[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 120 (Friday, June 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28643-28644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12953]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF448


Notice of Availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement and Restoration Plan To Compensate for Injuries to 
Natural Resources in Portland Harbor, Oregon

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement and Restoration Plan.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, NMFS announces the availability of the 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Restoration Plan to 
Compensate for Injuries to Natural Resources in Portland Harbor, 
Oregon.
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1960, requires an 
assessment of any Federal action that may impact the environment, 
which, in this case, is the selection of a Restoration Plan. The 
purpose of the PEIS/RP is to evaluate, in compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the potential direct, indirect, and 
cumulative impacts of implementing the alternative programmatic 
approaches to restoration in the Portland Harbor area.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining documents: You may download the PEIS/RP at https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Contaminants/PortlandHarbor/Documents/201706_FINAL_PEIS.pdf. Or you may request a CD of the document from 
Megan Callahan Grant, NOAA Restoration Center, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., 
Suite 1100, Portland, OR 97232.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Callahan Grant at (503) 231-2213 
or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    NOAA, the Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Nez Perce 
Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm

[[Page 28644]]

Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, 
and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon are 
collectively referred to as the Trustee Council for this case. The 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.; the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) 
of 1990, 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.; the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. 
1251; the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency 
Plan (National Contingency Plan [NCP]), 40 CFR 300, Subpart G; 
Executive Orders 12580 and 12777; and other applicable Federal and 
state laws and regulations provide a legal framework for addressing 
injuries to the nation's natural resources resulting from releases of 
hazardous substances and discharges of oil.
    In January of 2007, the Portland Harbor Trustee Council released a 
Pre-Assessment Screen (PAS) for the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The 
PAS concluded that natural resources in the area have been affected or 
potentially affected from releases or discharges of contaminants. Based 
on the conclusions of the PAS, the Portland Harbor Trustee Council 
determined that proceeding past the pre-assessment phase to a full 
natural resource damage assessment was warranted.
    Exposed living natural resources include, but are not limited to: 
(1) Aquatic-dependent mammals such as mink and river otter, and species 
they depend on as prey items; (2) migratory birds, including osprey, 
bald eagle, mergansers and other waterfowl, great blue heron, spotted 
sandpiper and other shorebirds, cliff swallow, belted kingfisher, and 
other species; (3) threatened and endangered species; (4) anadromous 
and resident fish, including salmon and steelhead; (5) reptiles and 
amphibians; (6) aquatic invertebrates; (7) wapato and other aquatic 
plants.
    Exposed habitat types and water natural resources include wetland 
and upland habitats, groundwater, and surface water. The services that 
are provided by these potentially affected natural resources include, 
but are not limited to: (1) Habitat for trust resources, including 
food, shelter, breeding, foraging, and rearing areas, and other factors 
essential for survival; (2) consumptive commercial resource use such as 
commercial fishing; (3) consumptive recreational resource use such as 
hunting and fishing; (4) non-consumptive uses such as wildlife viewing, 
photography, and other outdoor recreation activities; (5) primary and 
secondary contact activities such as swimming and boating; (6) 
cultural, spiritual, and religious use; (7) option and existence 
values; (8) traditional foods.
    An Assessment Plan was completed in June of 2010. Based on this 
plan, scientific literature and studies being conducted by the Trustee 
Council seek to document injuries from hazardous substances found in 
Portland Harbor. The objective of these studies is to demonstrate (1) 
how the contamination has harmed the organisms that inhabit the 
riverine sediments, (2) how the contamination has harmed the fish and 
wildlife that come into contact with the contaminated sediments or that 
eat contaminated prey items, and (3) how the harm to the natural 
resources has impacted the people that use these resources. Concurrent 
with the damage assessment, the Trustee Council is conducting 
restoration planning.
    By identifying criteria and guidance to be used in selecting 
feasible restoration projects, the Restoration Plan provides a 
framework to maximize the benefits of restoration projects to the 
affected resources and services in the defined areas of the Lower 
Willamette River. The Trustee Council analyzed three alternatives 
including: (1) (Preferred) integrated habitat restoration actions that 
will benefit multiple species and services (those species listed above 
as potentially affected by releases of hazardous substances, such as 
salmon and resident fish, mammals such as mink and river otter, and 
aquatic-dependent birds such as osprey and bald eagle); (2) species-
specific restoration actions (for example, augmenting a species 
population through artificial production); and (3) a no-action 
alternative (no action takes place and the public is not compensated). 
Two additional alternatives for restoration were considered but not 
moved forward for detailed study because they did not meet the purpose 
and need for the project. The first was an alternative without any 
defined geographic boundary, and the second was an alternative 
including a requirement that all restoration would occur within the 
defined geographic area called the Superfund Study Area.
    The Draft Portland Harbor Programmatic EIS and Restoration Plan was 
released for public comment on July 9, 2012. The comment period ended 
October 8, 2012, and a public Open House meeting was held on July 17, 
2012.
    Comments were received from 21 parties, resulting in 193 individual 
comments. The Final PEIS includes responses to these comments as 
Appendix F.
    The Trustee Council has opened an Administrative Record (Record). 
The Record includes documents that the Trustees relied upon during the 
development of the Final Restoration Plan and Final PEIS. The Record is 
on file at the offices of Parametrix, a contractor to NOAA. The Record 
is also available at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/contaminants/PortlandHarbor/default.asp.

Next Steps

    In accordance with NEPA, a Federal agency must prepare a concise 
public Record of Decision (ROD) at the time the agency makes a decision 
in cases involving an EIS (40 CFR 1505.2). The Trustees will issue a 
ROD pursuant to NEPA regulations at 40 CFR 1505.2. Accordingly, the ROD 
for the Final RP/PEIS will provide and explain the Trustees' decisions 
regarding the selection of a preferred alternative. The Trustees will 
issue the ROD no earlier than 30 days after the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing 
the availability of the Final RP/PEIS (40 CFR 1506.10).

    Dated: June 15, 2017.
Carrie D. Selberg,
Deputy Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-12953 Filed 6-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P