Folsom Dam Safety and Flood Damage Reduction (DS/FDR) Action-Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer Counties, CA, 14611-14612 [E7-5559]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Reclamation Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14611-14612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5559]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[FES-07-10]


Folsom Dam Safety and Flood Damage Reduction (DS/FDR) Action--
Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the lead Federal 
agency; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), a cooperating Federal 
agency; the Reclamation Board, the lead State agency; and the 
Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), the local sponsor, have 
prepared a Final EIS/EIR for the Folsom DS/FDR Action. The Folsom DS/
FDR proposed action includes features that address Reclamation's DS 
objectives and the Corps' FDR objectives jointly as well as features or 
increments that exclusively address DS, security, or FDR objectives and 
would be constructed by the respective agencies. The Final EIS/EIR 
contains responses to comments received on the Draft EIS/EIR.
    The Corps intends to adopt the Final EIS/EIR to satisfy the 
requirements of National Environmental Policy Act for the Joint Federal 
Project (JFP) component and other FDR features as appropriate. The 
Corps has prepared a Post Authorization Change (PAC) Report which 
documents recommended changes to the authorized Folsom Modifications 
and Folsom Dam Raise projects.
    A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS/EIR was published in the 
Federal Register on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 (71 FR 68837). The 
public review period on the Draft EIS/EIR ended on January 22, 2006. 
The public review period was extended via a press release to January 
26, 2007.

DATES: Any written comments on the Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR should 
be submitted on or before Monday, April 30, 2007, to Mr. Shawn Oliver 
or Mrs. Becky Victorine at the addresses below. The State Reclamation 
Board will complete a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 
Findings on the Final EIS/EIR within 30 days of the document's release. 
No Federal decision will be made on the proposed action until 30 days 
after the release of the Final EIS/EIR. After this 30-day waiting 
period, Reclamation and the Corps will complete their respective 
Records of Decision (RODs) for the JFP, DS, and FDR objectives. The 
RODs and CEQA Findings will identify the recommended action to be 
implemented including any measures found necessary to avoid, reduce, or 
mitigate any significant adverse project effects.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR to 
Mr. Shawn Oliver, Bureau of Reclamation, 7794 Folsom Dam Road, Folsom, 
CA 95630 (e-mail: soliver@mp.usbr.gov) and Mrs. Becky Victorine, U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, 1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, or e-
mail: rebecca.a.victorine@usace.army.mil. Send requests for a compact 
disk or a bound copy of the Final EIS/EIR to Ms. Rosemary Stefani, 
Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, 
telephone: (916) 978-5309, or e-mail: rstefani@mp.usbr.gov. The Folsom 
DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR will also be available on the Web at: https://
www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=1808
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where the 
Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR is available for public review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Shawn Oliver, Bureau of 
Reclamation at the above address, or Mrs. Becky Victorine, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Folsom Facility consists of 12 
structures (dams and dikes), which impound the American River forming 
the Folsom Reservoir. Both Reclamation and the Corps share in the 
responsibility of ensuring that the Folsom Facility is maintained and 
operated under their respective agency dam safety regulations and 
guidelines, as defined by Congress. As a part of their 
responsibilities, Reclamation and the Corps have determined that the 
Folsom Facility requires structural improvements to increase overall 
public safety above existing conditions by improving the facilities' 
ability to reduce flood damages and address dam safety issues posed by 
hydrologic (flood), seismic (earthquake), and static (seepage) events. 
While these events have a low probability of occurrence in a given 
year, due to the large population downstream of Folsom Dam, modifying 
the facilities is prudent and required to improve public safety above 
current baseline conditions.
    The Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR discusses the project background, 
purpose and need, project description, and related projects. Responses 
to all comments received from interested organizations and individuals 
on the Draft EIS/EIR during the public review period and at the public 
hearing are addressed in the Final EIS/EIR. The Final EIS/EIR addresses 
the impacts of project construction on aquatic resources, terrestrial 
vegetation and wildlife, hydrology, water quality, groundwater, water 
supply, hydropower resources, socioeconomics, soils, minerals, 
geological resources, visual resources, agricultural resources, 
transportation and circulation, noise, cultural resources, land use, 
planning and zoning, recreation resources, public services and 
utilities, air quality, population and housing, public health and 
safety, environmental justice, and Indian trust assets. There is the 
potential for significant impacts to air quality, water quality, soils, 
visual resources, noise, transportation, terrestrial vegetation and 
wildlife, cultural resources, socioeconomics, and recreation including 
utilizing recreation areas for staging and construction purposes, re-
routing recreation trails, and potential excavation of borrow material 
at Beal's Point, Folsom Point, and Mooney Ridge.
    The Folsom DS/FDR proposed action considered by the lead agencies 
is the alternative that includes:
     Joint Federal Project (JFP) auxiliary spillway with a six 
submerged tainter gate control structure and concrete-lined chute, 
stilling basin, and approach channel;
     Potential 3.5-foot parapet concrete wall raise and 
replacement of three emergency spillway gates for FDR;
     DS features including jet grouting the foundation of 
Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam (MIAD) for seismic stability; toe drains 
and full-height filters at the Left and Right Wing Dams,

[[Page 14612]]

MIAD, Dikes 4, 5, and 6 to address static risks; and security upgrades 
at Folsom Dam and Appurtenant Structures (the Folsom Facility).
    The Folsom Reservoir currently provides water supply, flood 
control, hydropower, fish and wildlife, and recreational benefits. The 
proposed action will not change operations relative to water supply, 
flood control, hydropower, and fish and wildlife benefits, but will 
result in temporary disruptions of recreational activities at and near 
construction and staging sites.

Availability of Copies of Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR

    Copies of the Folsom DS/FDR Final EIS/EIR are available for public 
review at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO 80225.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office 
Library, 2800 Cottage Way, W-1825, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898.
     El Dorado County Library, 345 Fair Lane, Placerville, CA 
95667-5699.
     Folsom Public Library, 300 Persifer Street, Folsom, CA 
95630.
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001.
     Roseville Public Library, 311 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA 
95678.
     Sacramento Central Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 
95814-2589.

Additional Information

    Correspondence received in response to this notice will become part 
of the administrative record and is subject to public inspection. Our 
practice is to make correspondence including names, home addresses, 
home phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, available for 
public review. Individuals may request that we withhold their names 
and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider withholding 
this information, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your correspondence. In addition, you must present a rationale for 
withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that 
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. 
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of 
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be 
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: March 13, 2007.
Kirk C. Rodgers,
Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E7-5559 Filed 3-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P