Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (USACE) is seeking public comment on the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on upgrades to the Dexter Fish Facility in Lane County, Oregon that would improve fish collection, handling, and transportation for the benefit of salmon, summer steelhead, and trout. The draft EA was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality’s NEPA regulations (40 C.F.R. parts 1500–1508), and the Corps’ NEPA regulations (33 C.F.R. part 230).
USACE is proposing to upgrade the existing fish facility and associated support structures, including the access road, maintenance buildings, and access bridge. Facility upgrades include the following feature improvements:
•Fish ladder and auxiliary water supply diffusion chamber
• Forebay intake juvenile screens
• Pre-sort pool and shade structures
• Post-sort pools
• Truck loading and bridge access replacement
• New facility support buildings
• Facility water supply pipe
• Fish return to river pipe
• Facility water outfall structure
Assessment of the Need for an Environmental Impact Statement: The purpose of the Corps’ Proposed Action is to make improvements to the Dexter Fish Facility by May 31, 2026 to reduce stress and injury to adult Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon during collection and release of fish during their upstream migration in the Middle Fork Willamette Subbasin. USACE will consider comments received during the 15-day comment period for the draft EA in deciding on a finding of no significant impact.
Environmental Document: The draft EA is available at the USACE Digital Library here: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll7/id/21568
Public Comment Period: The draft EA will be available for public comment for 15 days after the date of this public notice. The public comment period is intended to provide those interested in or affected by this action an opportunity to make their concerns or comments known.
Comment Submittal: Please submit written comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District by October 13, 2022. Written comments may be sent via email to: dexterfishfacility.upgrade@usace.army.mil or sent via mail to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Attn: CENWP-PME-E/ Ross Foster
P.O. Box 2946
Portland, OR 97208-2946
All comments received will become part of the administrative record and are subject to public release under the Freedom of Information Act, including any personally identifiable information such as name, phone numbers, and addresses. The Corps will respond to public comments in the final EA.
In your comments, please include in the subject line: Dexter Fish Facility Upgrades - EA Comment, and the date.