[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 118 (Monday, June 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39949-39951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14565]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-R-2016-N061; FXRS282108E8PD0-167-F2013227943]


South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, Phase 2 at the Eden 
Landing Ecological Reserve; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement of meeting; request for public 
comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in 
coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife 
(CDFW), are preparing a joint environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the proposed restoration of 
ponds at the CDFW's Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Reserve) in 
Alameda County, California. We intend to gather information necessary 
to prepare an EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). We encourage the public and other agencies to participate in 
the NEPA scoping process by attending the public scoping meeting and/or 
by sending written suggestions and information on the issues and 
concerns that should be addressed in the draft EIS/EIR, including the 
range of alternatives, appropriate mitigation measures, and the nature 
and extent of potential environmental impacts.

DATES: 
    Submitting Comments: To ensure that we have adequate time to 
evaluate and incorporate suggestions and other input, we must receive 
your comments on or before July 20, 2016.
    Public Scoping Meeting: A public scoping meeting will be held on 
Thursday, June 30, 2016, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Don Edwards 
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters--Third Flood 
Auditorium located at 1 Marshlands Road, Fremont, California, 94555. 
The details of the public scoping meeting will be posted on the SBSP 
Restoration Project's Web site (http://www.southbayrestoration.org/events/). Scoping meeting details will also be emailed to the Project's 
Stakeholder Forum and to those interested parties who request to be 
notified. Notification requests can be made by emailing the SBSP 
Restoration Project's public outreach coordinator, Ariel Ambruster, at 
[email protected] (email) or 510-815-7111 (phone).
    Reasonable Accommodations: Persons needing reasonable 
accommodations in order to attend and participate in the public scoping 
meeting should contact Ariel Ambruster at least 1 week in advance of 
the meeting to allow time to process the request.

ADDRESSES:
    Submitting Comments: Send written comments to Chris Barr, Deputy 
Complex Manager, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife 
Refuge, 1 Marshlands Road, Fremont, CA 94555, or to Scott Wilson, CDFW 
Regional Manager, Bay Delta Region, Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558.
    Alternatively, you may send written comments by facsimile to 510-
792-5828, or via the Internet through the public comments link on the 
SBSP Restoration Project Web site at www.southbayrestoration.org/Question_Comment.html. Your correspondence should indicate which issue 
your comments pertain to.
    Mailing List: To have your name added to our mailing list, contact 
Ariel Ambruster; telephone (510) 815-7111; email [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Barr, Refuge Manager, USFWS, 
510-792-0222 (phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS), in coordination with the California Department of Fish and 
Wildlife (CDFW), are preparing a joint environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the proposed restoration of 
ponds E1, E1C, E2, E2C, E4, E4C, E5, E5C, E6, E6C, and E7 at the CDFW's 
Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Reserve) in Alameda County, 
California.
    Phase 2 of the SBSP Restoration Project at Eden Landing is intended 
to

[[Page 39950]]

restore and enhance a mix of approximately 2,300 acres of wetland 
habitats while simultaneously providing flood protection and wildlife-
oriented public access and recreation in the South Bay.
    We intend to gather information necessary to prepare an EIS 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We encourage 
the public and other agencies to participate in the NEPA scoping 
process by attending the public scoping meeting and/or by sending 
written suggestions and information on the issues and concerns that 
should be addressed in the draft EIS/EIR, including the range of 
alternatives, appropriate mitigation measures, and the nature and 
extent of potential environmental impacts.

Background

    The SBSP Restoration Project is located in the San Francisco Bay, 
in northern California. The project is a multiagency, multiphase effort 
to restore and enhance a mix of wetland habitats while simultaneously 
providing flood protection and wildlife-oriented public access and 
recreation in the South Bay. The SBSP Restoration Project as a whole 
contains over 15,000 acres of former industrial salt production ponds 
in three complexes: The Ravenswood pond complex, the Alviso pond 
complex, and the Eden Landing pond complex. The Ravenswood and Alviso 
pond complexes are owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service as part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife 
Refuge (Refuge). The Eden Landing Ecological Reserve (Reserve) is owned 
by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
    In 2007, the USFWS and the CDFW published a Final EIS/EIR for the 
SBSP Restoration Project (72 FR 71937-71939). The SBSP Restoration 
project presented in the Final EIS/EIR was both programmatic, covering 
a 50-year period, as well as project-level, addressing the specific 
components and implementation of Phase 1. Both the USFWS and the CDFW 
selected the Tidal Emphasis Alternative (Alternative C) for 
implementation. Alternative C represents a goal of 90 percent of the 
salt ponds restored to tidal action and 10 percent restored to managed 
ponds. This ratio of restoration is guided by the Adaptive Management 
Plan. Implementation of Phase 1 actions began in 2008 and was completed 
in 2016. The northern half of the Eden Landing pond complex was 
addressed in Phase 1 and is now complete.
    The Phase 2 actions at the Alviso and Ravenswood pond complexes 
were considered in a separate project-level EIS/EIR, the draft of which 
was published in August of 2015 and is expected to be finalized in the 
summer of 2016.

Proposed Action

    The CDFW now proposes restoration or enhancement of approximately 
2,300 acres of former salt ponds in the southern half of the CDFW-owned 
Eden Landing pond complex. Phase 2 project-level actions to be 
evaluated in this EIS/EIR are project-level habitat restoration of 
approximately 2,300 acres of former salt ponds, while also providing 
recreation and public access opportunities, and maintaining or 
improving current levels of flood protection in the surrounding 
communities.
    Habitat restoration actions evaluated in the EIS/EIR may include 
the following:
     Breaching levees at one or more locations to allow tidal 
flows into the ponds.
     Adding water control structures to allow some ponds to be 
retained as enhanced managed ponds for pond-dependent bird species.
     Increasing habitat complexity by adding deep-water 
channels, islands, and/or habitat transition zones.
     Modifying pond bottom elevations or topography to redirect 
tidal flows.
     Using dredged or upland fill material to speed marsh 
vegetation establishment.
    Recreation and public access actions may include the following:
     Maintain the existing trail that runs along the top of the 
large Federal levee that forms the southern edge of the complex. This 
may involve constructing bridge(s) over any changes that are made to 
that levee.
     Complete the Bay Trail spine along the eastern edge of the 
pond complex.
     Adding a spur trail along the northern edge of Pond E6 
from the Bay Trail spine to the site of the former Alvarado Salt Works.
     Convert the above spur trail into a loop by building a 
footbridge over Old Alameda Creek and a trail back to the Bay Trail 
spine.
    Flood protection may include:
     Raising and improving existing levees or berms or making 
other improvements to maintain or increase coastal flood risk 
protection.

Alternatives

    The EIS/EIR will consider a range of alternatives and their 
impacts, including the No Action/No Project Alternative. Scoping is 
designed to be an early and open process to determine the issues and 
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS/EIR. The range of alternatives 
may include varying approaches to restoring and enhancing a mix of 
wetland habitats, as well as varying levels and means of flood 
management, and recreation and public access components which 
correspond to the project objectives.
    The Phase 2 EIS/EIR for Eden Landing will identify the anticipated 
effects of the alternatives (both negative and beneficial) and describe 
and analyze direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of each 
alternative.

NEPA Compliance

    This EIS/EIR is a project-level environmental document that is 
tiered from the programmatic portion of the 2007 Final EIS/EIR for the 
SBSP Restoration Project. Information gathered through this scoping 
process will assist us in developing a reasonable range of alternatives 
to continue to address the restoration of Eden Landing salt ponds and 
collaborative integration with adjacent landowners and operators of 
public infrastructure.
    A detailed description of the proposed action and alternatives will 
be included in the EIS/EIR. For each issue or potential impact 
identified, the EIS/EIR will include a discussion of the parameters 
used in evaluating the impacts as well as recommended mitigation, 
indicating the effectiveness of mitigation measures proposed to be 
implemented and what, if any, additional measures would be required to 
reduce the degree of impact. The EIS/EIR will include an analysis of 
the restoration, flood management, and recreation and public access 
components associated with the proposed restoration.
    We will conduct environmental review in accordance with the 
requirements of NEPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), other applicable 
regulations, and our procedures for compliance with those regulations. 
The environmental document will be prepared to meet both the 
requirements of NEPA and the California Environmental Quality Act 
(CEQA). The CDFW is the CEQA lead agency and USFWS is the lead agency 
under NEPA. We are the NEPA lead agency because we provide a variety of 
biological monitoring, financial and management support on this CDFW 
unit. We anticipate that a Draft EIS/EIR will be available for public 
review in November 2016.

[[Page 39951]]

Public Comment

    We are furnishing this notice in accordance with section 1501.7 of 
the NEPA implementing regulations to obtain suggestions and information 
from other agencies and the public on the scope of issues to be 
addressed in the EIS/EIR. We invite written comments from interested 
parties to ensure identification of the full range of issues.
    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 can 
ask us in you comment to withhold your personal identifying information 
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Public Scoping Meeting

    In addition to providing written comments, the public is encouraged 
to attend a public scoping meeting on Thursday, June 30, 2016, to 
provide us with suggestions and information on the scope of issues and 
alternatives to consider when drafting the EIS/EIR. The location of the 
public scoping meeting is provided in DATES.
    Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and 
participate in the public meeting should contact us at the address in 
ADDRESSES no later than 1 week before the public meeting. Information 
regarding the proposed restoration is available in alterative formats 
upon request. We will accept written comments at the scoping meeting or 
afterwards.

Alexandra Pitts,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-14565 Filed 6-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P