacts on listed species and their habitats,
the EIS must include information on impacts resulting from the
alternatives on other components of the human environment. These other
components include such things as air quality, water quality and
quantity, geology and soils, cultural resources, other fish and
wildlife species, social resources, and economic resources.
The environmental review for this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
Federal regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), other
appropriate Federal laws and regulations, and the policies and
procedures of the Service for compliance with those regulations.
Dated: May 22, 2000.
Carolyn A. Bohan,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 0013385 Filed 52600; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 431055M