[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 139 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41236-41237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6368]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Milltown Hill Project, Douglas County, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplement to the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) proposes to prepare a supplement to the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Milltown Hill Project. 
Reclamation filed the FEIS for the project with the Environmental 
Protection Agency on August 14, 1992 and completed a Record of Decision 
(ROD) on November 7, 1992. The FEIS was prepared in conjunction with 
Douglas County's (County) application for a Small Reclamation Projects 
Act loan and grants to develop a dam and reservoir at the Milltown Hill 
site on Elk Creek above Drain, Oregon. The County's loan and grant 
application was subsequently approved but the project was never 
constructed. The County has recently indicated that it wishes to re-
activate its Small Reclamation Projects Act loan and grant application. 
Reclamation believes that due to the time lapse since the FEIS was 
completed and the ROD was signed, it is appropriate to update the 
information in the 1992 EIS to determine if it still correctly 
describes the affected environment and environmental consequences of 
the project. The proposed action and the no action alternative will be 
evaluated in the supplement to the FEIS.

ADDRESSES: Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Regional Office, 
1150 N. Curtis Road, Suite 100, Boise, ID 83706-1234.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anyone interested in more information 
concerning the EIS, or who has information that may be useful in 
identifying significant environmental issues, may contact Mr. Robert 
Hamilton at telephone 208-378-5087, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. TTY users may dial 711 to obtain a toll free 
TTY replay.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project consists of a 186 foot high dam 
and 24,143 acre foot reservoir on Elk Creek, a tributary of the Umpqua 
River, which would provide regulated flows of water for irrigation of 
up to 4,661 acres of arable land, storage and distribution of water to 
the cities of Drain and Yoncalla, and the community of Rice Hill; allow 
municipal expansion and industrial diversification; provide a reliable 
source of water for rural domestic use; provide opportunities to 
improve fish and wildlife habitat; improve water quality; provide new 
water-related recreational facilities; and provide limited flood 
control in and near the city of Drain. A portion of the stored water 
would be released directly into Elk Creek to enhance water quality and 
anadromous fish habitat, and to meet the out of stream needs of 
municipal, industrial and agricultural users. The remainder of the 
stored water would be released into a pipeline distribution system 
which would improve municipal, industrial and irrigation water supplies 
to Scotts Valley and Yoncalla Valley, and provide an additional water 
supply for rural domestic use in these areas.
    As indicated above, a FEIS and ROD for the project were completed 
in 1992. The County's loan application was subsequently approved by the 
Commissioner of Reclamation and the Secretary of the Interior on May 
17, 1994, and May 18, 1994, respectively.
    On September 9, 1996, the Umpqua River (UR) cutthroat trout was 
listed as endangered. On October 23, 1996, Reclamation and the County 
submitted a biological assessment (BA) to the National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) analyzing the effects of the proposed project on the 
listed and proposed species. On December 18, 1997, NMFS issued its 
biological opinion under section 7 of the ESA,

[[Page 41237]]

stating that the proposed project is likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of UR cutthroat trout and result in adverse modification of 
proposed critical habitat. A reasonable and prudent alternative was 
identified by NMFS to minimize the take of UR cutthroat trout.
    Because of the listing of the UR cutthroat trout Reclamation 
determined that a supplement to the EIS was necessary. A Notice of 
Intent to prepare a supplement to the EIS was published in the Federal 
Register (62 FR 67890, December 30, 1997). A subsequent notice 
cancelled the Supplement (63 FR 52286, September 30, 1998) when the 
County suspended its plans to develop the project because, at that 
time, there was no process for obtaining a fish passage waiver from the 
State of Oregon.
    Following a scientific review of the coastal cutthroat populations 
in California, Washington and Oregon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service published a final rule in the Federal Register (65 FR 24420, 
April 26, 2000) delisting the UR cutthroat trout. The Umpqua River 
Ecologically Significant Unit (ESU) of the coastal cutthroat trout was 
removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife because of 
a determination that the population, formerly identified as an ESU of 
the species, is part of a larger population segment that previously was 
determined to be neither endangered nor threatened as defined by the 
Endangered Species Act. Critical Habitat designations for this 
population were also removed.
    A scoping letter to request assistance in identifying any new 
information or effects that should be considered in he supplemental EIS 
will be prepared early this summer and sent to a list of previously 
interested parties. Please contact Robert Hamilton at the address given 
in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, or via e-mail at 
[email protected] if you wish to receive a copy of the scoping 
letter. No scoping meetings are planned at this time.
    Reclamation welcomes written comments related to the environmental 
effects of the proposed project. Reclamation's practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from public disclosure, which we will honor to the 
extent allowable by law. There may be other circumstances in which we 
would withhold a respondent's identity from public disclosure, as 
allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. We 
will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

    Dated: July 14, 2006.
J. William McDonald,
Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region.
[FR Doc. 06-6368 Filed 7-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-M