[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34170-34172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14649]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR02800000, RX.18527914.2050100, 15XR0687ND]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Recirculated Draft Environmental 
Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement to the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Bay Delta Habitat 
Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan for the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of 
Water Resources intend to prepare a partially Recirculated Draft 
Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (RDEIR/SDEIS) on the Draft Bay Delta

[[Page 34171]]

Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan (BDCP, or the 
Plan). The RDEIR/SDEIS will describe and analyze refinement of the 
resource area analyses, alternatives, and actions, including additional 
alternatives that describe conveyance alternatives that do not contain 
all the elements of a Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities 
Conservation Plan that are described in the previously circulated Draft 
Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Michelle Banonis, Bureau of 
Reclamation, (916) 930-5676.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 24, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to prepare an EIS on the BDCP (73 FR 4178). The NOI was re-issued 
on April 15, 2008, to include the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 
as a co-lead Federal agency, update the status of the planning process, 
and provide updated information related to scoping meetings (73 FR 
20326). The April 15, 2008, NOI identified scoping meeting locations 
and stated that written comments would be accepted until May 30, 2008. 
Additional information was later developed to describe the proposed 
BDCP, and subsequent scoping activities were initiated on February 13, 
2009, with the publication of a revised NOI (74 FR 7257). The NOI 
identified scoping meeting locations and stated that written comments 
would be accepted until May 14, 2009.
    In 2008, ten public scoping meetings were held throughout 
California. In spring 2009, a summary update was produced and 
distributed about the development of the Plan to interested members of 
the public, including details of individual elements of the plan 
(referred to in the Plan as ``conservation measures'') that were being 
considered as part of the conservation strategy. Ten additional public 
scoping meetings were then held throughout California, seeking input 
about the scope of covered activities and potential alternatives to the 
proposed action.
    In December 2010, the California Natural Resources Agency 
disseminated to the public a summary of the BDCP, its status, and a 
list of outstanding issues. In 2011 and 2012, public meetings continued 
in Sacramento, California, to update stakeholders and the public on 
elements of the draft BDCP and EIR/EIS that were being developed.
    On December 13, 2013, the Draft BDCP and associated Draft EIR/EIS 
were released to the public and a 120-day public comment period was 
opened through notification in the Federal Register (78 FR 75939). That 
notice described the proposed action and a reasonable range of 
alternatives. In response to requests from the public, the comment 
period was extended for an additional 60 days and closed on June 13, 
2014 (79 FR 17135; March 27, 2014). A Draft Implementing Agreement was 
also made available to the public on May 30, 2014, for a 60-day review 
and comment period, which closed on July 29, 2014. The comment period 
of the Draft EIR/EIS was also extended to the later date. All draft 
documents are available at www.baydeltaconservationplan.com.
    As a result of considering comments on the Draft BDCP, Draft EIR/
EIS, and Draft Implementing Agreement, Reclamation and the California 
Department of Water Resources have proposed three additional conveyance 
alternatives for analysis in the RDEIR/SDEIR. Each of these 
alternatives contains fewer Conservation Measures than the conveyance 
alternatives circulated in the Draft EIS/EIR. Specifically, the new 
alternatives no longer contain the following Conservation Measures: CM-
2 Yolo Bypass Fisheries Enhancement; CM-5 Seasonally Inundated 
Floodplain Restoration; CM-8 Grassland Natural Community Restoration; 
CM-13 Invasive Aquatic Vegetation Control; CM-14 Stockton Deep Water 
Ship Channel Dissolved Oxygen Levels; CM-17 Illegal Harvest Reduction; 
CM-18 Conservation Hatcheries; CM-19 Urban Stormwater Treatment; CM-20 
Recreational Users Invasive Species Program; and CM-21 Non-project 
Diversions. The new alternatives contain modified versions of the 
following Conservation Measures: CM-3 Natural Communities Protection 
and Restoration; CM-4 Tidal Natural Communities Restoration; CM-6 
Channel Margin Enhancement; CM-7 Riparian Natural Community 
Restoration; CM-9 Vernal Pool and Alkali Seasonal Wetland Complex 
Restoration; CM-10 Nontidal Marsh Restoration; CM-11 Natural 
Communities Enhancement and Management; CM-12 Methylmercury Management; 
CM-15 Localized Reduction of Predatory Fishes; and CM-16 Non-Physical 
Fish Barriers. The new alternatives are not structured as a Habitat 
Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan but are 
structured to achieve compliance with the Federal Endangered Species 
Act through consultation under Section 7 and the California Endangered 
Species Act through the incidental take permit process under Section 
2081(b) of the California Fish & Game Code.
    DWR has identified one of the new alternatives, Alternative 4A, as 
their proposed project. Alternative 4A will consist of a water 
conveyance facility with three intakes, habitat restoration measures 
necessary to minimize or avoid project effects, and the previously 
described Conservation Measures. Alternative 4A is proposed by DWR to 
make physical and operational improvements to the State Water Project 
system in the Delta necessary to restore and protect ecosystem health, 
water supplies of the SWP and Central Valley Project south-of-Delta, 
and water quality within a stable regulatory framework, consistent with 
statutory and contractual obligations.
    The RDEIR/SDEIS will also analyze the impacts for two additional 
alternatives: Alternative 2D, which will consist of a water conveyance 
facility with five intakes, and Alternative 5A, which will consist of a 
water conveyance facility with one intake. Both of these alternatives 
will contain the habitat restoration measures necessary to minimize or 
avoid project effects, and the previously described Conservation 
Measures listed above. In addition, the RDEIR/SDEIR will describe and 
analyze project modifications and refinement of the resource area 
analyses, alternatives, and actions. Reclamation will be the Federal 
lead agency and NMFS, USFWS, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by 
virtue of their regulatory review requirements, will be cooperating 
agencies for the RDEIR/SDEIR. All other entities identified as 
Cooperating Agencies through prior agreements will retain their status 
for the RDEIR/SDEIR.
    If one of these additional alternatives is selected as the 
preferred alternative, it would be analyzed through the interagency 
consultation process under Section 7 of the Federal Endangered Species 
Act and the California Endangered Species Act through Section 2081(b) 
of the California Fish & Game Code. Further, the RDEIR/SDEIS will 
evaluate alternatives to support a determination of the Least 
Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative by the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers. The RDEIR/SDEIS is being prepared under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality 
Act. Based on project revisions and in consideration of comments 
received on

[[Page 34172]]

the Draft BDCP, Draft EIR/EIS, and Draft Implementing Agreement, the 
State and Federal lead agencies recognize that additional information 
is appropriate to address comments and to enhance the environmental 
analysis. Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing 
NEPA (40 CFR 1502.9(c)) do not require any additional scoping for a 
supplement to a Draft EIS, and the lead agencies are not proposing any 
scoping process for this RDEIR/SDEIS in addition to the scoping that 
has already been done for the draft EIR/EIS as described above.
    For further background information, see the December 13, 2013 
Federal Register notice (78 FR 75939).

    Dated: May 22, 2015.
Pablo R. Arroyave,
Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-14649 Filed 6-12-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P