[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15242-15243]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6603]



[[Page 15242]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ER-FRL-6616-4]


Environmental Impact Statements and Regulations; Availability of 
EPA Comments

    Availability of EPA comments prepared pursuant to the Environmental 
Review Process (ERP), under Section 309 of the Clean Air Act and 
Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act as amended. 
Requests for copies of EPA comments can be directed to the Office of 
Federal Activities at (202) 564-7167. An explanation of the ratings 
assigned to draft environmental impact statements (EISs) was published 
in FR dated April 14, 2000 (65 FR 20157).

Draft EISs

    ERP No. D-AFS-L65371-AK Rating EO2, Cholmondeley Timber Sales, 
Implementation, Harvesting Timber, Tongass Forest Plan, Tongass 
National Forest, Craig Ranger District, West of Ketchikan and South of 
Prince of Wales Island, AK.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental objections to the preferred 
alternative, no. 5, (as well as no. 4) which would likely violate State 
of Alaska Water Quality Standard (WQSs) (turbidity and sediment 
criteria and the Antidegradation Policy) and not comply with Alaska 
Drinking Water Regulations (DWRs). The DEIS also does not fully 
disclose applicable WQSs and DWRs or describe an adaptive management 
strategy that would ensure the WQSs and DWRs would be met with project 
implementation. We recommended that the FEIS identify a preferred 
alternative that meets WQSs and DWRs and include data and analyses 
supporting this outcome.
    ERP No. D-BLM-L65371-OR Rating EC2, Rogue National Wild and Scenic 
River Hellgate Recreation Area (Applegate River to Grave Creek) 
Management Plan, Implementation, Bedford District, Josephine County, 
OR.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns with the preferred 
alternative, which could potentially increase recreational use on the 
river in areas where use is already high. EPA requested the selection 
of an alternative which would reduce use levels, require no new 
facilities, manage visitor use and limit commercial outfitters.
    ERP No. D-COE-K39065-CA Rating LO, Guadalupe Creek Restoration 
Project, Restore Riparian Vegetation and Native Anadromous Fish 
Habitat, From Almaden Expressway to Masson Dam, Implementation, 
Guadalupe River, Santa Clara County, CA.
    Summary: EPA expressed a lack of objections with the proposed 
project but requested clarification of several questions in the Final 
EIS, including the applicability of the Clean Water Act Phase II 
stormwater rule to the proposed project.
    ERP No. D-DOE-E06019-SC Rating EC2, Savannah River Site, High-Level 
Waste Tank Closure (DOE/EIS-0303D), Implementation, Industrial 
Wastewater Closure Plan for the F and H-Area High-Level Waste Tank 
Systems, Aiken County, SC.
    Summary: EPA has environmental concerns about the project, and 
needs more information to fully assess the impacts. In particular, 
clarification of potential impacts, tank closure procedures, and 
schedule for tank closure warrant further discussion in the Final EIS.
    ERP No. D-DOE-E09807-TN Rating EC2, Programmatic EIS--Oak Ridge Y-
12 Plant Mission, Processing and Storage Highly Enriched Uranium, U.S. 
Nuclear Weapons Stockpile, Anderson County, TN.
    Summary: EPA has concerns about potential impacts of the proposed 
project and requests more detail in the final EIS regarding 
environmental justice, wetland impacts, and cultural resource issues.
    ERP No. D-IBR-L36114-WA Rating EO2, Keechelus Dam Project, Safety 
of Dams Modification, Implementation, COE Section 404 Permit, Yakima, 
Kittitas, Benton, and Klickitat Counties, WA.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental objections due to a lack of 
dam reconstruction alternatives that provide for fish passage, 
potential effects of late successional habitat and wildlife corridors, 
the lack of an adequate environmental justice analysis, lack of 
evidence that government-to-government consultations with affected 
Tribal governments have been conducted, and concerns with the impact 
analysis. EPA recommended that the cumulative effects analysis be 
expanded.
    ERP No. D-MMS-E02011-00 Rating EC2, Eastern Planning Area Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 181 (December 2001), Gulf of 
Mexico, Offshore Marine Environment and Coastal Counties/Parishes of 
LA, MI, AL and northwestern FL.
    Summary: EPA expressed concerns regarding deficiencies in lease 
stipulations pertaining to live bottom habitat protection and spill 
response, in addition, EPA recommended splitting the proposed lease 
sale area into a shallow and a deep area and leasing in two phases.
    ERP No. D-NOA-K91009-00 Rating LO, Coral Reef Ecosystems of the 
Western Pacific Region, Fishery Management Plan, Including Amendments 
to Four Existing (FMPs), Amendment 7--Bottomfish and Seamount 
Groundfish Fisheries, Amendment 11--Crustaceans Fisheries; Amendment 
5--Precious Corals Fisheries and Amendment 10--Pelagics Fisheries, HI, 
GU and AS.
    Summary: EPA was pleased with the comprehensive, ecosystem-level 
approach to address habitat and species protection issues in the 
proposed Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Coral Reef Ecosystem of 
the Western Pacific Region. EPA encourages NMFS and the Council to 
continue integration of this planning effort with ongoing updates to 
related Western Pacific FMPs, and to fully address social and economic 
impacts from fishery displacement.
    ERP No. D-NPS-K61152-CA Rating EC2, Santa Monica Mountains National 
Recreation Area General Management Plan, Implementation, Los Angeles 
County, CA.
    Summary: EPA expressed concerns regarding the adequacy of the air 
quality analysis. EPA requested analysis to substantiate the claim that 
air quality issues can be dismissed from further consideration by 
quantifying the vehicle trips associated with current visitation of the 
SMMNRA and the air quality impacts of those trips.
    ERP No. D-NRC-E06020-GA Rating EC2, Generic EIS--Edwin I. Hatch 
Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 and 2, License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, 
Supplement 4 to NUREG-1437, Altamaha River, Appling County, GA.
    Summary: EPA has environmental concerns about the project, and 
needs more information to fully assess the impacts. In particular, 
environmental justice, clarification of potential impacts, and on-site 
groundwater wells warrant further discussion on the Final EIS.
    ERP No. DA-NRC-A00164-00 Rating LO, GENERIC--License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants, Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1, COE Section 10 and 404 
Permits, Pope County, AR (NUREG-1437).
    Summary: EPA had no objection to the proposed action.
    ERP No. DS-IBR-K39057-CA Rating LO, San Joaquin River Agreement 
Project, Updated and New Information, The Acquisition of Additional 
Water for Meeting the San Joaquin River Agreement Flow Objectives, 
2001-2010, Vernalis Adaptive Management Plan

[[Page 15243]]

(VAMP), Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, CA.
    Summary: EPA supports the objective of the Vernalis Adaptive 
Management Plan (VAMP), and recognizes the potential benefits of 
providing additional water as proposed in the Draft SEIS. EPA 
recommends that Reclamation provide more detail in the Final SEIS on 
the cumulative effects and energy impacts of acquiring this additional 
water for the VAMP.

Final EISs

    ERP No. F-COE-F39036-IL Hunter Lake New Supplemental Water Supply 
Reservoir, Construction, City of Springfield Application for Permit, 
Sangamon County, IL.
    Summary: EPA's concerns regarding purpose and need, alternatives 
analysis, and social-economics were satisfied by the Final EIS. 
However, EPA continued to have objections due to concerns with wetland 
delineation and mitigation.
    ERP No. F-IBR-K28019-CA East Bay Municipal Utility District, 
Supplemental Water Supply Project, American River Division of the 
Central Valley Project (CVP), Sacramento County, CA.
    Summary: EPA continues to have concerns regarding the proposed 
alternatives, source water quality, and consistency with proposed 
Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) and CALFED actions.
    ERP No. F-IBR-K39062-00 Colorado River Interim Surplus Criteria, To 
Determine Water Surplus for use within the States of Arizona, 
California and Nevada (from 2001 through 2015), Colorado River Basin, 
AZ, CA and NV.
    Summary: EPA remains concerned with the potential impacts of 
interim surplus criteria on perchlorate and the probability of more 
frequent and higher magnitude water shortages to other users of Lower 
Colorado River water. EPA requested that Reclamation continue to work 
with EPA and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on 
addressing prechlorate and to provide additional information in the 
Record of Decision on potential reparation/forbearance agreements among 
the Lower Basin states.
    ERP No. F-NPS-G65075-LA Cane River Creole National Historical Park, 
General Management Plan, Natchitoches Parish, LA.
    Summary: EPA had no further comments on the FEIS.
    ERP No. F-TVA-A09830-00 Adoption--Disposition of Surplus Highly 
Enriched Uranium, TVA proposes to obtain 33 Metric Tons of Highly 
Enriched Uranium (HEU) to blend down to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) and 
Fabricated to Fuel for use in Nuclear Reactors at Brown Ferry Nuclear 
Plant.
    Summary: EPA expressed lack of objections with TVA's adoption of 
DOE's EIS. EPA had no concerns with DOE's final EIS, and TVA proposes 
to follow the same actions described in the DOE EIS.

    Dated: March 13, 2001.
Joseph C. Montgomery,
Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 01-6603 Filed 3-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P