Proposed Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit to Energy Northwest for Construction and Operation of the Radar Ridge Wind Project LLC, 30057-30059 [2010-12906]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 103 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30057-30059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12906]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R1-ES-2010-N098; 80221-1112-0000-F2]


Proposed Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit to Energy 
Northwest for Construction and Operation of the Radar Ridge Wind 
Project LLC

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct 30-day public scoping period and 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), intend to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regarding an application from Radar 
Ridge LLC for an incidental take permit for take of the threatened 
marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in accordance with the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Radar Ridge LLC is 
proposing to construct and operate the Radar Ridge Wind Project near 
Naselle, Washington.

[[Page 30058]]

The project would consist of up to 32 wind turbines with a generating 
capacity of 82 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Power generated by the 
wind turbines would be transmitted to the existing Bonneville Power 
Administration substation at Naselle, Washington. We are furnishing 
this notice to announce the initiation of a 30-day public scoping 
period, during which we invite other agencies, and the public, to 
provide comments on the range of alternatives and scope of issues to be 
included in the EIS.

DATES: Comments: To ensure consideration, please submit your comments 
by June 28, 2010.

Public Meeting Dates and Locations

    1. Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 7-9 p.m. at the USFWS office at 510 
Desmond Dr., Lacey, WA 98503.
    2. Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 7-9 p.m. at Naselle High School, 793 
State Route 4, Naselle, WA 98638.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
    1. U.S. mail or hand delivery to: Mr. Mark Ostwald, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, 510 Desmond 
Drive, SE., Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503-1263; or
    2. E-mail to: radarridgewindproject@fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mark Ostwald, at (360) 753-9564, 
e-mail at Mark_Ostwald@fws.gov, or on the Internet at https://www.fws.gov/wafwo.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 10(a)(2)(A) of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), Radar Ridge LLC is preparing a habitat conservation plan in 
support of an application for a permit from the USFWS to incidentally 
take the marbled murrelet in conjunction with the construction, 
operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the Radar Ridge Wind 
Project. The marbled murrelet is listed as threatened under the Act. 
The USFWS has determined that an EIS should be prepared under NEPA as 
part of the USFWS consideration of the permit application. The USFWS 
will be the lead agency (40 CFR 1501.5) for preparation of the EIS. The 
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is a cooperating agency (40 CFR 
1501.6) in the NEPA process. The EIS will analyze the impacts of both 
agencies' proposed actions: USFWS's issuance of an incidental take 
permit, and BPA's approval of an interconnection to its transmission 
facilities.

Background

    Radar Ridge LLC is requesting an incidental take permit for a 
period of 40 years to authorize incidental take of marbled murrelets in 
conjunction with the construction, operation, maintenance, and 
decommissioning of the Radar Ridge Wind Project.
    The project is proposed in a rural, forested area approximately 10 
miles north of the Columbia River and 12 miles east of the Pacific 
Ocean. The small community of Naselle, Washington, is approximately 3 
miles south of the project. Radar Ridge ranges in elevation from 
approximately less than 1,000 feet to 1,900 feet. Some of the ridge has 
gravel roads that are used for logging or assessing the existing 
communication facility at the south end of the ridge. The ridge also 
contains an operating gravel quarry used by the Washington State 
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) as a source of gravel for its 
roads. The forests on the ridge within the project area are generally 
second growth conifer forests, mostly younger than 60 years old.
    Construction for the project will require forest clearing, upgrade 
of existing roads, construction of new roads, a new project substation 
on the ridge, and a new overhead transmission line (adjacent to an 
existing BPA power-line) from the project substation to an existing BPA 
substation in Naselle, Washington. Within the project area, up to 32 
wind turbines would be located in a single row along the approximately 
4.35-mile ridge-top. The project footprint is approximately 500 feet 
wide by 4.35 miles long on the top of the ridge. The wind turbines will 
be set on towers up to 265 feet tall with a possible rotor diameter 
ranging from 254 to 333 feet. Using the largest diameter rotor, the 
maximum total wind turbine height from tower base to blade tip would be 
430 feet. The project might also include one permanent freestanding (no 
guy wires) meteorological tower with a height equivalent to the wind 
turbine tower/hub height.
    The Radar Ridge Wind Project is planned on forest lands owned and 
managed by the WDNR in Pacific County, southwest Washington. These 
lands are currently included in the 1997 WDNR Forest Practices Habitat 
Conservation Plan (HCP), which covers 1.8 million acres of forest land. 
The marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis), and 
several other listed species are covered by the WDNR HCP. The WDNR HCP 
provides the WDNR with incidental take coverage for forest management 
activities and some non-timber activities. Wind energy is not a covered 
activity of the WDNR HCP. Consequently, Radar Ridge LLC is developing a 
separate HCP to address incidental take of marbled murrelets that could 
result from the Radar Ridge Wind Project.
    Radar Ridge Wind Project LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy 
Northwest, has received a 40-year conditional lease for the project 
from the WDNR that covers approximately 3,360 acres. It is the WDNR's 
opinion that it has the unilateral right to terminate the lease if, in 
the State's opinion, the proposed activity poses too large a risk and 
could jeopardize its continued operation of the Forest Practices HCP, 
Incidental Take Permit and Implementation Agreement with the USFWS and 
the National Marine Fisheries Service.
    Radar Ridge Wind Project LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy 
Northwest, has received a 40-year conditional lease for the project 
from the WDNR that covers approximately 3,360 acres. It is the WDNR's 
opinion that it has the unilateral right to terminate the lease if, in 
the State's opinion, the proposed activity poses too large a risk and 
could jeopardize its continued operation of the Forest Practices HCP, 
Incidental Take Permit and Implementation Agreement with the USFWS and 
the National Marine Fisheries Service.
    The WDNR Forest Practices HCP and Incidental Take Permit provides 
incidental take coverage for the marbled murrelet for the WDNR. When 
the WDNR HCP was written in 1997, there was not sufficient information 
available on the conservation needs of the marbled murrelet on WDNR 
lands. For that reason the WDNR developed an interim HCP strategy for 
this species. The interim conservation strategy required the DNR to do 
a habitat relationship study and locate marbled murrelet occupied sites 
on their lands (HCP, page IV. 39). Once the necessary steps of the 
interim strategy were completed, the WDNR would transition to a long-
term marbled murrelet conservation strategy (HCP, page IV. 40).
    The WDNR HCP states that the long-term conservation strategy would 
``result in a comprehensive, detailed landscape-level plan that would 
help meet the recovery objectives of the USFWS, contribute to the 
conservation efforts of the President's Northwest Forest Plan, and make 
a significant contribution to maintaining and protecting marbled 
murrelet populations in western Washington over the life of the HCP.'' 
The WDNR has completed the interim strategy for southwest Washington 
and the Olympic Peninsula and is now

[[Page 30059]]

required to develop a long-term conservation strategy to be consistent 
with their HCP.
    To help develop a scientifically credible long-term marbled 
murrelet conservation strategy, the WDNR convened a science team to 
develop murrelet conservation recommendations for WDNR lands in 
southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. This team published 
their findings in 2008 as a report entitled Recommendations and 
Supporting Analysis of Conservation Opportunities for the Marbled 
Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy. This report rated the 13,748-
acre Nemah Block as the most important WDNR landscape in southwest 
Washington for marbled murrelet conservation. The proposed wind project 
would be located on Radar Ridge, which is within the Nemah block. To 
date, the WDNR has not completed its final long-term conservation 
strategy for the marbled murrelet.
    To our knowledge, there is no forest on the ridge-top within the 
project footprint that resembles mature or old growth forest that might 
provide nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet. However, through the 
use of radar surveys, Radar Ridge LLC has documented the presence of 
marbled murrelets flying over the ridge, primarily above proposed wind 
turbine heights, both during the summer breeding season and during the 
winter. There are 89 murrelet-occupied nest sites within 30 miles of 
the project area and the northwest end of the project is within 
approximately 1,800 feet of the South Nemah Natural Resources 
Conservation Area, the highest known marbled murrelet nesting use site 
in Washington. While the project footprint does not appear to have any 
suitable nesting habitat for the species, marbled murrelets have been 
documented flying over the project location, likely commuting to and 
from nest sites. Some of these birds would be at risk of collision with 
the wind project.

Environmental Impact Statement

    We will conduct an environmental review of the permit application, 
including the HCP. We will prepare an EIS in accordance with NEPA 
requirements, as amended (40 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and NEPA 
implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), and in accordance with 
other Federal laws and regulations, and the policies and procedures of 
the USFWS for compliance with those regulations.
    We request data, comments, new information, or suggestions from the 
public, other concerned governmental agencies, the scientific 
community, Tribes, industry, or any other interested party on this 
notice. We will consider all comments we receive in complying with the 
requirements of NEPA and in the development of the HCP and ITP. We 
particularly seek comments concerning:
    (1) The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects that 
implementation of any reasonable alternative could have on endangered 
and threatened species;
    (2) Other reasonable alternatives, and their associated effects;
    (3) Measures that would minimize and mitigate potentially adverse 
effects of the proposed project;
    (4) Baseline environmental conditions in and adjacent to the 
project;
    (5) Biological information regarding the marbled murrelet;
    (6) Monitoring and adaptive management that might be relevant to 
the project;
    (7) Other plans or projects that might be relevant to this project;
    (8) Pertinent information concerning wind energy and wildlife 
response; and
    (9) Pertinent information concerning wind energy and its 
relationship to the human environment.
    The EIS will analyze the effects that the various alternatives 
would have on the marbled murrelet as well as all other aspects of the 
human environment, including but not limited to geology and soils, land 
use, air quality, water quality, wetlands, socioeconomics, recreation, 
cultural resources, noise, visual resources, climate change, and 
cumulative impacts from the proposed action. A notice of availability 
is expected to be published in the Federal Register in early 2011 and 
the DEIS will be circulated for public review and comment. The USFWS 
will consider and respond to comments received on the draft EIS in the 
final EIS. The final EIS is expected to be published sometime later in 
2011. The USFWS and BPA will each document their decision in a Record 
of Decision following completion of the final EIS.

Reasonable Accommodation

    Persons needing reasonable accommodations to attend and participate 
in public meetings should contact Mark Ostwald (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT) as soon as possible. To allow sufficient time to 
process requests, please call no later than one week before the public 
meeting. Information regarding this proposed action is available in 
alternative formats upon request.

    Dated: May 10, 2010.
Carolyn A. Bohan,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, 
Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. 2010-12906 Filed 5-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P