[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 96 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31813-31815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10621]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for a Potential Land Exchange Involving Izembek National 
Wildlife Refuge Lands

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act of 1980, as amended, along with other laws as applicable, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) intends to prepare a supplemental 
environmental impact statement (supplemental EIS) to consider the 
effects of a potential land exchange of certain lands owned by the King 
Cove Corporation and/or the State of Alaska with certain lands owned by 
the U.S. Government. King Cove would use the acquired land for a road 
corridor for noncommercial use through the Izembek National Wildlife 
Refuge and the Izembek Wilderness Area. We furnish this notice to 
advise the public and other agencies of our intentions and to seek 
information and suggestions on the scope of issues to be addressed in 
the supplemental EIS. In particular, we will update information used in 
the 2013 analysis on the impacts of a then-proposed exchange and road 
corridor and the viability of alternatives to provide safe and reliable 
transportation between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the airport 
at Cold Bay, Alaska.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the 
supplemental EIS. The FWS must receive any public comments concerning 
the scope of the analysis, potential alternatives, and identification 
of relevant information and studies no later than June 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining documents: To inform public comment, we are making FWS's 
2013 EIS and ROD documents available for review at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072. In addition, 
any comments and other materials that we receive will be available for 
public inspection online at that site.
    Submitting public comments: You may submit comments related to the 
potential Izembek land exchange and other potential transportation 
solutions by any of the following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-
0072.
     U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
    We will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. This 
generally means that we will post any personal information you provide 
us (see Public Review Process, below, for more information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shane Walker, Branch Chief of 
Conservation Planning and Policy, by telephone at 907-226-4626; by 
email at [email protected]; or via U.S. mail at U.S. Fish & Wildlife 
Service, Alaska Region, National Wildlife Refuge System, 95 Sterling 
Highway, Suite 1, Homer, AK 99603. Contact Shane Walker to have your 
name added to our mailing list. Individuals in the United States who 
are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may 
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge 
(417,533 acres (ac)) and the North Creek (8,452 ac) and Pavlof 
(1,447,264 ac) units of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge 
are located at the westernmost tip of the Alaska Peninsula. The 
1,008,697-ac Unimak Island (the easternmost Aleutian Island of the 
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge) lies across the Isanotski 
Strait. To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the Bering Sea; to the 
south is the Pacific Ocean. The Izembek Wilderness covers much of the 
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and includes pristine streams, 
extensive wetlands, steep mountains, tundra, and sand dunes, and 
provides high scenic, wildlife, and scientific values, as well as 
opportunities for solitude and recreation. The Izembek National 
Wildlife Refuge includes the traditional homelands of the of the 
Unangax people.
    The King Cove Corporation is an Alaska Native Village Corporation 
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 
(ANCSA; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). Under the authority of ANCSA, Congress 
granted to King Cove Corporation land entitlements within and adjacent 
to Izembek Refuge. The State of Alaska also owns lands, submerged 
lands, shorelands, and tidelands within and adjacent to Izembek and 
Alaska Peninsula Refuges, including the Izembek State Game Refuge.
    The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge stretches from the 
Arctic Ocean to the southeast panhandle of Alaska and protects breeding 
habitat for seabirds, marine mammals, and other wildlife on more than 
2,500 islands, spires, rocks, and coastal headlands. Sitkinak Island, 
which lies within the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National 
Wildlife Refuge, is primarily owned by the State of Alaska, with two 
parcels owned by the Service.
    In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-11, 
title VI, subtitle E (``the 2009 Act''), Congress directed FWS to 
prepare an EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508) to evaluate the impacts of a proposed land 
exchange with the State of Alaska and the King Cove Corporation for the 
purpose of constructing a single-lane gravel road between the 
communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska. The 2009 Act required 
that the road ``shall be used primarily for health and safety purposes 
(including access to and from the Cold Bay Airport) and only for 
noncommercial purposes,'' with limited exceptions. The land exchange 
contemplated by the 2009 Act would have involved the removal of 
approximately 206 ac within the Izembek Wilderness portion of Izembek 
National Wildlife Refuge for the road corridor and approximately 1,600 
ac of Federal land within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge 
on Sitkinak Island. In exchange, the FWS would have received 
approximately

[[Page 31814]]

43,093 ac of land owned by the State of Alaska and approximately 13,300 
ac of land owned by the King Cove Corporation.
    These lands are located around Cold Bay and are adjacent to the 
North Creek Unit of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge.
    In accordance with section 6402(b)(2)(B) of the 2009 Act, an EIS 
completed in 2013 (2013 EIS; February 6, 2013, 78 FR 8577) analyzed the 
proposed land exchange and the potential construction and operation of 
a road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, and, 
among other alternatives, evaluated a specific road corridor through 
the Izembek Refuge that was identified in consultation with the State 
of Alaska, the City of King Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove. 
In accordance with the 2009 Act, subsequent to the preparation of the 
EIS and in conjunction with the 2013 record of decision (2013 ROD; 
February 20, 2014, 79 FR 9759), Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell 
decided not to enter a land exchange after determining the land 
exchange (including the construction of the proposed road) was not in 
the public interest.
    On July 3, 2019, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt signed a 
memorandum titled ``Findings and Conclusions Concerning a Proposed Land 
Exchange Between the Secretary of the Interior and King Cove 
Corporation for Lands Within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska'' 
(2019 Secretarial Memorandum). That memorandum laid the foundation for 
the concurrent approval of a land exchange agreement (2019 Exchange 
Agreement) between the Department of the Interior and King Cove 
Corporation. The 2019 Secretarial Memorandum stated that the purpose of 
the 2019 Exchange Agreement was to allow a road across the Izembek 
National Wildlife Refuge to improve access by the residents of King 
Cove to the airport at Cold Bay. Since the authorities under the 2009 
Act had expired, the 2019 Exchange Agreement relied on the general 
exchange authority found at in section 1302(h) of the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-487, sec. 1302(h), 
Dec. 2, 1980; 16 U.S.C. 3192(h)). However, the 2019 Exchange Agreement 
relied in large part on the record developed for the exchange analyzed 
under the 2013 EIS and rejected by Secretary Jewell in the 2013 ROD.
    On June 1, 2020, the District Court for the District of Alaska 
vacated the 2019 Exchange Agreement. The vacatur order, which remains 
in effect, was based on several legal defects in the decision, 
including the district court's conclusion that Secretary Bernhardt 
failed to properly justify the change in policy and his rejection of 
Secretary Jewell's prior conclusions. The district court did not rule 
on claims that Secretary Bernhardt's 2019 decision violated the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) Therefore, those claims are pending and 
have not yet been addressed. Review of the district court's judgment is 
pending before an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
    On March 14, 2023, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued a 
new decision memorandum withdrawing the Department from the 2019 
Exchange Agreement between the Secretary of the Interior and King Cove 
Corporation. That decision memorandum identified concerns with analysis 
of the 2019 Exchange Agreement's potential impacts on subsistence uses 
and needs, and highlighted shortcomings in the record regarding NEPA 
and ESA analyses. In addition, the Secretary expressed significant 
policy concerns regarding the nonpublic manner in which the 2019 
Exchange Agreement was accomplished, as well as the terms of the 
exchange agreement, which differed from the exchange evaluated in the 
2013 EIS.
    While the authorities in the 2009 Act remain expired, the FWS will 
prepare a supplemental EIS to address an exchange under section 1302(h) 
of ANILCA or under other authorities, as applicable. The FWS's 
supplemental EIS analysis will focus on thoroughly assessing the 
impacts of the potential exchange and road, allowing for public 
participation, and integrating the NEPA analysis with an evaluation 
under ANILCA section 810. The FWS will also use and coordinate the NEPA 
process to help inform the Department with respect to compliance with 
the National Historic Preservation Act section 106 (54 U.S.C. 306108), 
the ESA, ANILCA (including any land exchange's furtherance of the 
statute's conservation and subsistence purposes), ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1601 
et seq.), the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 
(16 U.S.C. 668dd), and the Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
seq.).
    Potential action alternatives under consideration at this time 
include one or more of the action alternatives from the 2013 EIS 
addressing the proposed land exchange and road construction and 
operation as outlined in the 2009 Act, one or more of the action 
alternatives from the 2013 EIS addressing other transportation 
alternatives, and a new alternative for the terms of the proposed land 
exchange for a road corridor approved in 2019.

Public Review Process

Request for Public Comments

    The FWS is seeking public comments on issues, concerns, potential 
impacts, alternatives, and mitigation measures that should be 
considered in the analysis, particularly those not already addressed in 
the 2013 EIS or in need of updating. Additional opportunities for 
public participation, including a public comment period of at least 45 
days, will be provided upon publication of the draft supplemental EIS.
    It is important that commenters provide their comments at such 
times and in such manner that they are useful to the agency's 
preparation of the supplemental EIS. Therefore, comments should be 
received prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly 
articulate the commenters' concerns.

Public Availability of Comments

    You may submit written comments and materials concerning this 
proposed rule by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. Comments 
submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered.
    If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire comment, including any personal identifying information such as 
your address, phone number, and email address, will be posted on the 
website.
    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. We will post all hardcopy 
comments on https://www.regulations.gov.

Tribal Consultation and Comment

    The meaningful input of Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native 
Corporations is of critical importance to this supplemental EIS. 
Therefore, and as expressed in Executive Order 13175, ``Consultation 
and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,'' the Federal 
officials that have been delegated authority by the Secretary are 
committed to honoring the unique government-to-government political 
relationship that exists between the Federal Government and federally 
recognized Tribes (Tribes). Consultation with Alaska Native 
Corporations is based on Public Law 108-199, div. H, sec. 161, January 
23, 2004, 118 Stat. 452,

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as amended by Public Law 108-447, div. H, title V, sec. 518, December 
8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: ``The Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall 
hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as 
Indian Tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.'' The FWS will hold 
individual consultation meetings upon request. The Secretary will 
consider Alaska Native Tribes' and Alaska Native Corporations' 
information, input, and recommendations, and address their concerns as 
much as practicable.

Reasonable Accommodations

    The Department is committed to providing access to this process for 
all participants. For more information, see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Signing Authority

    Shannon A. Estenoz, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 
Parks, approved this action on May 15, 2023, for publication. On May 
15, 2023, Shannon A. Estenoz authorized the undersigned to sign the 
document electronically and submit it to the Office of the Federal 
Register for publication as an official document of the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.

Maureen D. Foster,
Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife 
and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2023-10621 Filed 5-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P