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Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Tacoma Water Department Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, WA
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 5, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 4)]
[Notices]
[Page 1089-1091]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05ja01-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[I.D. 122800C]
Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Tacoma Water Department Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, WA
AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for public review. The FEIS
addresses the proposed issuance of Incidental Take Permits (permits) to
the City of Tacoma, WA, Department of Public Utilities, Water Division
(Tacoma Water). The proposed permits relate to water withdrawal, forest
management, and timber harvest on City of Tacoma lands in King County,
WA. Tacoma Water submitted applications on December 23, 1999, to the
FWS and the NMFS (together, the Services) for permits pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act (the Act). The proposed permits would authorize
take of the following endangered or threatened species incidental to
otherwise lawful management activities: gray wolf (Canis lupis), bald
eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus
marmoratus marmoratus), northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis
caurina), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis),
Puget Sound chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and bull trout
(Salvelinus confluentus). Tacoma Water is also seeking coverage for 24
currently unlisted species under specific provisions of the permits,
should these species be listed in the future. The duration of the
proposed permits is 50 years. This notice is provided pursuant to the
ESA, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.
DATES: We will issue a Record of Decision and make a final permit
decision no sooner than 30 days after publication of this notice.
ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for addresses of locations
where you may review copies of the documents.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Tim Romanski, Project Biologist,
FWS, 510 Desmond Drive. S.E., Suite 102, Lacey, Washington, 98503-1273,
(360) 753-5823; or Mike Grady, Project Biologist, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point
Way NE, Bldg. 1, Seattle, Washington, 98115-0070, (206) 526-4645.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
Copies of the Statement, and all associated documents are available
for review at the following libraries:
The Olympia Timberland Library, Reference Desk, 313 8th Avenue SE,
Olympia, WA, (360)352-0595
Tacoma Main Public Library, 1102 Tacoma Avenue South, Tacoma, WA,
(253)591-5666
Enumclaw City Library, 1700 1st Street, Enumclaw, WA, (360)825-
2938; Auburn Public Library, 808 9th Street SE, Auburn, WA, (253)931-
3918
The Seattle Public Library, Government Publications Desk, 1000 4th
Avenue, Seattle, WA, (206)386-4636.
The documents are also available electronically on the World Wide
Web at http://www.r1.fws.gov/. Requests for documents or CD ROMs should
be made by calling the FWS at (360)534-9330.
Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations prohibit the
``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The term
take is defined under the Act to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage
in any such conduct. Harm is defined by the FWS to include significant
habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures
wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns,
[[Page 1090]]
including breeding, feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). The NMFS
definition of harm includes significant habitat modification or
degradation where it actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, spawning, rearing, feeding, and sheltering (64 FR 60727,
November 8, 1999).
The Services may issue permits, under limited circumstances, to
take listed species incidental to, and not for the purpose of,
otherwise lawful activities. FWS regulations governing permits for
endangered species are found at 50 CFR 17.22; and, regulations
governing permits for threatened species are found at 50 CFR 17.32.
NMFS regulations governing permits for threatened and endangered
species are found at 50 CFR 222.307.
Background
Tacoma Water owns land and conducts management activities in the
Green River Watershed in King County, WA. Management activities include
the following: (1) operation of a water diversion dam and associated
facilities (Headworks) on the Green River; (2) forest management on
approximately 14,888 acres (approximately 6025 hectares)of land
upstream of the Headworks diversion dam on both sides of the river; and
(3) well field operations (North Fork Well Field) located approximately
5 miles (8 kilometers) upstream of the Headworks. Tacoma Water operates
and manages the Headworks, watershed lands, and the North Fork Well
Field as the principal source of municipal and industrial water for the
City of Tacoma and portions of Pierce and King Counties. Howard Hanson
Dam (Dam) and Howard Hanson Reservoir (Reservoir), owned and operated
by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), are also located on the Green
River, upstream of the Headworks. City lands in the watershed are
adjacent to the Dam and Reservoir.
Current trends in planned population growth within the Puget Sound
region create a need for Tacoma Water to explore possibilities for
increasing its water supply capabilities. To meet forecasted demands,
Tacoma has developed two separate but related plans. The first of
these, the Second Supply Project, involves improvements at the
Headworks and the construction of a 33.5-mile (53.9 Kilometers) long
pipeline from the Headworks to the City of Tacoma. Upstream fish
passage around Tacoma's Headworks and the Dam would be provided by the
City of Tacoma as partial mitigation for the Second Supply Project.
This project is the subject of a State Environmental Policy Act review
in a document entitled ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Second Supply Project, October 18, 1994,'' prepared
by Tacoma Water. The second related plan was developed in conjunction
with the Corps (and in cooperation with the Services, the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, and
the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe), to increase the volume of water stored
behind the Dam during non-flood control periods (late spring, summer,
and early fall). Known as the Additional Water Storage Project, this
plan incorporates restoration and mitigation measures (including
downstream fish passage) to alleviate the historical barrier to
migrating salmon created by the Dam. The size of the Dam will not
change as a result of the Additional Water Storage Project. This
Additional Water Storage Project is the subject of a NEPA review in a
document entitled ``Additional Water Storage Project, Final Feasibility
Study Report and EIS, Howard Hanson Dam, Green River, Washington,
August, 1998,'' prepared by the Seattle District of the Corps.
Tacoma Water's activities associated with the Second Supply
Project, the Additional Water Storage Project, and other management
activities on the City's watershed lands have the potential to impact
species subject to protection under the Act. Section 10 of the Act
contains provisions for the issuance of Incidental Take 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. In addition, the applicant must prepare and
submit to the Services for approval an Habitat Conservation Plan(HCP)
containing a program for minimizing and mitigating, to the maximum
extent practicable, all take associated with the proposed activities.
The applicant must also ensure that adequate funding for the Plan will
be provided.
Tacoma Water has developed an HCP with technical assistance from
the Services, to obtain permits for their activities in the Green River
Watershed. Activities proposed for coverage under the permits include
the following.
(1) Water withdrawal at the Headworks for Municipal and Industrial
Water Supply. This withdrawal would reduce flows, have concomitant
habitat effects downstream, include the bypass of fish at the Headworks
intake, and inundate the small impoundment area.
(2) Water withdrawal from the North Fork Well Field for Municipal
and Industrial Water Supply, which would potentially reduce flows in
the North Fork Green River above the Reservoir.
(3) Construction of Headworks improvements (anticipated to occur
during a 2- year period).
Such construction would cause:
(a) bypassing of fish at the Headworks intake during construction;
(b) raising the existing diversion dam by approximately 6.5 ft
(approximately 2 meters) which would extend the inundation pool to
about 2,570 ft (approximately 783 meters) upstream of the Headworks
diversion;
(c) realigning and enlarging the existing intake and adding
upgraded fish screens and bypass facilities for downstream passage;
(d) reshaping the Green River channel downstream of the existing
diversion to accommodate the installation of an efficient trap-and-haul
facility for upstream fish passage;
(e) installing a new trap-and-haul facility for upstream fish
passage; and,
(f) installation, monitoring, and maintenance of the instream
structures in the impoundment for the Headworks dam raise fisheries
mitigation.
(4) Operating a downstream fish bypass facility at the Headworks.
(5) Tacoma watershed forest management activities, consisting of:
(a) watershed patrol and inspection;
(b) forest road construction, maintenance, and use;
(c) forest road culvert removal, replacement, and maintenance;
(d) timber harvest and hauling; and,
(e) silvicultural activities (e.g., planting, thinning, and
inventorying trees).
(6) Monitoring of downstream fish passage through a proposed fish
passage facility at the Dam, associated with the Additional Water
Supply Project.
(7) Monitoring and maintenance of Additional Water Supply Project
fish habitat restoration projects and Additional Water Supply Project
fish and wildlife habitat mitigation projects.
(8) Potential restoration of anadromous fish above the Dam by
trapping and hauling adults returning to the Headworks, and possible
planting of hatchery juveniles if found to be beneficial to
restoration.
The Services formally initiated an environmental review of the
project through a Federal Register notice on August 21, 1998 (63 FR
44918). This notice also announced a 30-day public scoping period
during which other agencies, tribes, and the public were invited to
provide comments and suggestions regarding issues and
[[Page 1091]]
alternatives to be considered. A second Federal Register notice was
published following the scoping period on January 20, 1999 (64 FR
3066), announcing the decision to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was
subsequently produced and made available for a 60-day public comment
period on January 14, 2000 (65 FR 2390). The comment period was
extended for 17 days to March 14, 2000 (65 FR 13947), in direct
response to requests from the public. This resulted in a total comment
period of 77 days. Comments received on the DEIS and responses to those
comments are included in the FEIS.
The analyses in the FEIS are done in two parts; one covering the
alternatives for water withdrawal activities, and the other covering
alternatives for land management activities in the upper watershed.
Three water withdrawal alternatives are analyzed in detail, including:
(1) the no action alternative; (2) the proposed HCP alternative; and,
(3) an alternative involving the construction of a new water withdrawal
facility approximately 30 miles downstream of the existing Tacoma
Headworks. Four additional water withdrawal options were identified
during scoping, but they are not analyzed in detail as alternatives to
the proposed action because they would not accomplish Tacoma's
objective of meeting current and future water demands, and/or because
highly speculative information would be required to adequately analyze
impacts.
Three alternatives are analyzed for Tacoma Water's watershed
management, including: (1) the no action alternative; (2) the proposed
HCP alternative; and, (3) a no commercial timber harvest alternative. A
fourth watershed management option was identified during public
scoping, but it was not analyzed in detail as an alternative to the
proposed action because it would not accomplish Tacoma's objective of
managing its watershed lands to protect water quality. Lastly, a fifth
alternative was identified during public review of the DEIS, involving
the state Forests and Fish Report. However, this was not fully analyzed
because the No Action and proposed conservation measures surpassed this
report, due to agreements Tacoma Water has with other stakeholders.
All water withdrawal and watershed land management alternatives
(except the no action alternatives) would provide incidental take
coverage for the same 32 fish and wildlife species. These include the
following listed species: gray wolf, bald eagle, marbled murrelet,
northern spotted owl, grizzly bear, Canada lynx, Puget Sound chinook
salmon, and the bull trout. Coverage is also being requested for 24
currently unlisted species (including anadromous and resident fish)
under specific provisions of the permits, should these species be
listed in the future. The duration of the proposed permits and Plan is
50 years.
This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act, and
NEPA regulations. The Services will evaluate the application,
associated documents, and comments submitted thereon to determine
whether the application meets the requirements of the Act and the NEPA.
If it is determined that the requirements are met, permits will be
issued for the incidental take of all covered species.
Dated: December 28, 2000.
Daniel Diggs,
Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1,
Portland, Oregon.
Dated: January 2, 2001.
Margaret Lorenz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-374 Filed 1-4-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-22 -S, 4310-55 -S