[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 107 (Friday, June 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30092-30094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-14199]
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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
Shoreline Management Initiative (SMI), Reservoirs in Alabama,
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia
AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
ACTION: Issuance of record of decision.
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SUMMARY: This notice is provided in accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality's regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 to 1508) and
TVA's procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. On
April 21, 1999, the TVA Board of Directors decided to adopt the
preferred alternative (Blended Alternative) identified in its Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Shoreline Management Initiative:
An Assessment of Residential Shoreline Development Impacts in the
Tennessee Valley. The Board's decision modified the Blended Alternative
by increasing the shoreline management zone (SMZ) from 25 to 50 feet.
The Final EIS was made available to the public in November 1998. A
Notice of Availability of the Final EIS was published in the Federal
Register on December 11, 1998. Under the Blended Alternative, TVA seeks
to balance residential shoreline development, recreation use, and
resource conservation needs in a way that maintains the quality of life
and other important values provided by its reservoir system. TVA has
decided to adopt a strategy of ``maintaining and gaining'' public
shoreline, continue to allow docks and other alterations along
shorelines now available for residential
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access and establish uniform standards for these alterations, and
ensure that sensitive natural and cultural resources are conserved for
future generations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold M. Draper, NEPA Specialist,
Environmental Management, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit
Hill Drive, WT 8C, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499; telephone (423)
632-6889 or e-mail hmdraper@tva.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Residential shoreline development along TVA
reservoirs continues to increase. Currently, the amount of residential
shoreline development on individual TVA reservoirs ranges from none to
51 percent of the shoreline length. Of the 11,000 miles of total
shoreline, 13 percent have been developed for residential uses. From
1988 to 1997, TVA approved almost 19,000 applications for residential
shoreline alterations, such as docks, piers, boathouses, retaining
walls, and vegetation management. Residential shoreline use requests
substantially dominate all requests for other uses (e.g., commercial,
industrial) combined. During this period, the number of permits
increased at a rate of six percent per year. If these trends and
current shoreline management practices continue, TVA estimates that
over half the shoreline could be developed within the next 25 years.
This level of shoreline development could have unacceptable adverse
impacts on shoreline and aquatic ecology, water quality, scenic beauty,
and other valuable resources. TVA initiated the SMI project to review
existing permitting practices and establish a policy to better protect
shoreline and aquatic resources, while allowing adjacent residents
reasonable access to the water.
On May 27, 1994, TVA issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS on
alternatives for management of TVA shoreline residential uses. Public
scoping meetings were held in 13 locations throughout the Tennessee
River Watershed in June and July of 1994. The Notice of Availability
for the Draft EIS was published on June 28, 1996. TVA subsequently held
16 public meetings throughout the Tennessee River Watershed and in
nearby major cities (Nashville and Memphis) in July, August, and
September 1996 to receive comments. Almost 10,000 written and oral
comments were recorded. The Notice of Availability for the Final EIS
was published on December 11, 1998.
Alternatives Considered
TVA initially considered six alternatives to respond to continuing
residential shoreline development along TVA shorelines. In response to
public comments on the Draft EIS, TVA developed a seventh alternative,
designated the Blended Alternative because it included features of
several of the previous alternatives. The alternatives were designed to
vary in the standards envisioned for residential shoreline alterations.
In addition, the alternatives varied in whether additional shoreline
could be opened for residential access.
Under Alternative A: Limited TVA Role Along Open Shoreline and
Additional Areas, there would be no predefined standards for facility
design or appearance, vegetation removal, or other shoreline
alterations. TVA would, however, review permit applications for
compliance with federal laws.
Under Alternative B1: Existing Guidelines Along Open Shoreline and
Additional Areas, TVA would continue approving docks and other
shoreline alterations using existing guidelines. These guidelines limit
the amount and type of vegetation that can be removed, limit the size
of boat dock construction and riprap, and open additional shoreline for
residential access on a case-by-case basis. These guidelines do not
define parameters for channel excavation and do not define a maximum
land/water surface area per lot. This is the No Action alternative.
Under Alternative B2: Existing Guidelines Along Open Shoreline
Only, residential shoreline alterations would be subject to the same
standards as with Alternative B1. However, TVA would limit
consideration of new applications for residential shoreline alterations
to the 38 percent of the shoreline where private access rights
currently exist.
Under Alternative C1: Managed Development Along Open Shoreline and
Additional Areas, TVA would enhance land management plans that are
prepared for each reservoir with a shoreline inventory and
categorization system and replace existing permitting guidelines with
new standards. In these plans, TVA would identify additional areas to
make available for residential access. The standards would maintain a
100-foot deep vegetative shoreline management zone on TVA property and
define the maximum land/water surface area that could be disturbed per
lot. Individual boat channels involving less than 150 cubic yards of
dredging would be considered. It was estimated that up to 48 percent of
the shoreline could be developed under this alternative. This was
identified as TVA's preferred alternative in the Draft EIS.
Under Alternative C2: Managed Development Along Open Shoreline
Only, residential shoreline alterations would be subject to the same
standards as with Alternative C1. However, TVA would limit
considerations of new applications to the 38 percent of the shoreline
where private access rights currently exist.
Under Alternative D: Minimum Disturbance Along Open Shoreline Only,
TVA would limit consideration of applications for residential shoreline
alterations to the 38 percent of the shoreline where access rights
currently exist. In addition, a shoreline categorization system would
be added to the reservoir land management plans prepared for individual
reservoirs. A comprehensive set of shoreline development standards
would be implemented, including a minimal access path, minimal
vegetation clearing within a 100-foot shoreline management zone, and a
low profile dock covering less than 300 square feet of surface area.
Channel excavation would be prohibited.
Under the Blended Alternative, TVA would adopt a shoreline
management policy that allows environmentally responsible development
of shorelands where residential access rights exist and preserves
public benefits along shorelines where residential access rights do not
exist. In addition, TVA would encourage voluntary conservation
commitments across some areas with outstanding residential access
rights. Standards under the Blended Alternative would include a 25-
foot-deep shoreline vegetation management (protection) zone with a 20-
foot access/visual corridor, limited vegetation disturbance outside of
the SMZ, and boat channels with 150 cubic yards of dredging or less.
For TVA residential access shoreland further than 25 feet from the
reservoir, TVA would only permit limited cutting of small trees and
selective removal of certain plants like poison ivy and invasive exotic
plants such as honeysuckle. Existing development and uses established
prior to the implementation date of the new alternative would be
grandfathered. Also, waivers could be requested by owners of property
within preexisting developments.
Response to Comments on Final EIS
Volume II of the Final EIS contains summaries of and responses to
the comments TVA received during the Draft EIS process. TVA received
almost 9,500 separate comments. Although not required, TVA gave the
public the opportunity to provide comments about the Final EIS and the
Blended Alternative. To facilitate this, TVA held 15 public information
sessions about the
[[Page 30094]]
Final EIS and the Blended Alternative and met with and briefed numerous
stakeholders including elected officials, lake associations, and
conservation and environmental groups.
A total of 215 comment forms and 27 letters were received on the
Final EIS. Most of these comments were similar to the comments that TVA
received on the Draft EIS, except for those that commented specifically
on the Blended Alternative. In general, the public supported the
Blended Alternative and viewed it as a substantial improvement over
TVA's earlier preferred alternative, Alternative C1. A number of
commenters suggested modifications to some of the Blended Alternative
standards (e.g., increasing the width of the SMZ), but these were
within the range of alternatives previously considered.
Decision
The TVA Board decided to modify the Blended Alternative to include
a 50-foot SMZ (an increase from 25 feet in the Final EIS). Other
components of the Blended Alternative were adopted. The Blended
Alternative appropriately balances residential shoreline development,
recreation use, and resource conservation needs in a way that maintains
the quality of life and other important values provided by the
reservoir system. It recognizes the reality that previous decisions
have already opened up 38 percent of TVA's shorelands to access, but
commits to holding the line at this level and possibly ``gaining'' back
some of the already opened lands in a way that would heighten their
protection. The Blended Alternative also responds well to the public
comments TVA received during the EIS process because it combines
features from other alternatives that were generally supported, while
not incorporating features that were controversial and highly
objectionable to some segments of the public. During the period
following publication of the Final EIS, a number of organizations
questioned the adequacy of the 25-foot SMZ. These included the
Department of the Interior, Kentucky Department for Fish and Wildlife
Resources, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Conservation
League, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. In response to
these comments, the Board decided to increase the size of the SMZ to 50
feet in order to further protect the Tennessee River system.
TVA will include the Blended Alternative standards in its
permitting regulations. The standards and policies identified in the
Blended Alternative, as modified by the April 21, 1999, Board of
Directors decision, apply to all TVA reservoirs and become effective
November 1, 1999.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
TVA has concluded that Alternative D, which seeks minimum
disturbance along shoreline available for residential access and does
not allow additional shoreland to be opened, is the environmentally
preferable alternative. However, the purpose of SMI is to better
protect the environment while allowing reasonable access to the
shoreline by adjacent residents who hold outstanding access rights. The
Blended Alternative better addresses the broader objectives of SMI and
is also substantially better environmentally than current practices.
Environmental Consequences and Commitments
The Blended Alternative advances TVA's commitment to resource
stewardship and habitat protection through strong conservation
approaches, including a shoreline inventory and categorization system
designed to protect certain significant habitats. By limiting future
residential access to shorelines where private access rights already
exist and emphasizing the need to ``maintain and gain'' public
shoreline, TVA is offering a much higher degree of protection to public
shorelines than it has offered in the past. The Blended Alternative was
formulated using environmentally protective measures. These measures
include:
Protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources
through a shoreline inventory and categorization system designating
residential access shorelines into protection, mitigation, and managed
categories.
Promotion of conservation easements across shorelands to
protect scenic landscapes, encourage clustered development, or to
provide other public benefits.
Promotion of best management practices for the
construction of docks, management of vegetation, stabilization of
shoreline erosion, and other shoreline alterations.
Emphasis on education activities and incentives as
important components of shoreline management.
With the implementation of the above environmental protection
measures, TVA has determined that adverse environmental impacts of
future residential shoreline uses would be substantially reduced. These
protective measures represent all of the practicable measures to avoid
or minimize environmental harm that are associated with this
alternative. Alternative D has associated with it additional protective
measures such as a lower dock profile, less vegetation clearing, and a
prohibition on channel excavation. This alternative was rejected for
the reasons given above.
As the components of TVA's new shoreline management policy are
implemented, TVA will continue to work with all affected interests to
promote environmentally sound stewardship of public shorelands. TVA
will also monitor shoreline development trends in order to identify any
actions that may become necessary in the future.
Dated: May 24, 1999.
Ruben O. Hernandez,
Vice President, Resource Stewardship.
[FR Doc. 99-14199 Filed 6-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-U
