[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66931-66932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31007]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Long-Term Refuge Water Service Agreements, Central Valley 
Project, California

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental documents 
(environmental assessments or environmental impact statements) and 
notice of scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the lead Federal agency, proposes 
to prepare environmental documents for entering into long-term Water 
Service Contracts/Agreements to provide water supplies to wildlife 
refuges in California's Central Valley, up to and including Level 4 
water supplies. Certain actions may also require review under the 
California Environmental Quality Act as well; it is anticipated that 
joint NEPA/CEQA documents will be prepared.
    The Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), Title 34 of 
Public Law 102-575, requires the delivery of water to Central Valley 
refuges pursuant to two 1989 federal reports, the Report on Refuge 
Water Supply Investigations, Central Valley Hydrologic Basin, 
California, and the San Joaquin Basin Action Plan/Kesterson Mitigation 
Action Plan Report. The impacts of providing this additional water were 
assessed in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) 
prepared for the CVPIA. As required by the CVPIA, Reclamation is now 
proposing to enter into long-term water service agreements with the 
refuges to allow the delivery of those quantities of water supplies 
needed for full habitat management. The site-specific impacts of this 
action will be considered in the environmental documents for the long-
term water service agreements, which will tier from the analysis 
contained in the CVPIA PEIS.
    The purpose of the public/agency scoping process initiated by this 
Notice of Intent is to solicit comments from interested parties 
regarding the scope of the environmental analysis and the potential 
impacts that should be considered in the site-specific assessment being 
undertaken in this tier of the environmental review. In preparing the 
environmental documents, Reclamation will consider written and oral 
comments on the project scope and potential impacts raised during the 
scoping process.

DATES: Four scoping meetings will be held to solicit comments from 
interested parties to assist in determining the scope of the 
environmental analysis and to identify the significant issues related 
to this proposed action. The meeting dates are:
     December 13, 1999, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Willows
     December 14, 1999, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Los Banos
     December 15, 1999, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Oakland
     December 16, 1999, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in Sacramento
    Written comments on the scope of the environmental documents should 
be sent to Reclamation at the address below by January 7, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The meeting locations are:
     City of Willows Council Chambers, 201 North Lassen Street, 
Willows, California
     Merced County Spring Fairgrounds (Floral Room), 403 F 
Street, Los Banos, California
     Oakland Marriott City Center (Room 208), 1001 Broadway, 
Oakland, California
     Expo Inn-Hotel (Expo Room), 1413 Howe Avenue, Sacramento, 
California
    Send written comments on the scope of the environmental documents 
to: Bureau of Reclamation, Attn. Long-Term Refuge Water Service 
Contracts/Agreements, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento CA 95825.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their home address from public 
disclosure, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. If you 
wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. We will make all 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, available for public disclosure in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mona Jefferies-Soniea, (916) 978-5068 
or TTD (916) 978-5068.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation would enter into long-term water 
agreements with the agencies that manage the refuges: The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (for National Wildlife Refuges), The California 
Department of Fish and Game (for state Wildlife Management Areas), and 
The Grassland Water District (for lands within the Grassland Resource 
Conservation District). At this time, it is envisioned that three 
environmental documents would be prepared corresponding to the 
following hydrologic regions:
     The Sacramento River Basin, covering the Sacramento, 
Delevan, Colusa, and Sutter National Wildlife Refuges and the Gray 
Lodge Wildlife Management Area;
     The San Joaquin River Basin, covering the Kesterson, San 
Luis, and Merced National Wildlife Refuges; the Los Banos, Volta, and 
Mendota Wildlife Management Areas; the Grassland

[[Page 66932]]

Resource Conservation District; and additional lands identified in the 
San Joaquin Basin Action Plan; and
     The Tulare Basin, covering the Kern and Pixley National 
Wildlife Refuges.
    Persons requiring special assistance services should contact Matt 
Franck, CH2M HILL, at (916) 920-0212 ext. 272. Please notify Mr. Franck 
as far in advance of the particular meeting as possible, but no later 
than 3 working days prior to the meeting to enable Reclamation to 
secure the services. If a request cannot be honored, the requester will 
be notified.

    Dated: November 23, 1999.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer.
[FR Doc. 99-31007 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-94-P