[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 144 (Thursday, July 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18320]
[Federal Register: July 28, 1994]
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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION
Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
agency: United States Section, International Boundary and Water
Commission, United States and Mexico.
action: Notice of availability of final environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact.
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summary: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969; the Council on Environmental Quality Final
Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 1508); and the Operational
Procedures of the United States Section, International Boundary and
Water Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC), for Implementing
Section 102 of NEPA, published in the Federal Register September 2,
1981 (46 FR 44083); the USIBWC hereby gives notice that the Final
Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for
Quisto Energy Corporation (Quisto) to construct, operate, and maintain
a gas well located on the Main Floodway of the Lower Rio Grande Flood
Control Project (LRGFCP) are available. The USIWBWC finds that the
proposed action to issue a license to Quisto for such works is not a
major federal action that would have a significant adverse effect on
the quality of the human environment. A Notice of Finding of No
Significant Impact was signed June 17, 1994, (59 FR 33303-33304) and
provided a thirty (30) day review and comment period before making the
finding final.
addresses: Dr. Conrad G. Keyes, Jr., Principal Engineer, Planning,
United States Section, International Boundary and Water Commission,
United States and Mexico, 4171 North Mesa Street, C-310, El Paso, Texas
79902-1441. Telephone: 915/534-6703.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Action
The action proposed is the USIBWC to issue a license to Quisto to
construct, operate, and maintain a gas well and install related
features with Meyerhoff No. 3 Drilling Unit, Lot 271, Kelly-Pharr
Subdivision, Hildalgo County, Texas. The gas well is proposed to be
located on privately owned land within the Main Floodway of the USIBWC
LRGFCP approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) southeast of the town of
Pharr. Access to the drilling site is by way of existing county and
private roads.
Alternatives Considered
Three alternatives were considered in the Environmental Assessment
(EA):
The Proposed Action Alternative is for Quisto to construct,
operate, and maintain a gas well in a cultivated field within the Main
Floodway of the USIBWC LRGFCP. The proposed action will require the
USIBWC to issue a license to ensure that such works do not cause an
obstruction to flood flows within the floodway or interfere with the
operation and maintenance of the LRGFCP.
The No Action Alternative is for Quisto to not construct, operate,
and maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of the LRGFCP. The no
action alternative will not require the USIBWC to issue a license since
no work will be done within the LRGFRCP. The no action alternative will
result in the denial of access to the mineral owner to rightfully owned
minerals, loss of tax revenues to the State of Texas, and result in an
unrecoverable clean energy source.
The Directional Well alternative is for Quisto to drill a well from
outside the Main Floodway to a depth below the proposed surface
location. The directional well alternative will not require the USIBWC
to issue a license since no work will be done within the LRGFCP. The
directional well alternative is considered not workable because of a
lack of an available surface drillsite outside the Main Floodway and
technical problems associated with a bottomhole location some 610
meters (2,000 feet) or more from the surface location.
Finding of the Final Environmental Assessment
The EA finds that the proposed action for Quisto to construct,
operate, an maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of the USIBWC
LRGFCP (and the USIBWC to issue a license for such work) does not
constitute a major federal action which would cause a significant
local, regional, or national adverse impact on the environment based on
the following facts:
1. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has determined that no
waters of the United States including wetlands will be impacted by the
proposed gas well and related features.
2. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that
federally listed endangered or threatened species are unlikely to be
adversely affected by the proposed gas well and related features.
3. The Texas Historical Commission and Department of Antiquities
Protection have determined that no survey is required and the project
may proceed.
4. The USIBWC Water Resources Investigations Division has
determined that the proposed gas well and related features will have no
significant effect upon the flood carrying capacity of the Main
Floodway.
Availability
Single copies of the Final Environmental Assessment and Final
Finding of No Significant Impact may be obtained by request at the
above address.
Dated: July 18, 1994.
Suzette Zaboroski,
Staff Counsel.
[FR Doc. 94-18320 Filed 7-27-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-03-M