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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90306-90308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26563]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072; FF07R00000-245-FXRS12610700000]

Notice of Availability; Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for a Potential Land Exchange Involving Izembek National 
Wildlife Refuge Lands; Public Meetings

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act of 1980, as amended, along with other laws as applicable, we, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce the availability of a 
draft supplemental environmental impact statement (draft supplemental 
EIS) to consider the effects of a potential land exchange of certain 
lands owned by the King Cove Corporation with certain lands owned by 
the U.S. Government and located within the Izembek National Wildlife 
Refuge and Izembek Wilderness Area. If a land exchange is approved, 
King Cove Corporation would use the acquired land for a road corridor 
for noncommercial use. We invite comment on the draft supplemental EIS 
from the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies. We will 
separately be announcing public meetings.

DATES: 
    Submitting Comments: We must receive your written comments on or 
before December 30, 2024. Comments submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov/ must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on 
December 30, 2024.
    Public Meetings: Meeting locations, dates, and times will be 
announced at https://www.fws.gov/project/potential-land-exchange-road-between-king-cove-and-cold-bay.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: The draft supplemental EIS, as well as any 
comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for 
public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072 at https://www.regulations.gov. In addition, to inform public comment, we are 
also making FWS's 2013 EIS and record of decision (ROD) documents 
available for review at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-
R7-NWRS-2023-0072. However, we are not taking public comments on those 
documents at this time.
    Submitting Public Comments: You may submit comments by any of the 
following methods:
     Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-
0072.
     U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 
FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275 
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
     Public Meetings and any Subsistence Hearings: Comments 
will also be accepted at the in-person and virtual public meetings/
hearings. Meeting locations, dates, and times will be announced at 
https://www.fws.gov/project/potential-land-exchange-road-between-king-cove-and-cold-bay.
    We will post all written comments on https://www.regulations.gov. 
This generally means that we will post any personal information you 
provide us (see Public Review Process for more information).
    Reasonable Accommodations for Meetings: Persons needing reasonable 
accommodations to attend and participate in the public meetings should 
contact Bobbie Jo Skibo as soon as possible (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT). To allow sufficient time to process requests, 
please make contact no later than 1 week before the desired public 
meeting. Information and documents are available in alternative formats 
upon request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bobbie Jo Skibo, Project Leader, by 
telephone at 907-441-1539; by email at [email protected]; or by 
U.S. mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, National 
Wildlife Refuge System, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503. 
Contact Bobbie Jo Skibo to have your name added to our mailing list. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 
as amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, as amended (ANILCA; Pub. L. 
96-487, sec. 1302(h), Dec. 2, 1980; 16 U.S.C. 3192(h)), along with 
other laws as applicable, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), 
announce the availability of a draft supplemental environmental impact 
statement (draft supplemental EIS) to consider the effects of a 
potential land exchange of certain lands owned by the King Cove 
Corporation with certain lands that are owned by the U.S. Government 
and

[[Page 90307]]

located within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Izembek 
Wilderness Area. If a land exchange is approved, King Cove would use 
the acquired land for a road corridor for noncommercial health, safety, 
and subsistence uses. The draft supplemental EIS updates information 
used in FWS's 2013 analysis on the impacts of a then-proposed land 
exchange and proposed road corridor and the viability of alternatives 
to provide safe and reliable transportation between the City of King 
Cove, Alaska, and the airport at Cold Bay, Alaska, and also includes a 
new land exchange and road corridor alternative. We invite comments on 
the draft supplemental EIS from the public and local, State, Tribal, 
and Federal agencies.

Potentially Affected Land Areas

    The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (417,533 acres (ac)) and the 
North Creek (8,452 ac) and Pavlof (1,447,264 ac) units of the Alaska 
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are located at the westernmost tip 
of the Alaska Peninsula. To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the 
Bering Sea; to the south is the Pacific Ocean. The Izembek Wilderness 
covers much of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and includes 
pristine streams, extensive wetlands, steep mountains, tundra, and sand 
dunes, and provides high scenic, wildlife, and scientific values, as 
well as opportunities for solitude and recreation. The Izembek National 
Wildlife Refuge includes the traditional homelands of the Unangax 
people.
    The King Cove Corporation is an Alaska Native Village Corporation 
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 
(ANCSA; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). Under the authority of ANCSA, Congress 
granted to King Cove Corporation land entitlements within and adjacent 
to Izembek Refuge.

Previous Actions

    In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-11, 
title VI, subtitle E (herein referred to as the 2009 Act)), Congress 
directed FWS to prepare an EIS under NEPA and its implementing 
regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) to evaluate the impacts of a 
proposed land exchange with the State of Alaska and the King Cove 
Corporation for the purpose of constructing a single-lane gravel road 
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska. The 2009 Act 
required that the road ``shall be used primarily for health and safety 
purposes (including access to and from the Cold Bay Airport) and only 
for noncommercial purposes,'' with limited exceptions. The land 
exchange contemplated by the 2009 Act would have involved the 
conveyance of approximately 206 ac within the Izembek Wilderness 
portion of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for the road corridor and 
approximately 1,600 ac of Federal land within the Alaska Maritime 
National Wildlife Refuge on Sitkinak Island. In exchange, FWS would 
have received approximately 43,093 ac of land owned by the State of 
Alaska and approximately 13,300 ac of land owned by the King Cove 
Corporation. These lands are located around Cold Bay and are adjacent 
to the North Creek Unit of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife 
Refuge.
    In accordance with section 6402(b)(2)(B) of the 2009 Act, an EIS 
completed in 2013 (2013 EIS; February 6, 2013, 78 FR 8577) analyzed the 
proposed land exchange and the potential construction and operation of 
a road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, and, 
among other alternatives, evaluated a specific road corridor through 
the Izembek Refuge that was identified in consultation with the State 
of Alaska, the City of King Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove. 
In accordance with the 2009 Act, subsequent to the preparation of the 
2013 EIS and in conjunction with the 2013 record of decision (2013 ROD; 
February 20, 2014, 79 FR 9759), Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell 
decided not to enter a land exchange after determining that the 
proposed land exchange (including the construction of the proposed 
road) was not in the public interest.
    On July 3, 2019, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt signed a 
memorandum titled ``Findings and Conclusions Concerning a Proposed Land 
Exchange Between the Secretary of the Interior and King Cove 
Corporation for Lands Within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska'' 
(2019 Secretarial Memorandum). That memorandum laid the foundation for 
the concurrent approval of a land exchange agreement (2019 Exchange 
Agreement) between the Department of the Interior (Department) and King 
Cove Corporation. The 2019 Secretarial Memorandum stated that the 
purpose of the 2019 Exchange Agreement was to allow a road across the 
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to improve access by the residents of 
King Cove to the airport at Cold Bay. Since the authorities under the 
2009 Act had expired, the 2019 Exchange Agreement relied on the general 
exchange authority found at in section 1302(h) of ANILCA. However, the 
2019 Exchange Agreement relied in large part on the record developed 
for the exchange analyzed under the 2013 EIS and rejected by Secretary 
Jewell in the 2013 ROD.
    On June 1, 2020, the District Court for the District of Alaska 
vacated the 2019 Exchange Agreement based on several legal defects in 
the decision. On appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-
judge appellate panel reversed the district court. However, an en banc 
panel of the Ninth Circuit then vacated the three-judge panel's 
decision and agreed to a new review. On March 14, 2023, Secretary of 
the Interior Deb Haaland issued a new decision memorandum withdrawing 
the Department from the 2019 Exchange Agreement. That decision 
memorandum identified as a procedural flaw the failure to consider the 
effects of the exchange on subsistence uses, and highlighted 
shortcomings in the record regarding NEPA and ESA analyses. In 
addition, the Secretary expressed significant policy concerns regarding 
the nonpublic manner in which the 2019 Exchange Agreement was 
accomplished, as well as the terms of the Exchange Agreement, which 
differed from the exchange evaluated in the 2013 EIS. In June 2023, the 
Ninth Circuit dismissed the lawsuit because the issue had become moot 
due to Secretary Haaland's decision memorandum.

Notice of Intent

    On May 18, 2023 (88 FR 31813), we published a Federal Register 
notice of intent to prepare a supplemental EIS to consider the effects 
of a potential land exchange. In that notice, we requested information 
and suggestions on the proposed supplemental EIS. In particular, we 
sought information to assist us in updating information we used in our 
2013 analysis on the impacts of the then-proposed exchange and road 
corridor and the viability of alternatives to provide safe and reliable 
transportation between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the airport 
at Cold Bay, Alaska. Comments we received are at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072. The final 
scoping report, which summarizes comments, is attached as an appendix 
to the draft SEIS.

Current Action

    While the authorities in the 2009 Act remain expired, the FWS has 
prepared a draft supplemental EIS to address a potential exchange under 
section 1302(h) of ANILCA. The FWS's draft supplemental EIS analysis 
assesses the potential impacts of a land exchange and road construction 
and use, allows

[[Page 90308]]

for public participation, and integrates the NEPA analysis with an 
evaluation under ANILCA section 810. The FWS is also using and 
coordinating the NEPA process to help inform the Department's processes 
and analysis under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act (54 U.S.C. 306108), the ESA, ANILCA (including any land exchange's 
furtherance of the statute's conservation and subsistence purposes), 
ANCSA, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (16 
U.S.C. 668dd), and the Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). 
Alternatives reviewed include the 2013 EIS alternatives and an 
additional new alternative for the terms of the proposed land exchange 
involving the same road corridor in the 2019 Exchange Agreement but 
involving different terms.

Public Review Process

Request for Public Comments

    You may submit written comments and materials concerning the draft 
supplemental EIS by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES.

Public Availability of Comments

    If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your 
entire comment, including any personal identifying information such as 
your address, phone number, and email address, will be posted on the 
website. If you submit a hardcopy comment that includes personal 
identifying information, you may request at the top of your document 
that we withhold this information from public review. However, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all 
hardcopy comments on https://www.regulations.gov.

Tribal Consultation and Comment

    The meaningful input of Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native 
Corporations is of critical importance to the supplemental EIS. 
Therefore, and as expressed in Executive Order 13175, ``Consultation 
and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,'' the Federal 
officials that have been delegated authority by the Secretary are 
committed to honoring the unique government-to-government political 
relationship that exists between the Federal Government and federally 
recognized Tribes. Consultation with Alaska Native Corporations is 
based on Public Law 108-199, div. H, sec. 161, January 23, 2004, 118 
Stat. 452, as amended by Public Law 108-447, div. H, title V, sec. 518, 
December 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: ``The Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall 
hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as 
Indian Tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.'' FWS will hold 
individual consultation meetings upon request. The Secretary of the 
Interior will consider Alaska Native Tribes' and Alaska Native 
Corporations' information, input, and recommendations, and address 
their concerns as much as practicable.

Shannon Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2024-26563 Filed 11-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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