Department of Energy May 27, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BPA intends to prepare an EIS on its decision whether to fund the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho (Tribes) proposal to construct and operate a hatchery for spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Salmon River subbasin and Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the Upper Snake River subbasin on Fort Hall Reservation. The Tribes' proposed project that BPA is considering funding would involve construction of a hatchery and construction of two fish trapping (weir) facilities on US Forest Service (USFS) land. The hatchery would be constructed at the site of an obsolete trout hatchery owned by BPA on Crystal Springs in Bingham County, Idaho. The weirs would involve construction of a weir in the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River at the USFS Pole Flat Campground in Custer County, relocation of a section of Yankee Fork Road and associated facilities (RV pads), and construction of a weir on USFS land in Panther Creek in Lemhi County, Idaho. The USFS will be a cooperating agency on this EIS to inform their decision on whether to grant a special use permit for construction and operation of the two weirs and associated facilities and relocation of the road on forest service lands. Operations of the hatchery would include collection of adult spring/summer Chinook for broodstock from existing hatcheries, incubation and rearing of juvenile Chinook, and release of smolts into the Yankee Fork and Panther Creek. Over time, broodstock would be collected at the Yankee Fork and Panther Creek weirs. Chinook were extirpated from Panther Creek in the mid-1900s. In 1992, Chinook salmon native to Yankee Fork were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); currently the population is classified at high risk of extinction and has been identified as an independent population of Snake River spring/ summer Chinook salmon. The proposal would augment anadromous fish populations available for harvest and aid in establishing a naturally spawning Chinook population. The hatchery would also produce up to 5,000 resident Yellowstone cutthroat trout for release in an isolated oxbow lake within the Fort Hall Reservation permit fishing area in the upper Snake River subbasin. Biologists would monitor Chinook salmon in Yankee Fork and Panther Creek and Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the oxbow lake to inform decisions on hatchery operations. With this Notice of Intent, BPA is initiating the public scoping process for the EIS. BPA and the USFS are requesting comments about potential environmental impacts that should be considered as an EIS is prepared. In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review requirements, BPA will prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within any affected floodplains and wetlands. The assessment will be included in the EIS.