[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 191 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53022-53023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26497]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Water Allocation for the 
Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin, Alabama and Georgia

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice of availability announces the public release of 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Water Allocation for 
the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin, Alabama and Georgia. 
The ACT River Basin Compact Commission is developing a water allocation 
formula for the ACT river basin to provide an equitable sharing of 
water within the basin between the States of Alabama and Georgia. A 
change in allocation of water resources by the States may impact other 
resources within the basin for which there is a Federal interest or 
responsibility. This Draft EIS has been developed by the Corps of 
Engineers (lead agency) and ten other cooperating Federal agencies. The 
Draft EIS uses a programmatic framework for evaluating a range of flow 
and reservoir conditions selected to bracket the flow conditions that 
may result from the allocation formula. The objectives of the EIS are 
to address the range of potential environmental and socioeconomic 
impacts across the entire basin, serve as a baseline document for 
future implementing actions, and meet the schedule for completion of 
agency and public review prior to a decision by the Federal 
Commissioner to the Compact Commission in late summer 1999. Follow-on 
National Environmental Policy Act documentation (environmental 
assessments of EISs) may be necessary to document specific impacts of 
future implementing actions.

DATES: The public comment period for the Draft EIS will extend through 
December 18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: To receive a copy of the Draft EIS, or to submit comments, 
contact: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Inland 
Environment Section, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001. 
Copies are available in hard copy or CD-ROM format. A copy of the full 
document may also be viewed at 60 libraries in the major cities and 
universities within the States of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, or the 
Main Report can be viewed on the Mobile District Web Page (http://
www.sam.usace.army.mil/sam/pd/actacfeis).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael J. Eubanks, ACT Basin EIS Project Manager, (334) 694-3861 or 1-
800-421-7637, facsimile number (334) 694-3815 or e-mail address 
([email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ACT River Basin Compact Commission 
includes the Governors of Alabama and Georgia and a Federal 
Commissioner appointed by the President of the

[[Page 53023]]

United States, a non-voting member. Under the terms of the Compact, the 
two State Commissioners must negotiate and agree on a proposed 
allocation formula and present the formula to the Federal Commissioner 
for concurrence before the allocation formula can be implemented. The 
Federal Commissioner will have up to 255 days to reach a decision on 
the allocation formula proposed by the States. Because water allocation 
formulas have not yet been identified by the States and may not be 
until late 1998, a programmatic approach is being used for this EIS. 
Such an approach is appropriate when examining broad actions or 
management programs when the actual implementation plans are not yet 
known. The programmatic evaluation framework used in this EIS predicts 
a range of flow or reservoir conditions at representative locations 
within the river basin. Impacts of alternative flow conditions in the 
high, moderate, and low range are compared to the impacts of flow 
conditions for the no action alternative (existing operating conditions 
within the basin). The final water allocation formula developed by the 
States is expected to fall somewhere within the predicted range of flow 
conditions. Flow conditions were modeled by using a historic flow data 
record that represents 55 years of recorded stream flows. Hydrologic 
modeling was used to project water use demands and associated impacts 
over time for the years 1995, 2020, and 2050. Public comments can be 
submitted through a variety of methods. Written comments may be 
submitted to the Corps by mail, facsimile, or electronic methods, or 
comments (written or oral) may be presented at one of five public 
meetings scheduled for November 1998. The open house format meetings 
will be conducted between the hours of 5-8 p.m., at the following 
locations and dates:
    Anniston City Meeting Center, 17th and Noble Street, Anniston, AL, 
November 9th; Montgomery Civic Center, 300 Bibb Street, Montgomery, AL, 
November 10th; Tallahassee Civic Center (Rooms A2&A3), 505 West 
Pensacola Street, Tallahassee, FL, November 17th; Kennesaw State 
University Gymnasium, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA, November 18th; 
and Columbus Convention and Trade Center, 801 Front Avenue, Columbus, 
GA, November 19th.
    These public meetings will also provide information and receive 
comments on the concurrently developed Draft EIS for Water Allocation 
in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. The format 
for all five meetings will be identical. Additional information on 
these meetings will be mailed in a newsletter to the agencies and 
public, announced in news releases, and made available on the Mobile 
District Web Page.

    Dated: September 25, 1998.
Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 98-26497 Filed 10-1-98; 8:45 am]
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