[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72318-72319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33512]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[I.D. 121799C]
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
Regarding Proposed Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit to J. L.
Storedahl & Sons, Inc. for Gravel Extraction and Processing and Habitat
Enhancement Activities in Clark County, Washington.
AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce; Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (NEPA), NMFS and FWS (collectively, the Services) intend to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the proposed
issuance of an incidental take permit (Permit) by the Services to J. L.
Storedahl & Sons, Inc. (Storedahl) for their gravel extraction and
processing and habitat enhancement activities on a portion of
Storedahl's fee-owned lands in Clark County, Washington.
The proposed Permit would authorize take of federally listed
threatened and endangered species in accordance with the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), and other species should they
become listed in the future. Storedahl intends to request a Permit that
includes the following species:
Listed as threatened: Lower Columbia River Evolutionarily
Significant Unit (ESU) of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Lower
Columbia River (LCR) ESU of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha),
Columbia River ESU of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), bull trout
(Salvelinus confluentus).
Proposed as threatened: Southwestern Washington/Columbia River DPS
of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki).
Candidate species: LCR ESU of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch),
Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa).
Species of concern: Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata), river
lamprey (Lampetra ayresi).
As required by the ESA, Storedahl is preparing a Habitat
Conservation Plan (Plan). The Services are furnishing this notice to
advise other agencies and the public of our intentions and to announce
the initiation of a 30-day scoping period during which other agencies
and the public are invited to provide written comments on the scope of
issues and potential alternatives to be included in the EIS.
DATES: Written comments on this proposed action and the environmental
review must be received at the appropriate address (See ADDRESSES) from
interested parties no later than 5:00pm Pacific standard time on
January 26, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Tim Romanski, FWS, 510
Desmond Drive SE, Suite 102, Lacey, Washington 98503; or Sam Brenkman,
NMFS, 510 Desmond Drive SE, Suite 103, Lacey, Washington 98503.
Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Romanski, FWS, telephone (360)
753-5823, e-mail Tim_Romanski@mail.fws.gov; or Sam Brenkman, NMFS,
telephone (360) 534-9338, e-mail Sam.Brenkman@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the ESA and Federal regulations
prohibit ``take'' of species that are listed as endangered or
threatened. The term ``take'' is defined under the ESA to mean to
harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect,
or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. Harm is defined by FWS to
include significant habitat modification or degradation where it
actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing
essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, sheltering,
spawning, rearing and migrating. Harm is defined by NMFS as significant
habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures
fish or wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, spawning, rearing, feeding, and
sheltering.
The Services may issue permits, under limited circumstances, to
take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise
lawful activities. FWS regulations governing permits for endangered
species are found in 50 CFR 17.22, and regulations governing permits
for threatened species are found in 50 CFR 17.32. NMFS regulations
governing permits for threatened and endangered species are found in 50
CFR 222.307.
Background
Storedahl owns and manages approximately 300 acres of land in rural
Clark County, Washington adjacent to the lower reaches of the East Fork
Lewis River. The property is located approximately 4 miles southeast of
La Center, and approximately 1 mile downstream of Clark County's
Daybreak Park at 27140 NE 61st Avenue, Battle Ground, Washington.
Storedahl proposes to mine and process aggregate on this land in
accordance with a variety of conservation measures as specified in the
Plan.
Some of Storedahl's management activities have the potential to
impact species subject to protection under the ESA. Section 10(a)(2)(B)
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 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. An applicant for a
Permit under section 10 of the ESA must prepare and submit to the
Services for approval a Plan containing a strategy for minimizing and
mitigating the impacts of take on listed species associated with the
proposed activities to the maximum extent practicable. The applicant
must also ensure that adequate funding for the Plan will be provided.
Storedahl initiated discussions with the Services regarding the
development of a Plan and attaining a Permit for their activities.
Activities proposed for Permit coverage include extraction of sand and
gravel; transportation of sand and gravel to a processing area;
processing of sand and gravel; all discharges regulated under a
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit; construction
and maintenance activities; site preparation; tree planting and
fertilization; and stream and riparian restoration, rehabilitation and
enhancement. The Plan and Permit would also cover certain monitoring
activities and related adaptive
[[Page 72319]]
management measures set forth in the Plan.
The Services will conduct an environmental review of the Plan and
prepare an EIS. The environmental review will analyze the proposal 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. Alternatives thus far include a
No Action alternative and one Plan alternative. The scoping process
will be used to identify additional alternatives.
The Plan alternative proposes that the Services issue incidental
take permits and that Storedahl implement the Plan on approximately 300
acres. This action would apply various conservation measures and
actions that meet or exceed the environmental and conservation
standards and guidelines of the Washington Surface Mining Act, other
state laws and regulations and applicable county regulations. In
effect, the Services would issue a Permit and Storedahl would manage
their lands in accordance with the conservation standards, guidelines
and regime set forth in the Plan, including conveyance of lands to non-
profit organizations or granting of conservation easements, or both.
Under the No Action alternative, a permit would not be issued by
the Services and Storedahl would continue ongoing processing activities
and undertake to resume mining at the site, implementing both so as to
avoid take of federally listed species. However, such an alternative
would likely not address long-term conservation measures, such as the
granting of conservation easements or conveying real property to non-
profit organizations.
Comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties to
ensure that the full range of issues related to these proposed actions
are addressed and that all significant issues are identified. Comments
or questions concerning this proposed action and the environmental
review should be directed to FWS or NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
The environmental review of this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508),
other appropriate Federal laws and regulations, and policies and
procedures of the Services for compliance with those regulations. It is
estimated that the draft EIS will be available for public review during
the first quarter of calendar year 2000.
Dated: December 13, 1999.
Anne Badgley,
Regional Director, Region 1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland,
Oregon.
Dated: December 17, 1999.
Wanda L. Cain,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-33512 Filed 12-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F, 4310-55-F
