[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66928-66929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31105]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Extension of the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
Acquisition Boundary
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice and availability of the Record of Decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that we have adopted the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) adopting the Hanford Reach of the
Columbia River Final Enviornmental Impact Statement for Comprehensive
River Conservation Study, prepared a Record of Decision (ROD) based on
the FEIS, and are making it available to the public. We have expanded
an approved refuge acquisition boundary around the portions of the
Hanford Site (the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge and the land
known as the Wahluke State Wildlife Recreation Area) approximately
90,000 acres that are north and east of the Columbia River, to enable
us to manage the land as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System
(NWRS). Region 1 will be implementing the new approved acquisition
boundary by adding most of the area within the boundary to Saddle
Mountain Refuge in the near future. To ensure that the decision is in
concert with Department of Energy (DOE) land-use policy, we also
adopted the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) EIS. The HCP EIS and ROD
provide DOE policies and procedures to guide development at the Hanford
Site for 50 years or more.
DATES: We issued the Record of Decision on November 5, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Public reading copies of the ROD and the FEIS are available
at the following libraries: Hanford Technical Library, Richland,
Washington; Kennewick City Library, Kennewick, Washington; Mid-Columbia
Regional Library, Kennewick, Washington; Othello City Library, Othello,
Washington; Pasco Public Library, Pasco, Washington; Portland City
Library, Portland, Oregon; Prosser City Library, Prosser, Washington;
Richland City Library, Richland, Washington; Seattle City Library,
Seattle, Washington; Vancouver City Library, Vancouver, Washington.
Copies of the ROD are available from U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Region 1, Division of Refuge Planning, 911 NE 11th Avenue,
Portland Oregon, 97232-4181, phone number (503) 231-2231.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Badgley, Regional Director, US
Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland
Oregon, 97232-4181, phone number (503) 231-6118.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Law 100-605 required the Secretary of
the Interior to prepare, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy,
a report for Congress evaluating the outstanding features of the
Hanford Reach of the Columbia River and its immediate environment
(including fish, wildlife, geologic, scenic, recreational, historical,
cultural and other natural values) and to examine alternatives for
preserving those values. The alternatives considered were to include,
but not be limited to, inclusion of the Hanford Reach in the National
Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
The Secretary selected the National Park Service (NPS) to lead the
study. The NPS prepared the Environmental Impact Statement in
compliance with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) (40 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) and pursuant to regulations
promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Section
1505.2) and the implementing procedures of the National Park Service
and the Department of the Interior.
We were a cooperating agency in the NEPA process under Interagency
Agreement Number IA9000-0-0007 with the NPS, and pursuant to 40 CFR
1501.6. As a cooperating agency, FWS actively participated in the
preparation of the Draft and Final EIS's and independently reviewed
each document.
In July of 1994, the NPS released the Final Hanford Reach of the
Columbia River Comprehensive River Conservation Study and Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS), followed by the Secretary's Record of Decision
recommending that Congress establish a National Wildlife Refuge on the
North Slope, and a Wild and Scenic River on the Hanford Reach. The Wild
and Scenic River designation was recommended from river mile 346.5 to
river mile 396, including a one-quarter mile wide corridor on both
river banks. The Secretary selected the proposed action from the FEIS.
We adopted the FEIS to administratively establish an approved
refuge acquisition boundary over the area known as the North Slope. The
North Slope is comprised of the Saddle Mountain Refuge and the Wahluke
Wildlife Recreation Area. This boundary provides our Region 1 with
authority to acquire land and manage it as part of the NWRS. We may
acquire lands through
[[Page 66929]]
direct land transfer from another Federal agency, fee acquisition,
conservation easement, withdrawal, or cooperative agreement. The FEIS
complies with NEPA and meets our regulatory requirements for making a
decision (341 FW 2).
Since the 1994 FEIS, no significant new circumstances or
information relevant to environmental concerns bearing on this decision
or its impacts have occurred. In the interim, we have added four
species that may occur in the study area to the Federal list of
threatened and endangered species. The FWS Record of Decision will
benefit these species in a manner substantially similar to the 1994
FEIS proposed action.
We incorporate by reference and adopt a second EIS, the 1999 HCP
EIS, prepared by the DOE with the Service participating as a
cooperating agency. The DOE's Preferred Alternative includes increasing
recreational access to the Columbia River and expanding the Saddle
Mountain National Wildlife Refuge to include all of the Wahluke Slope,
the McGee Ranch and Riverlands, and the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands
Ecology Reserve. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) is the template
that the DOE will use to define the range of management options on
Refuge lands at the Hanford Site, including the potential for future
Refuge additions. The DOE's decision anticipates multiple uses of the
Hanford Site, including future DOE missions, non-DOE Federal missions,
and other public and private-sector land uses.
Our jurisdiction with regard to DOE-administered Hanford land will
be secondary to the DOE jurisdiction because of DOE's contaminants
cleanup responsibilities, and because the known inventory of
contaminated areas may not be complete. A vast majority of the North
Slope is unaffected by past activities, and we will manage these lands
as part of the NWRS. Management, as part of the NWRS, will occur under
a permit with DOE and be secondary to DOE's jurisdiction. We will
provide DOE with technical assistance on areas where DOE is conducting
cleanup activities. We provide technical assistance under agreements
with other agencies that need our wildlife, fish, or plant habitat
management advice expertise. Areas for which we provide technical
assistance are not part of the NWRS.
Dated: November 24, 1999.
Jamie Rappaport,
Clark, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 99-31105 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
