[Federal Register: March 9, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 46)]
[Notices]
[Page 10719-10720]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09mr07-61]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, San Francisco Bay, CA
AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability: Draft environmental impact statement/
environmental impact report; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) are proposing a
restoration plan for 15,100 acres (6,111 hectares) of former commercial
salt ponds in south San Francisco Bay. This South Bay Salt Pond (SBSP)
Restoration Project would use a combination of restored tidal marsh,
managed ponds, flood control measures and public access features to
meet the three goals of the plan: to restore wildlife habitat, to
provide flood protection and to provide wildlife-oriented public
access. The ponds are located at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge and at the Eden Landing State Ecological
Reserve.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact
Report (EIS/EIR) includes program-level evaluation of the SBSP long-
term alternatives as well as project-level analysis of the first phase
of restoration (the Phase 1 actions).
The Draft EIS/EIR has been prepared jointly by the Service, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the CDFG to analyze the
impacts of the SBSP. The EIS/EIR presents a limited evaluation of the
potential impacts associated with the list of possible South San
Francisco Bay Shoreline Study (Shoreline Study) actions. The Shoreline
Study area includes the SBSP Restoration Project area as well as
shoreline and floodplain areas in the counties of Alameda, San Mateo,
and Santa Clara. The Corps and non-Federal sponsors will prepare an
EIS/EIR for the Shoreline Study, which will tier off of this EIS/EIR
and cover specific project-level actions.
Note that the Draft SBSP EIS/EIR is being submitted for public
review under separate Federal and State processes. The following
addresses and due dates are applicable to the Federal NEPA review
process:
DATES: For the Federal process, written comments under the National
Environmental Policy Act should be received on or before April 23,
2007. We will hold two public meetings in March 2007 to solicit
comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement. Dates, times, and
addresses for the public meetings follow.
March 28, 2007, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., NASA Research Center,
Building 943 (Eagle Room), Moffett Field, CA 94035.
March 29, 2007, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Centennial Hall, 22292
Foothill Boulevard, Room 4, Hayward, CA 94541.
Call Anna Schneider at (510) 286-1015 if directions are needed.
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in these public meetings should contact Anna Schneider at
(510) 286-1015 sufficiently in advance of the meeting to allow time to
process the request.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for information should be sent
to Clyde Morris, Refuge Manager, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR,
9500 Thornton Avenue, Newark, CA 94560. Written comments may also be
sent by facsimile to (510) 792-5828 or through the public comments link
on the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project Web site, at http://www.southbayrestoration.org/Question_Comment.html.
All comments
received, including names and addresses, will become a part of the
administrative record and be made available to the public.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the Federal
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process may be directed to
Clyde Morris, Refuge Manager, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR, at the
above address; telephone (510) 792-0222, or Yvonne LeTellier, Project
Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1455 Market Street, San
Francisco, CA 94103; (415) 503-6744. Questions related to the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process may be directed to
John Krause, California Department of Fish and Game, Region 3
Headquarters, P.O. Box 47, Yountville, CA 94599; telephone (707) 944-
5500.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability of Documents
Individuals wishing copies of the Draft EIS/EIR should contact the
Service by letter, facsimile to the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife
Refuge Complex or contact through the restoration project Web site (see
ADDRESSES). The document is also available for public inspection, by
appointment, during regular business hours, at the San Francisco Bay
National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Fremont, California, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, San Francisco, California, the California Dept. of Fish
and Game, Region 3 Headquarters, 7329 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558,
and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, 5750 Almaden Expressway, San
Jose, California, 95118. Copies are also available for public review
at:
Alviso Branch Library: 5050 North First St., San
Jos[eacute], CA 95002, (408) 263-3626;
City of Mountain View Library: 585 Franklin Street,
Mountain View, CA 94041, (650) 903-6337;
Palo Alto Main Library: 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto, CA
94303, (650) 329-2436;
Menlo Park Library: 800 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA 94025,
(650) 330-2500;
Sunnyvale Public Library: 665 West Olive Avenue,
Sunnyvale, CA 94086, (408) 730-7300;
Hayward Public Library: 835 C Street, Hayward, CA 94541,
(510) 293-8685; and
Fremont Main Library: 2400 Stevenson Blvd, Fremont, CA
94538, (510) 745-1400.
The document may also be viewed on the restoration project Web site
http://www.southbayrestoration.org.
Background
On March 16, 2003, the State of California and the Service acquired
15,100 acres of commercial salt ponds from Cargill, Inc. in South San
Francisco Bay which are the subject of the SBSP. The purpose of the
acquisition was to protect, restore and enhance the property for fish
and wildlife, as well as to provide
[[Page 10720]]
opportunities for wildlife-oriented recreation and education. Of the
acquired lands, CDFG owns and manages the 5,500-acre Eden Landing pond
complex and the Service owns the 8,000-acre Alviso pond complex and the
1,600-acre Ravenswood pond complex.
The SBSP Restoration Project was planned in close coordination with
a related but separate project, the Shoreline Study. The
Congressionally-authorized Shoreline Study will identify and recommend
for Federal funding one or more projects for flood damage reduction,
ecosystem restoration and related purposes such as public access.
Because they have similar objectives and geographic scope and include
restoration and flood management components, the planning and
management of these two projects is being closely integrated. Planning
for the Shoreline Study will be conducted through several stages
referred to as Interim Feasibility Studies, and the Corps is currently
developing alternatives for the first stage of the Shoreline Study (the
Alviso Ponds and Santa Clara County Interim Feasibility Study) in
partnership with the Study's non-Federal sponsors, the Santa Clara
Valley Water District and the California Coastal Conservancy and in
cooperation with the Service. Potential Shoreline Study actions include
flood protection improvements, ecosystem restoration, and recreation
and public access features, which may overlap considerably with
proposed SBSP Restoration Project actions.
The Initial Stewardship Plan (ISP) is an interim plan now in
operation to maintain and enhance the biological and physical
conditions within the SBSP area in the interim period between the
cessation of salt production and the implementation of the long-term
restoration plan that will emerge from the SBSP Restoration Project
planning process. Because the SBSP Restoration Project will be
implemented in phases over time, some ponds may be managed under the
ISP for many years. The ISP actions include construction and operation
of water control structures to circulate bay waters through a series of
pond clusters to maintain low salinity, provide wildlife habitat, and
maintain at least the current level of flood protection. Three of the
ponds' levees were breached to allow full tidal wetland restoration.
Additionally, some ponds are managed as seasonal wetlands that are
allowed to fill with rain water in the winter and dry through
evaporation during the summer months while other ponds are operated as
high salinity ponds to provide habitat for wildlife requiring those
conditions. Certain ponds are still being managed by Cargill while they
reduce the salinity levels by moving the saltiest brines to its plant
site in Newark, California.
The actual long-term restoration of the salt ponds is the subject
of the SBSP Restoration Project. Implementation of the long-term
restoration plan is expected to be conducted in phases with some phases
extending beyond 20 years. This EIS/EIR is programmatic, covering the
long-term plan for the entire SBSP planning area and is project
specific for the Phase 1 projects which will be implemented in the near
term.
Alternatives Analyzed
The Draft EIS/EIR considers three programmatic alternatives for the
SBSP: a No Action Alternative (Alternative A), a Managed Pond Emphasis
Alternative (Alternative B), and a Tidal Emphasis Alternative
(Alternative C).
Under the No Action alternative (Alternative A), the expected
scenario at Year 50 is evaluated as if no long-term restoration plan is
implemented. CDFG and the Service would continue to operate and
maintain the ponds in a manner similar to the ISP, although it is
assumed that CDFG and the Service would not have the funding to
maintain full ISP operations over the 50-year planning horizon. No new
public access or recreational facilities are proposed under this
alternative.
Under the Managed Pond Emphasis Alternative (50 percent tidal
habitat: 50 percent managed ponds by area) (Alternative B), the
expected scenario at Year 50 would contain approximately 7,500 acres of
tidal habitat and 7,500 acres of managed pond habitat. Approximately 20
percent of the managed ponds would be reconfigured to improve foraging,
roosting, and nesting opportunities for shorebirds, waterfowl, and
other waterbirds. In addition, Alternative B would provide a cohesive
line of flood protection along the perimeter of the project area. This
alternative would also provide public access and recreation features in
the form of trails and viewing platforms, interpretive stations,
waterfowl hunting, access to and interpretation of cultural resource
features, opportunities for education and interpretation, non-motorized
boat launching points and associated staging and parking areas.
Under the Tidal Emphasis Alternative (90 percent tidal habitat : 10
percent managed ponds by area), the expected scenario at Year 50 would
contain approximately 13,400 acres of tidal habitat and 1,600 acres of
managed pond habitat. All managed ponds in Alternative C would be
reconfigured to substantially enhance foraging, roosting and nesting
opportunities for shorebirds, waterfowl and other waterbirds. Flood
protection under Alternative C would be similar to Alternative B, with
the exception that the length of existing slough levees abandoned would
increase in Alternative C. Alternative C would also provide public
access and recreation features similar to those described for
Alternative B.
Alternatives B and C are ``bookends'' that represent possible
outcomes ranging from a 50:50 tidal to managed pond scenario to a 90:10
tidal to managed pond scenario. The optimal configuration of tidal
habitat and managed ponds that achieves the SBSP objectives while
avoiding significant impacts to environmental resources would fall
somewhere between these bookends and would be guided by the Adaptive
Management Plan, the cornerstone of the SBSP.
The Draft EIS/EIR also addresses, at the project level, Phase 1 of
the SBSP. The Phase 1 actions are common elements of the long-term
Alternatives B and C. Phase 1 actions would include a range of habitat
types and early experiments that will be used to inform the Adaptive
Management Plan. These include creating tidal, muted tidal and managed
pond habitats as well as a variety of public-access features.
The Service and the Corps invite the public to comment on the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement during a 45-day public comment period.
The Service and the Corps will evaluate the comments submitted thereon
to prepare a Final EIS/EIR. A decision will be made no sooner than 30
days after the publication of the Final EIS/EIR. It is anticipated that
a Record of Decision will be issued by the Service in the fall of 2007.
This notice is provided pursuant to regulations for implementing
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 CFR 1506.6).
Dated: February 28, 2007.
Steve Thompson,
Manager, California/Nevada Operations, Sacramento, CA.
Dated: March 1, 2007.
Craig W. Kiley,
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 07-1061 Filed 3-8-07; 8:45 am]
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