[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 193 (Friday, October 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46804-46805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21575]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Bonneville Power Administration
Klickitat Hatchery Upgrades
AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Department of Energy
(DOE).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and notice of floodplain and wetlands assessment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), BPA intends to prepare an EIS to determine whether to fund the
Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation's proposal to upgrade
facilities at the Klickitat Hatchery. The hatchery produces spring and
fall Chinook salmon and coho salmon, and is funded by National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the Mitchell Act. It is operated jointly
by the Yakama Nation and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
(WDFW). The hatchery is located in Klickitat County on property owned
by WDFW, about seven miles east of Glenwood, Washington. The hatchery
was built in 1954 and most of the facilities have not been renovated
since then.
The one-time upgrades would include improving surface and
groundwater water intakes, discharge piping, and pumps; rebuilding the
pollution abatement system; updating sections of the hatchery building;
and adding rearing tanks, a storage building, and possibly staff
residences. The proposed upgrades would update old facilities and would
facilitate increased production of spring Chinook by the Yakama Nation.
BPA is not proposing to fund fish production or to take over any
Mitchell Act funding for the hatchery. NMFS will be a cooperating
agency on the EIS.
In accordance with U.S. Department of Energy floodplain and wetland
regulations, BPA will analyze impacts to floodplains and wetlands as
well as measures to avoid or minimize potential effects to these
resources. The assessment will be included in the EIS.
With this Notice of Intent, BPA is initiating the public scoping
process for the EIS. BPA is requesting comments about potential
environmental impacts that should be considered as an EIS is prepared.
In addition, BPA is also providing notice of cancellation of DOE/
EIS-0424 Klickitat Hatchery Complex Program. Based on public comments
on the 2011 draft DOE/EIS-0424, as well as changes in agencies' funding
of various activities described in the EIS, BPA is canceling that
environmental review process and will focus on the proposed Klickitat
Hatchery Upgrades EIS.
DATES: Written comments are due to the address below no later than
November 27, 2017. Comments may also be made at the scoping meeting to
be held on October 25, 2017 at the address below.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed scope of the Draft EIS and requests
to be placed on the project mailing list may be mailed by letter to
Bonneville Power Administration, Public Affairs Office--DKE-7, P.O. Box
3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621, or sent by fax to 503-230-4019. You may
also call BPA's toll-free comment hotline at 1-800-622-4519 and leave a
message (please include the name of the project), or submit comments
online at www.bpa.gov/comment. All comments received will be accessible
from the project Web site at www.bpa.gov/goto/KlickitatHatcheryUpgrades.
On October 25, 2017, a scoping meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m.
to 8:00 p.m. at the Lyle Lions Community Center, Highway 14 and Third
Street, Lyle, Washington 98365. At this informal open-house meeting,
BPA will provide project information and maps and will make members of
the project team available to answer questions and accept oral and
written comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Kennedy, Executive Manager
Environmental Planning and Analysis, Bonneville Power Administration,
EC-4, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621; toll-free telephone 1-
800-282-3713; direct telephone 503-230-3769; or email
[email protected]. Additional information can be found at the project
Web site: www.bpa.gov/goto/KlickitatHatcheryUpgrades.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Yakama Nation is proposing the Klickitat
Hatchery upgrades to update old facilities and to facilitate a possible
increase in production of spring Chinook salmon. Although the Klickitat
population of spring Chinook is not listed under the Endangered Species
Act (ESA), WDFW considers it depressed due to chronically low adult
returns. On average, the Klickitat spring Chinook run comprises
approximately 75% hatchery and 25% natural-origin fish. In addition,
since 1994, low hatchery productivity has limited the average annual
harvest in sport and Tribal fisheries in the Klickitat basin to 840
fish, although the overall project goal for in-basin sport and Tribal
harvest is 3,000 adults annually.
BPA's proposed funding of the Klickitat Hatchery upgrades would
[[Page 46805]]
support efforts to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife
affected by the development and operation of the Federal Columbia River
Power System in the mainstem Columbia River and its tributaries,
including the Klickitat River, under the Pacific Northwest Electric
Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (Act) (16 U.S.C.
839b(h)(10)). Under the Act, BPA funds fish and wildlife protection,
mitigation, and enhancement actions consistent with the Northwest Power
and Conservation Council's (Council) Fish and Wildlife Program. Under
this program, the Council makes recommendations to BPA concerning which
fish and wildlife projects to fund. The Klickitat Hatchery upgrades are
being reviewed by the Council for recommendation to BPA for funding.
In addition, on May 2, 2008, BPA, the Bureau of Reclamation, and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish
Accords Memorandum of Agreement with the Three Treaty Tribes: The
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs Reservation. The agreement includes funding for this
hatchery project, subject to compliance with NEPA and other
environmental review requirements.
The proposal is also consistent with the policy direction in BPA's
Fish and Wildlife Implementation Plan EIS, which calls for protecting
weak stocks while sustaining overall populations of fish for their
economic and cultural value, including long-term harvest opportunities.
Upgrades at the existing hatchery would include rehabilitating
existing water intakes at Upper and Lower Indian Ford Springs, updating
and rerouting water supply and discharge piping, refurbishing a pump
station at an existing surface water intake in the Klickitat River,
demolishing the existing pollution abatement pond and converting an
existing fall Chinook rearing pond to a pollution abatement pond,
replacing the existing adult holding and spawning building, adding
circular rearing tanks, building a chemical storage shed, and
renovating the existing hatchery building to improve usable space,
security, and operations monitoring systems. The total disturbed area
would be approximately 16 acres. In addition, BPA might also fund
construction of two staff residences.
Upgrades would improve rearing conditions for spring Chinook, would
provide the capacity to increase production from 600,000 spring Chinook
smolts to 800,000 smolts, and would help the spring Chinook program
transition from using only hatchery-raised fish for broodstock (a
``segregated'' or ``isolated'' program) to a program that incorporates
natural-origin fish in the broodstock (an ``integrated'' program).
Currently, natural-origin spring Chinook from the Klickitat basin have
higher survival rates than hatchery fish. Incorporating natural-origin
fish into the broodstock is expected to increase the fitness,
productivity, survival, and harvest of this species.
Upgrades to the water system would increase the operational
flexibility of the facility. Adding river water to the water supply
would allow operators to release smolts later in the spring when
conditions in the Columbia River are more favorable to smolts migrating
to the ocean. The water system upgrades also would reduce long-term
maintenance and improve the quality of the hatchery effluent. Energy
efficiency measures would be incorporated as possible into facility
upgrade designs. BPA is not proposing to fund fish production or to
take over any Mitchell Act funding for the hatchery.
BPA will be the lead agency for preparation of the EIS. Cooperating
agencies in addition to NMFS may be identified as the proposed project
proceeds through the NEPA process.
Alternatives Proposed for Consideration. In the EIS, BPA is
currently considering two alternatives: To fund proposed upgrades that
would improve hatchery facilities, would allow the transition to an
integrated program, and would provide additional capacity for spring
Chinook smolt production to increase from 600,000 to 800,000; and a no
action alternative of not funding the proposal. Other reasonable
alternatives identified during the scoping process may also be
evaluated in the EIS.
Public Participation and Identification of Environmental Issues.
The potential environmental issues identified so far for this project
include effects of construction activity on water quality, Endangered
Species Act (ESA)-listed fish, and rare and sensitive plants and
wildlife; and the operational effects of changes to the water supply
and discharge system on water quality. The effects of changes to the
spring Chinook program that could be facilitated by the upgrades will
also be evaluated, including the risk of competition between increasing
numbers of naturally spawning spring Chinook and ESA-listed fish such
as bull trout and steelhead; the effects of additional activities and
facilities required to monitor a changed hatchery program; and the
effects of increases in harvest opportunities.
BPA has established an extended seven-week scoping period during
which concerned members of the public, interest groups, state and local
governments, and any other interested parties are invited to comment on
the scope of the proposed EIS. Scoping will help BPA ensure that a full
range of issues related to this proposal are addressed in the EIS and
will help to identify significant or potentially significant impacts
that may result from the proposed project.
When completed, the Draft EIS will be circulated for review and
comment, and BPA will hold at least one public comment meeting to
solicit comments on the Draft EIS. BPA will consider and respond in the
Final EIS to comments received on the Draft EIS. BPA's subsequent
decision will be documented in a Record of Decision.
Issued in Portland, Oregon, on September 28, 2017.
Elliot E. Mainzer,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-21575 Filed 10-5-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P