[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25307-25308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10902]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA410


Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for 
PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project Interim Operations

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental assessment, 
habitat conservation plan, implementing agreement, and receipt of 
application; notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that PacifiCorp Energy (PacifiCorp or 
applicant) has submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service 
(NMFS) an application for an incidental take permit under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), for a 10-year period. 
As required by the ESA, PacifiCorp has also prepared a Habitat 
Conservation Plan (Plan) as part of the application. The application 
and Plan address potential incidental take of one ESA-listed species as 
a result of operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric 
Project (Project) in and near the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and 
Northern California and implementation of the Plan during a 10-year 
period. This notice also announces the availability of a draft 
Environmental Assessment (EA) related to the requested permit, the 
proposed Plan, and the corresponding Implementing Agreement (IA) for 
public review and comment.

DATES: Written comments on the draft EA, Plan, and IA, must be received 
by 5 p.m. Pacific Time, on July 5, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the draft EA, Plan, and IA 
should be sent by U.S. Mail, facsimile, or e-mail to Lisa Roberts, 
Fisheries Biologist, NMFS Northern California Office, 1655 Heindon 
Road, Arcata, CA 95521, facsimile (707) 825-4840, or you may transmit 
your comment as an attachment to the following e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    A public meeting will be held on June 29, 2011, from 6 p.m. to 9 
p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5050 Bechelli Lane, Redding, CA, Phone: 
(530) 226-5111.
    Copies of the draft EA, HCP and IA are available electronically for 
review on the NMFS Southwest Region Web site at: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/nepa.htm. Copies of these documents are also 
available for public review during regular business hours from 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m. at the NMFS Northern California Office, 1655 Heindon Road, 
Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 825-5178. Individuals wishing copies of the 
draft EA, Plan, or IA should contact NMFS by telephone (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT) or by letter (see ADDRESSES).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Roberts, Fisheries Biologist, 
NMFS, telephone (707) 825-5178.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 9 of the ESA and related Federal regulations prohibit the 
take of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened 
(16 U.S.C. 1538). The term ``take''' means to harass, harm, pursue, 
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to 
engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532). NMFS further defines harm 
as an act which actually kills or injures fish or wildlife, which 
includes significant habitat modification or degradation which actually 
kills or injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing essential 
behavior patterns, including

[[Page 25308]]

breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding or sheltering (50 CFR 
222.102). Under limited circumstances pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) 
of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), NMFS may issue permits to 
authorize incidental take of listed fish or wildlife; i.e., take that 
is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activity. 
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and 
endangered species under NMFS' jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR 
222.307.
    NMFS has received an application from PacifiCorp Energy 
(PacificCorp or Applicant) for an incidental take permit (Permit) for 
operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project 
(Project) and implementation of the Plan for a 10-year period. The 
application was prepared and submitted by the Applicant, the owner and 
operator of the Project. The Applicant has requested incidental take 
permit coverage from NMFS for the Southern Oregon/Northern California 
Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit of coho salmon Oncorhynchus 
kisutch. The Applicant has prepared the Plan to satisfy the application 
requirements for an incidental take permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 
the ESA.
    The area covered by the Permit would include the Applicant's 
existing facilities and the adjacent water and land areas potentially 
influenced by Project maintenance and operations, including the 
mainstem Klamath River and reservoirs from Link River dam at the outlet 
of Upper Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon down to the estuary in 
Northern California, inclusive.
    Project facilities at Iron Gate dam in Northern California, which 
is the Project dam furthest downstream on the Klamath River, do not 
include fish passage structures. Thus, anadromous fish passage, 
including passage of listed coho salmon, is currently blocked at Iron 
Gate dam. Subject to certain conditions and a pending determination in 
March 2012 by the Secretary of the Interior, the Klamath Hydroelectric 
Settlement Agreement (KHSA; for more information about the KHSA, see 
http://klamathrestoration.gov) anticipates that four Project dams on 
the Klamath River (Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle) 
will be removed by December 31, 2020, to accomplish volitional fish 
passage for listed coho salmon and other species. The removal of the 
dams envisioned in the KHSA modifies an earlier proposal by PacifiCorp 
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to relicense and 
continue to operate the Project for 50 years. If the dams are not 
removed under the KHSA or the KHSA terminates for any other reason, the 
Project would revert to the FERC relicensing proceedings. NMFS has 
prescribed mandatory fishways, which FERC must include as conditions of 
any new license for operation of the Project, in the FERC relicensing 
process. These fishways would provide volitional fish passage for 
listed coho salmon and other species. Therefore, the requested 10-year 
period of the Permit is consistent with the expectation that there 
would be volitional fish passage under either dam removal pursuant to 
the KHSA or FERC's issuance of a new license for the Project by 
approximately the end of 2020, and volitional fish passage under either 
of these processes will provide substantial benefits to coho salmon and 
other anadromous fish species at the completion of the interim term of 
the Permit.
    NMFS is now considering whether to issue an incidental take permit 
for the interim operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric 
Project during the interim period described above. Issuance of the 
incidental take permit by NMFS would be contingent on the 
implementation of the Plan and adherence to any permit conditions. The 
Plan that PacifiCorp included with its application for a Permit 
includes a series of conservation measures to minimize and mitigate the 
effects of operation of the Project on potential incidental take of 
listed coho salmon during the interim period described above, including 
a turbine venting system at Iron Gate Dam; coordinated participation in 
flow variability and flow ramp rate measures at Iron Gate Dam; 
placement of large woody debris downstream of Iron Gate Dam; funding 
fish disease research to benefit coho salmon; and a fund that would be 
used to implement various projects designed to benefit coho salmon by 
enhancing habitat conditions in the Klamath River and tributaries 
downstream of Iron Gate Dam.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    Proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). NMFS has 
prepared a draft EA which evaluates the impacts of the proposed 
issuance of the Permit and implementation of the Plan, as well as the 
No Action Alternative in which the Permit would not be issued and the 
Plan would not be implemented. Copies of the draft EA are available for 
review as described earlier in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

Public Comments Solicited

    NMFS invites the public to comment on the Plan, IA, and draft EA as 
described above in the ADDRESSES section during a 60-day public comment 
period described above in the DATES section. All comments and materials 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record and may be released to the public. This notice is 
provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)) and 
regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6). We provide this 
notice in order to allow the public, agencies, or other organizations 
to review and comment on these documents. The final NEPA determinations 
will not be made until after the 60-day public comment period has ended 
and after NMFS has fully considered all relevant comments received 
during the comment period.

Special Accommodations

    The public meeting is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Lisa Roberts, NMFS, at (707) 825-
5178, at least 5 working days prior to the public meeting date.

Next Steps

    NMFS will evaluate the application, associated documents, and 
public comments submitted to prepare final decision documents.

    Dated: April 28, 2011.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-10902 Filed 5-3-11; 8:45 am]
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