Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 204 / Friday, October 20, 2000 / Notices 63087

obtain suggestions and information on

the scope of issues to include in the

environmental documents.

DATES: Inquire at the address below for

dates of planning activity and due dates

for comments. Further notice

announcing times and locations of

public meetings and open houses will

be published in local news media prior

to the hearing date.

ADDRESSES: Address comments,

questions and requests for more

information to the following: Refuge

Manager, Missisquoi National Wildlife

Refuge 371 North River St., Swanton,

VT 05488–8148, (802) 868–4781.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By Federal

law, all lands within the National

Wildlife Refuge System are to be

managed in accordance with an

approved CCP. The CCP guides

management decisions and identifies

refuge goals, long-range objectives, and

strategies for achieving refuge purposes.

The planning process will consider

many elements including habitat and

wildlife management, habitat protection

and acquisition, public use, and cultural

resources. Public input into this

planning process is essential. The CCP

will provide other agencies and the

public with a clear understanding of the

desired conditions for the Refuges and

how the Service will implement

management strategies.

The Service will solicit public input

via open houses, public meetings,

workshops, and written comments.

Special mailings, newspaper articles,

and announcements will inform people

of the time and place of such

opportunities for public input to the

CCP.

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

(NWR) includes 6,592 acres of the

Missisquoi River delta’s marshes, open

water, old fields and wooded swamps.

Comments on the protection of

threatened and endangered species and

migratory birds and the protection and

management of their habitats will be

solicited as part of the planning process.

A draft CCP is planned for public

review in the fall of 2001.

Review of these projects 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.), NEPA

Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508),

other appropriate Federal laws and

regulations, and Service policies and

procedures for compliance with those

regulations.

Dated: October 13, 2000.

Mamie A. Parker,

Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts.

[FR Doc. 00–27019 Filed 10–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and

Wildlife Service

[FES 00–48]

Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement/

Environmental Impact Report

AGENCIES: Bureau of Reclamation, Fish

and Wildlife Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement for the

proposed Trinity River Mainstem

Fishery Restoration.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

availability of a joint final

Environmental Impact Statement/

Environmental Impact Report (FEIS/

EIR) for the Trinity River Mainstem

Fishery Restoration. The U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of

Reclamation, Hoopa Valley Tribe, and

Trinity County prepared a FEIS/EIR to

assist the Secretary of the Interior in

developing recommendations for

permanent instream fishery flow

requirements, habitat restoration

projects, and operating criteria and

procedures for the Trinity River

Division of the Central Valley Project,

California, necessary for the restoration

and maintenance of natural production

of anadromous fish in the Trinity River.

Such recommendations are required by:

the January 14, 1981, Secretarial

Decision that initiated the Trinity River

Flow Evaluation; the Trinity River Basin

Fish and Wildlife Management Act

(Public Law 98–541); and the Central

Valley Project Improvement Act (Public

Law 102–575).

DATES: A Record of Decision will occur

no sooner than November 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS/EIR will

be available on compact disc which,

along with a summary, can be obtained

by contacting the Fish and Wildlife

Service, 1655 Heindon Road, Arcata,

California 95521, (707) 822–7201. The

documents are also available for review

at the following government offices and

libraries:

Government Offices

Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Fish

and Wildlife Office, 1655 Heindon

Road, Arcata, California 95521, (707)

822–7201;

Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento

Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage

Way, Sacramento, California 95825,

(916) 414–6464;

Trinity County Planning Department,

303 Trinity Lakes Blvd, Weaverville,

CA 96093 (530) 623–1351;

Trinity County Natural Resources

Division, 98A Clinic Ave., Hayfork,

CA 96041, (530) 628–5949.

Libraries

Alameda Free Library, 2264 Santa

Clara Avenue, Alameda, California

94501–4506, (510) 748–4669; Beale

Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun Ave,

Bakersfield, California, 93301, (661)

868–0700; Cesar Chaves Central Library,

605 N. El Dorado St, Stockton,

California, (209) 937–8415; California

State Library, Information and Reference

Center, 914 Capitol Mall, Room 301,

Sacramento, California 95814, (916)

654–0261; Colusa County Free Library,

738 Market Street, Colusa, California

95932–2398, (530) 458–7671; Contra

Costa County Library, 1750 Oak Park

Boulevard, Pleasant Hill, California

94523–4497, (510) 646–6423; Coos Bay

Public Library, 525 W. Anderson Ave.,

Coos Bay, Oregon, 97420, (541) 269–

1101; Del Norte County Library District,

190 Price Mall, Crescent City, California

95531–4395, (707) 464–9793; Fresno

County Library, Central Branch, 2420

Mariposa St. Fresno, California, (559)

488–3195; Humboldt County Library,

1313 Third Street, Eureka, California

95501–1088, (707) 269–1900; Humboldt

State University Library, Humboldt

State University, Arcata, California

95521, (707) 826–4939; Lake County

Library, 1425 N. High Street, Lakeport,

California 95453–3800, (707) 263–8816;

Los Angeles Public Library, 630 W. Fifth

Street, Los Angeles, California, 90071–

2097, (213) 228–7515; Marin County

Free Library, 3501 Civic Center Drive,

San Rafael, California 94903–4188, (415)

499–6051; Mendocino County LibraryFt. Bragg, 499 E Laurel St. Fort Bragg,

California, 95437, (707) 964–2020;

Mendocino County Library-Ukiah, 105

N. Main Street, Ukiah, California

95482–4482, (707) 463–4491; Menlo

Park Public Library, 800 Alma Street,

Menlo Park, California 94025–3460,

(650) 858–3460; Merced County Library,

2222 M St., Merced, California, 95340,

(209) 385–7434; Modesto Jr. College

Library, 425 College Ave, Modesto,

California, 95350, (209) 575–6498;

Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific

Street, Monterey, California, 93940,

(831) 646–3932; Sacramento Public

Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento,

California 95814–2589, (916) 264–2770;

San Francisco Public Library, 100

Larkin Street, San Francisco, California

63088 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 204 / Friday, October 20, 2000 / Notices

94102–4796, (415) 557–4400; San Jose

Public Library, 180 W. San Carlos

Street, San Jose, California 95113–2096,

(408) 277–4822; Santa Cruz Public

Library, 224 Church Street, Santa Cruz,

California 95060–3873, (408) 429–3532;

Shasta County Library, 1855 Shasta

Street, Redding, California 96001–0460,

(530) 225–5769; Siskiyou County Free

Library, 719 Fourth Street, Yreka,

California 96097–3381, (530) 842–8175;

Sonoma County Library, Third and E

Streets, Santa Rosa, California 95404–

4400, (707) 545–0831; Tehama County

Library, 645 Madison Street, Red Bluff,

California 96080–3383, (530) 527–0607;

Trinity County Free Library, 211 N.

Main Street, Weaverville, California

96093–1226, (530) 623–1373; Willows

Public Library, 201 N. Lassen St.,

Willows, California, 95988, (530) 934–

5156; Central Library, 801 SW. 10th

Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97205, (503)

248–5123; and National Clearinghouse

Library, 624 Ninth Street, NW., 600,

Washington, DC 20425, (202) 376–8110.

The FEIS/EIR will be available at the

Fish and Wildlife Service website at

http://www.ccfwo.r1.fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

MaryEllen Mueller, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, 2800 Cottage Way,

Suite W–2606, Sacramento, CA 95825

(916) 414–6464 or Jay Glase, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, 1655 Heindon

Road, Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 822–7201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Construction of the Trinity River

Division (TRD) of the Central Valley

Project (CVP) was completed in 1963.

The primary function of the TRD is to

store Trinity River water for regulated

diversion to the Central Valley of

California for agricultural, municipal,

and industrial uses. Construction and

operation of the TRD resulted in the

diversion of up to 90 percent of the

average annual discharge in the Trinity

River at Lewiston, and blocked access to

109 miles of salmon and steelhead

spawning and rearing habitat. Reduced

river flows, combined with excessive

watershed erosion and encroachment of

the river channel by riparian vegetation,

caused major changes in the channel

morphology resulting in the

simplification and degradation of the

remaining salmon and steelhead habitat

of the Trinity River below the Lewiston

Dam. This, in turn, resulted in rapid

declines of salmon and steelhead

populations following completion of the

TRD.

In response to declining fisheries and

degraded habitat conditions, the

Secretary of the Interior (Secretary)

decided in 1981 to increase flows in the

Trinity River ranging from 140,000 acrefeet to 340,000 acre-feet annually, with

reductions in dry and critically dry

years. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife

Service was directed to undertake a

Flow Evaluation Study to assess fish

habitat at various flows, summarize the

effectiveness of other instream and

watershed restoration activities, and

recommend appropriate flows and other

measures necessary to better maintain

favorable habitat conditions. The Flow

Evaluation Study began in October 1984

and was completed in June 1999. In

October 1984, the Trinity River Basin

Fish and Wildlife Management Act

(Management Act) (Public Law 98–541)

was enacted by Congress with the goal

of restoring fish and wildlife

populations to pre-TRD levels. The Act

provided funding for construction,

operation, and maintenance of the 11-

item action plan developed by the

Trinity River Task Force in 1982.

In 1992, the Central Valley Project

Improvement Act (CVPIA) (Public Law

102–575) was passed. Section

3406(b)(23) of the CVPIA provides,

through the TRD, an instream release of

not less than 340,000 acre-feet of water

into the Trinity River to meet Federal

trust responsibilities to protect fishery

resources of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and

to meet the fishery restoration goals of

the Management Act. The

recommendations for mainstem Trinity

River fishery restoration will be

developed after appropriate

consultations with Federal, State,

Tribal, local agencies, and affected

interests, and after completion the Flow

Evaluation Study.

To restore the natural production of

anadromous fish in the Trinity River in

accordance with the 1981 Secretarial

Decision, the Management Act, and the

CVPIA, the FEIS/EIR analyzes the

impacts of:

(1) Increased instream releases into

the Trinity River to provide anadromous

fish habitat and restore fluvial

processes,

(2) Implementation of a channel

rehabilitation program,

(3) Implementation of a spawning

gravel supplementation program,

(4) Implementation of a watershed

rehabilitation program, and

(5) Implementation of an Adaptive

Environmental Assessment and

Management Program.

On October 19, 1999, the Service

published a notice in the Federal

Register announcing the availability of

the draft EIS/EIR and the

commencement of the public comment

period in the Federal Register (64 FR

56364). The comment period was

originally scheduled to end on

December 8, 1999. However, on

December 2, 1999 the Service extended

the period until December 20, 1999 (64

FR 67584). On December 27, 1999 the

Service published a notice in the

Federal Register, which reopened the

public comment period until January

20, 2000 (64 FR 72357). In total, the lead

agencies received written comments

from 6445 people and organizations

(1009 letters and 5436 preprinted

postcards). The primary concerns

expressed in many of the comments

related to fishery resource analyses,

power generation impacts analyses,

mechanical modifications to riverine

habitat and the amount of river flow

proposed for restoration efforts. A list of

the commenters and the response of the

agencies to the comments is presented

in the FEIS/EIR.

The FEIS/EIR is intended to

accomplish the following:

(1) Inform the public of the proposed

action and alternatives;

(2) Address public comments received

during the scoping and comment

periods;

(3) Disclose the direct, indirect, and

cumulative environmental effects of the

proposed action and each of the

alternatives; and

(4) Indicate any irreversible

commitment of resources that would

result from implementation of the

proposed action.

This notice is provided pursuant to

Section 102(2)(c) of the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as

implemented by the Council on

Environmental Quality regulations (40

CFR parts 15001508), and the California

Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as

amended.

The Technical Appendixes (TA) for

this FEIS/EIR will be made available

upon request from the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Arcata Office, 1655

Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521; (707)

822–7201. Documents cited in the FEIS/

EIR and its supporting TAs will be

available for viewing in Sacramento

(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2800

Cottage Way, 946–414–6464), Arcata

(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1655

Heindon Road; 707–822–7201), and

Weaverville (Trinity County Library,

211 N. Main Street, Weaverville,

California 96093, 530–623–1373).

Dated: October 13, 2000.

Willie R. Taylor,

Director, Office of Environmental Policy and

Compliance.

[FR Doc. 00–27011 Filed 10–19–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P