[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10379-10380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5945]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact 
Report on the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-
San Joaquin River Delta, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as 
amended, CALFED, a consortium of federal and state agencies, proposes 
to participate in a joint programmatic environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) on the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. 
The State of California Resources Agency will be the lead agency under 
the California Environmental Quality Act. The CALFED Bay-Delta Program 
is intended to provide long-term solutions to the problems affecting 
the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Bay-Delta 
system). CALFED has requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(Corps) participate in the programmatic EIS/EIR as a cooperating agency 
for purposes of its regulatory program. The Corps has indicated that it 
will participate in such a role.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of alternatives and impacts to be 
considered should be sent to CALFED by April 29, 1996. CALFED estimates 
that the draft EIS/EIR will be available for public review in the 
summer of 1997.
    Through a series of scoping meetings, CALFED will seek public input 
on alternatives, concerns, and issues to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. 
The schedule and locations of the scoping meetings are as follows:
     April 9, 1996, MetroCentro Building, Eighth and Madison 
Streets, Oakland, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
     April 10 1996, Jean Harvie Senior and Community Center, 
14273 River Road, Walnut Grove, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
     April 11, 1996, Tehama County Community Center, Gardenside 
Room, 1500 South Jackson Road, Red Bluff, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 
p.m.
     April 15, 1996, Red Lion Inn, 2001 Point West Way, 
Sacramento, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
     April 16, 1996, Red Lion Hotel/San Diego, 7450 Hazard 
Center Drive, San Diego, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
     April 17, 1996, Long Beach Renaissance Hotel, 111 E. Ocean 
Boulevard, Long Beach, California, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
     April 17, 1996, Holiday Inn, 303 E. Cordova, Pasadena, 
California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
     April 18, 1996, Red Lion Inn, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, 
Bakersfield, California, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Mr. 
Rick Breitenbach, CALFED Bay-Delta Program, 1416 Ninth Street, Suite 
1155, Sacramento, CA 95814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Rick Breitenbach at the above 
address; telephone: (916) 657-2666.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The State of California and the Federal 
government are working together to stabilize, restore, and enhance the 
Bay-Delta system. State-Federal cooperation was formalized in June 1994 
with the signing of a Framework Agreement by the Bureau of Reclamation; 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine 
Fisheries Service; and the State of California Resources Agency, 
Department of Fish and Game, Department of Water Resources, California 
Environmental Protection Agency, and State Water Resources Control 
Board. These agencies, with management and regulatory responsibility in 
the Bay-Delta system, are working together as CALFED and will provide 
policy direction and oversight for the process. The Framework Agreement 
pledged that State and Federal agencies would work together in three 
areas of Bay-Delta management:
     water quality standards formulation,
     coordination of State Water Project and Central Valley 
Project operations with regulatory requirements, and
     long-term solutions to problems in the Bay-Delta estuary.
    The mission of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program is to develop a long-
term comprehensive plan that will restore ecological health and improve 
water management for beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta system. Four main 
problem areas have been identified for the Bay-Delta system. These are 
water quality, ecosystem health, water supply reliability, and system 
vulnerability. Six principles guide the development of the solutions to 
the problems identified for the four problem areas. The principles 
dictate that the solutions must be affordable, equitable, durable, and 
implementable; must reduce conflict among competing interests; and must 
not redirect significant impacts.
    Scoping is an early and open process designed to determine the 
significant issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. The 
following are significant issues that have been identified by CALFED 
agencies to date:
     declining fish populations;
     Delta water quality;
     agricultural and municipal water supplies and water 
quality;
     health of the Delta ecosystem;
     levee stability in the Delta;
     flow and direction of water in the Delta and tributary 
streams;
     land uses in the Delta;
     wetland, upland, and aquatic habitats in the Delta and 
tributary streams;
     upstream storage reservoirs;
     recreation opportunities; and
     power generation at upstream facilities.
    In addition to a no-action alternative, the CALFED Bay-Delta 
Program has drafted alternative solutions for problems in the Bay-Delta 
system. Each draft alternative is a combination of many actions, such 
as operational and policy changes, habitat restoration, and water flow 
adjustments, that together form a comprehensive solution to problems in 
the Bay-Delta system's four problem areas: water quality, ecosystem 
health, water supply reliability, and system vulnerability. The CALFED 
Bay-

[[Page 10380]]
Delta Program operates on the premise that no single operational change 
or new facility will solve the myriad of interrelated problems in the 
Bay-Delta system. Therefore, each alternative is designed to include a 
balanced array of actions that, when combined, solve many problems 
simultaneously.
    Far from being final products, the draft alternatives are subject 
to significant change based on further public input and technical 
analyses including the possibility of combining portions of more than 
one draft alternative to form a new potential alternative.
    While the draft alternatives vary in emphasis and detail, they 
share certain measures or ``core actions'' that already enjoy broad 
acceptance among stakeholders. Currently, the draft alternatives 
include core actions addressing the following areas of concern:
     habitat restoration in the Delta and upstream of the 
Delta,
     reduction in the effects that diversions have on fish,
     management of anadromous fish,
     reduction in reliance on exports of water from the Delta,
     increase in water supply predictability,
     management of water quality, and
     improvements to system reliability.
    Beyond their common core actions, the draft alternatives range from 
those that change the operation of the existing Bay-Delta system to 
those that restructure the system itself. One draft alternative, for 
example, emphasizes upgrading levees and restoring habitat in the 
existing system, possibly leading to fewer regulatory restrictions on 
water diverted from existing diversion points. In contrast, another 
draft alternative proposes constructing new diversion points and a new 
conveyance facility west of the Delta. None of the draft alternatives 
exclude either reoperation or restructuring.
    The draft programmatic EIS/EIR will focus on the impacts and 
benefits common to all methods of implementing the long-term 
comprehensive plan. It will contain a general analysis of the physical, 
biological, social, and economic impacts arising from the long-term 
comprehensive plan. In addition, it will address the cumulative impacts 
of implementation of the long-term comprehensive plan as a whole and in 
conjunction with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
actions. The programmatic EIS/EIR is intended to serve as an analytical 
overview document that will generally precede the completion of 
subsequent environmental documents on specific activities or groups of 
activities. When a specific method of implementing an activity or 
activities is proposed that is not fully addressed in the programmatic 
EIS/EIR, a subsequent environmental document will be prepared that 
addresses the specific physical, biological, social, and economic 
impacts arising from that method. In addition, the programmatic EIS/EIR 
is intended to provide sufficient information regarding the potential 
for adverse effects on the aquatic environment and an adequate range 
and description of alternatives to meet the purpose and need and to 
satisfy the requirements of the Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines to 
identify the least environmentally damaging alternative capable of 
meeting the program purpose.
    A report will be available about 2 weeks prior to the first scoping 
meeting that will further elaborate on the draft alternatives. If a 
copy of the report is desired, please contact Ms. Beth Chambers at the 
above address. Ms. Chambers' telephone number is (916) 657-2666.

    Note: If special assistance is required, contact Ms. Pauline 
Nevins. Please notify Ms. Nevins as far in advance of the workshops 
as possible and not later than April 1, 1996 to enable CALFED to 
secure the needed services. If a request cannot be honored, the 
requestor will be notified. A telephone device for the hearing 
impaired (TDD) is available from TDD phones at 1-800-735-2929; from 
voice phones at 1-800-735-2922.

    Dated: March 6, 1996.
Franklin E. Dimick,
Assistant Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 96-5945 Filed 3-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P