81 FR 96485 - Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement, Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 251 (December 30, 2016)

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), in coordination with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS) for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The DWR proposes to implement a strategy to help restore ecological functions of the Delta and improve water supply reliability in the state of California. The Final EIR/EIS describes and analyzes potential environmental impacts of alternatives and identifies mitigation measures to help avoid or minimize impacts. The initial approach focused on a Habitat Conservation Plan, referred to as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), which included modifications to the State Water Project (SWP) and associated Conservation Measures. A new alternative strategy emerged after public input on the Draft EIR/EIS and was further refined in a Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS). This new strategy, the California Waterfix, focuses on a new water conveyance facility, habitat restoration measures necessary to minimize or avoid project effects, and a revised set of Conservation Measures. Endangered Species Act compliance would be achieved through Section 7 consultation.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 251 (Friday, December 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96485-96486]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31735]



[[Page 96485]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR02800000, 17XR0687ND, RX185279142060200]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report/
Final Environmental Impact Statement, Bay Delta Conservation Plan/
California WaterFix

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), in coordination with 
the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), has prepared a 
Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(Final EIR/EIS) for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California WaterFix 
pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The DWR proposes to implement 
a strategy to help restore ecological functions of the Delta and 
improve water supply reliability in the state of California. The Final 
EIR/EIS describes and analyzes potential environmental impacts of 
alternatives and identifies mitigation measures to help avoid or 
minimize impacts. The initial approach focused on a Habitat 
Conservation Plan, referred to as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan 
(BDCP), which included modifications to the State Water Project (SWP) 
and associated Conservation Measures. A new alternative strategy 
emerged after public input on the Draft EIR/EIS and was further refined 
in a Recirculated Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS (RDEIR/SDEIS). This 
new strategy, the California Waterfix, focuses on a new water 
conveyance facility, habitat restoration measures necessary to minimize 
or avoid project effects, and a revised set of Conservation Measures. 
Endangered Species Act compliance would be achieved through Section 7 
consultation.

DATES: No Federal or State decision on the proposed action will be made 
until at least 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes a notice of availability of the Final EIR/EIS. After 
the 30-day period, the U.S. Department of the Interior will sign a 
Record of Decision and DWR will complete a Notice of Decision. The 
Record of Decision will state the actions that will be implemented by 
Reclamation and will discuss factors leading to the decisions.

ADDRESSES: Send requests for the Final EIR/EIS to Brook White, Bureau 
of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, Bay-Delta Office, 801 I Street, 
Suite 140, Sacramento, CA 95814-2536, by calling (916) 414-2402, or 
emailing [email protected].
    To view or download the Final EIR/EIS, or for a list of locations 
to view hard-bound copies, go to www.baydeltaconservationplan.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brook White, Bureau of Reclamation, 
(916) 414-2402, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On January 24, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and 
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to prepare an EIS on the BDCP (73 FR 4178). The NOI was reissued 
on April 15, 2008, to include Reclamation as a co-lead Federal agency, 
update the status of the planning process, and provide revised 
information related to scoping meetings (73 FR 20326). The NOI dated 
April 15, 2008 identified scoping meeting locations and stated that 
written comments would be accepted until May 30, 2008. Additional 
information was later developed to describe the proposed BDCP, and 
subsequent scoping activities were initiated on February 13, 2009, with 
the publication of a revised NOI (74 FR 7257). The NOI identified 
scoping meeting locations and stated that written comments would be 
accepted until May 14, 2009.
    In December 2010, the California Natural Resources Agency provided 
to the public a summary of the BDCP, its status, and a list of 
outstanding issues. In 2011 and 2012, public meetings continued in 
Sacramento, California, to update stakeholders and the public on 
elements of the Draft BDCP and EIR/EIS that were being developed.
    On December 13, 2013, the Draft BDCP and associated Draft EIR/EIS 
were released to the public and a 120-day public comment period was 
opened through notification in the Federal Register (78 FR 75939). This 
notice described the proposed action and a reasonable range of 
alternatives. Twelve more public meetings were held in California in 
early 2014. In response to requests from the public, the comment period 
was extended for an additional 60 days and closed on June 13, 2014 (79 
FR 17135). A Draft Implementing Agreement for the BDCP was also made 
available to the public on May 30, 2014, for a 60-day review and 
comment period, which closed on July 29, 2014. The comment period for 
the Draft EIR/EIS was also extended to the later date. All draft 
documents are available at www.BayDeltaConservationPlan.com.
    As a result of considering comments on the Draft BDCP, Draft EIR/
EIS, and Draft Implementing Agreement, Reclamation and DWR proposed 
three additional conveyance alternatives for analysis in a RDEIR/SDEIS 
released on July 10, 2015 (80 FR 39797). These new alternatives, 2D, 
4A, and 5A, each contain fewer Conservation Measures than the 
alternatives circulated in the Draft EIS/EIR. Each of the new 
alternatives is not structured as a Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural 
Communities Conservation Plan but is structured to achieve compliance 
with the Endangered Species Act through consultation under Section 7 
and with the California Endangered Species Act through the incidental 
take permit process under Section 2081(b) of the California Fish & Game 
Code. On July 10, 2015, the RDEIR/SDEIS was released to the public. 
Comments were due on August 31, 2015.
    The RDEIR/SDEIS described and analyzed project modifications and 
refinement of the resource area analyses, alternatives, and actions. 
Reclamation became the Federal lead agency and NMFS, USFWS, and the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, by virtue of their regulatory review 
requirements, became cooperating agencies for the RDEIR/SDEIS. All 
other entities identified as Cooperating Agencies through prior 
agreements retained their status for the RDEIR/SDEIS.
    DWR identified Alternative 4A (known as the California WaterFix) as 
their proposed project and Reclamation has selected Alternative 4A as 
the National Environmental Policy Act preferred alternative. This 
alternative consists of a water conveyance facility with three intakes, 
habitat restoration measures necessary to minimize or avoid project 
effects, and modified versions of a subset of Conservation Measures 
from the BDCP. Alternative 4A is proposed to make physical and 
operational improvements to the SWP in the Delta necessary to restore 
and protect ecosystem health, water supplies of the SWP and CVP south-
of-Delta, and water quality within a stable regulatory framework, 
consistent with statutory and contractual obligations. For further 
background information, see the December 13, 2013 Federal Register 
notice for the draft EIR/EIS (78 FR 75939).
    The Final EIR/EIS contains responses to all substantive comments 
received on the Draft EIR/EIS and RDEIR/SDEIS, and reflects comments 
and any additional

[[Page 96486]]

information received during the review period.
    DWR's certification of the EIR and final decision-making under the 
CEQA will not occur until at least 30 days after EPA publishes a notice 
of availability of the Final EIR/EIS. This distribution of the Final 
EIR/EIS, including the written proposed responses to comments submitted 
by public agencies, is intended to satisfy the requirement to provide 
these responses to commenting public agencies at least 10 days prior to 
certification, consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15088(b). In 
addition, the end of the Federal Register notice period is intended by 
DWR to close the period by which any person may submit to DWR any 
grounds for noncompliance with CEQA, CA Public Resources Code Section 
21177(a).

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in any correspondence, you 
should be aware that your entire correspondence--including your 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you may ask us in your correspondence to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: December 27, 2016.
Camille Touton,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Water and Science.
[FR Doc. 2016-31735 Filed 12-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P