[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 193 (Friday, October 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46804-46805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21575]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration


Klickitat Hatchery Upgrades

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and notice of floodplain and wetlands assessment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), BPA intends to prepare an EIS to determine whether to fund the 
Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation's proposal to upgrade 
facilities at the Klickitat Hatchery. The hatchery produces spring and 
fall Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and is funded by National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the Mitchell Act. It is operated jointly 
by the Yakama Nation and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 
(WDFW). The hatchery is located in Klickitat County on property owned 
by WDFW, about seven miles east of Glenwood, Washington. The hatchery 
was built in 1954 and most of the facilities have not been renovated 
since then.
    The one-time upgrades would include improving surface and 
groundwater water intakes, discharge piping, and pumps; rebuilding the 
pollution abatement system; updating sections of the hatchery building; 
and adding rearing tanks, a storage building, and possibly staff 
residences. The proposed upgrades would update old facilities and would 
facilitate increased production of spring Chinook by the Yakama Nation. 
BPA is not proposing to fund fish production or to take over any 
Mitchell Act funding for the hatchery. NMFS will be a cooperating 
agency on the EIS.
    In accordance with U.S. Department of Energy floodplain and wetland 
regulations, BPA will analyze impacts to floodplains and wetlands as 
well as measures to avoid or minimize potential effects to these 
resources. The assessment will be included in the EIS.
    With this Notice of Intent, BPA is initiating the public scoping 
process for the EIS. BPA is requesting comments about potential 
environmental impacts that should be considered as an EIS is prepared.
    In addition, BPA is also providing notice of cancellation of DOE/
EIS-0424 Klickitat Hatchery Complex Program. Based on public comments 
on the 2011 draft DOE/EIS-0424, as well as changes in agencies' funding 
of various activities described in the EIS, BPA is canceling that 
environmental review process and will focus on the proposed Klickitat 
Hatchery Upgrades EIS.

DATES: Written comments are due to the address below no later than 
November 27, 2017. Comments may also be made at the scoping meeting to 
be held on October 25, 2017 at the address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed scope of the Draft EIS and requests 
to be placed on the project mailing list may be mailed by letter to 
Bonneville Power Administration, Public Affairs Office--DKE-7, P.O. Box 
3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621, or sent by fax to 503-230-4019. You may 
also call BPA's toll-free comment hotline at 1-800-622-4519 and leave a 
message (please include the name of the project), or submit comments 
online at www.bpa.gov/comment. All comments received will be accessible 
from the project Web site at www.bpa.gov/goto/KlickitatHatcheryUpgrades.
    On October 25, 2017, a scoping meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m. 
to 8:00 p.m. at the Lyle Lions Community Center, Highway 14 and Third 
Street, Lyle, Washington 98365. At this informal open-house meeting, 
BPA will provide project information and maps and will make members of 
the project team available to answer questions and accept oral and 
written comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Kennedy, Executive Manager 
Environmental Planning and Analysis, Bonneville Power Administration, 
EC-4, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621; toll-free telephone 1-
800-282-3713; direct telephone 503-230-3769; or email 
[email protected]. Additional information can be found at the project 
Web site: www.bpa.gov/goto/KlickitatHatcheryUpgrades.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Yakama Nation is proposing the Klickitat 
Hatchery upgrades to update old facilities and to facilitate a possible 
increase in production of spring Chinook salmon. Although the Klickitat 
population of spring Chinook is not listed under the Endangered Species 
Act (ESA), WDFW considers it depressed due to chronically low adult 
returns. On average, the Klickitat spring Chinook run comprises 
approximately 75% hatchery and 25% natural-origin fish. In addition, 
since 1994, low hatchery productivity has limited the average annual 
harvest in sport and Tribal fisheries in the Klickitat basin to 840 
fish, although the overall project goal for in-basin sport and Tribal 
harvest is 3,000 adults annually.
    BPA's proposed funding of the Klickitat Hatchery upgrades would

[[Page 46805]]

support efforts to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife 
affected by the development and operation of the Federal Columbia River 
Power System in the mainstem Columbia River and its tributaries, 
including the Klickitat River, under the Pacific Northwest Electric 
Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (Act) (16 U.S.C. 
839b(h)(10)). Under the Act, BPA funds fish and wildlife protection, 
mitigation, and enhancement actions consistent with the Northwest Power 
and Conservation Council's (Council) Fish and Wildlife Program. Under 
this program, the Council makes recommendations to BPA concerning which 
fish and wildlife projects to fund. The Klickitat Hatchery upgrades are 
being reviewed by the Council for recommendation to BPA for funding.
    In addition, on May 2, 2008, BPA, the Bureau of Reclamation, and 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish 
Accords Memorandum of Agreement with the Three Treaty Tribes: The 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes 
of Warm Springs Reservation. The agreement includes funding for this 
hatchery project, subject to compliance with NEPA and other 
environmental review requirements.
    The proposal is also consistent with the policy direction in BPA's 
Fish and Wildlife Implementation Plan EIS, which calls for protecting 
weak stocks while sustaining overall populations of fish for their 
economic and cultural value, including long-term harvest opportunities.
    Upgrades at the existing hatchery would include rehabilitating 
existing water intakes at Upper and Lower Indian Ford Springs, updating 
and rerouting water supply and discharge piping, refurbishing a pump 
station at an existing surface water intake in the Klickitat River, 
demolishing the existing pollution abatement pond and converting an 
existing fall Chinook rearing pond to a pollution abatement pond, 
replacing the existing adult holding and spawning building, adding 
circular rearing tanks, building a chemical storage shed, and 
renovating the existing hatchery building to improve usable space, 
security, and operations monitoring systems. The total disturbed area 
would be approximately 16 acres. In addition, BPA might also fund 
construction of two staff residences.
    Upgrades would improve rearing conditions for spring Chinook, would 
provide the capacity to increase production from 600,000 spring Chinook 
smolts to 800,000 smolts, and would help the spring Chinook program 
transition from using only hatchery-raised fish for broodstock (a 
``segregated'' or ``isolated'' program) to a program that incorporates 
natural-origin fish in the broodstock (an ``integrated'' program). 
Currently, natural-origin spring Chinook from the Klickitat basin have 
higher survival rates than hatchery fish. Incorporating natural-origin 
fish into the broodstock is expected to increase the fitness, 
productivity, survival, and harvest of this species.
    Upgrades to the water system would increase the operational 
flexibility of the facility. Adding river water to the water supply 
would allow operators to release smolts later in the spring when 
conditions in the Columbia River are more favorable to smolts migrating 
to the ocean. The water system upgrades also would reduce long-term 
maintenance and improve the quality of the hatchery effluent. Energy 
efficiency measures would be incorporated as possible into facility 
upgrade designs. BPA is not proposing to fund fish production or to 
take over any Mitchell Act funding for the hatchery.
    BPA will be the lead agency for preparation of the EIS. Cooperating 
agencies in addition to NMFS may be identified as the proposed project 
proceeds through the NEPA process.
    Alternatives Proposed for Consideration. In the EIS, BPA is 
currently considering two alternatives: To fund proposed upgrades that 
would improve hatchery facilities, would allow the transition to an 
integrated program, and would provide additional capacity for spring 
Chinook smolt production to increase from 600,000 to 800,000; and a no 
action alternative of not funding the proposal. Other reasonable 
alternatives identified during the scoping process may also be 
evaluated in the EIS.
    Public Participation and Identification of Environmental Issues. 
The potential environmental issues identified so far for this project 
include effects of construction activity on water quality, Endangered 
Species Act (ESA)-listed fish, and rare and sensitive plants and 
wildlife; and the operational effects of changes to the water supply 
and discharge system on water quality. The effects of changes to the 
spring Chinook program that could be facilitated by the upgrades will 
also be evaluated, including the risk of competition between increasing 
numbers of naturally spawning spring Chinook and ESA-listed fish such 
as bull trout and steelhead; the effects of additional activities and 
facilities required to monitor a changed hatchery program; and the 
effects of increases in harvest opportunities.
    BPA has established an extended seven-week scoping period during 
which concerned members of the public, interest groups, state and local 
governments, and any other interested parties are invited to comment on 
the scope of the proposed EIS. Scoping will help BPA ensure that a full 
range of issues related to this proposal are addressed in the EIS and 
will help to identify significant or potentially significant impacts 
that may result from the proposed project.
    When completed, the Draft EIS will be circulated for review and 
comment, and BPA will hold at least one public comment meeting to 
solicit comments on the Draft EIS. BPA will consider and respond in the 
Final EIS to comments received on the Draft EIS. BPA's subsequent 
decision will be documented in a Record of Decision.

    Issued in Portland, Oregon, on September 28, 2017.
Elliot E. Mainzer,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-21575 Filed 10-5-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P