[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 179 (Monday, September 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52132-52133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20240]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for Updates to the Implementation of Howard A. Hanson Dam 
Downstream Fish Passage, Washington

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Seattle District, is 
announcing its intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement (SEIS) in compliance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act for the express purpose of addressing updates to the implementation 
of Howard A. Hanson Dam (HAHD) downstream fish passage to be instituted 
as part of the Additional Water Storage Project on the Green River in 
King County, Washington. The SEIS will supplement the HAHD Additional 
Water Storage Project Final Feasibility Report and Final EIS (August 
1998) prepared by USACE.

ADDRESSES: USACE Seattle District, CENWS-PMP-E, P.O. Box 3755, Seattle, 
WA, 98124-3755.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nancy Gleason, Environmental 
Coordinator, 206-764-6577 or Ms. Katherine LaPonte, Project Manager, 
206-351-6077; email to [email protected]; or mail to 
USACE Seattle District, CENWS-PMP-E, P.O. Box 3755, Seattle, WA 98124-
3755.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USACE, Seattle District, will prepare an 
SEIS in accordance with 33 CFR 230.13(b) for proposed modifications to 
the recommended alternative for the downstream fish passage component 
of the previously authorized HAHD Additional Water Storage Project in 
King County, Washington. The scope of this SEIS will not extend to 
other elements of the project related to water supply or ecosystem 
restoration, as those components were not materially altered from the 
description evaluated in the 1998 EIS and have already been 
implemented. The purpose of the fish passage component of the larger

[[Page 52133]]

Additional Water Storage Project remains the same as the original EIS: 
To successfully pass migrating juvenile fish downstream.
    The 1998 EIS evaluated a fish passage facility generally consisting 
of a floating fish collector. In their 2019 Biological Opinion (BiOp) 
for HAHD operations and maintenance, the National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) established survival criteria and transport pipe exit 
release location criteria that must be met by any fish passage facility 
for the project. In order to meet these criteria, the USACE has 
redesigned the downstream fish passage component of the project. In 
this SEIS, the USACE will evaluate implementation of downstream fish 
passage via a fixed multiport collection structure that would allow 
fish collection from a set of five intake ports at multiple elevations 
as the reservoir water level changes. Once collected through the 
multiport structure, fish would be transported downstream using one or 
more steep bypass pipes. The SEIS will evaluate and provide 
supplemental analysis, as applicable, on any impacts generated by the 
modification of the downstream fish passage component of the 
recommended alternative to the quality of the human environment not 
identified and evaluated in the August 1998 Final EIS. Evaluation may 
extend, for example, to potential changes in the study area to aquatic 
habitat, different species listed under the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) in the study area, potential changes to the geological analysis 
associated with the construction of a fish passage facility, potential 
impacts to natural resources during construction, including elevated 
noise and disturbance to fish and wildlife at HAHD from rock blasting 
and operation of construction equipment, potential effects to cultural 
and historical resources, and temporary effects to water quality and 
aquatic habitat from construction.
    As identified in the original EIS, USACE continues to propose 
monitoring to determine whether the facility provides safe downstream 
passage for fish. Once operational, the fish passage facility is 
expected to have significant benefits to ESA-listed salmonids thereby 
benefiting the ecosystem of the entire Green River watershed, as well 
as increasing a primary food source for the endangered Southern 
Resident killer whales. The anticipated authorizations required prior 
to construction are expected to include a BiOp from the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality 
Certification, concurrence from the Washington Department of Ecology on 
a Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Determination, and 
consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act.
    The SEIS will follow the same process and format as the original 
EIS (i.e., draft, final, updated record of decision (ROD)), except that 
scoping is not required. The original EIS and other project documents 
are available online at https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Environmental-Documents/.
    The draft SEIS will be made available for public and agency review 
and comment, which is expected to occur in October 2021. After public 
review of the draft SEIS and evaluation of the comments received, USACE 
will promulgate a final SEIS; this is expected to occur in 2022.
    Comments or questions concerning this proposed action can be 
directed to the USACE contacts listed above.

Geoffrey Van Epps,
Colonel, U.S. Army, Division Commander.
[FR Doc. 2021-20240 Filed 9-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P