[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40087-40089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17225]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-FAC-2018-N070; FXFR133508RMAIN-189-FF08F00000]


Delta Research Station Project: Estuarine Research Station and 
Fish Technology Center, Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental 
Impact Statement; Sacramento, California

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have prepared 
a final environmental impact report/environmental impact statement 
(EIR/EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 
and its implementing regulations. The final EIR/EIS evaluates impacts 
regarding construction and operation of the Delta Research Station 
(DRS) in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary, 
California. The planned DRS would consist of two facilities, a proposed 
Estuarine Research Station and a Fish Technology Center. The USFWS is 
the lead Federal agency responsible for coordinating the environmental 
analysis for the proposed action under NEPA. The California Department 
of Water Resources is the lead State agency responsible for 
coordinating the environmental analysis under the California 
Environmental Quality Act.

DATES: We must receive any comments on the final EIR/EIS by 5 p.m. on 
September 12, 2019. We will sign a record of decision no sooner than 30 
days after the publication of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
notice of the final EIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: To view or download the Final EIR/EIS, or for a list of 
locations to view hard-bound copies, go to http://www.deltaresearchstation.com. For how to view comments on the EIS from 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or for information on EPA's 
role in the EIS process, see EPA's Role in the EIS Process under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Beggs, at 916-930-5603 (phone) 
or [email protected] (email). Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-
877-8339. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for you 
to leave a message or question for the above individual. You will 
receive a reply during regular business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have prepared a 
Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/
EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR 1500 et seq.). The Final EIR/EIS evaluates impacts regarding 
construction and operation of the Delta Research Station (DRS) in the 
San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta), 
California. The planned DRS would consist of two facilities, a proposed 
Estuarine Research Station (ERS) and a Fish Technology Center (FTC). 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the lead Federal agency 
responsible for coordinating the environmental analysis for the 
proposed action under NEPA. The California Department of Water 
Resources (DWR) is the lead State agency responsible for coordinating 
the environmental analysis under the California Environmental Quality 
Act (CEQA). The EIR/EIS is now available for review. Volumes I and II 
are the draft EIR/EIS, and Volume III identifies the changes made to 
the draft EIR/EIS and provides the responses to comments. The Final 
EIR/EIS addressed comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS and contained 
two attachments related

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to the public review of the Draft EIR/EIS: Attachment A, which includes 
the Draft EIR/EIS notices and mailing list; and Attachment B, which 
includes public meeting materials such as the meeting sign-in sheet, 
comment form, speaker card, and presentation.

Public Coordination

    On December 10, 2014, the USFWS issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to 
prepare an EIR/EIS on the DRS (79 FR 73332; https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-12-10/pdf/2014-28891.pdf). The NOI identified the purpose 
and need of the project, provided an overview of the DRS and proposed 
facilities, and requested comments throughout the scoping process. Two 
scoping meetings were held, in Rio Vista and Stockton, on December 15, 
2014, and December 16, 2014, respectively. On October 30, 2015, the 
Draft EIR/EIS was released to the public and a 45-day public comment 
period was opened through notification in the Federal Register (80 FR 
66926; https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-10-30/pdf/FR-2015-10-30.pdf). This notice described the proposed action and the range of 
alternatives. Two public meetings were held, in Rio Vista and Stockton, 
on December 1, 2015, and December 3, 2015, respectively.

Background

    The proposed project consists of construction and operation of two 
facilities, a proposed Estuarine Research Station (ERS) and a Fish 
Technology Center (FTC). Collectively, these facilities are intended to 
serve as an aquatic research and monitoring facility that is located in 
a centralized area of the Bay-Delta. The project reflects the outcome 
of a multiyear collaboration between DWR, USFWS, California Department 
of Fish and Wildlife, and other agencies involved in the Interagency 
Ecological Program (IEP).
    The DRS would consolidate ongoing Interagency Ecological Program 
(IEP) research and monitoring activities throughout the Bay-Delta and 
provide facilities for study and production of endangered Delta fishes. 
Currently, the IEP has approximately 145 State and Federal employees 
that conduct research throughout the Bay-Delta. The IEP collaboratively 
monitors, researches, models, and synthesizes critical information for 
adaptive management water project operations and planning and 
regulatory purposes relative to the aquatic ecosystem in the Bay-Delta. 
USFWS and DWR plan to construct the DRS in a centrally located area 
within the Bay-Delta, and the facilities are expected to enhance 
interagency coordination and collaboration.
    The purpose of the DRS is to enhance interagency coordination and 
collaboration by developing a shared facility. Currently, Federal and 
State agency staff working on similar Bay-Delta issues are distributed 
among different locations that are often remote from the Bay-Delta. 
Construction and operation of the DRS would reduce travel times and 
costs and improve research and monitoring activity efficiency. The DRS 
would consolidate existing IEP programs currently located throughout 
the Delta, and the FTC would house a new program to develop and apply 
captive fish propagation technologies in support of population 
restoration.
    The Draft EIR/EIS evaluated the potential impacts of three action 
alternatives, as well as the No Project Alternative: The No Project 
Alternative (DWR and USFWS would not construct the ERS or FTC); 
Alternative 2 (the ERS and FTC facilities would be consolidated in the 
predominantly undeveloped portions of the Rio Vista Army Reserve Center 
site); Alternative 3 (the ERS facilities would involve rehabilitation 
and reuse of existing facilities); and Alternative 4 (the ERS and FTC 
facilities would be located at the 845 Ryde Avenue site in Stockton). 
California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the CEQA lead agency, 
identified Alternative 2 as the proposed project and USFWS has selected 
Alternative 2 as the NEPA preferred alternative.
    Since publication of the Draft EIR/EIS, Alternative 2 was modified 
such that the new marina would be partially excavated inland, as 
opposed to being entirely located within the existing Sacramento River 
channel (as it was described in the Draft EIR/EIS). The Final EIR/EIS 
described and analyzed project modifications and refinements to 
Alternative 2 (Rio Vista Army Reserve Center--Configuration 1). This 
modified alternative consists of developing the ERS and FTC facilities 
on the southern edge of Rio Vista. The ERS and FTC facilities would be 
consolidated in the predominantly undeveloped portions of the site, and 
the marina would be established in the Sacramento River at the 
southeastern end of the site. The facilities layout of the modified 
Alternative 2 would be very similar to that which is described in the 
Draft EIR/EIS, with the exception that some building footprints would 
be shifted westerly to accommodate the partially excavated marina. 
These modifications were made in response to comments from the Army 
Corps of Engineers and did not result in substantial changes in the 
proposed action relevant to environmental concerns. Therefore, a 
supplement was not required under 40 CFR 1502.9(c)(1)(i).
    The Final EIR/EIS contains responses to all substantive comments 
received on the Draft EIR/EIS, reflects comments and any information 
received during the review period, and includes revisions to the 
environmental analysis to reflect modifications to Alternative 2.
    DWR's certification of the EIR and final decision-making under the 
CEQA occurred May 18, 2017. USFWS will not sign the Record of Decision 
until at least 30 days after EPA publishes a notice of availability of 
the Final EIR/EIS.

EPA's Role in the EIS Process

    The EPA is charged under section 309 of the Clean Air Act to review 
all Federal agencies' EISs and to comment on the adequacy and the 
acceptability of the environmental impacts of proposed actions in the 
EISs.
    EPA also serves as the repository (EIS database) for EISs prepared 
by Federal agencies and provides notice of their availability in the 
Federal Register. The EIS database provides information about EISs 
prepared by Federal agencies, as well as EPA's comments concerning the 
EISs. All EISs are filed with EPA, which publishes a notice of 
availability on Fridays in the Federal Register.
    For more information, see http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/eisdata.html. You may search for EPA comments on EISs, along with EISs 
themselves, at https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-public/action/eis/search.

Public Availability of Comments

    All comments received, including names and addresses, will become 
part of the decision record for this action and will be available to 
the public. 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--will be publicly available. If you submit a hardcopy 
comment that includes personal identifying information, you may request 
at the top of your document that we withhold this information from 
public review. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do 
so.

Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with the requirements of 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.), the Council for Environmental

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Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500 through 1508), 
and the Department of the Interior's NEPA regulations (43 CFR part 46).

Jody Holzworth,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-17225 Filed 8-12-19; 8:45 am]
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