![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement Related to the King County, WA, Habitat Conservation Plan
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: June 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 111)]
[Notices]
[Page 34584-34586]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10jn03-29]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
[I.D. 050103A]
Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement Related to the King County, WA, Habitat
Conservation Plan
AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce; U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
in accordance with the Washington State Environmental Policy Act, this
notice advises the public that the USFWS and NMFS (collectively, the
Services) intend to gather information necessary to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS is for the potential
approval of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and issuance of two
incidental take permits (from NMFS and from the USFWS) to take seven
endangered and threatened species and 22 unlisted species in accordance
with the Endangered Species Act, as amended (ESA). The permit applicant
is King County, WA, Department of Natural Resources and Parks,
Wastewater Treatment Division (King County). The application is related
to construction, operation, and maintenance activities associated with
a regional wastewater conveyance and treatment system in western King,
Snohomish, and Pierce Counties, WA (permit activities).
The Services provide this notice to: (1) advise other agencies and
the public of our intentions; and (2) obtain suggestions and
information on the scope of issues to include in the EIS.
DATES: Written comments are encouraged, and should be received on or
before August 11, 2003. The Services will jointly hold public scoping
meetings on the following dates:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date Time Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 17, 2003......................... 3 - 6 King Street Center, 201
p.m. S. Jackson Street, 8th
Floor Conference
Center, Seattle, WA
June 24, 2003......................... 6 - 8 Kohlwes Education
p.m. Center, 300 SW 7th
Street, Renton, WA
June 26, 2003......................... 6 - 8 Northshore Utility
p.m. District, 6830 NE 185th
Street, Kenmore, WA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADDRESSES: Address comments and requests for information related to
preparation of the EIS, or requests to be added to the mailing list for
this project, to Jon Avery, USFWS, 510 Desmond Drive S.E., Suite 102,
Lacey, WA 98503-1273; facsimile 360-753-9518; or to Phyllis Meyers,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-6349.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jon Avery, USFWS, 360-753-5824; or
Phyllis Meyers, NMFS, 206-526-4506.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NEPA requires Federal agencies to conduct an environmental analysis
of their proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the
human environment. The Services expect to take action on ESA section
10(a)(1)(B) permit applications anticipated from the King County
Wastewater Treatment Division. Therefore, the Services are seeking
public input on the scope of the required NEPA analysis, including the
range of reasonable alternatives and associated impacts of any
alternatives.
Section 9 of the ESA and implementing regulations prohibit the
``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The term
take is defined under the ESA to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage
in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532 (19)). Harm is defined by the USFWS
to include significant habitat modification or
[[Page 34585]]
degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by
significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including
breeding, feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). 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, feeding, spawning,
migrating, rearing, and sheltering (64 FR 60727, November 8, 1999).
Section 10 of the ESA contains provisions for the issuance of
incidental take permits to non-Federal landowners for the take of
endangered and threatened species, provided that all permit issuance
criteria are met, including the requirement that 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 HCP containing a strategy for minimizing and mitigating
all take associated with the proposed activities to the maximum extent
practicable. The applicant must also ensure that adequate funding for
the HCP will be provided.
King County needs permits because some its activities have the
potential to take listed species. Therefore, King County intends to
request permits from NMFS and FWS for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), and five other
listed species (see table below). King County also plans to seek
coverage for approximately 22 currently unlisted fish and wildlife
species including Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), proposed for listing
under the ESA's similarity of appearance provisions, and the Western
yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), a candidate for listing
under the ESA under specific provisions of the proposed incidental take
permits, should these species be listed in the future.
Federally Listed Species Proposed for Coverage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsible
Common Name Scientific Name Status Agency
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinook salmon.......... Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Threatened NMFS
Bull trout.............. Salvelinus confluentus Threatened USFWS
Leatherback sea turtle.. Dermochelys coriacea Endangered USFWS/NMFS
Marbled murrelet........ Brachyramphus marmoratus Threatened USFWS
Bald eagle.............. Haliaeetus leucocephalus Threatened USFWS
Steller's sea lion...... Eumetopias jubatus Endangered NMFS
Humpback whale.......... Megaptera novaeangliae Endangered NMFS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
King County owns and operates a regional wastewater conveyance and
treatment system that serves 1.3 million people in the greater Seattle
area. The system receives wastewater from a 420-square-mile area in
King County and parts of Snohomish and Pierce Counties. Using an
extensive network of pipes and pumps, King County currently conveys
wastewater collected from local sewer districts to one of two regional
treatment plants, where it undergoes both primary and secondary
treatment before it is discharged into Puget Sound through outfalls
located offshore of West Point and Duwamish Head.
In response to projected population growth within the Puget Sound
region, King County has developed the Regional Wastewater Services Plan
(RWSP), which enumerates the new and expanded facilities that King
County will need throughout its three-county service area to meet
increased demand for its wastewater conveyance and treatment services
over the next 40 years. The RWSP is the subject of a Washington State
Environmental Policy Act document entitled ``Final Environmental Impact
Statement for the Regional Wastewater Services Plan, April 1998,''
prepared by the Wastewater Treatment Division of the King County
Department of Natural Resources. Construction, operation, and
maintenance activities associated with some new or expanded facilities
called for in the RWSP, as well as those same activities associated
with some existing King County facilities, have the potential to impact
species subject to protection under Section 9 of the ESA.
King County has initiated discussions with the Services regarding
the possibility of receiving permits that would cover take of listed
species incidental to the following otherwise lawful activities:
(1) King County's existing and proposed secondary treated effluent
discharges permitted under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System;
(2) Construction, operation, and maintenance activities associated
with King County's existing and proposed effluent discharge outfalls;
(3) Construction, operation, and maintenance activities associated
with King County's existing and proposed wastewater treatment
facilities;
(4) Construction, operation, and maintenance activities associated
with King County's existing and proposed conveyance facilities;
(5)King County habitat restoration projects, water quality
improvement projects, water quality and fish habitat monitoring
programs, and adaptive management activities intended to avoid,
minimize, and mitigate the impacts of King County activities (1)- (4)
on the proposed covered species, to the maximum extent practicable.
The King County Wastewater Treatment Division is currently
considering the following types of conservation measures for the
proposed Habitat Conservation Plan:
(a) A program of land conservation for the preservation,
enhancement, or creation of suitable habitats for species addressed in
the HCP to mitigate impacts associated with proposed construction
activities;
(b) Development of new construction best management practices to
avoid or minimize construction impacts on species addressed in the HCP;
(c) Commitment to continuing certain wastewater source control
activities that are currently voluntary, targeted at reducing potential
environmental risks by removing wastes before they are discharged into
the sewer system;
(d) Implementation of an adaptive management program with ongoing
monitoring and adjustment of covered activities.
Under NEPA, a reasonable range of alternatives to a proposed
project must be developed and considered in the Services' environmental
review. At a minimum, the alternatives developed must include: (1) A No
Action alternative, 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 Services
[[Page 34586]]
intend to review the HCP and to prepare an EIS. The environmental
review will analyze King County's proposed HCP, a ``No Action''
alternative reflecting the baseline conditions in King, Pierce, and
Snohomish Counties under current wastewater treatment practices, as
well as a full range of reasonable alternatives and the associated
impacts of each. The Services are currently in the process of
developing alternatives for analysis. Additional project alternatives
may be developed based on 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 this proposed action
and all significant issues are identified. The Services request that
comments be as specific as possible. In particular, we request
information regarding: the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts
that implementation of the proposed HCP could have on endangered and
threatened and other covered species and their communities and
habitats; other possible alternatives; potential adaptive management
and/or monitoring provisions; funding issues; baseline environmental
conditions in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties; other plans or
projects that might be relevant to this proposed project; and
minimization and mitigation efforts.
In addition to considering potential impacts on listed and other
covered species and their habitats, the EIS could include information
on potential impacts resulting from alternatives on other components of
the human environment. These other components could include air
quality, water quality and quantity, geology and soils, cultural
resources, social resources, economic resources, and environmental
justice.
Comments or questions concerning this proposed action and the
environmental review should be directed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service or NMFS at the address or telephone numbers provided above. All
comments and materials received, including names and addresses, will
become part of the administrative record and may be released to the
public.
The environmental review of this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (42 USC 4321 et seq.), National Environmental
Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), other appropriate Federal
laws and regulations, and policies and procedures of the Services for
compliance with those regulations.
Dated: May 5, 2003.
David Wesley,
Deputy Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1,
Portland, Oregon
Dated: June 4, 2003.
Phil Williams,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-14580 Filed 6-9-03; 8:45 am]