98-32950. Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of Seattle Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, Washington

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68469-68471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32950]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an 
Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of Seattle 
Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, Washington

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of application and availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the City of Seattle has 
applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine 
Fisheries Service (together, the Services) for an Incidental Take 
Permit (Permit) pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The proposed permit would 
authorize the take of the following endangered or threatened species 
incidental to otherwise lawful management activities in the Cedar River 
Municipal Watershed and within the Cedar River in King County, 
Washington: northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), marbled 
murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus marmoratus), bald eagle (Haliaeetus 
leucocephalus), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), gray wolf (Canis lupus), 
and peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). The proposed permit also would 
authorize future incidental take of 77 currently unlisted fish 
(anadromous and resident) and wildlife species, including the chinook 
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and the Coastal Puget Sound distinct 
population segment of the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), which 
are proposed for listing under the Act, should they become listed in 
the future. The permit would be in effect for 50 years.
    The application includes: (1) the proposed Habitat Conservation 
Plan (Plan), which fully describes the proposed projects and 
mitigation, and details a strategy for minimizing and mitigating all 
anticipated incidental take, as required in Section 10(a)(2)(B) of the 
Act; and (2) the proposed Implementing Agreement. Activities covered by 
the requested Permit and addressed by the proposed Plan include: (1) 
drinking water supply operations; (2) management of land and forest 
resources (timber and other forest resources); (3) hydroelectric power 
generation; and, (4) fishery mitigation. The Services also announce the 
availability of an Environmental Assessment for the Permit application.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and 
National Environmental Policy Act regulations. The Services are 
furnishing this notice in order to announce the availability of these 
documents and allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to 
review and comment upon these documents. All comments received will 
become part of the public record and will be available for review 
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, Environmental 
Assessment, Plan, and Implementing Agreement must be received from 
interested parties no later than February 9, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Requests for documents should be made by calling the City of 
Seattle at [phone]. Copies are also available for viewing, or 
partial or complete duplication, at all King County and City of Seattle 
libraries, and at four University of Washington main campus libraries, 
including the Fisheries and Oceanography Library, Forest Resources 
Library, Engineering Library, and at the Federal Publications desk of 
the Suzzallo Library. Comments should be mailed to Seattle Public 
Utilities, P.O. Box 21105, Seattle, Washington 98111-3105. Comments and 
materials received will also be available for public inspection, by 
appointment, during normal business hours by calling [phone]. 
Requests for information on the draft Plan should be directed to Jim 
Erckmann, Project Manager. Requests for information on the draft 
Environmental Assessment and a draft Environmental Impact Statement, 
prepared pursuant to the State of Washington's Environmental Policy 
Act, should be directed to Jim Freeman, Senior Watershed Planner. Both 
can be contacted at Seattle Public Utilities, 19901 Cedar Falls Road 
S.E., North Bend, Washington, 98045 (telephone: [phone]; 
facsimile: 206/233-1527).

FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Brian Bogaczyk, Project Biologist, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive, S.E., Suite 102, Lacey, 
Washington, 98503-1273, (telephone: [phone]; facsimile: 360/534-
9331), and Matt Longenbaugh, Project Biologist, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 510 Desmond Drive, S.E., Suite 103, Lacey, 
Washington, 98503-1273 (telephone: [phone]; facsimile: 360/753-
9517). The Plan, Implementing Agreement, and the Environmental 
Assessment are also available for inspection at the above Service 
offices.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act and 
Federal regulation prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as 
endangered or

[[Page 68470]]

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. However, the Services, under 
limited circumstances, may issue permits to take listed species 
incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. 
Regulations governing permits for endangered species are promulgated in 
50 CFR 17.22; regulations governing permits for threatened species are 
promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32.

Background

    The Cedar River Municipal Watershed (Watershed) is located about 30 
miles southeast of the City of Seattle (City), just south of the 
Interstate 90 corridor. The City has prepared the proposed Plan to 
comply with the Act and to address a variety of related natural 
resource issues. The Plan will cover the City's 90,546-acre Watershed 
and the City's water supply and hydroelectric operations on the Cedar 
River, which discharges into Lake Washington. The proposed Plan is a 
set of mitigation and conservation commitments related to ongoing water 
supply, hydroelectric power supply, fishery mitigation, and watershed 
management activities.
    The draft Plan is based on a decade of studies and the results of 
over 4 years of analysis and negotiations with five State and Federal 
agencies as documented in an Agreement in Principle, dated March 14, 
1997. The Agreement in Principle addresses not only issues under the 
Act but also related issues under state law and issues with the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Corps manages lake levels in Lake 
Washington, and navigational traffic between Lake Washington and Puget 
Sound, through operation of the Hiram Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) 
and Lake Washington Ship Canal.
    Covered lands in the proposed action include the City-owned lands 
upon which the Permit would authorize incidental take of covered 
species. This includes the Watershed, totaling about 90,546 acres. The 
Cedar River discharges into Lake Washington at the city of Renton. City 
operations in the municipal watershed influence the Cedar River between 
the Landsburg Diversion Dam, where the City diverts water for municipal 
and industrial use, and Lake Washington, which is 21.8 mi in length. 
The City owns essentially all of the Watershed. Most of the watershed 
is forested, primarily with conifers.
    Proposed covered activities include City operations on the Cedar 
River in conjunction with its water supply, hydroelectric power 
generation, land management activities, and fishery mitigation. Water 
supply and hydroelectric generation activities include management of 
the reservoir complex, including an overflow dike, which impounds 
Chester Morse Lake, and the Masonry Dam, which impounds the Masonry 
Pool to the west of the lake. These activities also include instream 
flow management for fish for 12.4 mi above and 21.8 mi downstream of 
the Landsburg Diversion Dam. Covered activities downstream of Landsburg 
are restricted specifically to the impacts of City operations and 
facilities on species using those waters and covered by this Plan, and 
does not apply to the impacts of activities by other public agencies or 
private parties. In general, covered activities downstream of Landsburg 
include mitigation, conservation, research, and monitoring activities 
carried out under the Plan and two related agreements, an Instream Flow 
Agreement and a Landsburg Mitigation Agreement.
    Municipal watershed management activities include forest practices 
as described in the Washington State Forest Practices Act (RCW 76.09) 
and Forest Practices Rules and Regulations (WAC 222-08), including 
timber harvest, thinning, reforestation, and mechanical brush control; 
construction, repair, reengineering, decommissioning, and maintenance 
of forest roads, including use of gravel pits and other rock sources, 
as well as maintenance and replacement of culverts and bridges; and 
sale of forest products.
    Fishery mitigation activities include provision of streamflows for 
chinook, coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) 
salmon and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and expansion of a 
pilot hatchery for sockeye salmon; construction of fish passage 
facilities (both upstream and downstream) for chinook and coho salmon, 
and steelhead and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) at Landsburg 
Dam; and funding salmon habitat restoration in the lower Cedar River.
    Other covered watershed activities include actions to protect and 
restore watershed habitats, both aquatic and upland; cultural resource 
management and educational programs within the municipal watershed, 
including a public tour and field trip program and construction of 
educational and cultural facilities, such as the planned educational 
resource center at Cedar Falls; scientific research, both by City staff 
and outside scientists; and other activities or facilities as 
identified in the Plan.
    The Plan includes habitat-based conservation and mitigation 
strategies for all species addressed in the Plan, and species-specific 
conservation and mitigation strategies for the 14 species of greatest 
concern, which include all currently listed species. The species 
addressed in the Plan include resident and anadromous salmonid fishes, 
and a variety of amphibians, birds, mammals, and invertebrates.
    The Federal action of issuing an Incidental Take Permit has the 
potential to affect the human environment. The Services' decision of 
whether to issue the proposed Permit, is an action subject to review 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR 1506.6). In 
addition to the National Environmental Policy Act requirements, the 
City's proposed actions are subject to review under the Washington 
State Environmental Policy Act. The Services' Environmental Assessment 
and the City's Environmental Impact Statement are combined into one 
document. Following public review of the proposed Plan and 
Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement, the Services 
and the City must review any comments received and respond to those 
comments in writing or in changes to the documents, where appropriate.
    The Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement will 
analyze the proposed action as well as a full range of reasonable 
alternatives, and the associated impacts of each. The proposed action 
contains three components, including: (1) Watershed Management; (2) 
Anadromous Fish Mitigation; and (3) Instream Flows. Alternatives have 
been developed through public and internal scoping for each of these 
three components, and are compared and analyzed in the Environmental 
Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement.
    Watershed management alternatives include: (1) No Action (continue 
current harvest practices, with 58 percent of the lands in a no-
commercial harvest reserve); (2) Proposed Action (including 
conservation strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 64 percent of 
the lands in a no-commercial harvest reserve); (3) Long-term 
Sustainable Thinning Alternative (including conservation strategies for 
habitats and wildlife, with 64 percent of the lands in a no-commercial 
harvest reserve); (4) Thinning Alternative with phased out commercial 
harvest over the 50-year life of the Permit (including conservation 
strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 68 percent of the lands 
initially in a no-commercial harvest reserve and increasing over the 
life of the Permit);

[[Page 68471]]

and (5) No Commercial Timber Harvest Alternative (including 
conservation strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 100 percent of 
the lands in a no-commercial harvest reserve). Alternatives 3, 4, and 5 
include essentially the same conservation strategies for streams, 
riparian areas, upland habitat, and special habitat areas, as 
Alternative 2, the Proposed Action.
    Anadromous fish mitigation alternatives include: (1) No Action 
(continued operation of a pilot sockeye salmon hatchery with no 
guarantee of mitigation for chinook salmon, coho salmon, or steelhead 
trout); (2) Proposed Action (conservation strategies for chinook 
salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, and steelhead trout, including 
upstream and downstream passage facilities, and habitat restoration and 
protection measures, with expansion of the sockeye hatchery to produce 
34 million fry annually); (3) Down-sized Sockeye Hatchery Alternative 
with savings going towards downstream habitat restoration (with 
expansion of the sockeye hatchery to produce 17 million fry annually); 
(4) Deferred Hatchery Construction Alternative contingent on further 
studies; and (5) All Downstream Habitat Restoration and Protection 
Alternative (all funding would be used for habitat restoration and 
protection, and none for sockeye hatchery expansion).
    Instream flow alternatives include: (1) No Action (continue current 
flow management practices); and (2) Proposed Action, with primary 
features including guaranteed flows and supplemental flows for salmon 
and steelhead trout spawning and fry outmigration for sockeye salmon in 
the lower Cedar River; adaptive management of flows for protection of 
salmon and steelhead redds (egg clusters); funding for improvements at 
Ballard Locks for juvenile outmigration, establishment of minimum flows 
necessary for anadromous and resident fish in bypass reach below 
Masonry Dam; established downramping rates, maintain existing annual 
municipal water yield; public service announcements promoting water 
conservation for fish; Lower Cedar River monitoring study of tributary 
and subsurface inflows; and establishment of a multi-agency commission 
to advise the City with respect to managing flows for fish.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and 
National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and the Services will 
evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments submitted 
thereon to determine whether the application meets the requirements of 
the Act and National Environmental Policy Act. If it is determined that 
the requirements are met, a permit will be issued for the incidental 
take of listed species. The final permit decision will be made no 
sooner than 60 days from the date of this notice.

    Dated: December 4, 1998.
Anne Badgley,
Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 98-32950 Filed 12-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P