[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 26, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4258-4259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-1843]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Salton Sea Restoration Project, Coachella and Imperial Counties, 
California, INT-DES-00-03

AGENCY:  Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION:  Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/DEIR).

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SUMMARY:  Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Salton Sea Authority (SSA) have 
prepared a joint DEIS/DEIR for the Salton Sea Restoration Project 
(SSRP). The Salton Sea is an artificially maintained inland body of 
water located in the southeastern corner of California, southeast of 
Palm Springs, and spans Riverside and Imperial counties. Based on 
scientific, environmental, and feasibility studies conducted for the 
SSRP, five project alternatives were developed to address project 
goals. The DEIS/DEIR describes and presents the environmental effects 
of the five alternatives as well as the No Action Alternative. Public 
hearings will be held to receive written or verbal comments on the 
DEIS/DEIR from interested organizations and individuals on the 
environmental impacts of the proposal. A Notice of Public Hearing will 
be published at a later date with dates, times, and locations of the 
hearings.

DATES:  A 90-day public review period commences with the publication of 
this notice. Submit written comments on the DEIS/DEIR on or before 
April 25, 2000.

ADDRESSES:  Written comments on the DEIS/DEIR should be addressed to 
Mr. Tom Kirk, Director, Salton Sea Authority, 78-401 Highway 111, Suite 
T, La Quinta, CA 92253; or to Mr. William Steele, Program Manager, 
Salton Sea Project, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 61470, Boulder City, 
NV 89006-1470.
    The document is available on the Internet at 
http:@@www.lc.usbr.gov. Copies of the DEIS/DEIR may be requested from 
Mr. Steele at the above address or by calling (702) 293-8129. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where copies of the 
DEIS/DEIR are available for public inspection.
    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. There 
also may be circumstances in which we would withhold a respondent's 
identity from public disclosure, as 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:  Mr. Tom Kirk, SSA, at (760) 564-4888; 
or Mr. William Steele, Reclamation, at (702) 293-8129.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The SSRP was developed to comply with 
Public Laws 102-575 and 105-372 which direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to ``conduct a research project for the development of a 
method or combination of methods to reduce and control salinity, 
provide endangered species habitat, enhance fisheries, and protect 
recreational values * * * in the area of the Salton Sea'' as well as 
``complete all studies, including, but not limited to environmental and 
other reviews, of the feasibility and benefit-cost of various options 
that permit the continued use of the Salton Sea as a

[[Page 4259]]

reservoir for irrigation drainage and (i) reduce and stabilize the 
overall salinity of the Salton Sea; (ii) stabilize the surface 
elevation of the Salton Sea; (iii) reclaim, in the long term, healthy 
fish and wildlife resources and their habitats; and (iv) enhance the 
potential for recreational uses and economic developments of the Salton 
Sea.'' The following five project goals were developed: (1) Maintain 
the Sea as a repository for agricultural drainage; (2) provide a safe, 
productive environment at the Sea for resident and migratory birds and 
endangered species; (3) restore recreational uses at the Sea; (4) 
maintain a viable sport fishery at the Sea; and (5) enhance the Sea to 
provide economic development opportunities. The DEIS/DEIR presents a No 
Action Alternative, five action alternatives, as well as a suite of 
common actions developed to enhance the action alternatives. The action 
alternatives are approached as each consisting of two phases: (i) 
``short-term'' or Phase 1 of each action alternative is designed to 
reduce and stabilize salinity for at least 30 years; and (ii) Phase 2 
or ``long-term'' actions designed to last no less than 70 to 100 years. 
Each alternative, including the No Action Alternative, is evaluated 
against three inflow scenarios: (1) current (present-day) inflow of 
1.36 million acre-feet per year (maf/yr); (ii) a reduction of 300,000 
acre-feet per year (af/yr) to 1.06 maf/yr; and (iii) a total inflow 
reduction of 536,000 af/yr to 0.8 maf/yr. Phase 1 action alternatives 
include: (1) construction of evaporation ponds that would concentrate 
salinity within their boundaries to reduce salinity in the Sea, and 
also could potentially serve as a displacement mechanism to control the 
Sea's elevation; (2) construction of an Enhanced Evaporation System 
(EES), a system that sprays a fine mist of water into the air to 
accelerate evaporation and create a saline precipitate; (3) a 
combination of an EES with an evaporation pond; or (4) an in-Sea EES 
within an evaporation pond. Phase 2 action alternatives involve 
supplementing inflows to the Sea, creating displacement structures for 
elevation control, and creating longer lasting export options.
    Copies of the DEIS/DEIR are available for public inspection and 
review at the following locations:
     Salton Sea Authority, 78-035 Calle Estado, La Quinta, 
California 92253-2930; telephone: (760) 564-4888
     Bureau of Reclamation, Salton Sea Project Office, PO Box 
61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; telephone: (702) 293-8129
     Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Policy, Room 7456, 1849 C 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20240; telephone: (202) 208-4662
     Bureau of Reclamation, Reclamation Service Center Library, 
Building 67, Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, 
Colorado 80225; telephone: (303) 445-2072
     Bureau of Reclamation, Public Affairs Office, PO Box 
61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470; telephone: (702) 293-8420
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001, telephone: (202) 208-5815
     Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, 906 West 
Sinclair Road, Calipatria, CA 92233, telephone: (760) 348-5278
     Coachella Valley Water District, Highway 111 and Avenue 
52, Coachella, CA 92236, telephone: (760) 398-2651
     Imperial County Administrative Center, 940 West Main 
Street, Suite 208, El Centro, CA 92243-2875, telephone: (760) 339-4290
     Imperial Irrigation District, 333 East Barioni Boulevard, 
Imperial, CA 92251, telephone: (760) 339-9426
     Supervisor, District 4 (Supervisor Roy Wilson), 46-200 
Oasis Street, Suite 318, Indio, CA 92201, telephone: (760) 863-8211
     Bombay Beach Community Services District, 9590 Avenue C, 
Niland, CA 92257, telephone: (760) 354-1209
     Salton Sea State Park, 100-225 State Park Road, North 
Shore, CA 92254, telephone: (760) 393-1338
     Riverside County (Supervisor Roy Wilson's Office), 4080 
Lemon Street, 12th Floor, Riverside, CA 92502, telephone: (909) 955-
1040
     Community Services District, 2098 Frontage Road, Salton 
City, CA 92275, telephone: (760) 394-4446
     San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San 
Diego, CA 92182-8050, telephone: (619) 594-6014
     San Diego Central Library, 820 East Street, San Diego, CA 
92101-6478, telephone: (619) 236-5800
     Palm Springs Public Library, 300 South Sunrise Way, Palm 
Springs, CA 92262-7699, telephone: (619) 323-8298
     Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, 
Nevada 89119, telephone: (702) 733-7810
     Yuma County Library District, 350 Third Avenue, Yuma, AZ 
85364, telephone: (520) 782-1871
     The Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 North Central 
Avenue, Phoenix AZ 85004, telephone: (602) 262-4636
     Los Angeles Public Library, 630 West Fifth Street, Los 
Angeles, CA 90071-2097, telephone: (213) 228-7515
     University of Redlands, Armacost Library, 1249 E. Colton 
Avenue, Redlands, CA 92374-3758, telephone: (909) 335-4022
     University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92517-
5900, telephone: (909) 787-3221
     California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 3801 West 
Temple Avenue, Pomona, CA 91768, telephone: (909) 869-3088
     University of California, Davis, 100 North West Quad, 
Davis, CA 95616-5292, telephone: (530) 752-2110

    Dated: January 21, 2000.
William Steele,
Program Manager, Salton Sea Project, Bureau of Reclamation.
[FR Doc. 00-1843 Filed 1-25-00; 8:45 am]
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