Record of Decision and Floodplain Statement of Findings for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project, Mason County, Washington, Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0456)

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DOE announces its decision to provide approximately $4.6 million appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Public Law 111-5 (Recovery Act), to the City of Tacoma, Washington (Tacoma), for the design and construction of certain components of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in Mason County, Washington. These components include a new 3.6 megawatt (MW) powerhouse on the North Fork of the Skokomish River, an integral fish collection, handling, and sorting facility, and related transmission infrastructure. The environmental impacts from the proposed action were analyzed in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) 1996 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project No. 460) (1996 FEIS). In a July 15, 2010, Order \1\ (FERC's 2010 Order), FERC lifted a stay on a 1998 license for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project and amended the license to include inter alia conditions for fish passage facilities and authorization to construct the powerhouse. FERC's 2010 Order includes the components of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project that DOE proposes to fund. FERC relied on the 1996 FEIS to fulfill its National Environmental Poli