[Federal Register: July 19, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 137)]
[Notices]
[Page 41380-41382]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19jy05-26]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/DEIR) for Proposed Future Permit
Actions Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for the Newhall Ranch
Specific Plan and Associated Facilities Along Portions of the Santa
Clara River and Its Side Drainages, and Development of a Candidate
Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the San Fernando
Valley Spineflower, in Los Angeles County, California, With the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent.
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SUMMARY: The project proponent and landowner, The Newhall Land and
Farming Company (Newhall Land), has requested a long-term Clean Water
Act Section 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers for facilities
associated with the Newhall Ranch Specific Plan. The action is
necessary to facilitate buildout of the Specific Plan. The effect will
be to authorize the construction of bridges, flood control structures,
and to grade and fill certain side drainages for roads and buildings.
The reason for this revised notice of intent (NOI) is because the
project proponent's proposed action has been expanded to include
development of a voluntary CCAA between Newhall Land and the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to specify spineflower preserve locations,
manage spineflower habitat, and to authorize future take of
spineflower, in the event it becomes federally listed under the federal
Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered, involving three
properties: Newhall Ranch, Valencia Commerce Center, and Entrada. The
Corps of Engineers intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) to evaluate the potential effects of the proposed
action on the environment. To eliminate duplication of paperwork, the
Corps of Engineers intends to coordinate the DEIS with the Draft
Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) being prepared by the California
Department of Fish and Game. The joint document will meet the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as
enable the Corps to analyze the project pursuant to the 404(b)(1)
Guidelines and assess potential impacts on various public interest
factors.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and Draft EIS/EIR can be answered by Dr. Aaron O. Allen, Corps Project
Manager, at (805) 585-2148. Comments shall be addressed to: U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Ventura Field Office, ATTN:
File Number 2003-01264-AOA, 2151 Alessandro Drive, Suite 110, Ventura,
CA 93001. Alternatively, comments can be e-mailed to:
Aaron.O.Allen@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Site and Background Information. The Newhall Ranch site
is located in northern Los Angeles County and encompasses approximately
12,000 acres. The Santa Clara River and State Route 126 traverse the
northern portion of the Specific Plan area.
The river extends approximately 5.5 miles east to west across the
site. On March 27, 2003, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
approved the Specific Plan, which establishes the general plan and
zoning designations necessary to develop the site with residential,
commercial, and mixed uses over the next 20 to 30 years. The Newhall
Ranch Specific Plan also includes a Water Reclamation Plant at the
western edge of the project area. Individual projects, such as
residential, commercial, and industrial developments, roadways, and
other public facilities would be developed over time in accordance with
the development boundaries and guidelines in the approved Specific
Plan. Many of these developments would require work in and adjacent to
the Santa Clara River and its side drainages (``waters of the United
States'').
Newhall Land would develop most of the above facilities. However,
other entities could construct some of these facilities using the
approvals or set of approvals issued to Newhall Land. The proposed
Section 404 permit would also include routine maintenance activities to
be carried out by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works using
the Section 404 permit issued to Newhall Land. Any party utilizing a
Section 404 permit issued to Newhall Land would be bound by the same
conditions in the Section 404 permit.
The CCAA area includes Newhall Ranch and two other areas adjacent
to Newhall Ranch, the Valencia Commerce Center and Entrada areas. The
Valencia Commerce Center is a partially built out commercial/industrial
center located east of Newhall Ranch and north of State Route 126.
Entrada is a proposed residential development located east of
[[Page 41381]]
Newhall Ranch and south of Magic Mountain Parkway.
Under the Specific Plan, Newhall Land and Farming has applied to
Los Angeles County for tentative tract (subdivision) maps for portions
of the Specific Plan area, Valencia Commerce Center, and Entrada. Los
Angeles County is currently processing those applications, including
the preparation of project-level Environmental Impact Reports for these
areas.
2. Proposed Action. Newhall Land has identified various activities
associated with the Newhall Ranch Project that would require Corps
permitting. Many of the proposed activities would require a 404 permit
because the activities would affect the riverbed or banks within the
jurisdictional limits of the Corps in San Martinez Grande, Chiquito,
Potrero, and Long canyons, and smaller drainages with peak flows of
less than 2,000 cubic feet per second, as well as the Santa Clara
River. These activities are listed and described in further detail
below:
Bank protection to protect land development projects along
watercourses (including buried soil cement, ungrouted riprap, and
gunite lining);
Drainage facilities such as storm drains or outlets and
partially lined open channels;
Grade control structures;
Bridges and drainage crossings;
Utility crossings;
Trails;
Building pads;
Activities associated with construction of a Water
Reclamation Plant (WRP) adjacent to the Santa Clara River and required
bank protection;
Water quality control facilities (sedimentation control,
flood debris, and water quality basins);
Ongoing maintenance activities by the LACDPW; and
Temporary haul routes for grading equipment.
In addition to construction of the permitted facilities identified
above, the proposed action includes development of a CCAA between
Newhall Land and the USFWS. The CCAA would serve to protect populations
of San Fernando Valley spineflower, a species identified as a candidate
for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, which occur on
the Newhall Ranch, Valencia Commerce Center, and Entrada sites. The
CCAA would involve spineflower preserves and management and also
authorize the take of certain spineflower plants at all three
locations.
3. Scope of Analysis. The DEIS will be a project-level document
which addresses a number of interrelated actions over a specific
geographic area that (1) would occur as logical parts in the chain of
contemplated actions, and (2) would be implemented under the same
authorizing statutory or regulatory authorities. The information in the
EIS will be sufficient for the Corps to make a decision regarding the
issuance of a long-term Section 404 permit for the Newhall Ranch
Specific Plan. The EIS will also allow the USFWS to make a decision on
the CCAA.
The document will be a joint Federal and state document. The
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) will prepare an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the California
Environmental Quality Act for the same project regarding a state
streambed alteration agreement, state endangered species permit for
Newhall Ranch, and a Spineflower Conservation Plan and state endangered
species permit for the Newhall Ranch, Valencia Commerce Center and
Entrada areas. The Corps and CDFG will work cooperatively to prepare a
joint DEIS/DEIR document, and to coordinate the public noticing and
hearing processes under Federal and state laws.
The impact analysis will follow the directives in 33 CFR Part 325
Appendix B, which requires that it be limited to the impacts of the
specific activities requiring a 404 permit and only those portions of
the project outside of ``waters of the United States'' over which the
Corps has sufficient control and responsibility to warrant Federal
review. However, due to the varied location and extent of waters of the
United States, threatened and endangered species and critical habitat,
and historic and prehistoric cultural sites within the project area,
there exists sufficient cumulative Federal responsibility and control
to expand the geographic scope of analysis to include the entire
Newhall Ranch Specific Plan site. This extension of the scope of
environmental analysis will address indirect and cumulative impacts of
the regulated activities, as well as connected actions pursuant to NEPA
guidelines (40 CFR part 1508(a)(1)). In upland areas, the Corps will
evaluate impacts to the environment and identify feasible and
reasonable mitigation measures and the appropriate state or local
agencies with authority to implement these measures if they are outside
the authority of the Corps. In evaluating impacts to areas and
resources outside the Corps' jurisdiction, the Corps will consider the
information and conclusions from the Final Program EIR for the Specific
Plan prepared by Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.
However, the Corps will exercise its independent expertise and judgment
in addressing indirect and cumulative impacts to upland areas due to
issuance of the proposed Section 404 permit.
4. Significant Issues. There are several potential environmental
issues that will be addressed in the DEIS/DEIR. Additional issues may
be identified during the scoping process. Issues initially identified
as potentially significant include:
(a) Surface Water Hydrology, Erosion and Sedimentation;
(b) Groundwater;
(c) Water Quality;
(d) Biological Resources;
(e) Jurisdictional Streams and Wetlands;
(f) Air Quality;
(g) Traffic;
(h) Noise;
(i) Cultural Resources;
(j) Paleontological Resources;
(k) Agriculture and Soils;
(l) Geology and Geologic Hazards;
(m) Land Use;
(n) Visual Resources;
(o) Parks, Recreation, and Trails;
(p) Public Safety;
(q) Public Services;
(r) Hazards and Hazardous Materials;
(s) Socioeconomics/Environmental Justice:
(t) Significant, Irreversible Environmental Changes.
5. Alternatives. Alternatives initially being considered for the
proposed improvement project include the following:
(a) Numerous alternate locations and configurations of various
proposed facilities such as buried bank stabilization, bridges, and
grade control structures, along each of the major side drainages
including Chiquito Canyon, Potrero Canyon, San Martinez Grande, and
Long Canyon, as well as the Santa Clara River, ranging from no impact
to the proposed action and configurations of various proposed San
Fernando Valley Spineflower Preserve areas;
(b) Under the No Federal Action alternative, the proposed Section
404 permit would not be issued, so no discharges of fill material
within Corps jurisdictional waters would be authorized. This
alternative will be analyzed in the DEIS/DEIR to satisfy NEPA
requirements to evaluate the impacts of ``No Federal Action''
alternative.
6. Scoping Process. A previous NOI was published in the Federal
Register on January 29, 2004 (69 FR 4295-4296). Public scoping meetings
to receive input on the scope of the DEIS/EIR were previously conducted
on February 4, 2000 in Santa Clarita and February 19,
[[Page 41382]]
2004 in Castaic, California. An additional public scoping meeting will
be held on August 24, 2005, at 6:30 pm, at the Castaic Middle School
Multipurpose Room located at 28900 West Hillcrest Parkway, Castaic, CA.
Participation in the scoping is encouraged by Federal, state, and
local agencies, and other interested private citizens and
organizations. The Corps will be the federal lead agency and the USFWS
will be a cooperating agency for this DEIS/EIR. Other environmental
review and consultation requirements, not discussed above, include a
USFWS Section 7 Biological Opinion, State Historic Preservation Office
consultation, and a 401 certification and National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Los Angeles Regional Water
Quality Control Board.
7. Availability of the Draft EIS/EIR. The joint lead agencies
expect the Draft EIS/EIR to be made available to the public in late
2005. Written comments on the DEIS/DEIR will be received once that
document is released. A public hearing will be held during the public
comment period for the Draft EIS/EIR.
Dated: July 11, 2005.
Brian M. Moore,
Deputy District Engineer for Project Management.
[FR Doc. 05-14181 Filed 7-18-05; 8:45 am]
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