[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 18 (Thursday, January 27, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1539]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: January 27, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
50 CFR Part 17
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 131
Endangered and Threatened Species; Delta Smelt and Sacramento
Splittail; Water Quality Standards for Sacramento River, San Joaquin
River, and San Francisco Bay and Delta
AGENCIES: Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife
Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rules; notice of public hearings and extension of
public comment periods.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), under section 303 of the Clean Water Act, give
notice that joint public hearings will be held in California for the
revised proposed critical habitat determination for the delta smelt
(Hypomesus transpacificus), the proposed threatened status for the
Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus), and the proposed
water quality standards for surface waters of the Sacramento River, San
Joaquin River, and San Francisco Bay and Delta, California. The comment
periods for the Service's proposed rules for the delta smelt and the
Sacramento splittail will be extended.
DATES: The comment period for the Service's proposals is extended until
March 11, 1994. EPA's closing date for public comments remains March
11, 1994. Four joint public hearings for the three proposals will be
held on the following dates: (1) February 23, 1994, from 1 p.m. to 4
p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Fresno, California; (2) February 24,
1994, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Sacramento,
California; (3) February 25, 1994, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in San
Francisco, California; and (4) February 28, 1994, from 9 a.m. to 12
noon and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Irvine, California.
ADDRESSES: The joint Fish and Wildlife Service and Environmental
Protection Agency public hearings will be held at the following
locations: (1) Holiday Inn Center Plaza, 2233 Ventura Avenue, Fresno,
California; (2) Expo Inn, 1413 Howe Avenue, Sacramento, California; (3)
EPA Regional Office, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California;
and (4) City of Irvine City Hall, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine,
California.
Written comments and materials relating to proposed Service actions
should be sent directly to the Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Sacramento Field Office, 2800 Cottage Way, room E-1803,
Sacramento, California 95825-1846. Written comments and materials
relating to the proposed EPA action should be sent directly to the Bay/
Delta Program Manager, Water Quality Standards Branch, W-3, Water
Management Division, Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, California 94105. Comments and materials
received will be available for public inspection during normal business
hours, by appointment, at the above addresses.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dale Pierce, Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Field Office (see
ADDRESSES section) at 916/978- 4613 or Susan Hatfield, Environmental
Protection Agency (see ADDRESSES section) at 415/744-1991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The three proposals being addressed at the public hearings are
components of a coordinated Federal interagency initiative responding
to water management issues in the San Francisco Bay and Delta. EPA and
the Service are working closely together and with the National Marine
Fisheries Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to develop a
comprehensive, habitat-oriented approach to water and fish and wildlife
resource management issues in California.
Critical habitat designation for the federally listed threatened
delta smelt would provide additional protection under section 7 of the
Act with regard to activities that require Federal agency action. As
required by section 4 of the Act, the Service will consider economic
and other relevant impacts prior to making a final decision on the size
and configuration of critical habitat.
Sacramento splittail occur in Suisun Bay and the San Francisco Bay-
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Estuary in California. The Sacramento
splittail has declined by 62 percent over the last 15 years. This
species is primarily threatened by large freshwater exports from
Sacramento and San Joaquin River diversions, prolonged drought, loss of
shallow water habitat, introduced aquatic species, and agricultural and
industrial chemicals.
EPA has proposed a rule to establish three sets of Federal criteria
to protect the designated uses of the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Estuary. The three sets include: (1) Salinity criteria
protecting the estuarine habitat and other designated fish and wildlife
uses; (2) salinity criteria (measured in electrical conductivity) to
protect the fish spawning (striped bass) designated use in the lower
San Joaquin River; and (3) salmon smolt survival index criteria to
protect the fish migration and cold freshwater habitat designated uses
in the estuary.
The hearings and the extension of the comment periods will allow
all interested parties to submit oral or written comments on the three
related proposals. The three proposed rules were published in the
Federal Register on January 6, 1994 (delta smelt (59 FR 852),
Sacramento splittail (59 FR 862), and EPA water quality standards (59
FR 810)).
In the January 6, 1994, Federal Register notice for the proposed
water quality standards, EPA published its intent to hold public
hearings during the week of February 21, 1994, in Fresno, California;
Sacramento, California; and San Francisco, California. After further
consideration, it was decided to add a fourth hearing in the Los
Angeles, California area in order to expand the public's opportunity to
comment on these proposals.
Subsection 4(b)(5)(E) of the Endangered Species Act, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), requires that the Service hold a public hearing,
if it is requested within 45 days of the publication of a proposed
rule. In anticipation of public hearing requests, the Service announces
a joint effort with EPA to hold four public hearings in California on
three related components of an interagency plan that addresses
management of water and fish and wildlife resources in the California
estuary.
The Service and EPA have jointly scheduled four public hearings:
(1) February 23, 1994, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at the Holiday Inn Center Plaza, 2233 Ventura Avenue, Fresno,
California; (2) February 24, 1994, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Expo Inn, 1413 Howe Avenue, Sacramento,
California; (3) February 25, 1994, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the EPA
Regional Office, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California; and
(4) February 28, 1994, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at the Irvine City Hall, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, California.
Those parties wishing to make statements for the record should
bring copies of their statements to present to EPA and the Service at
the start of the hearings. Oral statements may be limited in length if
the number of parties present at the hearings necessitates such a
limitation. There are, however, no limits to the length of written
comments or materials presented at the hearing or mailed to the
respective agencies. Written comments carry the same weight as oral
comments.
EPA's January 6, 1994, notice set the due date for all written
comments related to their proposed rule for March 11, 1994. The comment
periods on the two Service proposed rules are extended to March 11,
1994. Written comments should be submitted to EPA or the Service at
their respective offices given above in the ADDRESSES section.
Author
The primary author of this notice is Jackie Campbell, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, 911 NE. 11th Avenue, Portland,
Oregon 97232-4181 (503/231-6131).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1361-1407; 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544; 16 U.S.C. 4201-4245; Public Law
99-625, 100 Stat. 3500; unless otherwise noted).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and threatened species, Exports, Imports, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Transportation.
Dated: January 14, 1994.
Marvin L. Plenert,
Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dated: January 13, 1994.
Carl C. Kohnert, Jr.,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX, Environmental Protection
Agency.
[FR Doc. 94-1539 Filed 1-26-94; 8:45 am]
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