Document ID: FEMA-2010-0037-0001
Agency: fema
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction, East Bay Hills, CA
Posted Date: 2010-06-10T04:00Z

[Federal Register: June 10, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 111)]
[Notices]               
[Page 32960-32961]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10jn10-67]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID FEMA-2010-0037]

 
Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction, East Bay Hills, CA

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) intends to 
prepare an environmental impact statement evaluating the environmental 
impacts of funding a combination of hazardous fuel reduction projects 
within the East Bay Hills area in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, 
California. The projects may be funded through Federal assistance 
grants under the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) and Hazard Mitigation 
Grant Program (HMGP).

DATES: Comments must be submitted by July 12, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID FEMA-2010-
0037, by one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Search for 
Docket ID FEMA-2010-0037 and follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: 703-483-2999.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Office of Chief Counsel, Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street, SW., Room 835, Washington, 
DC 20472-3100.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket ID. Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or 
material, all submissions will be posted, without change, to the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, and will 
include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting 
this information makes it public. You may wish to read the Privacy Act 
notice that is available via a link in the footer of http://
www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket for this notice or comments 
submitted by the public on this notice, go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov and search for docket ID FEMA-
2010-0037. These documents may also be inspected at FEMA, Office of 
Chief Counsel, Room 835, 500 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20472-3100.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alessandro Amaglio, Regional

[[Page 32961]]

Environmental Officer, Region IX, FEMA, 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200, 
Oakland, CA 94607-4052 and phone number at (510) 627-7027.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA, and FEMA's Environmental 
Considerations regulations require the preparation of an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for major Federal actions that would have 
significant impacts on the quality of the human environment. The CEQ 
regulations at 40 CFR 1501.7 require the issuance of a notice of intent 
to prepare an EIS to initiate the scoping process. Scoping is an early 
and open process that assists the Federal action agency in determining 
the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying significant 
issues related to a proposed action.
    FEMA has received four hazard mitigation applications for fuel 
reduction projects in the East Bay Hills area in California. The 
proposed action is to fund these four projects under section 404 of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(Stafford Act), Public Law 93-288, as amended, establishing the Hazard 
Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Section 203 of the Stafford Act, 
establishing the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grant program. The 
Strawberry Canyon Vegetation Management Project involves the removal of 
eucalyptus and other exotic-non native trees in a 60-acre area, 
chipping the downed trees and scattering the chips in portions of the 
cleared area, and the semiannual application of herbicides, as needed, 
to eradicate eucalyptus tree sprouts from the area. The Claremont 
Canyon Vegetation Management Project involves the removal of 
eucalyptus, Monterey pine, and acacia trees in a 45-acre area, chipping 
the downed trees and scattering the chips in portions of the cleared 
area, and the semiannual application of herbicides, as needed, to 
eradicate eucalyptus tree sprouts from the area. The City of Oakland's 
project involves thinning and eradication techniques within 325 acres. 
The East Bay Regional Park District project involves the treatment of 
590 acres to reduce fuel load through brush removal (mechanical and 
hand), chemical treatment, limbing and mowing, thinning, and grazing 
techniques as appropriate to reduce the risk of fire hazard. These 
projects would affect approximately 980 acres of the Wildland-Urban 
Interface in the East Bay Hills running from Lake Chabot to Wildcat 
Canyon and Sobrante Ridge, encompassing both Alameda and Contra Costa 
Counties.
    In January 2008, FEMA published a notice of availability of a draft 
environmental assessment for the Strawberry Canyon Vegetation 
Management Project for public comment. The draft environmental 
assessment can be found at FEMA's Web page http://www.fema.gov/library/
viewRecord.do?id=3111. The public involvement process revealed concerns 
regarding the effectiveness and scope of the vegetation removal 
methodologies and application of wood chips in portions of the area, 
impacts to plant and animal species in the area, and concerns regarding 
cumulative impacts of all projects in the area. FEMA has determined 
that an EIS should be conducted to address cumulatively the Vegetation 
Management Projects for the Strawberry Canyon as well as the Claremont 
Canyon, and the ones proposed by the City of Oakland and the East Bay 
Regional Park District.
    In addition to the proposed action, FEMA is considering the 
following alternatives:
    (1) No action, which involves denying the grant applications;
    (2) Funding the grant applications with conditions to address their 
environmental impacts;
    (3) Funding the grant applications with fuel reduction 
methodologies that are different than as proposed by the applicants; 
and
    (4) Partially funding the grant applications, including funding 
some grant projects and denying others.
    FEMA plans to conduct public scoping meetings during July 2010. 
FEMA will provide notices of the time and place of the meetings through 
local news media.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.; 40 CFR part 1500; 44 CFR part 
10.

W. Craig Fugate,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2010-13926 Filed 6-9-10; 8:45 am]
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