[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3909-3910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1902]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WY-010-5101-00-K022, WYW-131027]


Notice of Availability and Public Meeting on the Enviromental 
Impact Statement for the Greybull Valley Irrigation District Dam and 
Reservoir Project, WY

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior and Army Corps of 
Engineers, Defense.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Meeting on the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Greybull Valley Irrigation 
District Dam and Reservoir Project for public review and comment, Park 
County, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for a proposal 
from the Greybull Valley Irrigation District (GVID) to construct, 
operate, and maintain a 150-foot-high zoned-earth embankment dam and an 
associated 33,470 acre-foot impoundment in an unnamed drainage west of 
Roach Gulch, a tributary of the Greybull River, on public lands in Park 
County, Wyoming, is available for public review. The DEIS describes and 
documents the analysis of three alternatives and discloses each 
alternative's environmental effects. A public meeting for comment on 
the DEIS will be held.

DATES: Written comments concerning the analysis will be accepted for 60 
days

[[Page 3910]]

following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes 
the notice of filing of the DEIS in the Federal Register. When the 
closing date for public comments is known, it will be published in the 
local newspapers. Comments should be sent to BLM, Worland District; Don 
Ogaard, Project Manager; P.O. Box 119; Worland, Wyoming 82401-0119. A 
public meeting will be held in Emblem, Wyoming on January 29, 1997, to 
provide opportunities for the public to meet with representatives from 
the BLM and the Corps, and comment on the DEIS. The meeting will be 
held at the Emblem Community Hall, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS may be reviewed at the following 
locations: Worland District BLM Office, 101 South 23rd Street, (contact 
Don Ogaard, BLM Project Manager) Worland, Wyoming; Wyoming State BLM 
Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming (Susan Bennett, 
Supervisor, Records and Public Service Group); Army Corps of Engineers, 
Cheyenne Regulatory Office, 2232 Dell Range Blvd, Suite 210, Cheyenne 
(Chandler Peter, Corps Project Manager); Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha 
District Office, 215 N. 17th Street, Omaha, Nebraska (Becky Latka, EIS 
Technical Manager); and county, city, and college libraries near the 
proposed project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don Ogaard, BLM Project Manager, 
Bureau of Land Management, Worland District Office, P.O. Box 119, 1101 
South 23rd Street, Worland, Wyoming 82401-0119, telephone (307) 347-
5160; or Candace M. Thomas, Chief, Environmental Analysis Branch, 
Planning Division, Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, 215 North 
17th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68102-4978, telephone (402) 221-4598.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Greybull Valley Irrigation District 
(GVID) proposes to construct a 150-foot-high zoned-earth embankment dam 
in an unnamed drainage west of Roach Gulch, a tributary of the Greybull 
River, in Park County, Wyoming. This dam would impound 33,470 acre-feet 
of water, inundating about 700 acres of BLM-administered public lands. 
The GVID's purpose and need for the proposal is primarily to provide 
early and late season water for irrigated crops; and to allow better 
overall regulation of their system. The DEIS also considers an 
alternative location in Blackstone Gulch, another tributary of the 
Greybull River; as well as the ``No Action'' Alternative, under which 
no dam would be built.
    The DEIS is not a decision document. The purpose of the DEIS is to 
provide sufficient information for the BLM and Corps to make an 
informed decision about GVID's proposal. It is a document disclosing 
the likely environmental consequences of implementing the proposed 
action or one of the alternatives to that action. The BLM's Preferred 
Alternative is Alternative B, Proposed Action, as modified by the 
mitigation described in Chapter 5 of the DEIS. The Corps does not 
identify a Preferred Alternative at this time.
    Before GVID may construct the project, it must obtain Federal, 
State, county, and local permits. Because the reservoir would inundate 
public land administered by the BLM, the GVID must obtain a Right-of-
Way Grant from the BLM. A permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water 
Act to conduct operations in a water of the United States, issued by 
the Corps, would also be required. As part of the process for granting 
the permits, these agencies must consider the GVID's proposal under 
NEPA.
    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the BLM's Worland District office during 
regular business hours (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
except holidays and may be published as part of the final environmental 
impact statement. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. 
If you wish to withhold your name or address from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. Such requests will be 
honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    Because the final EIS may be issued in partial text format, the 
draft EIS should be retained for future reference.

    Dated: January 16, 1997.
Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 97-1902 Filed 1-24-97; 8:45 am]
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