[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 134 (Tuesday, July 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41011-41012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17156]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE039


Notice of Intent To Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for Five Early Winter Steelhead Hatchery 
Programs in Puget Sound

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement; 
request for comments; notice of public workshops.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this 
notice announces that NMFS intends to obtain information necessary to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for five Hatchery and 
Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs) for early winter steelhead hatchery 
programs jointly submitted by the Washington Department of Fish and 
Wildlife (WDFW), with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, the Lummi Nation, 
the Nooksack Tribe, the Stillaguamish Tribes, and the Tulalip Tribes 
(referred to as the co-managers) for NMFS's evaluation and 
determination under Limit 6 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 4(d) 
Rule for threatened salmon and steelhead. The HGMPs specify the 
propagation of early-returning (``early'') winter steelhead in the 
Dungeness, Nooksack, Stillaguamish, Skykomish, and Snoqualmie River 
watersheds in Washington State.
    NMFS provides this notice to advise other agencies and the public 
of its plans to analyze effects related to the action, and obtain 
suggestions and information that may be useful to the scope of issues 
and alternatives to include in the EIS. Two public workshops will be 
held in July 2015 for this action.

DATES: Written or electronic scoping comments must be received at the 
appropriate address or email mailbox (see ADDRESSES) no later than 5 
p.m. Pacific Time August 13, 2015. The public workshops will be held 
between July 20, 2015 and July 22, 2015 (see PUBLIC WORKSHOPS).

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent by any of the following 
methods:
     Email to the following address: 
[email protected] with the following identifier in the 
subject line: Early Winter Steelhead Hatcheries EIS.
     Mail or hand-deliver to NMFS Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, 510 Desmond Drive SE., Suite 103, Lacey, WA 98503.
     Fax to (360) 753-9517.

Comments received will be available for public inspection, by 
appointment, during normal business hours at the above address. All 
Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Leider, NMFS, by phone at (360) 
753-4650, or email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

ESA-Listed Species Covered in This Notice

    Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): threatened, naturally and 
artificially produced in Puget Sound.
    Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha): threatened, naturally and 
artificially produced in Puget Sound.

[[Page 41012]]

    Chum salmon (O. keta): threatened, naturally and artificially 
produced Hood Canal summer-run.
    Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus): threatened Puget Sound/
Washington Coast.

Background

    On March 26, 2015 (80 FR 15985), NMFS announced the availability of 
a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to NEPA (42 U.S.C. et 
seq.), for three HGMPs for early-returning (early winter) steelhead 
hatchery programs in the Dungeness, Nooksack, and Stillaguamish River 
basins, submitted to NMFS by the co-managers. A 30-day public comment 
period was extended to May 4, 2015 for a total comment period of 37 
days (80 FR 22973, April 24, 2015). NMFS received and considered 
comments on the EA and, has subsequently decided to prepare an EIS to 
evaluate effects on the human environment of the three early winter 
steelhead hatchery programs in the Dungeness, Nooksack, and 
Stillaguamish River watersheds in Washington State. In the EIS, NMFS 
will also evaluate three additional early winter steelhead HGMPs for 
hatchery programs in the Skykomish and Snoqualmie Rivers in the 
Snohomish River watershed in Puget Sound. All of the programs would 
release early winter steelhead that are not included as part of the 
ESA-listed Puget Sound Steelhead Distinct Population Segment, and that 
are not native to the watersheds in which they would be released.
    NEPA requires Federal agencies to conduct environmental analyses of 
proposed actions to determine if the actions may affect the human 
environment. NMFS's action of evaluating the co-managers' HGMPs, 
pursuant to the limitation on take prohibitions for actions conducted 
under Limit 6 of the 4(d) Rule for salmon and steelhead promulgated 
under the ESA, is a major Federal action subject to environmental 
review under NEPA. Therefore, NMFS is seeking public input on the scope 
of the required NEPA analysis, including the range of reasonable 
alternatives, recommendations for relevant analysis methods, and 
information associated with impacts of the alternatives to the 
resources listed below or other relevant resources.
    NMFS will perform an environmental review of the HGMPs and prepare 
an EIS that will identify potentially significant direct, indirect, and 
cumulative impacts on the following resources identified to have a 
potential for effect from the proposed action:

 Listed and Non-listed Species and their habitats
 Water Quantity
 Socioeconomics
 Environmental Justice
 Cumulative Impacts

    NMFS will rigorously explore and objectively evaluate a full range 
of reasonable alternatives in the EIS, including the proposed action 
(implementation of the co-managers' HGMPs) and a no-action alternative. 
Additional alternatives could include the following: (1) A decrease in 
artificial production of 50 percent, and (2) a change in program type 
from isolated (i.e., producing hatchery-origin fish that are intended 
to be reproductively segregated and different from the natural-origin 
population) to integrated (i.e., producing hatchery-origin fish that 
are intended to be similar to and part of the natural-origin 
population) programs that would use native steelhead for broodstock.
    For all potentially significant impacts, the EIS will identify 
measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts, where feasible, 
to a level below significance.

Request for Comments

    NMFS provides this notice to: (1) Advise other agencies and the 
public of its plans to analyze effects related to the action, and (2) 
obtain suggestions and information that may be useful to the scope of 
issues and the full range of alternatives to include in the EIS. In 
addition to considering comments received in response to this notice in 
developing an EIS, relevant comments received on the 2015 draft EA for 
three early winter steelhead hatchery programs (80 FR 15985, March 26, 
2015), and on the 2014 draft EIS for Puget Sound salmon and steelhead 
hatcheries (80 FR 15986, March 26, 2015) will also be considered in 
developing the EIS.
    NMFS invites comment from all interested parties to ensure that the 
full range of issues related to the early winter steelhead HGMPs is 
identified. Comments should be as specific as possible.
    Written comments concerning the proposed action and the 
environmental review should be directed to NMFS as described above (see 
ADDRESSES). All comments and materials received, including names and 
addresses, will become part of the administrative record and may be 
released to the public.

Public Workshops

    Two public workshops will be offered to assist in gathering 
information on development of the EIS. Those workshops will be held as 
follows; further information regarding the workshops may be found at 
http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/hatcheries/salmon_and_steelhead_hatcheries.html.

Monday, July 20, 2015

6 to 8 p.m., Skagit Public Utilities District, Aqua Room, 1415 Freeway 
Drive, Mt Vernon, Washington

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

6 to 8 p.m., Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St SW., Lynnwood, 
Washington

Authority

    The environmental review of the early winter steelhead HGMPS will 
be conducted in accordance with requirements of the NEPA of 1969 as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), NEPA Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), other appropriate Federal laws and regulations, and policies and 
procedures of NMFS for compliance with those regulations. This notice 
is being furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 to obtain 
suggestions and information from other agencies and the public on the 
scope of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.

    Dated: July 8, 2015.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-17156 Filed 7-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P