[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 231 (Wednesday, December 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66622-66623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32055]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement: Union County, Mississippi, 
Multipurpose Reservoir/Other Water Supply Alternatives

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) on a multipurpose reservoir in 
Union County, Mississippi, located in northeast Mississippi. The 
primary purpose of the reservoir is to provide an adequate and reliable 
water supply for the Union County area. This EIS will also consider 
other alternative means of meeting the area's water supply needs. 
Alternatives to be considered will include one or a combination of the 
following: construction of a surface impoundment on a tributary of the 
Little Tallahatchie River; installation of one or more water pipelines 
from existing public water supplies; development of new groundwater 
sources; and the no action alternative. With this notice, TVA invites 
comments on the scope of this EIS.

DATES: Comments on the scope of the EIS must be received on or before 
January 8, 1999. TVA will conduct a public meeting in New Albany, 
Mississippi to discuss the project and obtain comments on the scope of 
the EIS. The location and time of this meeting are described below in 
the Scoping Process section.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Charles P. Nicholson, National 
Environmental Policy Act Specialist, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 
West Summit Hill Drive, WT 8C, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499. 
Comments may also be e-mailed to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel H. Ferry, Tennessee Valley 
Authority, WT 10D-K, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499, e-mail: 
[email protected]; or Gary D. Hickman, Tennessee Valley Authority, ABL 
1A-N, Norris, Tennessee 37828, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: TVA has been asked by Union County, 
Mississippi, and the City of New Albany to assist in the evaluation of 
a proposed reservoir and other means of supplying the area's water 
supply needs. In addition, TVA has been asked to relocate one of its 
electrical transmission lines that lies within the proposed reservoir 
pool if the County and City decide to pursue that alternative.

[[Page 66623]]

    Water needs in Union County, Mississippi, are currently supplied by 
wells operated by municipal water systems, rural water associations, 
and institutional and industrial users. The average daily water use 
from the public water systems in 1996 was 2.365 million gallons per day 
(MGD) and the peak daily use was 4.040 MGD. Two-thirds of the county 
water needs are supplied by wells in the Eutaw-McShan aquifer, and most 
of these wells are near the City of New Albany. Pumping from these 
wells has lowered groundwater levels. New wells drilled in this area 
have generally been unproductive.
    In order to meet projected future water supply needs, Union County 
and the City of New Albany combined efforts to develop an alternate 
water supply and have proposed constructing a multipurpose reservoir on 
a tributary of the Little Tallahatchie River. In order to obtain public 
input on this proposal and to fully evaluate a range of alternatives, 
TVA has decided to prepare an EIS.

Alternatives

    Alternatives presently under consideration include: (1) No action; 
(2) construction of a multipurpose reservoir on a tributary to the 
Little Tallahatchie River; (3) construction of one or more pipelines 
from an existing water supply system with sufficient capacity to meet 
the needs of Union County; and (4) construction of new groundwater 
sources by tapping into additional aquifers. Reasonable alternative 
actions available to TVA are to relocate the transmission line, and the 
no action alternative. Some of the water supply alternatives would also 
involve actions by other federal agencies. TVA has identified two 
alternative routes for its tramsnission line if it is relocated. TVA 
invites the public to comment on these alternatives or to suggest other 
possible alternatives.

Proposed Issues To Be Addressed

    The EIS will evaluate the water supply needs of Union County 
through the year 2050, and potential effects of alternative means of 
meeting the water supply needs. Potentially important issues for 
discussion in the EIS include:
    1. Effects on stream discharge, water quality, and availability;
    2. Impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecology, including endangered 
and threatened species;
    3. Impacts on floodplains, wetlands, recreation, and existing land 
uses; and
    4. Socioeconomic, historic, archaeological, and cultural effects 
associated with the alternative actions.
    This list is not intended to be all inclusive, nor is it intended 
to be a predetermination of impacts. As scoping and preparation of the 
EIS proceed, other issues may be revealed which will necessitate 
further analyses.

Scoping Process

    Scoping, which is integral to the EIS process, is a procedure that 
solicits public input to the EIS process to ensure that: (1) Issues are 
identified early and properly studied; (2) issues of little 
significance do not consume substantial time and effort; (3) the EIS is 
thorough and balanced; and (4) delays caused by an inadequate EIS are 
avoided. TVA's procedures implementing the National Environmental 
Policy Act require that the scoping process commence after a decision 
has been reached to prepare an EIS in order to provide an early and 
open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and 
for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed action. 
The scope of issues to be addressed in an EIS will be determined, in 
part, from written comments submitted by mail, and comments presented 
orally or in writing at a public scoping meeting. The preliminary 
identification of reasonable alternatives and environmental issues 
provided in this notice is not meant to be exhaustive or final. TVA 
considers the scoping process to be open and dynamic in the sense that 
alternatives other than those given above may warrant study and new 
matters may be identified for potential evaluation.
    The scoping process will include both interagency and public 
scoping. The agencies expected to participate in interagency scoping 
include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, and various State of Mississippi agencies including the 
Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, 
and Parks, the Department of Economic and Community Development, State 
Historic Preservation Office of the Department of Archives and History, 
and other federal, state and local agencies as appropriate. TVA 
anticipates that some of these agencies, because of their jurisdiction 
and/or expertise, will be cooperators in the development of the EIS.
    The public is invited to submit written comments or e-mail comments 
on the scope of this EIS no later than the date given under the DATES 
section of this notice and/or attend the public scoping meeting. TVA 
will conduct a public meeting on the scope of the EIS in New Albany, 
Mississippi on Thursday, December 10, 1998. The meeting will be held at 
the Union County Courthouse, which is located at 116 East Bankhead. 
Registration for the meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with the 
meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will begin with brief 
presentations by representatives of the Union County Development 
Association, the City of New Albany, and TVA explaining the proposed 
project and the EIS process. Following this presentation, attendees 
will be given the opportunity to express issues and concerns that 
should be considered in the EIS.
    Upon consideration of the scoping comments, TVA will develop 
alternatives and identify important environmental issues to be 
addressed in the EIS. Following analysis of the water supply needs and 
of the environmental consequences of each alternative, TVA will prepare 
a draft EIS for public review and comment. A notice of availability of 
the draft EIS will be published in the Federal Register and area 
newspapers. TVA expects to have this draft EIS completed in early 2000.

    Dated: November 24, 1998.
Kathryn J. Jackson,
Executive Vice President, Resource Group.
[FR Doc. 98-32055 Filed 12-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P