PUBLIC NOTICE - FRANKLIN COUNTY

| April 7, 2016 1:00 PM

Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and Availability of Environmental Documents

NOTICE IS HEREGY GIVEN that the Franklin County Planning and Building Department, determined to be the Lead Agency pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) of 1971, as amended, and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 197-11, as issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) and is evaluating a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit request for the following proposed project:

Case file: SEPA 2016-01

Applicant: Franklin County Public Works Department, 3416 Stearman

Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301

Project: The proposed project (CRP 602) will construct a new road access to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area. Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area includes almost 20,000 acres of

public land managed by the BLM. The federal lands include 7,20 acres of wilderness area 8,600 acres of area of critical environmental concern, and 4,000 acres open to off-road vehicle (ORV) use.

The public has been trespassing by utilizing a private road (Peterson road) that does not have an access easement for access to the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area. While the public has been using Peterson Road for 20+ years, the County has not constructed or maintained any portion of this private road; it currently does not meet county standards for safety and maintenance. The poor conditions of this illegal

access make it difficult for law enforcement and emergency medical services to access the area.

This project is to acquire the necessary property and construct a 4.2 mile public road for public access

to this very popular recreation area. The work will include earthwork, grading, drainage, hard surfacing,

and other related work.

The new road will have 12-foot travel lanes with 2-foot shoulders (28 feet wide total). The first mile will be

asphalt/BST over rock. Signage will be provided at the intersection of Peterson Road and Pasco-Kahlotus

Road that will indicate that there is no Juniper Dunes access and will direct users one mile east to the

new road.

The new road includes fencing along the right-of-way (ROW) to reduce the incidence of Juniper Dunes

users trespassing on private property; coordination with property owners on fence location to continue to

allow landowners access to their property.

Location: The proposed roadway corridor will begin at approximately milepost 7.0 on the Pasco-Kahlotus Road and

then runs northerly along Section 3 and 4 of Township 9 North, Range 31 East W.M. and Sections 15, 16, 21, 22, 27, 28, 33, and 34 of Township 10 North, Range 31 East W.M. to the southern boundary of

the Juniper Dunes OHV open access area. The approximate length of the road will be 4.2 miles.

Approximate global positioning system (GPS) coordinates for the beginning of the project are 46.2845

Latitude, - 118.9298 Longitude and ending at approximately 40.345919 Latitude, -118.931078 Longitude.

Copies of the environmental documents, the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration FONSI (including FONSI Mitigation), Board of County Commissioners material, public comments submitted during the NEPA process, and other materials pertinent to the proposed project are available for review in the Franklin County Planning and Building Department at 1016 North 4th Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301. Those wishing to have copies of said documents mailed to them will be charged a fee covering the costs of reproduction and mailing.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that in accordance with the State Environmental Policy Act and WAC 197-11-340, the DNS, Environmental Checklist, site plans, United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration FONSI (including FONSI Mitigation), Board of County Commissioner material, public comments submitted during the NEPA process, and other materials pertaining to the project has been sent to agencies with jurisdiction, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Benton-Franklin Council of Governments, and others having an interest in the proposal.

The DNS was issued on March 29, 2016 by the Franklin County Planning and Building Department. Comments regarding the

DNS must be received by 5:00 p.m. Friday April 22, 2016 (14 days from publication.)

Jerrod MacPherson

SEPA Responsible Official/

Director of Planning and Building

(Published April 7, 2016, in the Franklin County Graphic.)

SEPA 2016-01