81 FR 72817 - Otay River Estuary Restoration Project, South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California; Draft Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 204 (October 21, 2016)

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed project to restore coastal wetlands at the south end of San Diego Bay. The Otay River Estuary Restoration Project (ORERP) is located within the South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge or NWR), in San Diego County, California. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is participating in the process as a cooperating agency. This notice advises the public that the draft EIS is available for public review and comment. The draft EIS, which we prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), describes the alternatives identified to restore two portions of the South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego Bay NWR to coastal wetlands to benefit native fish, wildlife, and plant species.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72817-72819]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25490]



[[Page 72817]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-R-2016-N117; FF08RSDC00-167-F1611MD-FXRS12610800000]


Otay River Estuary Restoration Project, South San Diego Bay Unit 
of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California; Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability, request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a 
proposed project to restore coastal wetlands at the south end of San 
Diego Bay. The Otay River Estuary Restoration Project (ORERP) is 
located within the South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego Bay 
National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge or NWR), in San Diego County, 
California. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is participating in the 
process as a cooperating agency. This notice advises the public that 
the draft EIS is available for public review and comment. The draft 
EIS, which we prepared in accordance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), describes the alternatives identified to 
restore two portions of the South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego 
Bay NWR to coastal wetlands to benefit native fish, wildlife, and plant 
species.

DATES: We will accept comments received or postmarked on or before 
December 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Document Availability: You may obtain copies of the 
documents in the following places:
     Internet: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/San_Diego_Bay/what_we_do/Resource_Management/Otay_Restoration.html.
     In Person:
    [cir] San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex Headquarters, 
1080 Gunpowder Point Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910; telephone: 619-476-
9150, extension 103.
    [cir] Chula Vista Public Library, Civic Center Branch, 365 F 
Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910; telephone: 619-691-5069.
    [cir] San Diego County Library, Imperial Beach Branch Library, 847 
Encina Avenue (temporary location), Imperial Beach, CA 91932; 
telephone: 619-424-6981.
    [cir] Chula Vista Public Library, South Chula Vista Branch, 389 
Orange Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911; telephone: 619-585-5755.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by one of the 
following methods:
    Email: [email protected]. Include ``Otay Estuary EIS'' in the 
subject line of the message.
    Fax: Attn: Brian Collins, 619-476-9149.
    U.S. mail: Brian Collins, USFWS, San Diego National Wildlife Refuge 
Complex, P.O. Box 2358, Chula Vista, CA 91912.
    In-Person Drop-off: You may drop off comments at the San Diego 
National Wildlife Refuge Complex Headquarters between 9 a.m. and 4 
p.m.; please call 619-476-9150, extension 103, for directions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Collins, Refuge Manager, San 
Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge at 619-575-2704, extension 302 
(telephone) or [email protected] (email); or Andy Yuen, Project 
Leader, 619-476-9150, extension 100 (telephone), or [email protected] 
(email). For any issues specific to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
please send comments by one of the methods described in ADDRESSES, as 
the agencies will coordinate comment review.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Project Location

    The proposed action site is located at the south end of San Diego 
Bay, San Diego County, California, within the South San Diego Bay Unit 
of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Restoration activities 
will occur at two separate locations within the Refuge: the Otay River 
Floodplain Site and the Pond 15 Site. Specifically, the approximately 
33.5-acre Otay River Floodplain Site is located west of Interstate 5 
(I-5) between Main Street to the north and Palm Avenue to the south in 
San Diego. The Pond 15 Site consists of an approximately 90.9-acre 
solar salt pond located in the northeast portion of the Refuge, to the 
northwest of the intersection of Bay Boulevard and Palomar Street in 
Chula Vista.
    The DEIS, which we prepared in accordance with the NEPA, describes 
and analyzes the alternatives identified for the Otay River Estuary 
Restoration Project. In addition to our publication of this notice, the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing a notice 
announcing the draft EIS, as required under section 309 of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA) (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). The publication date of EPA's 
notice of availability is the start of the public comment period for 
the draft EIS. Under the CAA, EPA also must subsequently announce the 
final EIS via the Federal Register.

EPA's Role in the EIS Process

    The EPA is charged, under section 309 of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7401 et 
seq.), to review all Federal agencies' environmental impact statements 
(EISs) and to comment on the adequacy and the acceptability of the 
environmental impacts of proposed actions in the EISs.
    EPA also serves as the repository (EIS database) for EISs prepared 
by Federal agencies and provides notice of their availability in the 
Federal Register. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Database 
provides information about EISs prepared by Federal agencies, as well 
as EPA's comments concerning the EISs. All EISs are filed with EPA, 
which publishes a notice of availability on Fridays in the Federal 
Register.
    The notice of availability is the start of the public comment 
period for draft EISs, and the start of the 30-day ``wait period'' for 
final EISs, during which agencies are generally required to wait 30 
days before making a decision on a proposed action. For more 
information, see https://www.epa.gov/nepa. You may search for EPA 
comments on EISs, along with EISs themselves, at https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-public/action/eis/search.

Background

    In 2006, we completed a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and 
EIS/Record of Decision (ROD) to guide the management of the San Diego 
Bay NWR over a 15-year period (71 FR 64552, November 2, 2006). The 
wildlife and habitat management goal of the selected management 
alternative in the CCP for the South San Diego Bay Unit is to 
``Protect, manage, enhance, and restore . . . coastal wetlands . . . to 
benefit the native fish, wildlife, and plant species supported within 
the South San Diego Bay Unit.'' One of the strategies identified to 
meet this goal is to restore native habitats in the Otay River 
floodplain and the salt ponds. The proposed restoration project 
represents step-down restoration planning for the western portion of 
the Otay River floodplain and one of the salt ponds within the Refuge's 
solar salt pond complex. This site-specific EIS tiers from the 
programmatic EIS and ROD prepared for the CCP. Funding for the proposed 
restoration is being provided by the Poseidon Resources Carlsbad 
Desalination Project (Poseidon) to fulfill part of their mitigation 
requirement for the construction of a desalination plant in Carlsbad, 
California.

[[Page 72818]]

    On November 15, 2007, the California Coastal Commission 
(Commission) approved a coastal development permit (CDP No. E-06-013) 
for Poseidon's proposal to construct and operate a desalination 
facility in Carlsbad. As part of that approval, the Commission required 
Poseidon, through special condition 8, to submit for additional 
Commission review and approval a marine life mitigation plan (MLMP) to 
address the impacts to be caused by the facility's use of estuarine 
water and its entrainment of marine organisms. The MLMP was 
conditionally approved by the Commission on August 6, 2008 (CCC 2008). 
With the incorporation of the Commission's revisions, the MLMP was 
finalized on November 21, 2008. The MLMP requires that Poseidon submit 
a proposed mitigation site and preliminary restoration plan that 
achieves the following mitigation requirements:
     Create or substantially restore tidal wetland habitat, 
preferably in the San Diego Region,
     Provide at least 66.4 acres of mitigation at a maximum of 
two sites,
     The chosen site must be available and protected against 
future degradation, and
     Fish productivity must be at least 1,717.5 kg/year.
    On September 29, 2010, the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge 
Complex and Poseidon Resources entered into a memorandum of 
understanding (MOU) to establish a partnership to facilitate the 
restoration of property within the San Diego Bay Refuge, consistent 
with the CCP and Poseidon's Commission permit requirements.

Alternatives

    We analyzed three alternatives in the draft EIS:

Alternative A: No Action Alternative

    Under the No Action Alternative, the disturbed areas within the 
Otay River Floodplain Site would not be restored or enhanced to coastal 
wetlands to benefit native species, and the Pond 15 Site would not be 
restored to tidally influenced subtidal and intertidal habitat. Under 
this alternative, Pond 15 would remain part of an existing commercial 
solar salt operation, and periodic maintenance would continue to occur 
on the Otay River Floodplain Site in conjunction with ongoing 
management of the Refuge.

Alternative B: Intertidal Alternative (Proposed Action)

    The Intertidal Alternative, Alternative B, is the proposed action. 
The proposed action would involve lowering the elevation and contouring 
the Otay River Floodplain Site to create approximately 29.7 acres of 
tidally influenced habitat consisting of approximately 5.1 acres of 
intertidal mudflat, 24.6 acres of intertidal salt marsh habitat through 
altering elevations on the site, and 0.05 acres of upland transitional 
habitat. The proposed action would also involve raising the elevation 
and contouring the Pond 15 Site to create approximately 10.3 acres of 
subtidal channel, 18.5 acres of intertidal mudflat, 55.8 acres of 
intertidal salt marsh habitat, and 0.37 acres of upland transitional 
habitat. Both sites would be planted with a mix of native wetland 
vegetation that would mature into low marsh, mid marsh, and high marsh 
vegetative communities. The intertidal areas and the unvegetated 
mudflat would provide foraging habitat for adult and juvenile fish, 
which form the basis of the food chain that would benefit larger fish, 
birds, and other species on and off the site.
    Implementation of the proposed action would involve the excavation 
of approximately 320,000 cubic yards of material from the Otay River 
Site and the transport of 258,000 cubic yards of this material to the 
Pond 15 Site for use in creating tidal elevations that would support 
the desired intertidal habitats.
    The combination of the wetlands created at the Otay River 
Floodplain Site and Pond 15 Site under the proposed action would 
provide sufficient mitigation credit to meet the MLMP requirements.

Alternative C: Subtidal Alternative

    Alternative C, the Subtidal Alternative, would involve lowering the 
Otay River Floodplain Site to an elevation lower than that proposed 
under Alternative B (proposed action) to create a subtidal channel 
within the Otay River Floodplain Site. Under the Subtidal Alternative, 
the subtidal zone would be surrounded by mudflats and increasing 
elevation of salt marsh. Specifically, the Subtidal Alternative would 
involve lowering the elevation and contouring the Otay River Floodplain 
Site to create approximately 4.5 acres of subtidal channel, 
approximately 6.4 acres of intertidal mudflat, 18.5 acres of intertidal 
salt marsh mudflat, and 0.13 acres of upland transitional habitat. The 
Subtidal Alternative would also involve raising the elevation and 
contouring the Pond 15 Site to create tidally influenced habitat that 
would be similar to that proposed under Alternative B, or approximately 
10.2 acres of subtidal channel, 18.3 acres of intertidal mudflat, 54.6 
acres of intertidal salt marsh, and 0.64 of upland transitional 
habitat. Both sites would be planted with a mix of native wetland 
vegetation that would mature into low marsh, mid marsh, and high marsh 
vegetative communities. The subtidal areas would provide fish spawning 
and foraging habitat, and the unvegetated mudflat would provide 
foraging habitat for adult and juvenile fish during high tides. 
Combined, the subtidal and mudflat areas would provide habitat for the 
basis of the food chain that would benefit larger fish, birds, and 
other species on and off the site.
    Implementation of the Subtidal Alternative would involve the 
excavation of approximately 370,000 cubic yards of material from the 
Otay River Site and the transport of 312,000 cubic yards of this 
material to the Pond 15 Site for use in creating tidal elevations that 
would support the desired intertidal habitats.
    The combination of the wetlands created at the Otay River 
Floodplain Site and Pond 15 Site under the Subtidal Alternative would 
also provide sufficient mitigation credit to meet the MLMP 
requirements.

NEPA Compliance

    We are conducting environmental review in accordance with the 
requirements of NEPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), its 
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), other applicable 
regulations, and our procedures for compliance with those regulations. 
The draft EIS discusses the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of 
the alternatives on biological resources, cultural resources, air 
quality, water quality, traffic circulation, and other environmental 
resources. Measures to minimize adverse environmental effects are 
identified and discussed in the draft EIS.

Public Comments

    We request that you send comments only by one of the methods 
described in ADDRESSES. Written comments we receive become part of the 
public record associated with this action. Before including your 
address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    We will hold one public meeting to solicit comments on the draft 
EIS. We will mail a separate announcement to

[[Page 72819]]

the public with the exact date, time, and location of the public 
meeting. We will also post the time, date, and location of the public 
meeting on our refuge Web site at: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/San_Diego_Bay. We will accept both oral and written comments at the 
public meeting.

Michael Fris,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-25490 Filed 10-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P