[env-trinity] TRRP and Water Board Draft Master EIR and site specific EA/EIR available

[Brandt Gutermuth]

My apologies for duplicate postings:  

The Draft Master EIR for Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) Channel Rehabilitation and Sediment Management is now available.  Accompanying the programmatic EIR is also a site specific EA/EIR for the remaining Phase 1 TRRP activities (including coarse sediment augmentation).   I hope and believe that this California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) document will facilitate getting TRRP work on the river in a more efficient fashion.  

Thank you to all who helped put this document together and especially to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, our CEQA lead for the Master EIR. 

Please check it out at: http://www.trrp.net/implementation/remainingP1.htm 

Brandt Gutermuth
Environmental Specialist
Trinity River Restoration Program
PO Box 1300 (mailing)
1313 S. Main Street (physical)
Weaverville, CA  96093
530.623.1806 (voice)
530.623.5944 (fax)
www.trrp.net (website)

_______________________________________________________________________________
The official press release follows:  


The US Bureau of Reclamation and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Announce Availability of Environmental Documents for the Trinity River Restoration Program’s Channel Rehabilitation Activities

In collaboration with the Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP), the Bureau of Reclamation and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region (Regional Water Board) announce the availability of a Draft Master (Programmatic) Environmental Impact Report (DMEIR) that evaluates proposed Trinity River restoration and sediment management activities at future TRRP channel rehabilitation locations.  A part of the document also serves as a combined site-specific Environmental Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Report (EA/DEIR) that assesses project specific impacts of proposed channel rehabilitation and sediment management activities at remaining Phase 1 river rehabilitation sites.  

The DMEIR and EA/DEIR, in combination with the 2000 Trinity River Mainstem Fisheries Restoration Program Final Environmental Impact Statement, meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements.  When certified by the Regional Water Board, the Final MEIR will provide programmatic level review from which site-specific project reviews may tier from.

The mechanical channel rehabilitation and sediment management activities evaluated by the DMEIR were identified in the Department of the Interior Secretary’s December 19, 2000, Record of Decision (ROD) as a necessary step towards restoration of the Trinity River’s anadromous fishery.  The TRRP’s focus is on increasing habitat for all life stages of wild salmon and steelhead.  The activities described in the DMEIR would create additional fish and wildlife habitat at various locations and would increase habitat as riverine processes are restored.  Activities include re-contouring bank and floodplain features, developing re-vegetation, and conducting in-river gravel placement and grade control removal.  The DMEIR-EA/DEIR also provides additional analysis of on-going activities such as gravel addition during high spring flows and control of fine sediment on an annual basis.  Construction activities within the channel and in the river are scheduled to begin in late summer 2009.  

The documents are available on the Reclamation website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=3138 and on the TRRP website at http://www.trrp.net/implementation/remainingP1.htm.  If you encounter problems accessing Reclamation’s documents online, please call 916-978-5100 or e-mail ibr2mprpao at usbr.gov.  Hard copies are also available in Weaverville, California, at the TRRP Office, 1313 South Main Street and at the Trinity County Library, 
211 N. Main Street.

Comments must be received by close of business, Tuesday, July 28, 2009, and sent to Mr. Brandt Gutermuth, Trinity River Restoration Program, P.O. Box 1300, Weaverville, CA 96093 or e-mailed to bgutermuth at mp.usbr.gov.  For further information or to request a copy of the DMEIR and/or EA/EIR, please contact Mr. Gutermuth at 530-623-1806.