[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 80 (Friday, April 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23058-23059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08671]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR01114000, 20XR0680A5, RA.5221203.0019100]


Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Public Scoping Virtual Meeting Room for the Leavenworth National Fish 
Hatchery Surface Water Intake Fish Screens and Fish Passage Project, 
Chelan County, Washington

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Leavenworth National Fish 
Hatchery (LNFH) Surface Water Intake Fish Screens and Fish Passage 
(SWISP) Project. Reclamation is requesting public and agency comment to 
identify significant issues or other alternatives to be considered in 
the EIS.

DATES: The public will have the opportunity to participate in the 
scoping process by providing written scoping comments, providing input 
through a web-based virtual meeting room from April 24, 2020, to May 
26, 2020, and/or participating in a question and answer teleconference 
on May 18, 2020 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (PDT).

ADDRESSES: Provide written scoping comments, requests to be added to 
the mailing list, or other special assistance needs to Mr. Jason 
Sutter, EIS Team Lead, Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Pacific 
Northwest Regional Office, 1150 N. Curtis Road, Boise, ID 83706 or 
email [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For requests to be added to the 
mailing list, or other special assistance needs, please contact Mr. 
Jason Sutter, at the address or email provided in the ADDRESSES section 
or by telephone at (208) 378-5390 or facsimile (509) 454-5650. Persons 
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call the Federal 
Relay Service (FedRelay) at 1-800-877-8339 TTY/ASCII to contact the 
above individual during normal business hours or to leave a message or 
question after hours. You will receive a reply during normal business 
hours. Information on this project, including details for the public 
question and answer teleconference, may also be found at: https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/leavenworth/swisp/index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation is issuing this notice pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations 
for implementing NEPA, 43 CFR parts 1500 through 1508; and the 
Department of the Interior's NEPA regulations, 43 CFR part 46. The 
virtual meeting will be accessible at https://virtualpublic 
meeting.com/leavenworth-swisp-eis. Website visitors will be able to 
view public meeting materials, pose questions, view answers, and submit 
comments. Please monitor the project website for any changes or updates 
at https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/leavenworth/swisp/index.html.

Background

    The LNFH was designed and constructed in the late 1930s as 
mitigation for the construction of Grand Coulee Dam. The hatchery, 
which is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and 
funded by Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration, produces 1.2 
million spring Chinook Salmon smolts annually that are released into 
Icicle Creek.
    The LNFH's primary point of diversion and water delivery system on 
Icicle Creek is nearly 80 years old and is reaching or exceeding its 
operational life. Rehabilitation, replacement, and modernization of the 
LNFH surface water intake and delivery system was evaluated in the 2002 
USFWS Icicle Creek Restoration Project Final EIS and the 2019 Icicle 
Creek Water Resource Management Strategy Final Programmatic EIS 
prepared by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and Chelan 
County under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act. Currently, 
the intake facility does not comply with National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) criteria for anadromous salmonids. The 2017 NMFS 
biological opinion covering LNFH operations requires the LNFH to have a 
surface water intake and delivery system that complies with NMFS 
current screening and fish passage criteria for anadromous fish passage 
facilities in place and operating by May 2023.
    In addition to meeting legal requirements, LNFH needs to improve 
employee safety when operating and maintaining intake and delivery 
facilities, improve flow control and water conservation capabilities, 
effectively manage sediment adversely affecting the water delivery 
system, and increase reliability and longevity of the system. The 
purpose of the SWISP Project is to minimize take of ESA-listed fish 
species, provide fish passage that complies with current regulatory 
criteria, and ensure safe, efficient, and reliable delivery of LNFH's 
full surface water rights from Icicle Creek.
    Reclamation proposes to rehabilitate the LNFH intake and delivery 
system on Icicle Creek by constructing new headworks and a creek-width 
roughened channel, and replacing/lining the surface water conveyance 
pipeline to the hatchery. In addition, the current intake access road 
would be modified and extended to provide better entry to an expanded 
intake operations and maintenance area. Construction of the headworks 
and roughened channel would incorporate the existing low-head diversion 
dam and intake channel. Self-cleaning, cylindrical fish screens would 
be installed at the diversion headworks, and a low-flow boulder weir 
fishway would be integrated into the roughened channel. A new pipeline 
would be placed in the intake channel to connect the headworks to the 
conveyance pipeline. The intake channel would be filled to cover the 
pipeline and create the intake operations and maintenance area. The 
conveyance pipeline would be replaced on USFWS lands and lined with 
cure-in-place liner on private parcels. Several manhole access points 
along the existing conveyance pipeline alignment would be constructed 
to provide ingress and egress for pipe lining on private lands.
    Reclamation is not presently aware of any known or possible Indian 
Trust Assets, Indian Sacred Sites, or Environmental Justice issues 
associated with the proposed action, but requests any information 
relative to this issue be submitted during the scoping period.

[[Page 23059]]

    Reclamation intends to complete an EIS for this project pursuant to 
the NEPA. The EIS will analyze the potential environmental effects of 
the proposed action, a no-action alternative, and a reasonable range of 
alternatives designed to respond to the purpose and need for the 
project. The 30-day scoping process and the virtual meetings identified 
in this notice are intended to inform the public about the project and 
to request public and agency comment to identify significant issues or 
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.

Public Disclosure

    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--may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Lorri J. Gray,
Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 9--Columbia-
Pacific Northwest.
[FR Doc. 2020-08671 Filed 4-23-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P