[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 659-661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31657]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072; FF07R00000-245-FXRS12610700000]
Notice of Availability; Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for a Potential Land Exchange Involving Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge Lands; Extension of Public Comment Period
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; extension of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announce that we
are extending the public comment period for a draft supplemental
environmental impact statement (draft supplemental EIS) to consider the
effects of a potential land exchange of certain lands owned by the King
Cove Corporation with certain lands owned by the U.S. Government and
located within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Izembek
Wilderness Area. If a land exchange is approved, King Cove Corporation
would use the acquired land for a road corridor for noncommercial use.
We invite comment on the draft supplemental EIS from the public and
local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies. Comments previously
submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered.
DATES: Submitting Comments: The comment period for the draft
[[Page 660]]
supplemental EIS, notice of which published on November 15, 2024 (89 FR
90306), is extended. We must receive your written comments on or before
February 13, 2025. Comments submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov/ must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on
February 13, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: The draft supplemental EIS, as well as any
comments and other materials that we receive, will be available for
public inspection online in Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072 at https://www.regulations.gov. In addition, to inform public comment, we are
also making FWS's 2013 EIS and record of decision (ROD) documents
available for review at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-
R7-NWRS-2023-0072. However, we are not taking public comments on those
documents at this time.
Submitting Public Comments: You may submit comments by any of the
following methods:
Online: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-
0072.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No.
FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W; 5275
Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
We will post all written comments on https://www.regulations.gov.
This generally means that we will post any personal information you
provide us (see Public Review Process for more information).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bobbie Jo Skibo, Project Leader, by
telephone at 907-441-1539; by email at [email protected]; or by
U.S. mail at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, National
Wildlife Refuge System, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503.
Contact Bobbie Jo Skibo to have your name added to our mailing list.
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in
the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On November 15, 2024 (89 FR 90306), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), announced via the Federal Register the availability of a
draft supplemental environmental impact statement (draft supplemental
EIS) to consider the effects of a potential land exchange of certain
lands owned by the King Cove Corporation with certain lands that are
owned by the U.S. Government and located within the Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge and Izembek Wilderness Area. We are now extending the
public comment period on the draft supplemental EIS. We are taking this
action in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, as amended (ANILCA;
Pub. L. 96-487, sec. 1302(h), Dec. 2, 1980; 16 U.S.C. 3192(h)), along
with other laws as applicable. If a land exchange is approved, King
Cove would use the acquired land for a road corridor for noncommercial
health, safety, and subsistence uses. The draft supplemental EIS
updates information used in FWS's 2013 analysis on the impacts of a
then-proposed land exchange and proposed road corridor and the
viability of alternatives to provide safe and reliable transportation
between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the airport at Cold Bay,
Alaska, and also includes a new land exchange and road corridor
alternative. We invite comments on the draft supplemental EIS from the
public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies. Comments
previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully
considered.
Potentially Affected Land Areas
The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (417,533 acres (ac)) and the
North Creek (8,452 ac) and Pavlof (1,447,264 ac) units of the Alaska
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are located at the westernmost tip
of the Alaska Peninsula. To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the
Bering Sea; to the south is the Pacific Ocean. The Izembek Wilderness
covers much of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and includes
pristine streams, extensive wetlands, steep mountains, tundra, and sand
dunes, and provides high scenic, wildlife, and scientific values, as
well as opportunities for solitude and recreation. The Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge includes the traditional homelands of the Unanga
people.
The King Cove Corporation is an Alaska Native Village Corporation
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971
(ANCSA; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). Under the authority of ANCSA, Congress
granted to King Cove Corporation land entitlements within and adjacent
to Izembek Refuge.
Previous Actions
In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-11,
title VI, subtitle E (herein referred to as the 2009 Act)), Congress
directed FWS to prepare an EIS under NEPA and its implementing
regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508) to evaluate the impacts of
a proposed land exchange with the State of Alaska and the King Cove
Corporation for the purpose of constructing a single-lane gravel road
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska. The 2009 Act
required that the road ``shall be used primarily for health and safety
purposes (including access to and from the Cold Bay Airport) and only
for noncommercial purposes,'' with limited exceptions. The land
exchange contemplated by the 2009 Act would have involved the
conveyance of approximately 206 ac within the Izembek Wilderness
portion of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for the road corridor and
approximately 1,600 ac of Federal land within the Alaska Maritime
National Wildlife Refuge on Sitkinak Island. In exchange, FWS would
have received approximately 43,093 ac of land owned by the State of
Alaska and approximately 13,300 ac of land owned by the King Cove
Corporation. These lands are located around Cold Bay and are adjacent
to the North Creek Unit of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife
Refuge.
In accordance with section 6402(b)(2)(B) of the 2009 Act, an EIS
completed in 2013 (2013 EIS; February 6, 2013, 78 FR 8577) analyzed the
proposed land exchange and the potential construction and operation of
a road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, and,
among other alternatives, evaluated a specific road corridor through
the Izembek Refuge that was identified in consultation with the State
of Alaska, the City of King Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove.
In accordance with the 2009 Act, subsequent to the preparation of the
2013 EIS and in conjunction with the 2013 record of decision (2013 ROD;
February 20, 2014, 79 FR 9759), Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell
decided not to enter a land exchange after determining that the
proposed land exchange (including the construction of the proposed
road) was not in the public interest.
On July 3, 2019, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt signed a
memorandum titled ``Findings and Conclusions Concerning a Proposed
[[Page 661]]
Land Exchange Between the Secretary of the Interior and King Cove
Corporation for Lands Within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska''
(2019 Secretarial Memorandum). That memorandum laid the foundation for
the concurrent approval of a land exchange agreement (2019 Exchange
Agreement) between the Department of the Interior (Department) and King
Cove Corporation. The 2019 Secretarial Memorandum stated that the
purpose of the 2019 Exchange Agreement was to allow a road across the
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to improve access by the residents of
King Cove to the airport at Cold Bay. Since the authorities under the
2009 Act had expired, the 2019 Exchange Agreement relied on the general
exchange authority found at in section 1302(h) of ANILCA. However, the
2019 Exchange Agreement relied in large part on the record developed
for the exchange analyzed under the 2013 EIS and rejected by Secretary
Jewell in the 2013 ROD.
On June 1, 2020, the District Court for the District of Alaska
vacated the 2019 Exchange Agreement based on several legal defects in
the decision. On appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-
judge appellate panel reversed the district court. However, an en banc
panel of the Ninth Circuit then vacated the three-judge panel's
decision and agreed to a new review. On March 14, 2023, Secretary of
the Interior Deb Haaland issued a new decision memorandum withdrawing
the Department from the 2019 Exchange Agreement. That decision
memorandum identified as a procedural flaw the failure to consider the
effects of the exchange on subsistence uses, and highlighted
shortcomings in the record regarding NEPA and ESA analyses. In
addition, the Secretary expressed significant policy concerns regarding
the nonpublic manner in which the 2019 Exchange Agreement was
accomplished, as well as the terms of the Exchange Agreement, which
differed from the exchange evaluated in the 2013 EIS. In June 2023, the
Ninth Circuit dismissed the lawsuit because the issue had become moot
due to Secretary Haaland's decision memorandum.
Notice of Intent
On May 18, 2023 (88 FR 31813), we published a Federal Register
notice of intent to prepare a supplemental EIS to consider the effects
of a potential land exchange. In that notice, we requested information
and suggestions on the proposed supplemental EIS. In particular, we
sought information to assist us in updating information we used in our
2013 analysis on the impacts of the then-proposed exchange and road
corridor and the viability of alternatives to provide safe and reliable
transportation between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the airport
at Cold Bay, Alaska. Comments we received are at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-R7-NWRS-2023-0072. The final
scoping report, which summarizes comments, is attached as an appendix
to the draft SEIS.
Current Action
While the authorities in the 2009 Act remain expired, the FWS has
prepared a draft supplemental EIS to address a potential exchange under
section 1302(h) of ANILCA. The FWS's draft supplemental EIS analysis
assesses the potential impacts of a land exchange and road construction
and use, allows for public participation, and integrates the NEPA
analysis with an evaluation under ANILCA section 810. The FWS is also
using and coordinating the NEPA process to help inform the Department's
processes and analysis under section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108), the ESA, ANILCA (including any
land exchange's furtherance of the statute's conservation and
subsistence purposes), ANCSA, the National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd), and the Wilderness Act of
1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). Alternatives reviewed include the 2013
EIS alternatives and an additional new alternative for the terms of the
proposed land exchange involving the same road corridor in the 2019
Exchange Agreement but involving different terms.
Public Review Process
Request for Public Comments
You may submit written comments and materials concerning the draft
supplemental EIS by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. Comments
previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they will be fully
considered.
Public Availability of Comments
If you submit a comment via https://www.regulations.gov, your
entire comment, including any personal identifying information such as
your address, phone number, and email address, will be posted on the
website. If you submit a hardcopy comment that includes personal
identifying information, you may request at the top of your document
that we withhold this information from public review. However, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will post all
hardcopy comments on https://www.regulations.gov.
Tribal Consultation and Comment
The meaningful input of Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native
Corporations is of critical importance to the supplemental EIS.
Therefore, and as expressed in Executive Order 13175, ``Consultation
and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments,'' the Federal
officials that have been delegated authority by the Secretary are
committed to honoring the unique government-to-government political
relationship that exists between the Federal Government and federally
recognized Tribes. Consultation with Alaska Native Corporations is
based on Pub. L. 108-199, div. H, sec. 161, January 23, 2004, 118 Stat.
452, as amended by Pub. L. 108-447, div. H, title V, sec. 518, December
8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3267, which provides that: ``The Director of the
Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall
hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as
Indian Tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.'' FWS will hold
individual consultation meetings upon request. The Secretary of the
Interior will consider Alaska Native Tribes' and Alaska Native
Corporations' information, input, and recommendations, and address
their concerns as much as practicable.
Shannon Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2024-31657 Filed 1-3-25; 8:45 am]
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