[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 148 (Friday, August 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44856-44857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17917]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-FHC-2014-N128; FXFR13340300000-145-FF03F00000]


Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Programmatic 
Agreement; Ballville Dam Project, Sandusky County, Ohio

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is advising the public of the 
availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the 
Ballville Dam Project, in Sandusky County Ohio. Additionally, the 
Service is advising the public of the availability of the final 
Programmatic Agreement under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act and its implementing regulations. The Service is 
furnishing this notice to allow other agencies and the public an 
opportunity to review and comment on these documents. All comments 
received will become part of the public record and will be available 
for review pursuant to NEPA.

DATES: Comments: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or 
before September 2, 2014. The issuance of the Record of Decision (ROD) 
will occur no sooner than 30 days after the publication of the 
Environmental Protection Agency's notice of the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Document availability: You may obtain copies for review by 
one of the following methods:
     Internet: You may obtain copies of the documents on the 
Internet at  http://www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/ballville-dam.html.
     U.S. Mail: You may obtain the documents by mail from the 
Fisheries Office in the Midwest Regional Office (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).
     In-Person: You may view hard copies of the documents in 
person at the following locations:
    [cir] Birchard Public Library, 423 Croghan Street, Fremont, OH 
43420.
    [cir] Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 4625

[[Page 44857]]

Morse Road, Suite 104, Columbus, OH 43230 (614-416-8993, voice; 614-
416-8994, fax).
    [cir] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Regional Office, 
Fisheries, 9th Floor, 5600 American Boulevard West, Suite 990, 
Bloomington, MN 55437-1458 (612-713-5350, voice; 612-713-5292, fax).
    Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following 
methods:
     U. S. Mail or Hand-Delivery: Brian Elkington, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Midwest Regional Office, Fisheries, 9th Floor, 
5600 American Boulevard West, Suite 990, Bloomington, MN 55437-1458.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 612-713-5289 (Attention: Brian Elkington).
    We request that you send comments by only the methods described 
above (see the Public Comments section below for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Elkington, 612-713-5168.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    We publish this notice in compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6). The Service, 
in conjunction with our cooperating agencies, prepared this FEIS for 
the Ballville Dam Project with the intent to address the environmental, 
economic, cultural and historical, and safety issues associated with 
the proposed removal of the dam and a suite of alternatives.
    Ballville Dam is currently a complete barrier to upstream fish 
passage and impedes hydrologic processes. The purpose for the award of 
Federal funds and preparation of this FEIS are to restore natural 
hydrological processes over a 40-mile stretch of the Sandusky River, 
re-open fish passage to 22 miles of new habitat, restore flow 
conditions for fish access to new habitat above the impoundment, and 
improve overall conditions for native fish communities in the Sandusky 
River system both upstream and downstream of the Ballville Dam, 
restoring self-sustaining fish resources.
    Pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; 16 U.S.C. 
470, 470f), the Service has initiated section 106 consultation with the 
Ohio State Historic Preservation Office for the project. The section 
106 process has been completed and the signed Programmatic Agreement is 
included as an appendix to the FEIS.

Public Involvement

    Public scoping for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
was first initiated in the form of a notice of intent to conduct a 30-
day scoping period published in the Federal Register on October 21, 
2011 (76 FR 65526). Utilizing the public scoping comments, the Service 
prepared a DEIS to analyze the effects of the alternatives. The DEIS 
was released for a 60-day public comment on January 27, 2014 (79 FR 
4354). A public meeting was held on February 19, 2014, at Terra State 
Community College, 2830 Napoleon Road, Fremont, OH 43420 to solicit 
additional input from the public on the DEIS. The official comment 
period ended on March 28, 2014. Twenty-nine comments were received, and 
were used to further focus the EIS. The comments and responses have 
been included as an appendix to the FEIS.

Public Comments

    You may submit your comments and materials concerning this notice 
by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. We request that you send 
comments only by one of the methods described in ADDRESSES.
    If you submit a comment that includes personal identifying 
information, you may request at the top of your document that we 
withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Authority

    We provide this notice under NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and it's 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR Part 46), and section 
106 of the NHPA (16 U.S.C. 470, 470f) and its implementing regulations 
(36 CFR part 800). A decision in the form of a ROD will be made no 
sooner than 30 days after the publication of the EPA's FEIS notice in 
the Federal Register.

Aaron Woldt,
Deputy Assistant Regional Director, Fisheries, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-17917 Filed 7-31-14; 8:45 am]
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