[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31303-31304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13387]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Availability or Record of Decision and Final Findings 
of Approvability to the Washington Coastal Zone Management Program

AGENCY: Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.

ACTION: Notice of Availability or Record of Decision and Final Findings 
of Approvability to the Washington Coastal Zone Management Program.

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SUMMARY: NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) 
announces availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) and Final 
Findings of Approvability (Findings) for OCRM's Approval of Amendments 
to the Washington Coastal Zone Management Program (WCZMP) final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). On October 6, 2004, OCRM received 
the State of Washington's request to incorporate the State's new 
Shoreline Master Program Guidelines (Guidelines), Chapter 173-26 of the 
Washington Administrative Code (WAC) as an amendment to the WCZMP. The 
new Guidelines replace the previously repealed Chapter 173-16 of the 
WAC, the Shoreline Management Act Guidelines for Development of 
Shoreline Master Programs. The final EIS was released to the public for 
a 45-day comment period after the publication of a Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register on November 12, 2010 (75 FR 
69434). The ROD documents the selection of Alternative 1 (the NOAA 
preferred alternative) in the final EIS. The Findings make a final 
determination that the WCZMP, as amended by the October 6, 2004 WCZMP 
Amendment Document, still constitutes an approvable program and that 
procedural requirements of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and 
its implementing regulations have been met. The ROD and Findings were 
signed by the Assistant Administrator, National Ocean Service (NOS) on 
May 16, 2011. Federal consistency applies to the revised WCZMP 
enforceable policies as of May 16, 2011.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the ROD and the Findings may be obtained from 
Helen Farr, Environmental Protection Specialist, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, OCRM/CPD, Station 02-101, 55 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930, or [email protected], (978) 675-2170 
(telephone), (978) 281-9301 (Fax). The documents are also available on 
OCRM's Web site at http://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/assessments/welcome.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill O'Beirne, Pacific Regional Team 
Leader, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, OCRM/CPD, N/
ORM3, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or 
Bill.O'[email protected], (301) 713-3155, extension 160 (telephone), 301-
713-4367 (Fax).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the ROD and 
the Findings. On October 6, 2004, Washington formally submitted to NOAA 
a request to amend the WCZMP.
    The amendment included the above-referenced Guidelines, which 
replaced the State's previously repealed Guidelines. The ROD selects 
final EIS Alternative 1, Approve Washington's Request for Amendment of 
the WCZMP. OCRM arrived at this decision while taking environmental, 
economic and agency statutory mission considerations into account, as 
discussed in greater detail in the ROD. The Findings provide an 
analysis of how the WCZMP, as amended, meets the requirements of the 
CZMA at 15 CFR part 923, including uses subject to management, special 
management areas, boundaries, authorities and organization, and 
coordination, public involvement, and national interest.
    The following factors weighed most heavily in OCRM's decision: (1) 
Continued WCZMP approvability as amended by the proposed program 
change; and (2) impacts to the coastal resources and communities 
associated with the continued existence of the WCZMP. OCRM approved the 
WCZMP amendment because OCRM believes Alternative 1 meets the program 
change requirements of the CZMA, and will be the best opportunity for 
continued comprehensive protection of Washington's coastal resources. 
OCRM did not select either Alternative 2 (Deny Washington's Amendments) 
or Alternative 3 (No Action) because the

[[Page 31304]]

former could have resulted in repeal and termination of the WCZMP, and 
the latter would not have allowed for the best review of environmental 
concerns informed by public comment. Termination of the WCZMP would 
potentially lead to negative physical and socio-economic impacts to 
coastal resources associated with (1) Lack of application of Federal 
consistency requirements available only through participation in the 
national coastal zone management program; and (2) loss of federal 
funding for implementation of the WCZMP. The ROD did not identify any 
mitigation or monitoring measures since the final EIS found that many 
of the variables used to determine the effects were unforeseeable and 
based on decisions peripherally related to the Guidelines themselves.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419 Coastal Zone Management 
Program Administration)

    Dated: April 24, 2011.
David M. Kennedy,
Assistant Administrator, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-13387 Filed 5-27-11; 8:45 am]
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