[Federal Register: November 30, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 229)] [Notices] [Page 66928-66929] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30no99-110] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service Extension of the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Acquisition Boundary AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice and availability of the Record of Decision. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that we have adopted the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) adopting the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River Final Enviornmental Impact Statement for Comprehensive River Conservation Study, prepared a Record of Decision (ROD) based on the FEIS, and are making it available to the public. We have expanded an approved refuge acquisition boundary around the portions of the Hanford Site (the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge and the land known as the Wahluke State Wildlife Recreation Area) approximately 90,000 acres that are north and east of the Columbia River, to enable us to manage the land as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). Region 1 will be implementing the new approved acquisition boundary by adding most of the area within the boundary to Saddle Mountain Refuge in the near future. To ensure that the decision is in concert with Department of Energy (DOE) land-use policy, we also adopted the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) EIS. The HCP EIS and ROD provide DOE policies and procedures to guide development at the Hanford Site for 50 years or more. DATES: We issued the Record of Decision on November 5, 1999. ADDRESSES: Public reading copies of the ROD and the FEIS are available at the following libraries: Hanford Technical Library, Richland, Washington; Kennewick City Library, Kennewick, Washington; Mid-Columbia Regional Library, Kennewick, Washington; Othello City Library, Othello, Washington; Pasco Public Library, Pasco, Washington; Portland City Library, Portland, Oregon; Prosser City Library, Prosser, Washington; Richland City Library, Richland, Washington; Seattle City Library, Seattle, Washington; Vancouver City Library, Vancouver, Washington. Copies of the ROD are available from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Division of Refuge Planning, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland Oregon, 97232-4181, phone number (503) 231-2231. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Badgley, Regional Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland Oregon, 97232-4181, phone number (503) 231-6118. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Law 100-605 required the Secretary of the Interior to prepare, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, a report for Congress evaluating the outstanding features of the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River and its immediate environment (including fish, wildlife, geologic, scenic, recreational, historical, cultural and other natural values) and to examine alternatives for preserving those values. The alternatives considered were to include, but not be limited to, inclusion of the Hanford Reach in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Secretary selected the National Park Service (NPS) to lead the study. The NPS prepared the Environmental Impact Statement in compliance with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (40 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) and pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Section 1505.2) and the implementing procedures of the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. We were a cooperating agency in the NEPA process under Interagency Agreement Number IA9000-0-0007 with the NPS, and pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.6. As a cooperating agency, FWS actively participated in the preparation of the Draft and Final EIS's and independently reviewed each document. In July of 1994, the NPS released the Final Hanford Reach of the Columbia River Comprehensive River Conservation Study and Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), followed by the Secretary's Record of Decision recommending that Congress establish a National Wildlife Refuge on the North Slope, and a Wild and Scenic River on the Hanford Reach. The Wild and Scenic River designation was recommended from river mile 346.5 to river mile 396, including a one-quarter mile wide corridor on both river banks. The Secretary selected the proposed action from the FEIS. We adopted the FEIS to administratively establish an approved refuge acquisition boundary over the area known as the North Slope. The North Slope is comprised of the Saddle Mountain Refuge and the Wahluke Wildlife Recreation Area. This boundary provides our Region 1 with authority to acquire land and manage it as part of the NWRS. We may acquire lands through [[Page 66929]] direct land transfer from another Federal agency, fee acquisition, conservation easement, withdrawal, or cooperative agreement. The FEIS complies with NEPA and meets our regulatory requirements for making a decision (341 FW 2). Since the 1994 FEIS, no significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns bearing on this decision or its impacts have occurred. In the interim, we have added four species that may occur in the study area to the Federal list of threatened and endangered species. The FWS Record of Decision will benefit these species in a manner substantially similar to the 1994 FEIS proposed action. We incorporate by reference and adopt a second EIS, the 1999 HCP EIS, prepared by the DOE with the Service participating as a cooperating agency. The DOE's Preferred Alternative includes increasing recreational access to the Columbia River and expanding the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge to include all of the Wahluke Slope, the McGee Ranch and Riverlands, and the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) is the template that the DOE will use to define the range of management options on Refuge lands at the Hanford Site, including the potential for future Refuge additions. The DOE's decision anticipates multiple uses of the Hanford Site, including future DOE missions, non-DOE Federal missions, and other public and private-sector land uses. Our jurisdiction with regard to DOE-administered Hanford land will be secondary to the DOE jurisdiction because of DOE's contaminants cleanup responsibilities, and because the known inventory of contaminated areas may not be complete. A vast majority of the North Slope is unaffected by past activities, and we will manage these lands as part of the NWRS. Management, as part of the NWRS, will occur under a permit with DOE and be secondary to DOE's jurisdiction. We will provide DOE with technical assistance on areas where DOE is conducting cleanup activities. We provide technical assistance under agreements with other agencies that need our wildlife, fish, or plant habitat management advice expertise. Areas for which we provide technical assistance are not part of the NWRS. Dated: November 24, 1999. Jamie Rappaport, Clark, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [FR Doc. 99-31105 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-55-P