[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48677-48679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20160]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 072700D]


Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an 
Application for Incidental Take Permits for the Roseton and Danskammer 
Point Generating Stations Conservation Plan, Hudson River, New York

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of application and availability for public comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that Central Hudson Gas & 
Electric Corporation (CHGE) has submitted an application to the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for an incidental take permit 
(Permit) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 
(Act). As required by the Act, the applicant has also prepared a 
Conservation Plan (Plan) designed to minimize and mitigate any such 
take of endangered or threatened species. The proposed permit would 
authorize the take of one endangered species: shortnose sturgeon 
(Acipenser brevirostrum). The duration of the proposed Permit and Plan 
is 15 years.
    NMFS also announces the availability of a draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Implementing Agreement for this Permit application. 
The NMFS is providing this notice in order to allow other agencies and 
the public an opportunity to review and comment on these documents.

DATES: Written comments on the Conservation Plan, EA, and Implementing 
Agreement must be received from interested parties no later than 
September 8, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on any of the new applications or 
modification requests should be sent to Mary Colligan, Endangered 
Species Coordinator, NMFS Northeast Region, One Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Comments may also be sent via fax. Comments will 
not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet.
    Comments and materials received will also be available for public 
inspection, by appointment, during regular business hours by calling 
978-281-9116. The documents are also available electronically on the 
World Wide Web at [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot__res/permits/
ESApermit.html].

[[Page 48678]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Colligan; telephone 978-281-9116; 
978-281-9394; e-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations 
prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or 
threatened. The term ``take'' is defined under the Act to mean harass, 
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 
attempt to engage in any such conduct. ``Harm'' has been defined by 
NMFS as an act that actually kills or injures fish or wildlife, and 
includes any significant habitat modification or degradation that 
significantly impairs essential behavioral patterns of fish or 
wildlife, including breeding, spawning, rearing, feeding, or sheltering 
(64 FR 60727, November 8, 1999).
    The NMFS may issue permits, under limited circumstances, to take 
listed species incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful 
activities. NMFS regulations governing permits for threatened and 
endangered species are promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307.
    The Permit application is related to the continued operation of two 
power plants on the Hudson River, the Roseton and Danskammer Point 
power plants, both of which are operated by CHGE. The Permit 
application includes the following: (1) the proposed Conservation Plan; 
and (2) the proposed Implementing Agreement. This notice is provided 
pursuant to the ESA, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
regulations.
    Details of a separate request by CHGE for a scientific research 
permit pursuant to section 10 (a)(1)(A) are also provided in the 
Conservation Plan. All comments received will become part of the 
official administrative record and will be available for review 
pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act.

Background

    Central Hudson Gas & Electric Company (CHGE) operates the Roseton 
and Danskammer Point power plants which are located along the Hudson 
River estuary approximately 65 miles upriver from the southern tip of 
Manhattan, NY. Shortnose sturgeon have been previously collected in the 
cooling water withdrawal systems of these power plants. In addition, 
shortnose sturgeon have been occasionally collected in the biological 
monitoring program which has been required by the New York State 
Department of Environmental Conservation as part of the State Pollution 
Discharge Elimination System permit for the operation of power plants 
on the Hudson River, including the Roseton project. The collection of 
shortnose sturgeon under this biological monitoring program is covered 
under a separate application for an ESA Scientific Research Permit 
under section 10(a)(1)(A).
    Section 10 of the ESA contains provisions for the issuance of 
Permits to non-Federal land owners 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. In addition, the 
applicant must prepare and submit to the NMFS for approval a 
Conservation Plan containing a strategy for minimizing and mitigating 
all take associated with the proposed activities to the maximum extent 
practicable. The applicant must also ensure that adequate funding for 
the Conservation Plan will be provided.
    The Roseton Generating Station is located on the west shore of the 
Hudson River Estuary at river mile (RM) 66 and approximately four miles 
north of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. The plant consists of two fossil-
fueled, steam electric units, having a combined net generating capacity 
of 1,248 megawatts (MW). Roseton has a shoreline intake structure with 
12 openings on the front face. Trash racks and traveling screens have 
been installed at the plant.
    The Danskammer Point Generating Station is located on the west 
shore of the Hudson River Estuary at RM 66, approximately 0.5 miles 
north of the Roseton Generating Station. Danskammer consists of four 
fossil-fueled, steam electric units, having a net generating capacity 
rating per unit ranging from 480 to 491 MW. Cooling water is 
transported to the plant through an intake canal located along the 
Estuary shoreline north of the plant.
    The operation of the Roseton and Danskammer power plants requires 
withdrawal of large quantities of water for cooling purposes, and the 
subsequent discharge of this cooling water, at an increased 
temperature, back to the source waterbody. The use of cooling water 
could cause mortality of shortnose sturgeon from entrainment and 
impingement at the cooling water intake or from effects of the 
discharge.
    A total of four, or possibly eight if unidentified sturgeon larvae 
are included, shortnose sturgeon larvae were collected in entrainment 
monitoring conducted at six power plants (including Roseton and 
Danskammer Point) over a 16-year study period (1972-1987). Intensive 
monitoring, conducted from 1981-1987, entailed sampling nearly 24-hours 
per day, 4 to 7 days per week, during the spring. The low number of 
larvae entrained is likely primarily due to the fact that spawning and 
larval nursery areas occur many miles upstream (RM 118-148) from the 
plants.
    The estimated average number of shortnose sturgeon impinged at 
Roseton and Danskammer Point is seven individuals per year. A total of 
29 shortnose sturgeon were collected at Roseton and Danskammer Point 
power plants over the 27-year sampling period (1972-1998). In general, 
weekly 24-hour sampling was conducted to examine the abundance and 
species composition of impinged organisms.
    Alternatives to the proposed action that were considered in the 
Conservation Plan included alternative means of utilizing the existing 
once-through cooling water systems, replacement of the once-through 
cooling water systems with closed-cycle technologies, and alternative 
screening technologies. The alternative of targeting reductions in 
water withdrawal rates in an effort to reduce the entrainment or 
impingement of shortnose sturgeon was determined to not be feasible as 
the rare entrainment and impingement events cannot be predicted. 
Closed-cycle cooling systems, including cooling ponds, spray ponds or 
cooling towers were considered. Sufficient lands are not available for 
cooling ponds or spray ponds. Cooling towers were rejected due to the 
concerns over potential impacts from fogging or icing from the cooling 
tower plume drift, visual impacts, evaporation, drift, blowdown, sludge 
formation and noise, costs, and lack of significant benefit to 
shortnose sturgeon. Screening alternatives were considered, but fine-
mesh screens were rejected due to engineering difficulties, potential 
high costs, and the lack of any apparent benefit to shortnose sturgeon. 
Barrier nets were considered impractical due to the proximal position 
of water intakes to strong tidal currents, the water depth, proximity 
to main river channels, seasonally high debris and sediment loading, 
and presence of structures located offshore of the intake at some of 
the facilities. Cylindrical wedge-wire screens were eliminated from 
consideration due to concerns over reliability, maintenance issues, 
costs, and uncertainty of the benefits to shortnose sturgeon. Under the 
no action alternative, no permit would be issued, however take could 
not be completely avoided by these plants and mitigative measures would 
not be implemented. Minimization programs for the Roseton and 
Danskammer Point plants include days of outage, minimizing volumes of

[[Page 48679]]

cooling water needed, and continued operation of intake screens and 
fish return systems when associated water pumps are in operation. CHGE 
proposed to provide an annual count of the number of shortnose sturgeon 
impinged at each facility based on sampling during one 24-hour period 
each week of operation. CHGE will conduct a mark-recapture study 
designed to estimate the size of the adult shortnose sturgeon 
population in the Hudson River twice during the 15-year term of the 
permit (permit years 7 and 14).
    On May 19, 2000, NMFS' Office of Protected Resources received a 
complete application from CHGC requesting an ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) 
scientific research permit for the conduct of monitoring associated 
with the operation of the Roseton and Danskammer power plants. As 
required by 50 CFR 222.24 (a), NMFS published a notice of receipt in 
the Federal Register on June 19, 2000 (65 FR 39869). CHGC has requested 
approval for the collection of larvae, juvenile, and adult shortnose 
sturgeon in various location in the Hudson River. The comment period 
for this research permit application closed on July 23, 2000, and NMFS 
is currently compiling comments that were received on the application. 
Details of the research permit application are provided in the 
Conservation Plan prepared for CHGE's application for an ESA section 
10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit which is announced by this notice.
    This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the ESA and 
NEPA regulations. The NMFS will evaluate the application, associated 
documents, and comments submitted to determine whether the application 
meets the requirements of the Act and NEPA. If it is determined that 
the requirements are met, permits will be issued for the incidental 
take of shortnose sturgeon. The final permit decision will be made no 
sooner than 30 days from the date of this notice.

Authority

    Issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is based on 
a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) Are applied for in good 
faith; (2) would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed species 
which are the subject of the permits; and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA. Authority to 
take listed species is subject to conditions set forth in the permits. 
Permits and modifications are issued in accordance with and are subject 
to the ESA and NMFS regulations governing listed fish and wildlife 
permits (50 CFR parts 222-226).

    Dated: August 3, 2000.
Margaret Lorenz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-20160 Filed 8-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F