[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64976-64977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25691]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[XXXR0680R1 RR.R0336A1R5WRMP01.03 RR01113000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Public Scoping Meetings for the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise, Yakima 
River Basin Water Enhancement Project, Integrated Water Resource 
Management Plan, Kittitas County, Washington

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation intends to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) on the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise project. 
The Washington State Department of Ecology will be a joint lead agency 
with the Bureau of Reclamation in the preparation of this EIS, which 
also will be used to comply with requirements of the Washington State 
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The Bureau of Reclamation is 
requesting public comment and agency input to identify significant 
issues or other alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.

DATES: Submit written comments on the scope of the environmental impact 
statement on or before December 16, 2013.
    Two scoping meetings, combined with open houses each day, will be 
held on the following dates and times:
     November 20, 2013, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. 
to 7:00 p.m., Yakima, WA.
     November 21, 2013, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. 
to 7:00 p.m., Cle Elum, WA.

ADDRESSES: Send written scoping comments, requests to be added to the 
mailing list, or requests for sign language interpretation for the 
hearing impaired or other special assistance needs to Ms. Candace 
McKinley, Environmental Program Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901; or 
email [email protected].
    The scoping meetings and open houses will be located at:
     Yakima--Yakima Area Arboretum, 1401 Arboretum Way, Yakima, 
WA 98901.
     Cle Elum--U.S. Forest Service (Cle Elum Ranger District 
Conference Room), 803 W 2nd Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Candace McKinley, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 
98901; telephone (509) 575-5848, ext. 232; facsimile (509) 454-5650; 
email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) at 1-800-877-
8339 TTY/ASCII to contact the above individual during normal business 
hours. The FedRelay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to 
leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive 
a reply during normal business hours. Information on this project may 
also be found at http://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/yrbwep/index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is 
issuing this notice pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on 
Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA, 43 CFR 
parts 1500 through 1508; the Department of the Interior's NEPA 
regulations, 43 CFR part 46, and the Washington State Environmental 
Policy Act.

Background

    On July 9, 2013, the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final 
Programmatic EIS (PEIS) for the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water 
Resource Management Plan (Integrated Plan) was signed. In the ROD, the 
Reclamation selected the Integrated Plan Alternative for 
implementation. The Integrated Plan Alternative is comprised of seven 
elements which were considered in the PEIS:
    1. Reservoir Fish Passage;
    2. Structural and Operational Changes;
    3. Surface Water Storage;
    4. Groundwater Storage;
    5. Habitat/Watershed Protection and Enhancement;
    6. Enhanced Water Conservation; and
    7. Water Market Reallocation of Water Resources.
    As described in the PEIS, the Reclamation and the Washington State 
Department of Ecology (Ecology) will complete project-level, site-
specific environmental review for actions within the Integrated Plan 
once the agencies are ready to move forward each action or groups of 
actions. Reclamation and Ecology have determined that it is appropriate 
to initiate the environmental review process with regard to the Cle 
Elum Reservoir Pool Raise.
    This action was previously evaluated at a programmatic level of 
analysis in

[[Page 64977]]

the Integrated Plan PEIS (see chapters 2 through 5 of the PEIS 
available at: www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/yrbwep/reports/FPEIS/fpeis.pdf). 
The PEIS examined the effects of the overall Integrated Plan 
Alternative, which included the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool Raise Project 
as part of the Structural and Operational Changes element. Now the 
agencies will prepare a project-level EIS for the Cle Elum Reservoir 
Pool Raise Project and will tier to the Integrated Plan PEIS as 
provided for in the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 
CFR 1502.20, Tiering). The project-level environmental analysis to be 
conducted in this EIS will expand upon and add detail to those analyses 
already completed in the Integrated Plan PEIS.
    The proposed action to be evaluated in the Cle Elum Reservoir Pool 
Raise EIS is to modify the radial gates at Cle Elum Dam to provide an 
additional 14,600 acre-feet of storage capacity. This modification 
would raise the pool level by approximately 3 feet. The objective of 
this action is to use the additional water stored to provide increased 
seasonal releases from Cle Elum Reservoir to improve streamflows for 
fish. The Cle Elum Pool Raise Project is authorized in Yakima River 
Basin Water Enhancement Project (Sec. 1206, Pub. L. 103-43).
    At this time, there are no known Indian Trust Assets or 
environmental justice issues associated with the proposed action.

Special Assistance for Public Scoping and Open House Meetings

    If special assistance is required to participate in the public 
scoping and open house meetings, please contact Ms. Candace McKinley, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, 
Yakima, WA 98901; telephone (509) 575-5848, ext. 232; facsimile (509) 
454-5650; email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FedRelay) at 1-
800-877-8339 TTY/ASCII to contact the above individual during normal 
business hours. The FedRelay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours. All meeting 
facilities are physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: October 24, 2013.
Lorri J. Lee,
Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-25691 Filed 10-29-13; 8:45 am]
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