[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30112-30114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration


Crystal Springs Hatchery Program

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and notice of floodplain and wetlands assessment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), BPA intends to prepare an EIS on its decision whether to fund 
the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho 
(Tribes) proposal to construct and operate a hatchery for spring/summer 
Chinook salmon in the Salmon River subbasin and Yellowstone cutthroat 
trout in the Upper Snake River subbasin on Fort Hall Reservation.
    The Tribes' proposed project that BPA is considering funding would 
involve construction of a hatchery and construction of two fish 
trapping (weir) facilities on US Forest Service (USFS) land. The 
hatchery would be constructed at the site of an obsolete trout hatchery 
owned by BPA on Crystal Springs in Bingham County, Idaho. The weirs 
would involve construction of a weir in the Yankee Fork of the Salmon 
River at the USFS Pole Flat Campground in Custer County, relocation of 
a section of Yankee Fork Road and associated facilities (RV pads), and 
construction of a weir on USFS land in Panther Creek in Lemhi County, 
Idaho. The USFS will be a cooperating agency on this EIS to inform 
their decision on whether to grant a special use permit for 
construction and operation of the two weirs and associated facilities 
and relocation of the road on forest service lands.
    Operations of the hatchery would include collection of adult 
spring/summer Chinook for broodstock from existing hatcheries, 
incubation and rearing of juvenile Chinook, and release of smolts into 
the Yankee Fork and

[[Page 30113]]

Panther Creek. Over time, broodstock would be collected at the Yankee 
Fork and Panther Creek weirs. Chinook were extirpated from Panther 
Creek in the mid-1900s. In 1992, Chinook salmon native to Yankee Fork 
were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); 
currently the population is classified at high risk of extinction and 
has been identified as an independent population of Snake River spring/
summer Chinook salmon. The proposal would augment anadromous fish 
populations available for harvest and aid in establishing a naturally 
spawning Chinook population.
    The hatchery would also produce up to 5,000 resident Yellowstone 
cutthroat trout for release in an isolated oxbow lake within the Fort 
Hall Reservation permit fishing area in the upper Snake River subbasin. 
Biologists would monitor Chinook salmon in Yankee Fork and Panther 
Creek and Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the oxbow lake to inform 
decisions on hatchery operations.
    With this Notice of Intent, BPA is initiating the public scoping 
process for the EIS. BPA and the USFS are requesting comments about 
potential environmental impacts that should be considered as an EIS is 
prepared.
    In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain 
and wetlands environmental review requirements, BPA will prepare a 
floodplain and wetlands assessment to avoid or minimize potential harm 
to or within any affected floodplains and wetlands. The assessment will 
be included in the EIS.

DATES: Written comments are due to the ad dress below no later than 
July 7, 2014. Comments may also be made at one of the three EIS scoping 
meetings to be held on June 10, 2014, June 11, 2014, and June 12, 2014 
at the addresses below.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed scope of the Draft EIS for funding 
this Tribal project and requests to be placed on the project mailing 
list may be mailed by letter to Bonneville Power Administration, Public 
Affairs Office--DKE-7, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, OR 97292-4428, or by 
fax to 503-230-4019. You also may call BPA's toll-free comment line at 
1-800-622-4519 and leave a message (please include the name of this 
project), or submit comments online at www.bpa.gov/comment. All comment 
letters will be available via the project Web site at www.bpa.gov/goto/CrystalSprings.
    On June 10, 2014, a scoping meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 
8:00 p.m. at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Events Center, I-15 Exit 80, 
Simplot Rd, Fort Hall, Idaho 83203. Additional scoping meetings will be 
held on June 11, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the USFS Office, 
1206 S. Challis Street Salmon, ID; and on June 12, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. 
to 8:00 p.m. at the USFS Office, 311 N. US HWY 93, Challis, ID. At 
these informal open-house meetings, we will have project information, 
maps, and members of the project team available to answer questions and 
accept verbal and written comments.
    Forest Service Objection Process: The final EIS and USFS draft 
decision will be completed and mailed to those who have submitted 
comments, and to those who have requested to be included on the project 
mailing list. A copy of the final EIS and draft decision is planned to 
be mailed in early 2016.
    The project implements land management plans and is not authorized 
under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act and is subject to 36 Code of 
Federal Register (CFR) 218.7 (a) and (b). There will be an objection 
process before the final USFS decision is made and after the final EIS 
and draft decision are mailed (reference 36 CFR part 218). In order to 
be eligible to file an objection, specific written comments related to 
the project must be submitted during scoping, by the comment period on 
the draft EIS in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR 1506.10, and any 
other periods public comment is specifically requested on this EIS (36 
CFR 218.5). Individual members of organizations must have submitted 
their own comments to meet the requirements of eligibility as an 
individual. Objections received on behalf of an organization are 
considered as those of the organization only. Names and addresses of 
those who comment and/or file objections will become part of the public 
record.
    For more information on how the objection process works for 
projects and activities implementing land and resource management plans 
and the requirements, contact Mary Hammer at 208-756-5109, email 
[email protected], or you may read the regulations under 36 CFR 
part 218, subparts A and B on the National Forest Service Web site at 
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-03-27/pdf/2013-06857.pdf.
    The environmental analysis will be mailed out to those who respond 
to this notice of intent, the scoping letter, to those who have 
requested the document, or are eligible to file an objection in 
accordance with 36 CFR 218.5(a).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don Rose, Environmental Coordinator, 
Bonneville Power Administration--KEC-4, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 
97208-3621; toll-free telephone 1-800-282-3713; direct telephone 503-
230-3796; or email [email protected] or Joe DeHerrera, Project Manager, 
Bonneville Power Administration--KEC-4, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, 
Oregon, 97208-3621; toll-free telephone number 1-800-622-4519; fax 
number 503-230-5699; email [email protected]. For questions 
specifically for the USFS, contact Mary Hammer at 208-756-5109, or 
email at [email protected]. Additional information can be found at 
the project Web site: www.bpa.gov/goto/CrystalSprings.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BPA's funding of the Tribes' project would 
support efforts to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife 
affected by the development and operation of the Federal Columbia River 
Power System in the mainstem Columbia River and its tributaries 
pursuant to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and 
Conservation Act of 1980 (Act) (16 U.S.C. 839b(h)(10)). The Act 
requires BPA to fund fish and wildlife protection, mitigation, and 
enhancement actions consistent with the Northwest Power and 
Conservation Council's (Council) Fish and Wildlife Program and the 
purposes of the Act. Under this program, the Council makes 
recommendations to BPA concerning which fish and wildlife projects to 
fund. The Tribes' proposed project is one of those projects recommended 
to BPA by the Council. BPA obligated to fund the Tribes' proposed 
project in the 2008 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Fish Accord Memorandum of 
Agreement, and made funding contingent on satisfactory completion of 
applicable environmental compliance, such as NEPA. The Tribes's 
proposal is also consistent with BPA's Fish and Wildlife Implementation 
Plan policy which calls for protecting weak stocks, like the Salmon 
River spring/summer Chinook, while sustaining overall populations of 
fish for their economic and cultural value, including long-term harvest 
opportunities.
    The Tribes proposed prject includes the Crystal Springs Hatchery, 
the Yankee Fork weir, and the Panther Creek weir. Construction of the 
hatchery would include a hatchery building (for administrative offices, 
incubation and rearing, and water treatment), outdoor rearing 
facilities, a shop building (for vehicle, equipment, and feed storage), 
an effluent control area, two new wells (to improve water temperatures 
and water quality from existing water sources), and staff housing.

[[Page 30114]]

    Construction of the Yankee Fork weir would include construction of 
a bridge-supported bar-rack weir system, a fish ladder, broodstock and 
juvenile acclimation facilities, a spawning and egg take area, a staff 
working area, and realignment of a section of Yankee Fork Road.
    Construction of the Panther Creek weir, would include construction 
of a bridge supported bar-rack weir system, a fish ladder, and 
broodstock and juvenile acclimation facilities.
    The proposed hatchery would produce up to 1,000,000 yearling 
spring/summer Chinook smolts. Project operations would include 
collection of adult spring/summer Chinook for broodstock from the 
Sawtooth and Pahsimeroi hatcheries located in Custer and Lemhi 
counties, Idaho; incubation and rearing of juvenile spring/summer 
Chinook; and release of 400,000 smolts into Panther Creek and 600,000 
smolts into Yankee Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho.
    Once returning populations reach approximately 500-1,000 fish 
annually at each weir location, hatchery broodstock collection would 
cease and instead, harvest of approximately 800 adult Chinook would be 
allowed annually at the Panther Creek weir for broodstock and 1,000 
adult spring/summer Chinook collected annually at the Yankee Fork weir 
for broodstock with excess adults allowed to pass the trap and return 
to key upriver habitat to spawn naturally. The Tribes' project would 
also contribute to the conservation and recovery of the Snake River 
spring/summer Chinook ESU by restoring a population of 500 locally 
adapted Chinook spawners in the Yankee Fork and 500 spawners in Panther 
Creek (a total of 1,000 fish). The tribe would implement a monitoring 
and evaluation program to determine if harvest and conservation and 
recovery objectives are being achieved, ensure that hatchery culture 
practices meet identified standards, quantify hatchery fish migration 
performance, document hatchery[hyphen]origin adult stray rates to other 
out[hyphen]of[hyphen]basin streams, and track natural fish population 
abundance, productivity, life history diversity and spatial structure.
    BPA will be the lead agency for preparation of the EIS. The USFS 
will be a cooperating agency and will assist BPA in evaluating 
alternatives and identifying issues that should be addressed in the 
EIS. The USFS could use the EIS to support a decision of whether to 
grant Special Use Permits to the Tribes and to identify what terms and 
conditions would be necessary if the Special Use Permits were granted. 
Additional cooperating agencies for the EIS may be identified as the 
proposed project proceeds through the NEPA process.
    Alternatives Proposed for Consideration: In the EIS, BPA is 
considering the following alternatives: to fund the proposed hatchery 
and weir facilities; to fund the hatchery only; a No Action Alternative 
of not funding the proposal; and other viable alternatives brought 
forth during the scoping process.
    Public Participation and Identification of Environmental Issues: 
The potential environmental issues identified so far for this project 
include effects of hatchery operations on water quality; the risk of 
competition for habitat between increasing numbers of reintroduced 
spring/summer Chinook and ESA-listed fish such as bull trout; the 
potential for adult spring/summer Chinook collection activities to 
affect other fish; potential effects on soil, aesthetics, and water 
quality due to the construction of permanent facilities and the 
relocation of Yankee Fork Road on USFS land; and the social, cultural, 
and economic effects of project construction and operations, as well as 
harvest.
    In accordance with DOE regulations, a 45-day scoping period has 
been established by BPA, and supported by the USFS, during which the 
public is invited to comment on the scope of the proposed EIS. Scoping 
will help BPA and the USFS ensure they identify significant issues and 
develop alternatives in the EIS, and identify significant or 
potentially significant impacts that may result from the proposed 
project and alternatives.
    When completed, the Draft EIS will be circulated for review and 
comment, and BPA and the USFS will hold at least one public comment 
meeting for the Draft EIS. BPA, in coordination with the USFS and the 
Tribes, will consider and respond in the Final EIS to comments received 
on the Draft EIS. BPA and the USFS will each issue their own decision 
documents.

    Issued in Portland, Oregon on May 15, 2014.
Mark O. Gendron,
Acting Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-11994 Filed 5-23-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P