[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41656-41658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14846]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Natural Resource Plan in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, 
North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Issuance of record of decision.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has decided to adopt the 
preferred alternative in its final supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) for the Natural Resource Plan (NRP). The TVA Board of 
Directors (Board) accepted the NRP and authorized TVA's Chief Executive 
Officer to implement the preferred alternative at its May 7, 2020, 
meeting. This alternative updates the NRP and will guide TVA's natural 
resource management over the next 20 years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Higdon, NEPA Specialist, 
Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B-K, 
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499. Telephone 865-632-8051. Email: 
[email protected]. Ben Bean, NRP Project Manager, Tennessee Valley 
Authority, 3941 Brashers Chapel Road, Guntersville, Alabama 35976. 
Telephone: 256-891-6611. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is provided in accordance with 
the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 
to 1508) and TVA's procedures for implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 18 CFR part 1318).
    TVA is an agency and instrumentality of the United States, 
established by an act of Congress in 1933, to foster the social and 
economic welfare of the people of the Tennessee Valley region and to 
promote the proper use and conservation of the region's natural 
resources. TVA's threefold mission is to provide affordable and 
reliable power, promote sustainable economic development, and act as a 
steward of the Valley's natural resources. The lands managed by TVA in 
the name of the United States of America are some of the most important 
resources of the region. These lands include approximately 293,000 
acres associated with the TVA reservoir system that are managed for the 
benefit of the public. Most of these lands remain undeveloped and are 
managed by TVA to provide natural resource conservation, recreation, 
and the protection of cultural resources.
    In 2011, TVA completed its first NRP to guide its natural resource 
stewardship efforts. After considering alternative approaches to 
resource management, the Board adopted a Blended Management alternative 
as the NRP because it aligned best with TVA's Environmental Policy, 
focused on key programs that establish a baseline for future enhanced 
implementation efforts, and provided flexibility to use partnerships 
and other sources of funding to leverage programs to their full 
potential while working within resource and staff constraints (75 FR 
57100, September 15, 2011). The 2011 NRP addressed TVA's management of 
programs and activities for six resource areas: Biological, cultural, 
and water resources; recreation; reservoir lands planning; and public 
engagement.
    In the 2011 NRP, TVA committed to reviewing the NRP every five 
years and updating the plan as needed to ensure it remains relevant and 
current. In 2016, as part of the NRP review process, TVA staff reviewed 
the NRP and determined that a Blended Management approach continues to 
be the most appropriate and effective plan for managing the waters and 
public lands of the Tennessee River Valley. However, TVA determined 
that because the 2011 NRP did not encompass all of the resource 
stewardship programs managed by TVA, the NRP was not fully serving as 
the comprehensive strategic guide as was first envisioned. Based on 
this assessment, TVA determined that updating the NRP was the best path 
forward to address identified concerns. After developing the initial 
scope of changes needed, TVA initiated a NEPA review to supplement the 
2011 Environmental Impact Statement.

Alternatives Considered

    Consistent with the requirements of NEPA, TVA analyzed two 
alternatives in the NRP SEIS. Under the No Action

[[Page 41657]]

alternative (identified as Alternative A in the SEIS), TVA would not 
change the Blended Management approach outlined in the 2011 NRP to 
address management, programs, and activities for six resource areas.
    Under its Proposed Action alternative (identified as Alternative B 
in the SEIS), TVA would continue implementing a Blended Management 
approach and update the NRP such that it would serve as a strategic 
document that addresses focus areas along with their programs, 
objectives, and anticipated benefits. Existing and proposed programs 
would be categorized into ten proposed focus areas, which represents an 
expansion of the NRP's focus from the original six resource areas to 
the ten focus areas that encompass the entire scope of TVA's natural 
resource stewardship efforts. The new focus areas in the updated NRP 
would address Section 26a Permits and Land Use Agreements; Public Land 
Protection; and Ecotourism. In addition, Nuisance and Invasive Species 
Management, which was addressed on a limited basis in the 2011 NRP, 
would be included in the updated NRP as the Nuisance and Invasive 
Species Management Focus Area. There are six resource areas in the 2011 
NRP that would be carried forward to the updated NRP with changes to 
their names, programs, and/or activities: Reservoir Lands Planning; 
Land and Habitat Stewardship; Cultural Resource Management; Water 
Resources Stewardship; Recreation; and Public Outreach and Information. 
TVA would develop five-year action plans that guide implementation of 
the NRP. In the draft and final SEIS, TVA identified the Proposed 
Action alternative as its preferred alternative.

Public Involvement

    On July 16, 2018, TVA published in the Federal Register a Notice of 
Intent (Notice) to conduct the environmental review of a proposed NRP 
update in accordance with NEPA and published information about the 
review and planning effort on the TVA web page (83 FR 32945, July 16, 
2018). The Notice initiated a 30-day public scoping period, which 
concluded on August 20, 2018. TVA also issued a press release 
announcing that public input was being sought on the proposed update to 
the NRP and placed newspaper advertisements in 37 newspapers around the 
region to provide notice of the review, public scoping meetings, and to 
invite public comments. Media outlets across the region published or 
broadcast stories based on the release. TVA also notified approximately 
250 individuals, organizations, and intergovernmental partners with an 
interest in the review or with prior involvement in TVA stewardship 
efforts.
    TVA hosted four public scoping meetings at locations throughout the 
Tennessee Valley: Knoxville, Tennessee; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Muscle 
Shoals, Alabama; and Buchanan, Tennessee. The four public meetings were 
attended by a total of 66 people. TVA also hosted a public webinar to 
provide the public another opportunity to obtain information on the 
proposed update to the NRP; 28 people registered for the webinar.
    On May 17, 2019, TVA issued the Draft NRP and Draft SEIS for public 
review and comment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published 
in the Federal Register a Notice of Availability on May 24, 2019, 
initiating a 45-day comment period (84 FR 24135, May 24, 2019). TVA 
provided notice to interested parties and published 37 newspaper 
advertisements around the region to notify the public of the release of 
the Draft NRP and Draft SEIS and that TVA would be hosting public open 
houses during the review period. In June 2019, TVA held four open 
houses to provide information and obtain public input on the proposed 
NRP updates. The open houses were held in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and 
Camden, Tennessee, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In addition, TVA hosted 
a webinar that included a presentation and question and answer session. 
During the 45-day public comment period, TVA received 19 submissions 
from the public, organizations, and state and Federal agencies.
    After careful consideration of and response to all comments and 
refinement of the focus areas and their objectives and anticipated 
benefits, TVA issued the Final NRP and Final SEIS on February 14, 2020. 
A notice of availability for the Final NRP and Final SEIS was published 
in the Federal Register (85 FR 8585, February 14, 2020).
    Throughout the NEPA process, TVA maintained a web page (http://www.tva.gov/nrp) to publish information and materials related to its 
proposal, including information about the NRP, meeting information, 
project updates, webinar presentations, relevant documents, and contact 
information.

Environmentally Preferred Alternative

    TVA's Proposed Action, identified as Alternative B in the SEIS, is 
the environmentally preferred alternative. Under this alternative, the 
NRP would become a strategic document which includes focus area 
programs, objectives and anticipated benefits, and introduces four 
additional focus areas into the NRP. In addition, the five-year action 
plans provide a tactical approach to implement the specific activities 
associated with the ten focus areas' programs. This new framework would 
allow TVA to adapt more quickly to changes in interests, needs, and 
funding. Depending on the type and location of activities, there could 
be minor to moderate beneficial impacts on environmental resources on 
TVA lands. TVA also anticipates that the NRP's five-year action plans 
would likely result in more effective prioritization of future, site-
specific projects that address environmental resources on TVA lands.

Comments on the Final SEIS

    After publication of the Final SEIS, EPA provided comments to TVA 
in support of the proposed NRP and, in particular, TVA's intent to 
prepare annual updates of the five-year action plans. The EPA 
recommended that TVA continue to reevaluate the NRP as additional 
future programs become available and that the public remain involved in 
any NEPA document development for future changes to the NRP.

Errata

    After publication of the Final SEIS, TVA found that there were 
minor differences between the depiction of the Land Use Planning Focus 
Area objectives in the main body of the NRP and the depictions included 
in the NRP's Executive Summary and the SEIS. The objectives described 
in the NRP Executive Summary correctly matched the SEIS, and TVA has 
updated the NRP accordingly. In addition, the title of one Public Land 
Protection Focus Area program in the main body of the NRP has been 
revised to match the title in the NRP Executive Summary and SEIS.

Decision

    On May 7, 2020, the Board determined that updating the NRP as 
proposed and reviewed by TVA in the SEIS was in the best interest of 
TVA, and the Board accepted the proposed update and authorized its 
implementation by the TVA Chief Executive Officer. This decision was 
based on that alternative supporting a more strategic, flexible, and 
comprehensive approach to TVA's natural and cultural resource 
stewardship work and the corresponding benefits to stakeholders, 
customers, and the public.

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Mitigation Measures

    The natural and cultural resource management programs and 
activities associated with the NRP have been designed to result in 
minimal adverse environmental impacts during their implementation and 
to result in long-term beneficial impacts. During implementation of the 
NRP, TVA will continue to conduct site- or activity-specific 
environmental reviews of its actions as appropriate and will 
incorporate appropriate mitigation measures, including those identified 
through associated consultation processes, to address adverse impacts. 
In January 2020, TVA completed a programmatic agreement (PA) with the 
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and seven State Historic 
Preservation Officers to address a suite of activities. In addition, 21 
federally recognized Indian tribes were invited to be signatories to 
the agreement. The PA addresses TVA's compliance with Section 106 of 
the National Historic Preservation Act when implementing the various 
NRP activities.

David L. Bowling, Jr.
Vice President, River and Resources Stewardship.
[FR Doc. 2020-14846 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
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