[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 129 (Thursday, July 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39686-39687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16490]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC092
Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Restoration
Plan To Compensate for Injuries to Natural Resources in Portland
Harbor, OR
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement and Restoration Plan; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NOAA, the Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Nez Perce
Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation
of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,
the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes
of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon are collectively referred to as
the Trustee Council for this case. The Trustee Council is providing
notice that the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(PEIS) and Draft Restoration Plan are being released for public
comment. The Restoration Plan identifies a restoration approach to
compensate for injuries to natural resources in Portland Harbor in the
Lower Willamette River. The Trustees seek damages from potentially
responsible parties (PRPs) to restore, rehabilitate, replace or acquire
the equivalent of natural resources and services injured by the release
of hazardous substances in Portland Harbor. This notice provides
details on the availability of and opportunity to comment on the Draft
PEIS and Restoration Plan. Comments may be submitted in written form or
verbally at a public meeting.
DATES: Written comments must be received by October 7, 2012.
Public meetings to discuss and comment on the Draft PEIS/RP will be
held as follows:
Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 5:30-7:30 p.m., St. Johns
Community Center, 8427 N. Central Street, Portland, OR 97203.
Thursday, August 2, 2012, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Portland State
University, Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 238, 1719 SW 10th Ave.,
Portland, Oregon 97201.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Draft PEIS/RP should be sent to
Megan Callahan Grant, NOAA Restoration Center, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd.
1100, Portland, OR 97232. Comments may be submitted
electronically to [email protected].
The Draft PEIS and Restoration Plan is available for viewing at the
following locations:
Multnomah County Central Library, 801 SW 10th Avenue,
Portland, OR 97205.
Multnomah County Northwest Library, 2300 NW Thurman
Avenue, Portland, OR 97210.
Multnomah County St. Johns Library, 7510 N. Charleston
Avenue, Portland, OR 97203.
A full electronic copy may be downloaded at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Contaminants/PortlandHarbor/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Callahan Grant at (503) 231-2213
or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), the Oil Pollution Act
(OPA) of 1990, the Clean Water Act (CWA), the National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (National Contingency
Plan [NCP]), and other applicable federal and state laws and
regulations provide a legal framework for addressing injuries to the
nation's natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous
substances and discharges of oil. The National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1960 requires an assessment of any federal action that may
impact the environment, in this case development of a Restoration Plan.
In January of 2007, the Portland Harbor Trustee Council released a
Pre-Assessment Screen (PAS) for the Portland Harbor Superfund site. The
PAS concluded that natural resources in the area have been affected or
potentially affected from releases or discharges of contaminants. Based
on the conclusions of the PAS, the Portland Harbor Trustee Council
determined that proceeding past the preassessment phase to a full
natural resource damage assessment was warranted.
Exposed living natural resources include, but are not limited to:
(1) Aquatic-dependent mammals such as mink and river otter, and species
they depend on as prey items; (2) migratory birds, including osprey,
bald eagle, mergansers and other waterfowl, great blue heron, spotted
sandpiper and other shorebirds, cliff swallow, belted kingfisher, and
other species; (3) threatened and endangered species; (4) anadromous
and resident fish, including salmon and steelhead; (5) reptiles and
amphibians; (6) aquatic invertebrates; (7) wapato and other aquatic
plants.
Exposed habitat types and water natural resources include wetland
and upland habitats, groundwater, and surface water. The services that
are provided by these potentially affected natural resources include,
but are not limited to: (1) Habitat for trust resources, including
food, shelter, breeding, foraging, and rearing areas, and other factors
essential for survival; (2) consumptive commercial resource use such as
commercial fishing; (3) consumptive recreational resource use such as
hunting and fishing; (4) non-consumptive uses such as wildlife viewing,
photography, and other outdoor recreation activities; (5) primary and
secondary contact activities such as swimming and boating; (6)
cultural, spiritual, and religious use; (7) option and existence
values; (7) traditional foods.
An Assessment Plan was completed in June of 2010. Based on this
plan, scientific literature and studies being conducted by the Trustee
Council seek to document injuries from hazardous substances found in
Portland Harbor. The objective of these studies is to demonstrate (1)
how the contamination has harmed the organisms that inhabit the
riverine sediments, (2) how the contamination has harmed the fish and
wildlife that come into contact with the contaminated sediments or that
eat
[[Page 39687]]
contaminated prey items, and (3) how the harm to the natural resources
has impacted the people that use these resources. Concurrent with the
damage assessment, the Trustee Council is conducting restoration
planning.
By identifying criteria and guidance to be used in selecting
feasible restoration projects, the Restoration Plan provides a
framework to maximize the benefits of restoration projects to the
affected resources and services in the defined areas of the Lower
Willamette River. The Trustee Council analyzed three alternatives
including: (1) (Preferred) integrated habitat restoration actions that
will benefit multiple species and services (those species listed above
as potentially affected by releases of hazardous substances, such as
salmon and resident fish, mammals such as mink and river otter, and
aquatic-dependent birds such as osprey and bald eagle); (2) species-
specific restoration actions (for example, augmenting a species
population through artificial production); and (3) a no-action
alternative (no action takes place and the public is not compensated).
A fourth alternative for restoration without a limited geographic
boundary was also considered, but was not moved forward for detailed
study because it did not meet the purpose and need for the project.
The Trustee Council has opened an Administrative Record (Record).
The Record includes documents that the Trustees relied upon during the
development of the Draft Restoration Plan and Draft PEIS. The Record is
on file at the offices of Parametrix, a contractor to NOAA. The Record
is also available at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/contaminants/PortlandHarbor/default.asp.
Dated: June 29, 2012.
Brian T. Pawlak,
Acting Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-16490 Filed 7-3-12; 8:45 am]
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