[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12237-12238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06258]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Willamette Valley System Operations and Maintenance

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address 
the continued operations and maintenance of the Willamette Valley 
System (WVS) in accordance with authorized project purposes; while 
meeting Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligations to avoid jeopardizing 
the continued existence of listed species.
    The Corps will serve as the lead federal agency for purposes of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

DATES: Written comments for consideration in the development of the 
scope of the NEPA EIS are due to the addresses below no later than June 
28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Mailed comments may be sent to: U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Portland District, P.O. Box 2946, Attn: CENWP-PME-E, 
Portland, OR 97208-2946. Email comments to: 
[email protected]. All comments and materials received, 
including names and addresses, will become part of the administrative 
record and may be released to the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions regarding the EIS, or 
special accommodations for scoping process participation, please 
contact Suzanne Hill, Environmental Resources Specialist, (503) 808-
4767.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background. The WVS consists of 13 multipurpose dams and 
reservoirs, riverbank protection projects in the Willamette River Basin 
in Oregon, and hatchery programs to mitigate for effects of the project 
on fish habitat. The most recent NEPA evaluation for the overall WVS 
operations and maintenance was an EIS completed in 1980. Since 1980, 
operations have been modified and structural improvements for fish 
passage and temperature control have been implemented to address 
effects of the WVS on ESA-listed fish. NEPA evaluations since the 1980 
EIS have been project-specific. There is also new information relevant 
to the environmental impacts of operating the WVS. This EIS will 
evaluate the impacts of continued operations and maintenance of the 
WVS. The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA, the Council on 
Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), and the Corps' NEPA regulations (33 CFR part 230). The Corps has 
reinitiated formal consultation under Section 7 of the ESA on the 
National Marine Fisheries Service's 2008 Biological Opinion for the 
Willamette River Basin Flood Control Project. This NEPA process will 
inform the ESA Section 7 consultation process. Additionally, the Corps 
intends to initiate consultation under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act. The Corps anticipates that the draft EIS 
will be made available for public comment in Fall/Winter 2020.
    The Corps has invited the following Tribes and federal and state 
agencies to participate as cooperating agencies for the EIS: 
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Confederated Tribes of Grand 
Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua 
Tribe of Indians, Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Bureau of Land 
Management, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Water Resources 
Department, Oregon Parks

[[Page 12238]]

and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, 
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Oregon 
Department of State Lands, and Oregon Department of Agriculture.
    Alternatives. The EIS will evaluate a no action alternative and 
action alternatives. The no action alternative is the current 
management direction for the WVS. Action alternatives will be composed 
of various measures for continued operations and maintenance of the 
WVS, as well as measures that will be developed to meet ESA obligations 
to avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of listed species. 
Comments received during the scoping comment period will inform the 
development of action alternatives.
    Scoping Process/Public Involvement. The Corps invites all affected 
federal, state, and local agencies, affected Native American Tribes, 
other interested parties, and the general public to participate in the 
NEPA process during development of the EIS. The purpose of the public 
scoping process is to provide information to the public, narrow the 
scope of analysis to significant environmental issues, serve as a 
mechanism to solicit agency and public input on alternatives and issues 
of concern, and ensure full and open participation in scoping for the 
Draft EIS. Numerous public scoping meetings will be held during the 
scoping period. The specific dates, times, and locations of the 
meetings will be published on the Corps' project website: https://www.mwp.usace.army.mil/Locations/Willamette-Valley/Evaluation/.
    This is not a notice for the public comment periods for the Cougar 
Downstream Passage and Detroit Downstream Passage projects; public 
comment periods for those projects will be noticed separately.
    Documents and other important information related to the EIS will 
be available for review on the Corps' project website.

Aaron L. Dorf,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Commander.
[FR Doc. 2019-06258 Filed 3-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P