Fish and Wildlife Service December 19, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) announce that the final environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the South Bay Salt Pond (SBSP) Restoration Project is available for distribution. The final EIS/EIR, which we prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), describes the restoration plan (plan) for 15,100 acres (ac) (6,111 hectares (ha)) of former commercial salt ponds in south San Francisco Bay. The SBSP Restoration Project would use a combination of restored tidal marsh, managed ponds, flood control measures and public access features to meet the three goals of the plan: to restore wildlife habitat, to provide flood protection, and to provide wildlife-oriented public access. The ponds are located at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and at the Eden Landing State Ecological Reserve. The FEIS/EIR includes program-level evaluation of the SBSP long- term alternatives as well as project-level analysis of the first phase of restoration (the Phase 1 actions). We and the CDFG jointly have prepared the final EIS/EIR to analyze the impacts of the SBSP. The final EIS/EIR presents a limited evaluation of the potential impacts associated with the list of possible South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Study (Shoreline Study) actions. In the draft EIS/EIR, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) was identified as the co-lead agency for NEPA compliance. However, this caused confusion as to the exact nature of the relationship of the Shoreline Study to the EIS/EIR for the SPSP Restoration Project. To eliminate this confusion, the Corps is no longer a co-lead agency on the SBSP Restoration project EIS/EIR. The Corps will remain a cooperating agency because they will use the final EIS/EIR to issue Clean Water Act 404 permits for the SBSP Restoration Project. The Corps will separately complete the Shoreline Study. The Shoreline Study area includes the SBSP Restoration Project area as well as shoreline and floodplain areas in the counties of Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are designating revised final critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica californica) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 197,303 acres (ac) (79,846 hectares (ha)) of habitat in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties, California, are being designated as critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher. This revised final designation constitutes a reduction of 298,492 ac (120,795 ha) from the 2003 revised proposed rule. We are continuing our review of whether the current listing of the coastal California gnatcatcher as a subspecies should be retained or changed, as discussed in the 2003 proposed rule to revise critical habitat, and we will publish our determination separately at a later date.