Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period for Environmental Assessment and Application for an Incidental Take Permit by the City of Seattle, King County, Washington

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[I.D. 122898D]

Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period for Environmental

Assessment and Application for an Incidental Take Permit by the City of

Seattle, King County, Washington

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

Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),

Interior.

ACTION: Extension of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS and FWS (the Services) are extending the public comment

period for an Environmental Assessment, a proposed Habitat Conservation

Plan, and an Implementation Agreement. These documents relate to an

application for an Incidental Take Permit, pursuant to the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended. The applicant is the City of Seattle,

and the application pertains to water withdrawal and forest-related

management activities in the Cedar River Watershed, in King County,

Washington. The availability of these documents was announced in two

previous Federal Register documents (December 11, 1998 and January 5,

1999), which stated that comments would be accepted through February 9,

1999. The purpose of this document is to announce the extension of the

comment period to March 1, 1999.

DATES: Written comments on the permit application, Environmental

Assessment, Habitat Conservation Plan, and Implementation Agreement

must be postmarked by March 1, 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 for

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

libraries and at four libraries on the University of Washington main

campus, 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.

Requests for information on the draft Habitat Conservation Plan should

be directed to Jim Erckmann, Project Manager. Requests for information

on the draft Environmental Assessment 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). Comments and

materials received will also be available for public inspection, by

appointment, during normal business hours by calling 206/233-1512.

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 Habitat Conservation Plan, Implementation Agreement, and the

Environmental Assessment are also available for inspection at the

preceding Service office addresses.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For background information about this permit

application refer to the previously published Federal Register

documents (63 FR 68468, December 11, 1998; and 64 FR 480, January 5,

1999).

The environmental review of this project will be conducted in

accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), National

Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508),

other appropriate Federal laws and regulations, and policies and

procedures of the Services for compliance with those regulations.

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

Species Act of 1973, as amended, and the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, as amended.

Dated: February 4, 1999.

David Wesley,

Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Portland,

Oregon.

Dated: February 4, 1999.

Kevin Collins,

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-3243 Filed 2-9-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F, 4310-55-F