Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of Seattle Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, Washington

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 122898D]

Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Receipt of an

Application for an Incidental Take Permit for the City of Seattle

Habitat Conservation Plan, King County, Washington

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of application and availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the City of Seattle has

applied to the Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS (together, the

Services) for an Incidental Take Permit (Permit) pursuant to section

10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).

This application was previously noticed in the Federal Register on

December 11, 1998, under the Department of the Interior, Fish and

Wildlife Service. This additional notice is to ensure NMFS compliance

with the notification requirements under section 10(c) of the Act. The

proposed permit would authorize the take of the following endangered or

threatened species incidental to otherwise lawful management activities

in the Cedar River Municipal Watershed and within the Cedar River in

King County, Washington: northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis

caurina), marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus marmoratus), bald

eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), gray

wolf (Canis lupus), and peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). The

proposed permit also would authorize future incidental take of 77

currently unlisted fish (anadromous and resident) and wildlife species,

including the chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and the Coastal

Puget Sound distinct population segment of the bull trout (Salvelinus

confluentus),

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which are proposed for listing under the Act, should they become listed

in the future. The permit would be in effect for 50 years.

The application includes: (1) the proposed Habitat Conservation

Plan (Plan), which fully describes the proposed projects and

mitigation, and details a strategy for minimizing and mitigating all

anticipated incidental take, as required in Section 10(a)(2)(B) of the

Act; and (2) the proposed Implementing Agreement. Activities covered by

the requested Permit and addressed by the proposed Plan include: (1)

drinking water supply operations; (2) management of land and forest

resources (timber and other forest resources); (3) hydroelectric power

generation; and, (4) fishery mitigation. The Services also announce the

availability of an Environmental Assessment for the Permit application.

This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and

National Environmental Policy Act regulations. The Services are

furnishing this notice in order to announce the availability of these

documents and allow other agencies and the public an opportunity to

review and comment upon these documents. All comments received will

become part of the public record and will be available for review

pursuant to section 10(c) of the Act.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, Environmental

Assessment, Plan, and Implementing Agreement must be received from

interested parties no later than February 9, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Requests for documents should be made by calling the City of

Seattle at (206) 684-4144. Copies are also available for viewing, or

partial or complete duplication, at all King County and City of Seattle

libraries, and at four University of Washington main campus libraries,

including the Fisheries and Oceanography Library, Forest Resources

Library, Engineering Library, and at the Federal Publications desk of

the Suzzallo Library. Comments should be mailed to Seattle Public

Utilities, P.O. Box 21105, Seattle, Washington 98111-3105. Comments and

materials received will also be available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business hours by calling (206) 684-4144.

Requests for information on the draft Plan should be directed to Jim

Erckmann, Project Manager. Requests for information on the draft

Environmental Assessment and a draft Environmental Impact Statement,

prepared pursuant to the State of Washington's Environmental Policy

Act, should be directed to Jim Freeman, Senior Watershed Planner. Both

can be contacted at Seattle Public Utilities, 19901 Cedar Falls Road

SE., North Bend, Washington, 98045 (telephone: 206/233-1512; facsimile:

206/233-1527).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Bogaczyk, Project Biologist,

Fish and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond Drive, SE., Suite 102, Lacey,

Washington, 98503-1273, (telephone: 360/753-5824; facsimile: 360/534-

9331), and Matt Longenbaugh, Project Biologist, National Marine

Fisheries Service, 510 Desmond Drive, SE., Suite 103, Lacey,

Washington, 98503-1273 (telephone: 360/753-7761; facsimile: 360/753-

9517). The Plan, Implementing Agreement, and the Environmental

Assessment are also available for inspection at the above Service

offices.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This application was previously noticed in

the Federal Register on December 11, 1998 (63 FR 68469). Section 9 of

the Endangered Species Act and Federal regulation prohibit the

``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or threatened. The term

take is defined under the Act to mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt,

shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage

in any such conduct. However, the Services, under limited

circumstances, may issue permits to take listed species incidental to,

and not the purpose of, otherwise lawful activities. Regulations

governing permits for endangered species are promulgated in 50 CFR

17.22; regulations governing permits for threatened species are

promulgated in 50 CFR 17.32.

Background

The Cedar River Municipal Watershed (Watershed) is located about 30

miles southeast of the City of Seattle (City), just south of the

Interstate 90 corridor. The City has prepared the proposed Plan to

comply with the Act and to address a variety of related natural

resource issues. The Plan will cover the City's 90,546-acre Watershed

and the City's water supply and hydroelectric operations on the Cedar

River, which discharges into Lake Washington. The proposed Plan is a

set of mitigation and conservation commitments related to ongoing water

supply, hydroelectric power supply, fishery mitigation, and watershed

management activities.

The draft Plan is based on a decade of studies and the results of

over 4 years of analysis and negotiations with five State and Federal

agencies as documented in an Agreement in Principle, dated March 14,

1997. The Agreement in Principle addresses not only issues under the

Act but also related issues under state law and issues with the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Corps manages lake levels in Lake

Washington, and navigational traffic between Lake Washington and Puget

Sound, through operation of the Hiram Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks)

and Lake Washington Ship Canal.

Covered lands in the proposed action include the City-owned lands

upon which the Permit would authorize incidental take of covered

species. This includes the Watershed, totaling about 90,546 acres. The

Cedar River discharges into Lake Washington at the city of Renton. City

operations in the municipal watershed influence the Cedar River between

the Landsburg Diversion Dam, where the City diverts water for municipal

and industrial use, and Lake Washington, which is 21.8 mi in length.

The City owns essentially all of the Watershed. Most of the watershed

is forested, primarily with conifers.

Proposed covered activities include City operations on the Cedar

River in conjunction with its water supply, hydroelectric power

generation, land management activities, and fishery mitigation. Water

supply and hydroelectric generation activities include management of

the reservoir complex, including an overflow dike, which impounds

Chester Morse Lake, and the Masonry Dam, which impounds the Masonry

Pool to the west of the lake. These activities also include instream

flow management for fish for 12.4 mi above and 21.8 mi downstream of

the Landsburg Diversion Dam. Covered activities downstream of Landsburg

are restricted specifically to the impacts of City operations and

facilities on species using those waters and covered by this Plan, and

does not apply to the impacts of activities by other public agencies or

private parties. In general, covered activities downstream of Landsburg

include mitigation, conservation, research, and monitoring activities

carried out under the Plan and two related agreements, an Instream Flow

Agreement and a Landsburg Mitigation Agreement.

Municipal watershed management activities include forest practices

as described in the Washington State Forest Practices Act (RCW 76.09)

and Forest Practices Rules and Regulations (WAC 222-08), including

timber harvest, thinning, reforestation, and mechanical brush control;

construction, repair, reengineering, decommissioning, and maintenance

of forest roads, including use of gravel pits and other rock sources,

as well as maintenance and replacement of culverts and bridges; and

sale of forest products.

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Fishery mitigation activities include provision of streamflows for

chinook, coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka)

salmon and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and expansion of a

pilot hatchery for sockeye salmon; construction of fish passage

facilities (both upstream and downstream) for chinook and coho salmon,

and steelhead and cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) at Landsburg

Dam; and funding salmon habitat restoration in the lower Cedar River.

Other covered watershed activities include actions to protect and

restore watershed habitats, both aquatic and upland; cultural resource

management and educational programs within the municipal watershed,

including a public tour and field trip program and construction of

educational and cultural facilities, such as the planned educational

resource center at Cedar Falls; scientific research, both by City staff

and outside scientists; and other activities or facilities as

identified in the Plan.

The Plan includes habitat-based conservation and mitigation

strategies for all species addressed in the Plan, and species-specific

conservation and mitigation strategies for the 14 species of greatest

concern, which include all currently listed species. The species

addressed in the Plan include resident and anadromous salmonid fishes,

and a variety of amphibians, birds, mammals, and invertebrates.

The Federal action of issuing an Incidental Take Permit has the

potential to affect the human environment. The Services' decision of

whether to issue the proposed Permit, is an action subject to review

under the National Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR 1506.6). In

addition to the National Environmental Policy Act requirements, the

City's proposed actions are subject to review under the Washington

State Environmental Policy Act. The Services' Environmental Assessment

and the City's Environmental Impact Statement are combined into one

document. Following public review of the proposed Plan and

Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement, the Services

and the City must review any comments received and respond to those

comments in writing or in changes to the documents, where appropriate.

The Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement will

analyze the proposed action as well as a full range of reasonable

alternatives, and the associated impacts of each. The proposed action

contains three components, including: (1) Watershed Management; (2)

Anadromous Fish Mitigation; and (3) Instream Flows. Alternatives have

been developed through public and internal scoping for each of these

three components, and are compared and analyzed in the Environmental

Assessment/Environmental Impact Statement.

Watershed management alternatives include: (1) No Action (continue

current harvest practices, with 58 percent of the lands in a no-

commercial harvest reserve); (2) Proposed Action (including

conservation strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 64 percent of

the lands in a no-commercial harvest reserve); (3) Long-term

Sustainable Thinning Alternative (including conservation strategies for

habitats and wildlife, with 64 percent of the lands in a no-commercial

harvest reserve); (4) Thinning Alternative with phased out commercial

harvest over the 50-year life of the Permit (including conservation

strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 68 percent of the lands

initially in a no-commercial harvest reserve and increasing over the

life of the Permit); and (5) No Commercial Timber Harvest Alternative

(including conservation strategies for habitats and wildlife, with 100

percent of the lands in a no-commercial harvest reserve). Alternatives

3, 4, and 5 include essentially the same conservation strategies for

streams, riparian areas, upland habitat, and special habitat areas, as

Alternative 2, the Proposed Action.

Anadromous fish mitigation alternatives include: (1) No Action

(continued operation of a pilot sockeye salmon hatchery with no

guarantee of mitigation for chinook salmon, coho salmon, or steelhead

trout); (2) Proposed Action (conservation strategies for chinook

salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, and steelhead trout, including

upstream and downstream passage facilities, and habitat restoration and

protection measures, with expansion of the sockeye hatchery to produce

34 million fry annually); (3) Down-sized Sockeye Hatchery Alternative

with savings going towards downstream habitat restoration (with

expansion of the sockeye hatchery to produce 17 million fry annually);

(4) Deferred Hatchery Construction Alternative contingent on further

studies; and (5) All Downstream Habitat Restoration and Protection

Alternative (all funding would be used for habitat restoration and

protection, and none for sockeye hatchery expansion).

Instream flow alternatives include: (1) No Action (continue current

flow management practices); and (2) Proposed Action, with primary

features including guaranteed flows and supplemental flows for salmon

and steelhead trout spawning and fry outmigration for sockeye salmon in

the lower Cedar River; adaptive management of flows for protection of

salmon and steelhead redds (egg clusters); funding for improvements at

Ballard Locks for juvenile outmigration, establishment of minimum flows

necessary for anadromous and resident fish in bypass reach below

Masonry Dam; established downramping rates, maintain existing annual

municipal water yield; public service announcements promoting water

conservation for fish; Lower Cedar River monitoring study of tributary

and subsurface inflows; and establishment of a multi-agency commission

to advise the City with respect to managing flows for fish.

This notice is provided pursuant to section 10(a) of the Act and

National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and the Services will

evaluate the application, associated documents, and comments submitted

thereon to determine whether the application meets the requirements of

the Act and National Environmental Policy Act. If it is determined that

the requirements are met, a permit will be issued for the incidental

take of listed species. The final permit decision will be made no

sooner than 60 days from the date of this notice.

Dated: December 28, 1998.

Margaret Lorenz,

Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-129 Filed 1-4-99; 8:45 am]

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