[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25307-25308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10902]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA410
Incidental Take Permit and Habitat Conservation Plan for
PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project Interim Operations
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental assessment,
habitat conservation plan, implementing agreement, and receipt of
application; notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that PacifiCorp Energy (PacifiCorp or
applicant) has submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) an application for an incidental take permit under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), for a 10-year period.
As required by the ESA, PacifiCorp has also prepared a Habitat
Conservation Plan (Plan) as part of the application. The application
and Plan address potential incidental take of one ESA-listed species as
a result of operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric
Project (Project) in and near the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and
Northern California and implementation of the Plan during a 10-year
period. This notice also announces the availability of a draft
Environmental Assessment (EA) related to the requested permit, the
proposed Plan, and the corresponding Implementing Agreement (IA) for
public review and comment.
DATES: Written comments on the draft EA, Plan, and IA, must be received
by 5 p.m. Pacific Time, on July 5, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the draft EA, Plan, and IA
should be sent by U.S. Mail, facsimile, or e-mail to Lisa Roberts,
Fisheries Biologist, NMFS Northern California Office, 1655 Heindon
Road, Arcata, CA 95521, facsimile (707) 825-4840, or you may transmit
your comment as an attachment to the following e-mail address:
[email protected].
A public meeting will be held on June 29, 2011, from 6 p.m. to 9
p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5050 Bechelli Lane, Redding, CA, Phone:
(530) 226-5111.
Copies of the draft EA, HCP and IA are available electronically for
review on the NMFS Southwest Region Web site at: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/nepa.htm. Copies of these documents are also
available for public review during regular business hours from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. at the NMFS Northern California Office, 1655 Heindon Road,
Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 825-5178. Individuals wishing copies of the
draft EA, Plan, or IA should contact NMFS by telephone (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT) or by letter (see ADDRESSES).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Roberts, Fisheries Biologist,
NMFS, telephone (707) 825-5178.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 9 of the ESA and related Federal regulations prohibit the
take of fish and wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened
(16 U.S.C. 1538). The term ``take''' means to harass, harm, pursue,
hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to
engage in any such conduct (16 U.S.C. 1532). NMFS further defines harm
as an act which actually kills or injures fish or wildlife, which
includes significant habitat modification or degradation which actually
kills or injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing essential
behavior patterns, including
[[Page 25308]]
breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding or sheltering (50 CFR
222.102). Under limited circumstances pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B)
of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)(B)), NMFS may issue permits to
authorize incidental take of listed fish or wildlife; i.e., take that
is incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activity.
Regulations governing incidental take permits for threatened and
endangered species under NMFS' jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR
222.307.
NMFS has received an application from PacifiCorp Energy
(PacificCorp or Applicant) for an incidental take permit (Permit) for
operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project
(Project) and implementation of the Plan for a 10-year period. The
application was prepared and submitted by the Applicant, the owner and
operator of the Project. The Applicant has requested incidental take
permit coverage from NMFS for the Southern Oregon/Northern California
Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit of coho salmon Oncorhynchus
kisutch. The Applicant has prepared the Plan to satisfy the application
requirements for an incidental take permit under section 10(a)(1)(B) of
the ESA.
The area covered by the Permit would include the Applicant's
existing facilities and the adjacent water and land areas potentially
influenced by Project maintenance and operations, including the
mainstem Klamath River and reservoirs from Link River dam at the outlet
of Upper Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon down to the estuary in
Northern California, inclusive.
Project facilities at Iron Gate dam in Northern California, which
is the Project dam furthest downstream on the Klamath River, do not
include fish passage structures. Thus, anadromous fish passage,
including passage of listed coho salmon, is currently blocked at Iron
Gate dam. Subject to certain conditions and a pending determination in
March 2012 by the Secretary of the Interior, the Klamath Hydroelectric
Settlement Agreement (KHSA; for more information about the KHSA, see
http://klamathrestoration.gov) anticipates that four Project dams on
the Klamath River (Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle)
will be removed by December 31, 2020, to accomplish volitional fish
passage for listed coho salmon and other species. The removal of the
dams envisioned in the KHSA modifies an earlier proposal by PacifiCorp
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to relicense and
continue to operate the Project for 50 years. If the dams are not
removed under the KHSA or the KHSA terminates for any other reason, the
Project would revert to the FERC relicensing proceedings. NMFS has
prescribed mandatory fishways, which FERC must include as conditions of
any new license for operation of the Project, in the FERC relicensing
process. These fishways would provide volitional fish passage for
listed coho salmon and other species. Therefore, the requested 10-year
period of the Permit is consistent with the expectation that there
would be volitional fish passage under either dam removal pursuant to
the KHSA or FERC's issuance of a new license for the Project by
approximately the end of 2020, and volitional fish passage under either
of these processes will provide substantial benefits to coho salmon and
other anadromous fish species at the completion of the interim term of
the Permit.
NMFS is now considering whether to issue an incidental take permit
for the interim operation and maintenance of the Klamath Hydroelectric
Project during the interim period described above. Issuance of the
incidental take permit by NMFS would be contingent on the
implementation of the Plan and adherence to any permit conditions. The
Plan that PacifiCorp included with its application for a Permit
includes a series of conservation measures to minimize and mitigate the
effects of operation of the Project on potential incidental take of
listed coho salmon during the interim period described above, including
a turbine venting system at Iron Gate Dam; coordinated participation in
flow variability and flow ramp rate measures at Iron Gate Dam;
placement of large woody debris downstream of Iron Gate Dam; funding
fish disease research to benefit coho salmon; and a fund that would be
used to implement various projects designed to benefit coho salmon by
enhancing habitat conditions in the Klamath River and tributaries
downstream of Iron Gate Dam.
National Environmental Policy Act Compliance
Proposed permit issuance triggers the need for compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). NMFS has
prepared a draft EA which evaluates the impacts of the proposed
issuance of the Permit and implementation of the Plan, as well as the
No Action Alternative in which the Permit would not be issued and the
Plan would not be implemented. Copies of the draft EA are available for
review as described earlier in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
Public Comments Solicited
NMFS invites the public to comment on the Plan, IA, and draft EA as
described above in the ADDRESSES section during a 60-day public comment
period described above in the DATES section. All comments and materials
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the
administrative record and may be released to the public. This notice is
provided pursuant to section 10(c) of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)) and
regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1506.6). We provide this
notice in order to allow the public, agencies, or other organizations
to review and comment on these documents. The final NEPA determinations
will not be made until after the 60-day public comment period has ended
and after NMFS has fully considered all relevant comments received
during the comment period.
Special Accommodations
The public meeting is physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Lisa Roberts, NMFS, at (707) 825-
5178, at least 5 working days prior to the public meeting date.
Next Steps
NMFS will evaluate the application, associated documents, and
public comments submitted to prepare final decision documents.
Dated: April 28, 2011.
Angela Somma,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-10902 Filed 5-3-11; 8:45 am]
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