```

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7654-7656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01440]

========================================================================
Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 13 / Wednesday, January 22, 2025 / 
Notices

[[Page 7654]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Odessa Subarea Special Study Project in Adams, 
Franklin, Grant, and Lincoln Counties, Washington

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (SEIS).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Washington 
State Office, in coordination with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), 
announces its intent to prepare an SEIS for the Odessa Subarea Special 
Study Project. The SEIS is necessary to evaluate modification of a 
component of Alternative 4A that would install a buried pipeline 
irrigation across lands that were not evaluated in FEIS. Installation 
of this pipeline would require blasting which was not addressed in 
FEIS. The intended effect of this action would result in the most 
economically viable way of providing surface water irrigation to 
specific cultivated lands in the Study Area in lieu of groundwater 
irrigation. The SEIS will examine an irrigation delivery system 
designated East Low Canal (EL) 11.8 that would serve approximately 
7,638 acres of land currently served by groundwater in the northeastern 
portion of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID) in Grant 
County. NRCS is accepting comments regarding significant issues, 
potential alternatives, information, and analyses relevant to the 
proposed action from all interested individuals, Federal and State 
agencies, and Tribes.

DATES: We will consider comments that are received by February 21, 
2025. We will consider comments received after this period to the 
extent possible.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments in response to this notice. 
You may submit your comments through the method below:
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Farmers Conservation Alliance, 102 
State Street, Hood River, OR 97031; or Phone: (541) 716-6085. In your 
comments, specify the SEIS for EL 11.8.
     Electronic Submittal: Comments may be submitted online at 
https://www.ogwrp-programs.org/watershed-plan.
    All comments received will be posted without change and made 
publicly available on the project web page https://www.ogwrp-programs.org/watershed-plan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jules Riley, telephone: (509) 507-
0178; email: [email protected] for questions related to submitting 
comments; or visit the project website at https://www.ogwrp-programs.org/watershed-plan.
    Individuals who require alternative means for communication should 
contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Target Center at 
(202) 720-2600 (voice and text telephone [TTY]) or dial 711 for 
Telecommunications Relay service (both voice and text telephone users 
can initiate this call from any telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need

    The project area is located within the Odessa Subarea in Adams, 
Franklin, Grant, and Lincoln Counties, Washington. The Reclamation and 
Ecology 2012 Final EIS (FEIS) was published in a local newspaper on 
August 31, 2012. Reclamation selected Alternative 4A, the Modified 
Partial-Replacement-Banks with Limited Spring Diversion Scenario. This 
alternative delivers surface water from the Columbia Basin Project 
(CBP) to irrigated lands that currently rely on declining groundwater 
supply in the Odessa Subarea Special Study Area (Study Area).
    The primary purpose for the proposed action is to maintain economic 
viability by providing surface water from CBP to replace groundwater 
from declining wells currently used for irrigation in the Study Area. 
Watershed planning is authorized under the Watershed Protection and 
Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (Pub. L. 83-566), as amended, and the 
Flood Control Act of 1944 (Pub. L. 78-534). This SEIS will analyze a 
distribution system route that traverses lands not included in the 2012 
FEIS Study Area.
    This action is needed to address declining groundwater supply in 
the Study Area and avoid economic loss to the region's agricultural 
sector. Located in central Washington State, ECBID is the largest 
irrigation district in the State, with authorization to irrigate 
472,000 acres. Currently, 167,365 acres are irrigated and managed by 
4,500 landowners within CBP. Additionally, ECBID provides 
infrastructure to deliver irrigation surface water for 87,638 acres 
associated with the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program.
    Under Alternative 4A, ECBID would provide CBP surface water for 
irrigation to replace groundwater irrigation to approximately 70,000 
acres of lands north and south of I-90. The proposed action is 
essential to deliver CBP water to lands currently irrigated with 
groundwater. The 2012 FEIS conceptually analyzed alternatives for 
alignments that would deliver surface water from CBP to the lands to be 
served by the proposed EL 11.8 distribution system, specifically within 
alternatives analyzed in detail and not selected.
    Water delivery to these lands was proposed to be served by a new 
canal, designated the East High Canal. With the selection of 
Alternative 4A as the preferred alternative, the East High Canal was 
not chosen for construction to service those lands. However, due to the 
flexibility afforded in the 2012 FEIS, and due to the irrigator's need 
for surface water in that area, a new alignment was subsequently 
designed from EL to ensure the delivery of surface water to the area.
    The lands that will be analyzed in the SEIS Study Area include a 
mix of undeveloped and agricultural lands within the Odessa Groundwater 
Management Subarea and the Odessa Subarea Special Study Area boundaries 
in Grant County. A portion of the lands that the distribution system 
would cross from EL to the delivery point were not analyzed in the 2012 
FEIS Study Area,

[[Page 7655]]

and the SEIS will consider the impacts of construction and operation of 
EL 11.8 on these lands. The construction of EL 11.8 is anticipated to 
require blasting in the first 5.5 miles of the alignment. The 2012 FEIS 
did not analyze noise and vibration effects associated with blasting 
because the distribution alignments anticipated at the time were not 
expected to require blasting. NRCS will, therefore, analyze the effects 
of noise and vibration within the anticipated affected area. The lands 
that the distribution system would serve were analyzed in the 2012 FEIS 
Study Area, and NRCS has determined that additional analysis of these 
lands is not needed.
    If selected as the SEIS preferred alternative after finalization of 
the SEIS, EL 11.8 would become a component of Alternative 4A. This 
would be formalized by amending the NRCS 2024 ROD for Alternative 4A to 
include this distribution system. A map of the EL 11.8 distribution 
system is available at: http://www.ogwrp-programs.org/watershed-plan. 
The EL 11.8 would be included in the watershed plan being written by 
NRCS for Alternative 4A to be eligible for funding under Public Law 83-
566.
    Estimated Federal funds required for the construction of the 
proposed action that would become a component of Alternative 4A will 
exceed $25 million. Consistent with section 2 of the Watershed 
Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954, (16 U.S.C. 1002), given 
that the Federal construction cost are estimated to be greater than $25 
million, the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee of the 
Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 
will be notified that the Chief of NRCS plans to authorize this project 
for implementation.

Preliminary Proposed Action and Alternatives, Including No Action

    The SEIS objective is to formulate and evaluate alternatives for 
the avoidance of economic loss to the region's agricultural sector 
along with impacts to domestic and municipal water supplies. The SEIS 
will analyze a distribution system route that was not included in 
Alternative 4A for delivery of surface water from the CBP to replace 
groundwater irrigation in lands in the Odessa Subarea Special Study 
Area. The SEIS is expected to evaluate two alternatives: one no action 
alternative and one action alternative.
    The alternatives that may be considered for detailed analysis 
include:
     Alternative 1--No Action Alternative: Taking no action 
would consist of activities conducted if no Federal action or funding 
were provided for the proposed action. If the No Action Alternative is 
selected, the irrigators in the Study Area would not be able to 
maintain economic viability because they would not be able to access 
irrigation water. The groundwater levels in the Study Area are 
declining. Due to that decline, irrigation water quantities are 
expected to become insufficient to support agricultural needs, which 
would lead to economic loss in the project area. Declining groundwater 
levels may also impact area domestic and municipal water supply. No 
Federal action or funding would be associated with the proposed action 
with the No Action Alternative.
     Alternative 2--Proposed Action--EL 11.8. The proposed 
action would include the construction and operation of EL 11.8, which 
is a surface water distribution system alignment north of I-90 and east 
of Ephrata, Washington that would provide irrigation surface water from 
EL to lands 5 to 10 miles east along road W NE. The proposed EL 11.8 
system would include a new canal turnout infrastructure, a large-scale 
canal pump station, and 10.5 miles of large-diameter pipeline (60-inch- 
through 44-inch-diameter mainline). The EL 11.8 system would serve 
approximately 7,638 acres of land currently served by groundwater. If 
EL 11.8 is chosen as the preferred alternative in the supplemental EIS, 
these lands would be a portion of the overall 70,000 acres of land 
authorized under Alternative 4A for one-to-one replacement of 
groundwater irrigation with CBP surface water. The lands that the 
distribution system would serve were analyzed in the 2012 FEIS study 
area; however, a portion of the pipeline alignment for the distribution 
system is proposed to cross lands that were not analyzed in the 2012 
FEIS. The SEIS Study Area includes a mix of undeveloped and 
agricultural lands within the Odessa Groundwater Management Subarea and 
the Odessa Subarea Special Study Area boundaries in Grant County. 
Ownership of lands in the project area consists of private, State and 
Federal landholders.

Summary of Expected Impacts

    If the proposed action is chosen as the preferred alternative in 
the supplemental EIS, it will become a component of Alternative 4A.
    The SEIS will be prepared as required by section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C))); the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 
parts 1500 through 1508); and NRCS regulations that implement NEPA in 7 
CFR part 650.
    Resource concerns for the scope of resource effects analysis for 
the SEIS will be similar to that documented in the 2012 FEIS. The SEIS 
will analyze construction and operational impacts on the previously 
unanalyzed area that the EL 11.8 distribution system will cross, and 
the effects of blasting (noise and vibration) in the blast effect zone 
that will be used to construct the distribution system. Additionally, 
NRCS solicited comments from the public and coordinated with agency and 
tribal interested parties during the 2024 FEIS adoption process to 
ascertain relevant resource concerns. Environmental resources in the 
project area consist of the natural and human-made environment. 
Resource concerns to be identified and addressed in the SEIS include: 
the presence of Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species including 
candidate species; biological resources such as shrub-steppe habitat; 
geology and soils; noise and vibration related to potential blasting 
during construction; and cultural resources.

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations

    The following permits, authorizations, or consultation processes 
are anticipated to be required or have previously been fully addressed 
as noted below:
     ESA. Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
would be conducted as required by ESA.
     ESA. Based on coordination with National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS) for the 2024 adoption of the FEIS by NRCS, NMFS decided 
that additional consultation or reinitiation of ESA under its 
jurisdiction was not needed since no additional withdrawals of CBP 
water would occur under the proposed action.
     Clean Water Act and National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES). The project would require permitting under 
section 402 of the NPDES for stormwater discharge from a construction 
site.
     National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106. 
Consultation with Tribal Nations and interested parties would be 
conducted as required by the NHPA.
     Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). 
Coordination for SEPA approval would be required for construction and 
operation of EL 11.8 within non-Federal lands. As a cooperating agency, 
it is anticipated that Ecology will adopt the supplemental EIS for SEPA 
needs in accordance with Washington Administrative Code 197-11-610.

[[Page 7656]]

     Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) 
Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA). Consultation with WDFW and potential 
HPA permits would be required for projects in or near State waters.
     Local Grading and Storm Permit. Consultation for potential 
grading and storm permits would be required with Grant County for all 
construction work within non-Federal lands.

Schedule of Decision-Making Process

    A draft SEIS (DSEIS) will be prepared and circulated for review and 
comment by agencies, Tribes, consulting parties, and the public for 45 
days as required by the regulations in 40 CFR 1503.1, 1502.20, 1506.11, 
and 1502.17, and 7 CFR 650.13. The DSEIS is anticipated to be published 
in the Federal Register, approximately 12 months after publication of 
this NOI. A Final SEIS is anticipated to be published within 6 months 
of completion of the public comment period for the DSEIS.
    NRCS will decide whether to implement or withdraw the proposed 
action alternatives as evaluated in the SEIS. A DSEIS will be completed 
and will be publicly available for comments. The Responsible Federal 
Official (RFO) and decision-maker for NRCS is the Washington State 
Conservationist. Reclamation, as a cooperating Federal agency, will 
make a decision to issue its own ROD in a similar manner. The decision-
maker and RFO for Reclamation is the Regional Director, Columbia-
Pacific Northwest Region.

Public Scoping Process

    Public scoping is not a requirement for an SEIS (40 CFR 1502.9 
(d)(3)). Public scoping was conducted for the 2012 FEIS and is 
documented in the 2012 FEIS and associated ROD. For the 2024 adoption 
of the FEIS, NRCS solicited public comments and conducted agency and 
tribal outreach and coordination. Comments received, including the 
names and addresses of those who commented, are part of the public 
record and are documented in the NRCS 2024 ROD for the FEIS adoption.

Identification of Potential Alternatives, Information, and Analyses

    NRCS invites agencies, Tribes, consulting parties, and individuals 
that have special expertise, legal jurisdiction, or interest to provide 
written comments concerning the scope of the analysis and 
identification of potential alternatives, information, and analyses 
relevant to the Proposed Action.
    The information about historic and cultural resources within the 
area potentially affected by the proposed project will assist NRCS in 
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of 
both NEPA and NHPA.
    NRCS will invite Native American Tribes to consult on a government-
to-government basis in accordance with the regulations in 36 CFR 800.2 
and 800.3, Executive Order 13175, and other policies. Tribal concerns, 
including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to 
cultural resources and historic properties, will be given due 
consideration.

Authorities

    This document is published as specified by the NEPA regulations 
regarding publication of an NOI to issue a SEIS (40 CFR 1501). 
Watershed planning is authorized under the Watershed Protection and 
Flood Prevention Act of 1954, as amended and the Flood Control Act of 
1944.

Federal Assistance Programs

    The title and number of the Federal Assistance Program as found in 
the Assistance Listing \1\ to which this document applies is 10.904, 
Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention. The Regional Conservation 
Partnership Program is a potential funding source in addition to other 
funding opportunities that may arise, for which the title and number of 
the Federal Assistance Program is: 10.932--Regional Conservation 
Partnership Program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See https://sam.gov/content/assistance-listings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Order 12372

    Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs,'' requires consultation with State and local officials that 
would be directly affected by proposed Federal financial assistance. 
The objectives of the Executive Order are to foster an 
intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened federalism, by relying 
on State and local processes for State and local government 
coordination and review of proposed Federal financial assistance and 
direct Federal development. This project is subject to the provisions 
of Executive Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation 
with State and local officials.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Non-Discrimination Policy

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights 
regulations and policies, USDA, its agencies, offices, and employees, 
and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are 
prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, 
religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual 
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family or parental 
status, income derived from a public assistance program, political 
beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in 
any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases 
apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by 
program or incident.
    Individuals who require alternative means of communication for 
program information (for example, braille, large print, audiotape, 
American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible agency or 
USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and telephone) or dial 711 
for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text telephone 
users can initiate this call from any phone). Additionally, program 
information may be made available in languages other than English.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-a-program-discrimination-complaint and 
at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in 
the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy 
of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form 
or letter to USDA by: (1) mail to U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410; (2) fax to (202) 690-7442; or by 
(3) email to [email protected].
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Roylene Comes At Night,
Washington State Conservationist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-01440 Filed 1-21-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P
```