Kalamazoo River Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Prepared by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Michigan Department of Natural Resources Michigan Department of Attorney General April 2021 Regulatory Notes An Environmental Assessment is prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The NEPA is the Nation’s premier environmental law that guarantees every American the right to review, comment, and participate in planning of federal decisions that may affect the human environment. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on July 16, 2020 issued in the Federal Register a final rule updating its regulations for the NEPA (85 Fed. Reg. 43304, July 16, 2020). On January 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden issued an Executive Order entitled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis” that requires agencies to immediately review promulgation of Federal regulations and other actions during the previous four years to determine consistency with Section 1 of the Executive Order. This may include the CEQ reviewing the July 16, 2020 update to the NEPA regulations. The goals of the July 2020 amendments to the NEPA regulations were to reduce paperwork and delays and to promote better decisions consistent with the policy set forth in section 101 of the NEPA. The effective date of these amended regulations was September 14, 2020. However, for actions that began before September 14th, such as this one, agencies may continue with the regulations in effect before September 14th because applying the amended regulations would cause delays to the ongoing process. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began its NEPA analysis of this draft restoration plan before September 14th, so to reinitiate planning under the amended regulations would delay not only the NEPA analysis, but delay implementation of the restoration plan. In addition, these amendments may be reviewed by the CEQ. The Trustees for the Kalamazoo River believe that making significant changes to the draft restoration plan to be consistent with the July 2020 amendments would be an inefficient use of settlement funds. Therefore, this draft restoration plan, and the final restoration plan, will continue and conclude under the NEPA regulations, policy, and guidance in existence prior to September 14, 2020, but incorporate aspects of the amended regulations where they do provide for greater efficiencies, unless directed otherwise following any CEQ review of the amended regulations. Estimated Federal Agency Costs to Prepare the Restoration Plan & Environmental Assessment: $40,000. This document emphasizes the use of ‘clear language’ to communicate the planning effort of the Kalamazoo River Trustee Council. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 directs federal agencies to adopt language that is “clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject.” KALAMAZOO RIVER DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL RESTORATION PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Abstract This Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment uses criteria established in the 2016 Programmatic Restoration Plan (Final Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Restoration Resulting from the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Damage Assessment) to evaluate and select specific restoration alternatives and evaluates potential environmental impacts from those alternatives. The Preferred Alternative selected consists of a prioritized list of projects to be funded with $12.4 million in available funds. This Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan also describes the status of the Kalamazoo River Natural Resource Damage Assessment process and the additional restoration project ideas that were submitted to the Kalamazoo River Trustees but not selected for this round of funding. Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Background and Status of Kalamazoo River NRDA ................................................................................ 1 Proposed Action, Purpose and Need for Action ..................................................................................... 2 Relationship to Programmatic Restoration Plan .................................................................................... 2 Restoration Evaluation Process .............................................................................................................. 3 Affected Environment ............................................................................................................................ 3 Environmental Consequences ................................................................................................................ 4 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Overview of the Kalamazoo River Site........................................................................................ 10 1.3 Natural Resource Trustees ......................................................................................................... 13 1.4 Proposed Action, Purpose and Need for Action ......................................................................... 13 1.5 Legal Mandates and Authorities ................................................................................................. 14 1.5.1 NRDA-Related Authorities ............................................................................................. 14 1.5.2 NEPA Authority .............................................................................................................. 14 1.6 Relationship between the NRDA and NEPA Processes ............................................................... 15 1.7 Public Participation ..................................................................................................................... 15 1.7.1 Public Review of the Supplemental Restoration Plan ................................................... 15 1.8 Administrative Record ................................................................................................................ 15 2. STATUS OF THE KALAMAZOO RIVER NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 17 2.1 Injury and Damage Assessment.................................................................................................. 17 2.2 Settlements ................................................................................................................................. 17 2.3 Restoration Planning .................................................................................................................. 18 2.3.1 Restoration Goals and Objectives ................................................................................. 18 2.3.2 Restoration Project Evaluation Criteria ......................................................................... 20 2.3.3 Monitoring and Stewardship ......................................................................................... 23 2.3.4 Project Scoping and Ranking ......................................................................................... 23 2.3.5 Prioritized Funding Approach ........................................................................................ 24 2.3.6 Future Restoration Planning Activities .......................................................................... 26 3. RESTORATION ALTERNATIVES AND EVALUATION ........................................................................ 27 3.1 Prioritized Restoration Alternative (Preferred Alternative) ....................................................... 27 3.1.1 Plainwell Dam Area Restoration .................................................................................... 27 3.1.2 Allegan City Dam Removal Engineering......................................................................... 28 3.1.3 Nature Preserve Acquisition along the Kalamazoo River in Allegan ............................. 29 3.1.4 Plainwell Diversion Dam and Mill Race Dam Removal and Channel Restoration ......... 30 3.1.5 Trowbridge Township Restoration and River Access .................................................... 31 3.1.6 Davis-Olmstead Drain Improvement ............................................................................. 31 3.1.7 Reed Court Floodplain and Stormwater Improvements ............................................... 32 3.1.8 River Bluff Park Shoreline Restoration .......................................................................... 34 3.1.9 Commerce Lane Railroad Trestle Removal and Bank Restoration ................................ 34 3.1.10 Mussel Translocation and Riffle Success Evaluation ..................................................... 35 3.1.11 Kalamazoo River Shoreline Frontage and