Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 75 / Monday, April 20, 1998 / Notices 19489

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5998–6]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Clear Lake Basin 2000 Project, Lake

County, CA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a

draft environmental assessment and

hold a scoping meeting to examine the

proposed construction and operation of

wetlands supplied by wastewater

effluent from Lake County’s Northwest

Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant at

Lakeport, California.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act, EPA

has identified a need to prepare a draft

environmental assessment and therefore

issues this document.

Background

The Lake County Sanitation District

(LACOSAN) has initiated a series of

actions to improve the wastewater

collection, treatment, and disposal

facilities that it operates in the Clear

Lake Basin of Lake County. These sets

of actions are known collectively as

Clear Lake Basin 2000, and include:

water conservation/demand measures;

improvements to existing wastewater

collection and treatment systems; and

improvements and modifications to

effluent disposal methods. The overall

objective is elimination of wastewater

stresses to the Clear Lake watershed,

and where possible, use of recycled

wastewater for purposes of watershed

restoration. The proposed action

covered by this notice of intent includes

two sub-projects of the Clear Lake Basin

2000 program initiative. The two

projects are: (1) Lyons Creek wetlands

and flow control facility; and (2) NiceBurns Valley wetlands and pipeline.

Each of these is more specifically

described as follows:

1. Lyons Creek Wetlands & Flow Control

Facility

This proposed component includes

six wetland sites totaling 90 acres, and

a flow control facility (FCF) required for

supplying wastewater effluent to the

wetlands. The activity is located in the

Lyons Creek sub-watershed of the Clear

Lake watershed. The wetlands will be

constructed by creating levees in

existing dry channels, and grading and

shaping to create inter-mixed areas of

deep water and shallow marsh habitat.

A mix of open water/emergent marsh

will be established to provide preferred

habitat for a broad variety of wetlanddependent birds and mammals. Treated

effluent will be stored and conveyed to

the wetlands via the FCF and

distribution pipelines, respectively, and

introduced to the wetland cells through

buried pipes into deep water and inlet

zones. During effluent application

periods (primarily the summer months)

these wetlands will be hydraulically

loaded at rates that are balanced by the

on-site losses of water through

evaporation and transpiration by

wetland vegetation. There will be no

surface releases of treated effluent,

consistent with the requirements of the

State of California Regional Water

Quality Control Board. During wet

periods, effluent application will cease

and stormwater flows will be allowed to

accumulate in the wetland cells,

providing flood detention and water

quality improvement prior to release to

downstream waters. The FCF is required

to store effluent during the winter

periods when high effluent flows are

experienced, and effluent use by the

wetlands is not possible. The FCF will

have a capacity of approximately 2,300

acre-feet. Current storage at LACOSAN’s

Northwest Treatment Plant is

insufficient to store effluent during

extreme wet winters. The FCF will also

provide a means to provide continuous

summer flows to the wetlands, when

water use demands are highest and

effluent flows may be insufficient to

sustain plant and aquatic life.

2. Nice-Burns Valley Wetlands &

Pipeline

This proposed component includes 10

wetland sites totaling 176 acres, and a

pipeline required for supplying

wastewater effluent to the wetlands. The

activity is located in a corridor that

roughly parallels the northern shore of

Clear Lake. The wetland sites are

located along the corridor, beginning on

the west near the community of Nice,

and ending on the east in the Burns

Valley sub-watershed. The pipeline will

begin at LACOSAN’s Northwest

Treatment Plant, where effluent will be

available, and will terminate at

LACOSAN’s Southeast Treatment Plant,

which is located in the Burns Valley

sub-watershed. As with the Lyons Creek

component, the wetlands will be

constructed by creating levees in

existing dry channels, and grading and

shaping to create inter-mixed areas of

deep water and shallow marsh habitat.

A mix of open water/emergent marsh

will be established to provide preferred

habitat for a broad variety of wetlanddependent birds and mammals. Treated

effluent will be conveyed to the

wetlands in the pipeline, and

introduced to the wetland cells through

buried pipes into deep water and inlet

zones. During effluent application

periods (primarily the summer months)

the wetlands will be hydraulically

loaded at rates that are balanced by the

on-site losses of water through

evaporation and transpiration by

wetland vegetation. Any water not

utilized by the wetlands will be

returned to the effluent pipeline for

reuse at another site. In this way there

will be no surface releases of treated

effluent, consistent with the

requirements of the State of California

Regional Water Quality Control Board.

During wet periods, effluent application

will cease and stormwater flows will be

allowed to accumulate in the wetland

cells, providing flood detention and

water quality improvement prior to

release to downstream waters. The

effluent pipeline, and two pump

stations, are required to convey the

stored effluent from LACOSAN’s

Northwest Treatment Plant to the

wetland sites, and to receive operational

transfers from the wetlands for reuse at

another wetland site. The pipeline will

be 16 inches in diameter, and will begin

at a pump station located at the

Northwest Treatment Plant. From the

Northwest Treatment Plant, the pipeline

will extend approximately 19 miles

along the north shore of Clear Lake to

an intermediate booster pump station

located near the Clearlake Oaks effluent

disposal ponds. From the booster pump

station, the pipeline will extend south

and east approximately two miles

through public and private rights-ofway, and terminate at LACOSAN’s

Southeast Treatment Plant. Allowable

pipe materials will include both ductile

iron and PVC. It will be installed at

depths appropriate for the adjacent

buried utilities and traffic conditions

(typically 3 to 4 feet of cover). The

pump stations will consist of multiple

vertical turbine or horizontal split-case

pumps with automatic controls to stop

the flow in the event of an emergency.

Pump controls and electrical equipment

will be located in a building to protect

them from the elements and reduce

noise impacts. Depending upon final

design, surge tanks or other surge

facilities will be located adjacent to the

pump stations. Pump operating

conditions and control data will be

transmitted to LACOSAN’s computer

system for monitoring and automatic/

operator control of the pumps.

All of the proposed actions covered

by this notice of intent, except the

wetlands proposed for the Nice-Burns

Valley corridor, have been evaluated in

an environmental impact report (EIR)
19490 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 75 / Monday, April 20, 1998 / Notices

prepared and certified by LACOSAN in

1997 pursuant to the California

Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A

portion of the effluent pipeline

alignment between Clearlake Oaks and

LACOSAN’s Southeast Regional

Wastewater Treatment Plant has also

been evaluated in a previous CEQA

document prepared by the Clearlake

Oaks County Water District in 1997. The

environmental assessment covered by

this notice will incorporate information

and findings from both previous

environmental documents where

relevant and appropriate.

ALTERNATIVES

The alternatives to be evaluated in the

environmental assessment include:

1. The proposed action as described

above. The proposed action is based on

two previous alternatives analyses: (a)

Alternative effluent disposal methods

examined in LACOSAN’s previous EIR

for improvements to the Northwest

Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant;

and (b) an evaluation of alternative

wetland sites in the Lyons Creek and

Nice-Burns Valley project areas

prepared by LACOSAN in 1998 during

project planning.

2. Construction and operation of the

FCF and effluent pipeline without the

establishment of associated wetlands.

3. No action.

Scoping Process

The scope consists of a range of

proposed actions and their potential

impact on the surrounding community

to be considered in the environmental

assessment. It is the intent that there

shall be an early and open process for

determining the scope of issues to be

addressed and for identifying the

significant environmental issues related

to the proposed action. Although

scoping meetings are not required for

environmental assessments, EPA and

LACOSAN will hold a public scoping

meeting on Friday, May 29, 1998, at

1:00 PM in the Lake County Board of

Supervisors Chambers, Lake County

Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes Street,

Lakeport, CA. At this meeting the public

will be invited to present issues and

concerns they would like to see

addressed in the environmental

assessment.

Proposed Date of release

The draft environmental assessment is

scheduled for release in October 1998.

Responsible Official

Felicia Marcus, Regional

Administrator, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region 9.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Dellinger, Resources Manager/

Project Manager, Lake County

Sanitation District, 230A Main Street,

Lakeport, CA 95453, telephone 707/

263–2273, e-mail mark—

d@co.lake.ca.us; or Kristin Gullatt, U.S.

EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street,

Mail Code WTR–10, San Francisco, CA

94105, telephone 415/744–1937, e-mail

Gullatt.Kristin@epamail.epa.gov.

Mike Schulz,

Acting Director, Region 9, Water Division.

[FR Doc. 98–10223 Filed 4–17–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5998–7]

Notice of Proposed Revisions to the

Approved Program To Administer the

National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System Permitting

Program in New York Resulting in Part

From Adoption of the Water Quality

Guidance for the Great Lakes System

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) has received for review and

approval revisions to the National

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

(NPDES) program in New York. Most of

the proposed revisions were adopted to

comply with section 118(c) of the Clean

Water Act and 40 CFR 132.4, although

in some cases, the State has also

proposed revisions that are not related

to those required by section 118(c) of

the CWA and 40 CFR 132.4. EPA invites

public comment on whether EPA

should approve these revisions pursuant

to 40 CFR 123.62 and 132.5.

DATES: Comments on whether EPA

should approve the revisions to New

York’s NPDES program must be

received in writing by May 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on these

documents may be submitted to

Kathleen C. Callahan, Director, Division

of Environmental Planning and

Protection, Attn: GLI Implementation

Procedures, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, New

York, New York 10007. In the

alternative, EPA will accept comments

electronically. Comments should be sent

to the following Internet E-mail address:

jackson.wayne@epamail.epa.gov.

Electronic comments must be submitted

in an ASCII file avoiding the use of

special characters and any form of

encryption. EPA will print electronic

comments in hard-copy paper form for

the official administrative record. EPA

will attempt to clarify electronic

comments if there is an apparent error

in transmission. Comments provided

electronically will be considered timely

if they are submitted electronically by

11:59 p.m. (Eastern time) May 20, 1998.

Interested persons may request a

public hearing regarding whether EPA

should approve, pursuant to 40 CFR

123.62, and 132.5(g), those portions of

the States’ submissions that revise the

States’ approved National Pollutant

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

permitting program. EPA will determine

based on requests received if there is

significant interest to warrant a public

hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wayne Jackson, Community and

Ecosystems Protection Branch, Division

of Environmental Planning and

Protection, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, New

York, New York, 10007, or telephone

him at (212) 637–3807.

Copies of the rules adopted by New

York, and other related materials

submitted by the State in support of

these revisions, are available for review

at: EPA, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 24th

Floor, New York, New York; and,

NYSDEC, 50 Wolf Road, Room 310 C,

Albany, New York. To access the docket

material in New York, call Wayne

Jackson at (212) 637–3807 between 8

a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time)

(Monday-Friday); in Albany, New York,

call Teresa Deihsner at 518–457–7937

between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Eastern

time) (Monday-Friday).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March

23, 1995, EPA published the Final

Water Quality Guidance for the Great

Lakes System (Guidance) pursuant to

section 118(c)(2) of the Clean Water Act,

33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(2). (March 23, 1995,

60 FR 15366). The Guidance, which was

codified at 40 CFR Part 132, requires the

Great Lakes States to adopt and submit

to EPA for approval water quality

criteria, methodologies, policies and

procedures that are consistent with the

Guidance. 40 CFR 132.4. & 132.5. EPA

is required to approve the State’s

submission within 90 days or notify the

State that EPA has determined that all

or part of the submission is inconsistent

with the Clean Water Act or the

Guidance and identify any necessary

changes to obtain EPA approval. If the

State fails to make the necessary

changes within 90 days, EPA must

publish a notice in the Federal Register

identifying the approved and

disapproved elements of the submission