[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 228 (Monday, November 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73059-73062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29936]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Record of Decision and Floodplain Statement of Findings for the
Cushman Hydroelectric Project, Mason County, Washington, Environmental
Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0456)
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Record of Decision (ROD) and Floodplain Statement of Findings.
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SUMMARY: DOE announces its decision to provide approximately $4.6
million appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
Public Law 111-5 (Recovery Act), to the City
[[Page 73060]]
of Tacoma, Washington (Tacoma), for the design and construction of
certain components of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in Mason
County, Washington. These components include a new 3.6 megawatt (MW)
powerhouse on the North Fork of the Skokomish River, an integral fish
collection, handling, and sorting facility, and related transmission
infrastructure.
The environmental impacts from the proposed action were analyzed in
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) 1996 Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project
(FERC Project No. 460) (1996 FEIS). In a July 15, 2010, Order \1\
(FERC's 2010 Order), FERC lifted a stay on a 1998 license for the
Cushman Hydroelectric Project and amended the license to include inter
alia conditions for fish passage facilities and authorization to
construct the powerhouse. FERC's 2010 Order includes the components of
the Cushman Hydroelectric Project that DOE proposes to fund. FERC
relied on the 1996 FEIS to fulfill its National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) obligations for the 1998 license as amended on July 15,
2010. DOE has adopted the 1996 FEIS and 2010 Order, together, as a
final DOE EIS (DOE/EIS-0456).
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\1\ City of Tacoma, Washington 132 FERC ] 61,037, (Order on
Remand and an Offer of Settlement, Amending License, Authorizing New
Powerhouse, and Lifting Stay).
ADDRESSES: DOE's final EIS, this ROD, and other project information are
available on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://nepa.energy.gov. In
addition, copies of this ROD may be requested by contacting Ms. Jane
Summerson, NEPA Document Manager, Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Department of Energy at [email protected]. Ms.
Summerson can be reached at the U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Ave, SW., EE-4a, Washington, DC 20585, phone (202) 287-
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6188 or fax (202) 586-8177.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
project, contact Ms. Summerson as indicated in the ADDRESSES section
above. For information about DOE's NEPA process, contact Ms. Carol M.
Borgstrom, Director, NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-54, U.S. Department
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585,
telephone (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at (800) 472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
DOE is providing approximately $4.6 million to Tacoma, for the
design and construction of certain components of the Cushman
Hydroelectric Project in Mason County, Washington. These components
include a new 3.6 MW powerhouse on the North Fork of the Skokomish
River, an integral fish collection and sorting facility, and related
transmission infrastructure.\2\
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\2\ The ``Cushman Project'' refers to the entire project that
FERC licensed in its 2010 Order. The scope of the Cushman Project is
broader than the project that DOE is funding, and is defined in this
section of this ROD.
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Tacoma applied for this funding in response to DOE Solicitation
(FOA-0000120), entitled ``Hydroelectric Facility Modernization,''
pursuant to the Wind and Water Technologies Program. The goal of the
Solicitation is to provide funding for industry members who propose to
develop, deploy, and test hydropower projects that would modernize the
existing hydropower infrastructure in the U.S. and increase the
quantity, value, and environmental performance of hydropower
generation. Because the funds are appropriated by the Recovery Act, the
projects must stimulate the economy and create and retain jobs.
The background on the relicensing of the Cushman Project spans
several decades and includes administrative and judicial litigation and
multiple stays with interim operating requirements. To fully understand
the history of the relicensing process, please refer to FERC's 2010
Order, the 1998 license,\3\ and the 1996 FEIS. What follows is a brief
summary setting forth those aspects of the Cushman Project and
relicensing process relevant to this ROD.
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\3\ City of Tacoma, Washington 84 FERC ] 61107 (1998).
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In 1924, Tacoma obtained a license from the Federal Power
Commission (predecessor to FERC) to flood 8.8 acres of national forest
land by damming the North Fork of the Skokomish River at Lake Cushman
on the Olympic Peninsula. This license was designated a ``minor part
license'' because it covered only a small part of Tacoma's much larger
hydroelectric project (Cushman Project). At that time, the Federal
Power Commission interpreted its licensing authority narrowly, and the
1924 minor part license gave Tacoma the authority it needed to proceed
with the Cushman Project.
The 131 MW Cushman Project is located on the North Fork of the
Skokomish River (North Fork) in Mason County, Washington, and occupies
U.S. lands within the Olympic National Forest and the Skokomish Indian
Reservation. Tacoma built two dams across the Skokomish River. Dam No.
1, which was completed in 1926, impounds Lake Cushman and supplies
water for electricity generation at a powerhouse with a capacity of 50
MW, located downstream of that dam. Dam No. 2, which was completed in
1930, impounds Lake Kokanee, a much smaller reservoir than Lake
Cushman. Water leaving Dam No. 2 passes through a tunnel to a second
powerhouse with 81 MW capacity and does not return to the North Fork.
Historically, the Cushman Project diverted nearly all of the flow of
the North Fork out of the river basin, leading to controversy regarding
the total amount of flow diverted from the river, its environmental
effects, and the appropriate level of minimum flows that should be
required to return water to the North Fork. The Cushman Project is
currently operated to provide load-following power and to meet peak-
demand period needs.
In 1963, the Federal Power Commission determined that its
hydroelectric licensing jurisdiction extends to whole projects, not
just to the parts of those projects that occupy or use Federal land. As
required by Title I of the Federal Power Act, Tacoma filed for a
``major project license'' for the Cushman Project on November 5, 1974.
Tacoma continued to operate the Cushman Project under the terms of its
1924 minor part license, and FERC issued annual renewals of Tacoma's
existing license during the application review period.
FERC's 1996 FEIS
Subsequent to Tacoma's application for a major part license, FERC
decided to prepare an environmental impact statement to analyze the
impacts from the Cushman Project and alternatives to it. FERC issued a
Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft EIS for the Cushman Project on
November 12, 1992 (57 FR 53727). FERC held two rounds of scoping, in
December 1992 and April 1993, and issued a final Scoping Document in
February 1994. FERC issued the Draft EIS in November 1995 and held
three public meetings in January and February 1996 to receive public
comments on the Draft EIS (61 FR 1375). The comment period closed on
February 13, 1996. FERC issued the 1996 FEIS on November 15, 1996 (61
FR 59435).
After a lengthy relicensing proceeding, FERC issued a new license
for the Cushman Project on July 30,
[[Page 73061]]
1998,\4\ and issued an order on rehearing on March 30, 1999.\5\ The
license then became the subject of judicial and administrative review,
in which the principal plaintiff was the Skokomish Tribe (Tribe), and
concerns about endangered and threatened species and minimum flow were
at the center of the dispute. The relicensing was stayed in part for
most of the following decade, and FERC, at various times, amended the
license with conditions for interim operation of the Cushman Project.
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\4\ City of Tacoma, Washington 84 FERC ] 61107 (1998).
\5\ City of Tacoma, Washington 86 FERC ] 61311 (1999).
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As required by Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, the Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS) filed a biological opinion for protection of
listed fish in 2004. On January 21, 2009, the City of Tacoma and other
parties to the litigation, including the Tribe, filed a comprehensive
offer of settlement that includes conditions for protection of the
Skokomish Indian Reservation, fish passage facilities, and measures for
fish and wildlife protection. The National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) and FWS filed revised biological opinions in 2010.
FERC's 2010 Order
In its July 15, 2010, Order, FERC lifted a stay on a 1998 license
for the Cushman Project and amended the license to include conditions
for fish passage facilities and authorization to construct the 3.6 MW
powerhouse. FERC relied on the 1996 FEIS to fulfill its NEPA
obligations for the 1998 license, as amended in FERC's 2010 Order. The
amended license includes license articles consistent with the
settlement, extends the license expiration date to June 20, 2048, and
authorizes construction of a new 3.6 MW powerhouse that will increase
the Cushman Project's authorized capacity to 134.6 MW.
As stated above, FERC's license authorizes all activities that DOE
is funding through this decision. In FERC's 2010 Order, FERC found that
the activities it authorized, including the proposed powerhouse, were
within the range of alternatives examined in the 1996 FEIS and that a
supplemental EIS would not be needed for the activities.
Alternatives Analyzed in FERC's 1996 EIS
In the 1996 FEIS, FERC analyzed Tacoma's proposal, which included
replacing turbine runners at the second powerhouse; installing a 1.3 MW
powerhouse at the base of Dam No. 2; implementing major environmental
enhancements such as increasing instream flows into the North Fork;
removing resident fish passage barriers in project reservoir
tributaries; and executing a land exchange to remove lands within
Olympic National Forest. FERC also analyzed four other alternatives:
(1) No Action Alternative;
(2) Alternative adapted from resource agencies' and Tribe's
recommended alternatives to Tacoma's proposal. Under this alternative,
Tacoma would build a new powerhouse with a generating capacity of 16 MW
at the base of Dam No. 2, and the project would operate with full river
flows. Tacoma would remove certain dikes, enhance more than 15,000
acres of land for wildlife, and stop diverting water from the North
Fork;
(3) Alternative intended to achieve, to the extent practicable,
important elements of each objective: under this alternative, Tacoma
would manage flow levels through an instream flow schedule to balance
the competing demands on North Fork water; build a new 3 MW powerhouse
near the base of Dam No. 2; and implement a staff-formulated wildlife
habitat enhancement plan covering 5,981 acres of land for wildlife; and
(4) Decommissioning Alternative.
Environmentally Preferred Alternative
FERC identified Alternative (2) as the environmentally preferred
alternative in the 1996 FEIS because, among other things, it maximizes
river flows and enhances the greatest area of land for wildlife in
comparison to the other alternatives.
Alternatives Available to DOE
DOE's two alternatives are to (1) provide funding for certain
components of the Cushman Project as defined and conditioned in FERC's
2010 Order and which were analyzed in substantive part in Alternative 2
of the 1996 EIS, or (2) not provide funding (No Action Alternative).
Under either alternative, Tacoma would construct and operate the
Cushman Project consistent with FERC's 2010 Order and related
settlement agreements.
Consultation
FERC is the lead Federal agency for complying with Section 106 of
the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and Tribal Consultation
for all components of the Cushman Project. The Tribe and others
originally opposed Tacoma's Cultural Resource Summary Report, and
cultural resource protection became a contested issue. On May 13, 2010,
however, FERC entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the
Washington State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and the Tribe,
and other interested parties concurred in the MOA. The MOA includes a
Treatment Plan that Tacoma must follow to protect cultural resources
during the construction of the new powerhouse. On June 8, 2010, the
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) acknowledged receipt
of the MOA and stated that FERC had completed its requirements under
Section 106 of the NHPA.
DOE hereby concurs with the May 13, 2010, MOA and, in so doing,
completes its own consultation requirements under Section 106 of the
NHPA. DOE's proposed action is to fund elements of the Cushman Project
that were already the subject of extensive Section 106 consultations.
FERC is also the lead Federal agency for complying with Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) (ESA). FERC consulted
extensively with both NMFS and FWS regarding impacts from the Cushman
Project on listed species and critical habitat. These agencies
concluded consultation when NMFS and FWS issued Biological Opinions
finding that the Cushman Project is not likely to result in jeopardy to
listed species or destruction or adverse modification of critical
habitat. FERC and Tacoma agreed to implement certain mitigation
measures (2010 Order at 148).
DOE finds that, either with or without DOE funding, Tacoma will
manage the Cushman Project in compliance with the terms of FERC's
relicense and the settlement agreement, which include terms that
mitigate impacts to listed species. Thus, DOE's proposed action will
have no effect on listed species or critical habitat and DOE has
fulfilled its obligations under Section 7 of the ESA.
EIS Adoption
DOE has independently reviewed the 1996 FEIS and FERC's 2010 Order
and has concluded that, together, the 1996 FEIS and FERC's 2010 Order
meet the standards for an adequate environmental impact statement under
the Council on Environmental Quality's and DOE's NEPA regulations,
which can be found at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021,
respectively. In addition, DOE has determined that the Cushman Project
is within the range of alternatives analyzed in the 1996 FEIS.
The only difference between the project that DOE is funding and the
actions analyzed under the 1996 FEIS is the placement of a transmission
line. In the 1996 FEIS, FERC analyzed an
[[Page 73062]]
aboveground transmission line. Tacoma is now planning to bury the line
underground to mitigate environmental impacts. This mitigation measure
is not a substantial change in the proposed action relevant to
environmental concerns, within the meaning of 40 CFR 1502.9(c),
warranting a supplement to the FEIS. Accordingly, DOE adopted FERC's
1996 FEIS and 2010 Order as a final DOE EIS (DOE/EIS-0456).
Because DOE did not participate as a cooperating agency in
preparation of FERC's 1996 FEIS, DOE recirculated the adopted document
as a DOE final EIS and filed it with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). EPA published a notice of availability in the Federal
Register on October 8, 2010 (75 FR 62386). DOE did not receive any
comments on the final EIS.
Floodplain Statement of Findings
In accordance with DOE regulations at 10 CFR Part 1022 (Compliance
with Floodplain and Wetland Environmental Review Requirements), DOE
considered the potential impacts of the Cushman Project on floodplains.
These findings are based on the assessment of environmental impacts in
the final EIS. The location of the Cushman Project and the alternatives
considered are discussed in detail in the final EIS. The differences
among the alternatives, including the original proposal from Tacoma,
are summarized above.
DOE finds that no practicable alternative to locating the Cushman
Project in a floodplain is available. The nature of the existing
Cushman Dam site and the process of generating electricity from water
pressure require that the proposed powerhouse be constructed downstream
of the dam; therefore the proposed construction will necessarily be
within a floodplain.
FERC's 2010 Order establishes numerous requirements that Tacoma
must follow in constructing and operating the proposed new facilities
to minimize potential harm to or within the floodplain, including
measures to reduce flooding hazards while protecting water quality and
fish habitat. For example, Article 403 of FERC's 2010 Order requires
Tacoma to implement measures to enhance the channel conveyance capacity
of the mainstem Skokomish River for the reduction of risks to human
health and welfare from flooding, including, among other things,
providing funds to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a Skokomish
River Basin Ecosystem Restoration and Flood Damage Reduction General
Investigation; the preparation, under certain conditions, of a Mainstem
Channel Restoration Plan in consultation with NMFS, FWS, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) and including the comments of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, EPA, and Mason County; and, under certain
conditions, providing funds for a Channel Restoration Account.
In addition, under Articles 406 and 407 of FERC's 2010 Order,
Tacoma must prepare and implement an Operational and Flow Monitoring
Plan to improve fish habitat, address lake water use changes, improve
sediment transport and stream flow, and improve flood control and
forecasting. This plan must be submitted to and approved by NMFS, FWS,
and BIA. Under certain conditions, Tacoma would be required to develop
a Flood Damage and Mitigation Plan and provide funding to implement the
plan.
Mitigation
In addition to adopting the measures addressing floodplain impacts,
described above, DOE adopts and incorporates by reference all other
mitigation measures documented in FERC's 2010 Order. These other
measures include but are not limited to:
Monitoring water use, which provides a feedback mechanism
to help ensure that adequate flows will be available to meet the needs
of anadromous fish at different times of the year, support aquatic
habitats, maintain improvements to the channel capacity of the river,
and provide some assurances that the flows released will benefit these
resources.
A variety of fish habitat protection, mitigation and
enhancement measures such as habitat enhancement and restoration work
that benefits anadromous fish by improving channel habitat and removing
instream barriers.
The use of a floating surface collector for downstream
fish passage. Tacoma will use a trap and haul system for upstream fish
passage.
Implementation of a resident fishery, which will include
anadromous fish hatcheries.
Decision
DOE has decided to provide funding, appropriated by the Recovery
Act, to Tacoma for the design and construction of certain components of
the Cushman Project in Mason County, Washington. These components
include a new 3.6 MW powerhouse on the North Fork of the Skokomish
River, an integral fish collection and sorting facility, and related
transmission infrastructure.
DOE incorporates by reference all mitigation measures and other
conditions identified in FERC's 2010 Order. DOE expects that Tacoma
will execute the Cushman Project in compliance with FERC's 2010 Order.
Thus, all practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm
have been adopted.
Basis for Decision
DOE's decision enables it to meet the objectives set forth in the
Solicitation, namely, to provide financial assistance for industry
members and industry-led partnerships who propose to develop, deploy,
and test hydropower projects to modernize the existing hydropower
infrastructure in the U.S. and increase the quantity, value, and
environmental performance of hydropower generation.
DOE did not select the No Action alternative because it would not
meet DOE's objectives, as set forth in the Solicitation.
DOE decided not to fund alternatives, or alternative components,
that were analyzed in the 1996 FEIS but were not authorized under
FERC's 2010 Order. Without a FERC license, Tacoma would not be able to
implement such alternatives.
Issued in Washington, DC, on this 18th day of November 2010.
Cathy Zoi,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2010-29936 Filed 11-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P