Notice of Availability, Final restoration Plan

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability, Final restoration Plan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and wildlife Service (Service), on behalf of the

Department of the Interior (DOI), as a natural resource trustee,

announces the release of the final Restoration Plan (Final Plan) for

the Hi View Terrace Superfund Site. The Final Plan describes the DOI's

plan to restore natural resources injured as a result of remedial

actions undertaken to address the release of hazardous substances from

the Hi View Terrace Superfund Site.

The Hi View Terrace Superfund Site (Site) consists of lots at 100,

110, and 116 Hi View Terrace in West Seneca, New York, portions of

which were filled with cyanide-contaminated material. A removal action

was subsequently undertaken in 1988 and 1989. A total of 5,600 tons of

soil and debris were removed, and the area backfilled with clean

material. About 0.5 acre of wetland at the Site was lost due to the

remedial work, reducing the quantity and quality of wetlands available

for wildlife. As compensation for this loss we reached a settlement of

$25,000 with the Responsible Party.

The Final Plan is being released in accordance with the Natural

Resource Damage Assessment Regulations found at Title 43 of the Code of

Federal Regulation Part 11. A Draft Restoration Plan (Draft Plan) was

issued by the DOI on June 15, 1999, requesting public comment. A Notice

of Availability of the Draft Plan was published in the Federal Register

on June 11, 1999. The Draft Plan described several habitat restoration

and protection alternatives identified by the DOI, and evaluated each

of the possible alternatives based on all relevant considerations. The

DOI's Preferred Alternative identified in the Draft Plan entailed the

use of $25,000 by the Town of West Seneca to purchase a 17-acre parcel

of land along Cazenovia Creek to create the Cazenovia Creek Nature

Preserve. Based on an evaluation of the potential impacts of the

various alternatives in the Draft Plan, and a consideration of public

comments received, the DOI has selected the project identified in the

Draft Plan as the Preferred Alternative, the Cazenovia Creek Nature

Preserve, for implementation. Details regarding this project are

contained in the Final Plan.

The Final Revised Procedures for the Service for implementing the

National Environmental Policy Act, published in the Federal Register on

January 16, 1997, provide a categorical exclusion for natural resource

damage assessment restoration plans prepared under CERCLA when only

minor or negligible change in the use of the affected areas in planned.

The DOI has determined that the Preferred Alternative will result in

only a minor change in the use of the affected area. Accordingly this

Restoration Plan is for a categorical exclusion under NEPA. The Final

Plan includes an Environmental Action Statement documenting this

determination.

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Requests for copies of the Final Plan and

Environmental Action Statement, or for any additional information,

should be directed to Kathryn Jahn, Environmental Contaminants Branch,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New York Field Office, 3817 Luker Road,

Cortland, New York 13045, telephone (607) 753-9334.

Author: The primary author of this notice is Ms. Kathryn Jahn, New

York Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 3817 Luker Road,

Cortland, NY 13045.

Authority: The authority for this action is the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as

amended (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C.

Dated: October 28, 1999.

M.A. Parker,

Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 99-28987 Filed 11-12-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-55-M