Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2004 / Notices 75045

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pedro 

Vidal (Appellant) has filed a notice of 

appeal with the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary) pursuant to section 

307(c)(3)(A) of the Coastal Zone 

Management Act of 1972 (CZMA), as 

amended, 16 U.S.C. 1456(c)(3)(A), and 

implementing regulations found at 15 

CFR part 930, subpart H. Mr. Vidal 

appeals on objection raised by the 

Puerto Rico Planning Board to a 

consistency certification contained 

within Vidal’s application for a U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers permit 

necessary to reconstruct a stilt house 

destroyed by Hurricane George. The 

proposed project is located within the 

maritime-terrestrial zone, territorial 

waters and submerged lands of the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

The CZMA requires a notice be 

published in the Federal Register, 

indicating the date on which the 

decision record has been closed. A final 

decision on this appeal must be issued 

no later than 90 days after publication 

of this notice. 16 U.S.C. 1465(a). The 

deadline may be extended by 

publishing, within the 90-day period, a 

subsequent notice explaining why a 

decision cannot be issued within this 

time frame. In this event, a final 

decision must be issued no later than 45 

days after publication of the subsequent 

notice. 16 U.S.C. 1465(b). 

For additional information about this 

appeal contact Nancy Briscoe, 301–713–

1219.

[Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog No. 

11.419 Coastal Zone Management Program 

Assistance.]

Dated: December 6, 2004. 

James R. Walpole, 

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 04–27415 Filed 12–14–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[I.D. 100104A]

Notice of Intent to Conduct Public 

Scoping and Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement

AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (USFWS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct 

public scoping and prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statment related 

to the Sequim-Dungeness Valley 

Agricultural Water Users Association’s 

Conservation Plan.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) this 

notice advises the public that the 

USFWS and NMFS (collectively, the 

Services) intend to gather information 

necessary to prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS will 

analyze the potential approval of a 

Conservation Plan (CP) and issuance of 

two incidental take permits (ITP); one 

issued by NFMS and one by the 

USFWS. The ITP applicant is the 

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Agricultural 

Water Users Association (the 

Association) of Sequim, Washington. 

The ITP would allow take of four 

threatened species and nine unlisted 

species that may be affected by the 

Association’s activities in accordance 

with section 10(a) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA).

DATES: Written comments are 

encouraged, and should be received on 

or before February 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Address comments and 

requests for information related to 

preparation of the EIS, or requests to be 

added to the mailing list for this project, 

to Tim Romanski, USFWS, 510 

Desmond Drive S.E., Suite 102, Lacey, 

WA 98503–1263; facsimile (360)753–

9518; or to Matt Longenbaugh, NMFS, 

510 Desmond Drive S.E., Suite 103, 

Lacey, WA 98503–1273; facsimile 

(360)753–9517. Comments may be 

submitted by e-mail to the following 

address: SDVAWUA-CP.nwr@noaa.gov. 

In the subject line of the e-mail, include 

the document identifier: The Sequim 

Association CP - EIS. Comments and 

materials received will be available to 

public inspection, by appointment, 

during normal business hours at the 

above addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim 

Romanski, USFWS, (360)753–5823; or 

Matt Longenbaugh, NMFS, (360)753–

7761.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) requires Federal agencies to 

conduct an environmental analysis of 

their proposed actions to determine if 

the actions may affect the human 

environment. The Services expect to 

take action on ESA section 10(a)(1)(B) 

permit applications anticipated from the 

Association. Therefore, the Services are 

seeking public input on the scope of the 

required NEPA analysis, including the 

range of reasonable alternatives and 

associated impacts of any alternatives.

Section 9 of the ESA and 

implementing regulations prohibit the 

‘‘taking’’ of a species listed as 

endangered or threatened. The term take 

is defined under the ESA as to mean 

harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

attempt to engage in any such conduct 

(16 U.S.C. 1532(19)). Harm is defined by 

the USFWS to include significant 

habitat modification or degradation 

where it actually kills or injures wildlife 

by significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, and sheltering (50 CFR 17.3). 

NMFS’ definition of harm includes 

significant habitat modification or 

degradation where it actually kills or 

injures fish or wildlife by significantly 

impairing essential behavioral patterns, 

including breeding, feeding, spawning, 

migrating, rearing, and sheltering (64 FR 

60727; November 8, 1999).

Section 10 of the ESA contains 

provisions for the issuance of an ITP to 

non-Federal landowners for the take of 

endangered and threatened species, 

provided that all permit issuance 

criteria are met, including the 

requirement that the take is incidental 

to otherwise lawful activities, and will 

not appreciably reduce the likelihood of 

the survival and recovery of the species 

in the wild. In addition, the applicant 

must prepare and submit to the Services 

for approval, a CP containing a strategy 

for minimizing and mitigating the take 

associated with the proposed activities 

to the maximum extent practicable. The 

applicant must also ensure that 

adequate monitoring and funding for the 

CP will be provided.

To pursue regulatory certainty of its 

existing and future water supplies, the 

Association is seeking an ITP that 

would provide long-term assurances for 

the reliability of water supplies. The 

Association needs an ITP because some 

of its activities have the potential to take 

listed species. The Association is 

composed of seven irrigation districts 

and private irrigation companies in the 

Sequim-Dungeness Valley area. The 

seven irrigation districts include Agnew 

Irrigation District, Clallam Ditch 

Company, Cline Irrigation District, 

Dungeness Irrigation Company, 

Dungeness Irrigation District, Highland 

Irrigation District, and Sequim-Prairie 

Tri-Irrigation Company. These seven 

irrigation districts divert water 

primarily from intakes in the Dungeness 

River and deliver water to users 

throughout the area.

The ITP application is related to the 

operation and maintenance of water 

75046 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2004 / Notices 

diversions and conveyance facilities on 

the Dungeness River (covered activities) 

near the City of Sequim in Clallam 

County, Washington. These covered 

activities can be summarized as follows:

• Water diversion and conveyance;

• Operation and maintenance of 

diversion facilities such as diversion 

intakes, intake channels, headgates, fish 

screens, and bypass channels;

• Maintenance of canals and laterals;

• Discharge of tailwater (including 

both irrigation water and intercepted 

stormwater);

• Releases of intercepted stormwater 

into selected creeks at points other than 

tailwater discharge points when 

stormwater flows exceed ditch capacity; 

and

• Construction activities related to 

capital projects provided in the CP.

The Association has a board of 

directors representing respective 

districts and companies, and appoints a 

Water Coordinator to assist in overall 

water resource management. The 

Association has the ability to adopt 

policies, rules, and regulations that 

apply to all of its members, and retains 

the authority to enter into agreements 

with outside organizations.

The Association has informed the 

Services of its proposal to submit a 

conservation plan (CP) and application 

for an ITP under section 10(a)(1)(B) of 

the ESA. The proposed CP and ITP 

would cover various activities relating 

to the Association’s continued diversion 

and delivery of water from the 

Dungeness River, Washington, and other 

sources, as well as planned 

infrastructure improvements intended 

to conserve listed and unlisted species. 

The geographic areas to be covered are 

located in eastern Clallam County, 

Washington. More information on the 

geographic area can be found at an 

Internet site maintained by Clallam 

County:http://www.clallam.net/Maps/

html/mapindexle.htm.

Species for which the Association 

seeks ITP coverage include four ESAlisted threatened species (Coastal-Puget 

Sound bull trout, Puget Sound chinook 

salmon, Hood Canal summer-run chum 

salmon, bald eagle) and nine unlisted 

species that may be affected by the 

Association’s activities in the 

Dungeness River Watershed.

To obtain an ITP, the Association 

must prepare a CP that meets the 

issuance criteria established by the 

Services (50 CFR 17.22 and 222.307). 

Federal approval of an ITP and 

associated CP require environmental 

review under the NEPA. The Services 

will complete an EIS evaluating the 

environmental effects of the 

Association’s operations under its 

proposed CP.

Under NEPA, a reasonable range of 

alternatives to a proposed project must 

be developed and considered in the 

Services’ environmental review. At a 

minimum, the alternatives developed 

must include: (1) No Action alternative, 

and (2) the Proposed Action, with 

thorough descriptions of its 

management features and anticipated 

resource conservation benefits and 

potential impacts.

The Services are currently in the 

process of developing alternatives for 

analysis, and have considered analyzing 

the following:

Alternative 1: No Action: Under the 

No Action Alternative, an ITP would 

not be issued by the Services, there 

would not be a commitment to 

implement the CP (although it is 

expected that improvements will be 

made on an uncertain schedule), and 

ESA assurances under section 10 would 

not be provided to the Association;

Alternative 2: The Proposed Action - 

Implement the CP: There would be full 

implementation of the CP, which 

includes a variety of infrastructure 

improvement projects, and operation 

and maintenance procedures to improve 

in-stream flow and to reduce other 

impacts from irrigation structures and 

practices;

Alternative 3: Certain water 

conservation projects contained under 

the Proposed Action (potentially 

impacting certain wetlands) would not 

be implemented (i.e., partially 

implementing the CP);

Alternative 4: The CP would be 

modified by adding the piping of nearly 

all of the ditches in the Association 

members’ irrigation systems, 

approximately 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) 

of small portions of ditches.

Additional project alternatives may be 

developed based on input received from 

this and future scoping during 

development of the EIS.

The Services provide this notice to: 

(1) advise other agencies and the public 

of our intentions; and (2) obtain 

suggestions and information on the 

scope of issues to include in the EIS. 

The Services are considering whether 

there is sufficient interest to schedule 

scoping meetings. If meetings are held, 

details of where and when will be 

provided by future notice so the public 

will be able to plan to participate. 

Comments and suggestions are invited 

from all interested parties to ensure that 

the full range of issues related to this 

proposed action and all significant 

issues are identified. The Services 

request that comments be as specific as 

possible. In particular, we request 

information regarding: the direct, 

indirect, and cumulative impacts that 

implementation of the proposed CP 

could have on endangered and 

threatened and other covered species, 

and their communities and habitats; 

other possible alternatives that meet the 

purpose and need; potential adaptive 

management and/or monitoring 

provisions; funding issues; existing 

environmental conditions in the City of 

Sequim area of Clallam County; other 

plans or projects that might be relevant 

to this proposed project; and 

minimization and mitigation efforts.

In addition to considering potential 

impacts on listed and other covered 

species and their habitats, the EIS could 

include information on potential 

impacts resulting from alternatives on 

other components of the human 

environment. These other components 

could include air quality, water quality 

and quantity, geology and soils, cultural 

resources, socioeconomic resources, 

vegetation, and environmental justice.

Comments or questions concerning 

this proposed action and the 

environmental review should be 

directed to the USFWS or NMFS at the 

addresses or telephone numbers 

provided above. All comments and 

material received, including names and 

addresses, will become part of the 

administrative record and may be 

released to the public.

The environmental review of this 

project will be conducted in accordance 

with the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended (42. U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Regulations (40 CFR 1500–1508), other 

appropriate Federal laws and 

regulations, and policies and procedures 

of the Services for compliance with 

those regulations.

Dated: November 30, 2004.

David J. Wesley,

Deputy Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

Dated:

Nancy K. Daves,

Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 04–27433 Filed 12–14–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODES 3510–22–S, 4310 55 S