2013-25691. Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Public Scoping Meetings for the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise, Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, Integrated Water Resource Management Plan, Kittitas County, ...

AGENCY:

Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Bureau of Reclamation intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise project. The Washington State Department of Ecology will be a joint lead agency with the Bureau of Reclamation in the preparation of this EIS, which also will be used to comply with requirements of the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The Bureau of Reclamation is requesting public comment and agency input to identify significant issues or other alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.

DATES:

Submit written comments on the scope of the environmental impact statement on or before December 16, 2013.

Two scoping meetings, combined with open houses each day, will be held on the following dates and times:

• November 20, 2013, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Yakima, WA.
• November 21, 2013, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Cle Elum, WA.

ADDRESSES:

Send written scoping comments, requests to be added to the mailing list, or requests for sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired or other special assistance needs to Ms. Candace McKinley, Environmental Program Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901; or email [e-mail].

The scoping meetings and open houses will be located at:

• Yakima—Yakima Area Arboretum, 1401 Arboretum Way, Yakima, WA 98901.
• Cle Elum—U.S. Forest Service (Cle Elum Ranger District Conference Room), 803 W 2nd Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Candace McKinley, Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901; telephone [phone], ext. 232; facsimile [phone]; email [e-mail]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) at 1-800-877-8339 TTY/ASCII to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FedRelay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. Information on this project may also be found at http://www.usbr.gov/​pn/​programs/​yrbwep/​index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is issuing this notice pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA, 43 CFR parts 1500 through 1508; the Department of the Interior's NEPA regulations, 43 CFR part 46, and the Washington State Environmental Policy Act.

Background

On July 9, 2013, the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Programmatic EIS (PEIS) for the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (Integrated Plan) was signed. In the ROD, the Reclamation selected the Integrated Plan Alternative for implementation. The Integrated Plan Alternative is comprised of seven elements which were considered in the PEIS:

1. Reservoir Fish Passage;

2. Structural and Operational Changes;

3. Surface Water Storage;

4. Groundwater Storage;

5. Habitat/Watershed Protection and Enhancement;

6. Enhanced Water Conservation; and

7. Water Market Reallocation of Water Resources.

As described in the PEIS, the Reclamation and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) will complete project-level, site-specific environmental review for actions within the Integrated Plan once the agencies are ready to move forward each action or groups of actions. Reclamation and Ecology have determined that it is appropriate to initiate the environmental review process with regard to the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise.

This action was previously evaluated at a programmatic level of analysis in the Integrated Plan PEIS (see chapters 2 through 5 of the PEIS available at: www.usbr.gov/​pn/​programs/​yrbwep/​reports/​FPEIS/​fpeis.pdf). The PEIS examined the effects of the overall Integrated Plan Alternative, which included the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise Project as part of the Structural and Operational Changes element. Now the agencies will prepare a project-level EIS for the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise Project and will tier to the Integrated Plan PEIS as provided for in the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 1502.20, Tiering). The project-level environmental analysis to be conducted in this EIS will expand upon and add detail to those analyses already completed in the Integrated Plan PEIS.

The proposed action to be evaluated in the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise EIS is to modify the radial gates at Cle Elum Dam to provide an additional 14,600 acre-feet of storage capacity. This modification would raise the pool level by approximately 3 feet. The objective of this action is to use the additional water stored to provide increased seasonal releases from Cle Elum Reservoir to improve streamflows for fish. The Cle Elum Pool Raise Project is authorized in Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (Sec. 1206, Pub. L. 103-43).

At this time, there are no known Indian Trust Assets or environmental justice issues associated with the proposed action.

Special Assistance for Public Scoping and Open House Meetings

If special assistance is required to participate in the public scoping and open house meetings, please contact Ms. Candace McKinley, Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901; telephone [phone], ext. 232; facsimile [phone]; email [e-mail]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) at 1-800-877-8339 TTY/ASCII to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FedRelay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. All meeting facilities are physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Public Disclosure

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 may 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.

Dated: October 24, 2013.

Lorri J. Lee,

Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region.