[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54771-54772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23823]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-R-2018-N122; FF08RSDC00-190-F1611MD-FXRS12610800000]


Otay River Estuary Restoration Project, South San Diego Bay Unit 
of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California; Record of 
Decision

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; record of decision.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the record of decision (ROD) for the San Diego Bay 
National Wildlife Refuge--Otay River Estuary Restoration Project final 
environmental impact statement (EIS). The ROD explains that, of the 
three alternatives examined in the final EIS, the chosen alternative is 
the environmentally preferred alternative.

ADDRESSES: Document Availability: The ROD is available at:
     Internet: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/San_Diego_Bay/what_we_do/Resource_Management/Otay_Restoration.html.
     In Person:
    o San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex Headquarters, 1080 
Gunpowder Point Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910; telephone: 619-476-9150, 
extension 103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Collins, Refuge Manager, San 
Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge at 619-575-2704, extension 302 
(telephone) or [email protected] (email); or Andy Yuen, Project 
Leader, 619-476-9150, extension 100 (telephone), or [email protected] 
(email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In 2006, we completed the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge 
(NWR) Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and final EIS/ROD to guide 
the management of the San Diego Bay NWR over a 15-year period (71 FR 
64552, November 2, 2006). The wildlife and habitat management goal of 
the selected management alternative in the CCP for the South San Diego 
Bay Unit is to ``Protect, manage, enhance, and restore . . . coastal 
wetlands . . . to benefit the native fish, wildlife, and plant species 
supported within the South San Diego Bay Unit.'' One of the strategies 
identified to meet this goal is to restore native habitats in the Otay 
River floodplain and the salt ponds.
    On September 29, 2010, the San Diego NWR Complex and Poseidon 
Resources (Channelside) LP (Poseidon) entered into a memorandum of 
understanding to establish a partnership to facilitate the restoration 
of property within the San Diego Bay NWR, consistent with the CCP and 
Poseidon's restoration requirements from the California Coastal 
Commission (Commission) in an approved coastal development permit (CDP 
No. E-06-013) related to the construction and operation of a 
desalination plant in Carlsbad, California.
    We published a notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS for the 
Otay River Estuary Restoration Project on November 14, 2011 (76 FR 
70480), followed by a second NOI on January 8, 2013 (78 FR 1246), when 
the project was expanded to include the restoration of Pond 15. We 
published a notice of availability (NOA) of the draft EIS for the 
project on October 21, 2016 (81 FR 72817), and an NOA of the final EIS 
on May 18, 2018 (83 FR 23289).

Project

    The project site is located at the south end of San Diego Bay, San 
Diego County, California, within the South San Diego Bay Unit of the 
San Diego Bay NWR. Restoration activities will occur at two separate 
locations within the Refuge: The 34-acre Otay River Floodplain Site, 
located to the west of Interstate 5 between Main Street to the north 
and Palm Avenue to the south in the City of San Diego, and the 91-acre 
Pond 15 Site, an active solar salt pond, located in the northeastern 
portion of the Refuge to the northwest of the intersection of Bay 
Boulevard and Palomar Street in the City of Chula Vista.

[[Page 54772]]

Alternatives

    We analyzed three alternatives in the final EIS, including the no 
action alternative and two action alternatives, for restoring the two 
areas on the San Diego Bay NWR that comprise the restoration project. 
In addition to a no-action alternative, the action alternatives include 
an intertidal alternative and a subtidal alternative.

Alternative B: Intertidal Alternative (Selected Alternative)

    The Intertidal Alternative (Alternative B) proposes to lower the 
elevation and re-contour the Otay River Floodplain Site to create 
approximately 30 acres of tidally influenced habitat consisting of 
approximately 5 acres of intertidal mudflat and 25 acres of intertidal 
salt marsh habitat, 1 acre of transitional habitat and high tide 
refugia, and 4 acres of upland habitat.
    Approximately 320,000 cubic yards of soil would be excavated from 
the Otay River Floodplain Site to achieve elevations suitable for 
sustaining intertidal wetlands. The majority of the excavated material, 
approximately 260,000 cubic yards, would be transported to Pond 15 to 
be beneficially used as fill within the Pond 15 Site, as well as to 
reinforce existing levees around the pond. Pond 15 would be filled and 
contoured to achieve elevations required to support approximately 10 
acres of subtidal habitat, 18 acres of intertidal mudflat, 57 acres of 
intertidal salt marsh habitat, 1.6 acres of transitional habitat and 
high tide refugia, and 4 acres of upland habitat.
    The combination of the wetlands created at the Otay River 
Floodplain Site and Pond 15 Site under this alternative would be 
consistent with the intent of the CCP and would provide sufficient 
mitigation credit to meet Poseidon's Coastal Development Permit 
requirements.

Alternative C: Subtidal Alternative

    The Subtidal Alternative (Alternative C), which would include a 
subtidal channel within the Otay River Floodplain Site, would result in 
the restoration of approximately 4.5 acres of subtidal habitat, 6.5 
acres of intertidal mudflat, 18 acres of intertidal salt marsh habitat, 
and 4 acres of upland habitat. Within the Pond 15 Site, tidally 
influenced habitat would be similar to that proposed under Alternative 
B, with approximately 10 acres of subtidal habitat, 16 acres of 
intertidal mudflat, 59 acres of intertidal salt marsh, 2 acres of high-
tide refugia, and 4 acres of upland habitat.
    Implementation of this alternative would involve the excavation of 
approximately 370,000 cubic yards of material from the Otay River Site, 
of which approximately 310,000 cubic yards of this material would be 
transported to the Pond 15 Site for beneficial use in creating tidal 
elevations that would support the desired intertidal habitats and 
improving levees to separate Pond 15 from the remaining active solar 
salt operation.
    The combination of the wetlands created at the Otay River 
Floodplain Site and Pond 15 Site under this alternative would also 
provide sufficient mitigation credit to meet the Commission's permit 
requirements.

Selected Alternative

    The ROD identifies the intertidal alternative (Alternative B) as 
the selected alternative. This alternative was also identified as the 
environmentally preferred alternative in the final EIS. The basis for 
the decision, descriptions of the alternatives considered, an overview 
of the measures to be implemented to avoid and minimize environmental 
effects, and a summary of the public involvement process are provided 
in the ROD.

Authority

    We publish this notice under the authority of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.) and the Department of 
the Interior's implementing regulations in title 43 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (43 CFR part 46).

Jody Holzworth,
Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-23823 Filed 10-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P