Categorical Exclusion With Respect to the Willits Bypass Project, Willits, CA, and the Ryan Creek Fish Passage Mitigation Project

Michael Duman
Federal Highway Administration
August 5, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 45584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18459]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Categorical Exclusion With Respect to the Willits Bypass Project, 
Willits, CA, and the Ryan Creek Fish Passage Mitigation Project

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that Federal actions taken by the 
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) pursuant to its 
assigned responsibilities under 23 U.S.C. 327 are final within the 
meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139 (l)(1). FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is 
issuing this notice to announce that, with respect to the State Route 
101 Willits Bypass Project in Willits (Mendocino County), California, 
and the Ryan Creek Fish Passage Mitigation Project, a Categorical 
Exclusion was completed on June 3, 2014. The Categorical Exclusion was 
prepared in order to determine impacts of creating fish passage along 
Ryan Creek in Mendocino County, California, as part of the permit 
mitigation of the Willits Bypass Project. Based upon the analyses 
contained in the Categorical Exclusion, Caltrans has made the 
determination that the project will not have significant impacts to the 
environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Webb, Supervisory Environmental 
Planner, California Department of Transportation, 703 B Street, 
Marysville, CA 95901, 530-741-4393, John_Webb@dot.ca.gov. Issued in 
Sacramento, California, July 30, 2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Ryan Creek Fish Passage Mitigation 
Project is mandated as a condition of both the California Department of 
Fish and Wildlife June 2010 Section 1602 Streambed Alteration Agreement 
(1600-2010-0044-R1), as amended in March 2014, and the July 2010 
Incidental Take Permit (No. 2081-2010-007-01), as amended in March 
2014, issued for the Willits Bypass Project. These permits require 
Caltrans to improve fish passage within Ryan Creek by remediating 
existing barriers to fish passage where Ryan Creek flows beneath State 
Route (SR) 101, mitigating for the incidental take of individual 
Southern Oregon-Northern California Coasts (SONCC) Coho salmon. 
Caltrans proposes to replace the existing culverts along SR 101 at the 
South and North Forks of Ryan Creek to remediate existing barriers to 
fish passage.
    The purpose of the Categorical Exclusion was to determine potential 
environmental impacts resulting from constructing fish passages along 
Ryan Creek in Mendocino County, California. Based upon the analyses 
contained in the Categorical Exclusion, Caltrans has made the 
determination that the project did not have significant impacts to the 
environment.
    A claim seeking judicial review of the March 2014 Federal agency 
determination to not undertake a SEIS will be barred if the claim is 
not filed within 150 days of the initial publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register.
    Copies of the Categorical Exclusion is available for review by 
appointment only at the following locations. Please call to make 
arrangements for viewing: Caltrans, District 3 Office, 703 B Street, 
Marysville, CA 95901, 530-741-4393, and Caltrans, District 3 Office, 
2379 Gateway Oaks Drive, 150, Sacramento, CA, 916-274-0586.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205, 
Highway Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing 
Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation on 
Federal programs and activities apply to this program.)

    Issued on: July 30, 2014.
Michael Duman,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Highway Administration, Sacramento, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2014-18459 Filed 8-4-14; 8:45 am]
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