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Lyle Falls Fish Passage Project
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: June 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 122)]
[Notices]
[Page 36329-36330]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26jn06-46]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration
Lyle Falls Fish Passage Project
AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and notice of floodplain and wetlands involvement.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces BPA's intention to prepare an EIS on
proposed improvements to the Lyle Falls Fishway in Klickitat County,
near Lyle, Washington. The improvements would ease fish passage to
upstream high quality habitat in the Klickitat Basin and improve
capabilities to trap and handle adult fish. The project is designed to
meet state and Federal fish passage criteria for all salmonid species,
including mid-Columbia steelhead, which are listed as threatened under
the Endangered Species Act.
This action may involve floodplains and wetlands located in
Klickitat County, Washington. In accordance with DOE regulations for
compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review
requirements, BPA will prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment and
will design this proposed action in a manner so as to avoid or minimize
potential harm to or within the affected floodplain and wetlands. The
assessment and a floodplain statement of findings will be included in
the EIS being prepared for
[[Page 36330]]
the proposed project in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act.
DATES: Written comments are due to the address below no later than:
July 26, 2006. Comments may also be made at an EIS scoping meeting to
be held on July 11, 2006 at the address below.
ADDRESSES: Comments and suggestions on the proposed scope of the Draft
EIS, and requests to be placed on the project mailing list, may be
mailed to Bonneville Power Administration, Public Affairs Office--DKC-
7, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, OR, 97293-4428. Or, you may fax them to
(503) 230-3285; submit them on-line at http://www.bpa.gov/comment; 
or e-mail them to comment@bpa.gov. You may also call us toll-free with
your comments at (800) 622-4519. Please reference the Lyle Falls Fish
Passage Project with your comments.
On Tuesday, July 11, 2006, a scoping meeting will be held from 7
p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lyle Lions Community Center, 5th Street and State
Highway 14, Lyle, Washington. At this meeting, we will provide
information about the project, including maps, and have members of the
project team available to answer questions. We look forward to
accepting oral and written comments offered on the project.
We also invite interested parties to attend a site visit that is
planned for 3 p.m., Tuesday, July 11, 2006, to view the proposed
project site. To get to the project site from State Highway 14 in the
town of Lyle, take Route 142 north for about two miles, then turn west
onto Fishers Hill Road. Cross the Klickitat River and follow the road
for less than one-fourth mile. Make a right onto an unpaved road and
proceed about seven hundred feet. There will be signs provided to help
direct traffic.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Carl J. Keller, Environmental Project
Manager, Bonneville Power Administration, KEC-4, P.O. Box 3621,
Portland, Oregon, 97208-3621; toll-free telephone number (800) 622-
4519; fax number (503) 230-5699; e-mail address cjkeller@bpa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: BPA is a federal power marketing
agency that markets power from many of the federal dams in the Columbia
River Basin, and has a duty to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish
affected by the construction and operation of those dams. The Yakama
Nation, through the Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council,
has proposed that BPA fund the reconstruction of the existing fish
passage facility as part of those mitigation responsibilities. The
proposed project in on the Klickitat River in Klickitat County,
Washington in T3N, R12E, west half of Section 25 and east half of
Section 26. The location is about two miles upriver of the confluence
of the Klickitat River with the Columbia River. Currently the Lyle
Falls Fishway does not meet federal and state fish passage criteria for
migrating adult salmon. Design flows in the existing fishway result in
poor attraction flows throughout the year, and significantly reduced
attraction flows during periods of low river discharge (August--
September). During these periods of low flows the natural falls become
an even greater obstruction to salmon and steelhead, resulting in
lowered passage above Lyle Falls.
Proposed Action: The proposed action is to improve and expand the
Lyle Falls Fishway. The project would be designed to safely and
effectively allow adult fish to move through the existing Lyle Falls
into the upper reaches of the Klickitat River, and would improve the
adult trapping capabilities at the fishway. Improvements would include
reconstructing and lengthening the fishway and trash racks, upgrading
the adult trapping facility, and adding a Passive Integrated
Transponder (PIT) tag detector and video monitor. The adult trap would
facilitate the collection of fish for monitoring and broodstock purposes.
Process to Date: The Yakama Nation has proposed the project to
support its fish passage and fish conservation initiatives. At a
meeting held in March 2006, the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council recommended that BPA fund the preparation of an EIS to focus on
fish passage and monitoring at Lyle Falls.
Alternatives Proposed for Consideration: BPA has identified two
alternatives for examination in the DEIS. They are the proposed action,
described above, and no action. We will use the no-action alternative
to explore the environmental impacts of not improving the existing
ladder and passage facilities at Lyle Falls. We will also consider in
the Draft EIS other reasonable alternatives presented to us during the
scoping process.
Public Participation and Identification of Environmental Issues:
BPA has established a 30-day scoping period during which interested and
affected landowners, concerned citizens, tribes, special interest
groups, government agencies, and any other interested parties are
invited to comment on the scope of the proposed EIS. Scoping will help
BPA ensure that a full range of issues related to this proposal is
addressed in the EIS, and also will help identify significant or
potentially significant impacts that may result from the proposed
project. Environmental issues identified to date include potential
conflicts with the Klickitat Wild and Scenic River designation, use of
explosives during construction, impacts to archaeological and historic
resources, impacts to threatened and endangered species, and water
quality impacts.
When completed, the Draft EIS will be circulated for public and
agency review and comment; BPA will hold at least one public comment
meeting for the Draft EIS. BPA will consider and respond in the Final
EIS to comments received on the Draft EIS. BPA's subsequent decision
will be documented in a publicly available Record of Decision.
Maps and further information are available from BPA at the address
above.
Issued in Portland, Oregon, on June 20, 2006.
Stephen J. Wright,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-9999 Filed 6-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P