[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 131 (Friday, July 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42028-42029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17194]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Colorado River Interim Surplus Criteria

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft environmental impact 
statement and public hearings for the proposed adoption of Colorado 
River Interim Surplus Criteria: INT-DES 00-25.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Council on Environmental 
Quality's Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of 
NEPA, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), has issued a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed adoption of 
specific criteria under which surplus water conditions may be 
determined in the Lower Colorado River Basin during the next 15 years. 
Cooperating agencies are the National Park Service and the 
International Boundary and Water Commission, United States Section. 
Information on public hearings may be found below in the DATES section.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the DEIS to Ms. Jayne Harkins, Attention 
BCOO-4600, PO Box 61470, Boulder City, Nevada, 89006-1470, or fax 
comments to Ms. Harkins at (702) 293-8042. Comments must be received no 
later than September 8, 2000.
    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.

DATES: Comments on this DEIS must be received no later than September 
8, 2000.
    Public hearings will be held to receive written or verbal comments 
on the DEIS from interested organizations and individuals on the 
environmental impacts of the proposal. The hearings

[[Page 42029]]

will be held at the following times and locations:

 August 3, Meeting Room 1 on Level 3, Terminal 4, Phoenix Sky 
Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, 7 p.m.
 August 8, Big Bear Room, Doubletree Hotel, 222 N. Vineyard 
Ave., Ontario, CA, 7 p.m.
 August 10, Jazz Room, Salt Lake City International Airport, 
765 Terminal Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah, 7 p.m.
 August 15, Comfort Dental Conference Room, Las Vegas Chamber 
of Commerce, 3720 Howard Hughes Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 7 p.m.

    In addition to the public hearings, a separate hydrologic modeling 
meeting will be held on the same day as the public hearing in Las 
Vegas, NV. Reclamation will provide detailed assumptions and respond to 
questions regarding the model runs, use schedules, and post-processing 
analysis that was completed for this DEIS. The time and location for 
this technical meeting is as follows:

 August 15, Comfort Dental Conference Room, Las Vegas Chamber 
of Commerce, 3720 Howard Hughes Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 9 a.m. to 5 
p.m.

    The hearings and the hydrologic modeling meeting will accommodate 
those with hearing impairments or other special requirements upon 
request by calling Janet Steele at (702) 293-8551 at least 48 hours 
prior to the hearing.
    The DEIS is available for viewing on the Internet at http://www.lc.usbr.gov and http://www.uc.usbr.gov. Copies of the DEIS, in the 
form of a printed document or on compact disk, are available upon 
written request to the following address: Ms. Janet Steele, Attention 
BCOO-4601, PO Box 61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470, Telephone: 
(702) 293-8785, or by fax at (702) 293-8042.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for a list of libraries where 
the DEIS is available for public inspection and review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, contact 
Ms. Jayne Harkins at the above address or telephone Ms. Harkins at 
(702) 293-8785.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 
currently manages the lower Colorado River system in accordance with 
federal law (including the provisions of the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court 
decree, as supplemented, in Arizona v. California (the Decree)), the 
Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968 (CRBPA) and Long Range 
Operating Criteria (LROC) pursuant to the CRBPA. Within this legal 
framework, the Secretary makes annual determinations regarding the 
availability of surplus water from Lake Mead by considering various 
factors, including the amount of water in storage and predictions for 
natural runoff. The Decree provides that if there exists sufficient 
water available in a single year for release from Lake Mead to satisfy 
annual consumptive use in the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada 
in excess of 7.5 million-acre feet, such water may be determined by the 
Secretary to be made available as surplus water.
    The purpose of and need for establishing interim surplus criteria 
is to assist the Secretary in making annual determinations of surplus 
conditions, and will afford entities that have contracted for surplus 
water a greater degree of predictability with respect to the annual 
existence of surplus water available for diversion. This greater 
predictability would assist these entities in the management of their 
water resources.
    The DEIS presents four possible alternatives for implementation, 
plus a ``No Action Alternative.'' The DEIS does not include a preferred 
alternative. The interim surplus criteria alternatives have been 
formulated to be consistent with applicable federal law and the LROC, 
described above.
    The four potential action alternatives are: a ``Flood Control 
Alternative,'' which would provide surplus water only when flood 
control releases from Lake Mead are needed, based on the current 
criteria for making such releases; the ``Six States Alternative'' and 
``California Alternative,'' both of which specify various Lake Mead 
water surface elevations to be used as ``triggers'' to indicate when 
surplus conditions exist; and the ``Shortage Protection Alternative,'' 
which would permit surplus conditions to be determined above a specific 
elevation positioned to ensure enough water remains in Lake Mead to 
provide a one-year water supply to Arizona, California, Nevada, and 
Mexico, and to protect against dropping the lake's water level below a 
specified elevation.
    Libraries Where the Draft EIS is Available for Public Inspection 
and Review:

 Department of the Interior, Natural Resources Library, 1849 C 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240.
 Lower Colorado Regional Office, PO Box 61470, Boulder City, 
Nevada 89006-1470.
 Phoenix Area Office, Concorde Commerce Center, 2222 West 
Dunlap Ave., Suite 100, Phoenix, Arizona 85069-1169.
 Yuma Area Office, 7301 Calle Aqua Salada, Yuma, Arizona, 
85366-7504.
 Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 South State St., Room 
6107, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138-1102.
 Boulder City Library, 813 Arizona, Boulder City, NV 89005. 
Henderson District Public Library, 280 South Water St., Henderson, NV 
89015.
 Los Angeles Central Library, 630 W 5th St. Los Angeles, CA 
90071.
 San Diego Central Library, 820 E St., San Diego, CA 92101.
 Salt Lake City Public Library, 209 E 500 S., Salt Lake City, 
UT 84111.
 Albuquerque Public Library, 501 Copper Ave. NW, Albuquerque, 
NM 87102.
 Denver Public Library, 10 W 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204.
 Laramie County Library, 2800 Central Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82001.
 Phoenix Public Library (Burton Barr Central), 1221 N. Central 
Ave., AZ 85004.
 Government Reference Library, City Hall, 9th Floor, Tucson, AZ 
85701.
 Mohave County Library, 1170 Hancock Rd., Bullhead City, AZ 
86442.
 San Bernardino County Library, 1111 Bailey Ave., Needles, CA 
92363.
 Lake Havasu City Library, 1787 McCulloch Blvd. North, Lake 
Havasu City, AZ, 86403.
 Parker Public Library, 1001 South Navajo Ave., Parker, AZ 
85344.
 Palo Verde Valley Library, 125 W. Chanslor Way, Blythe, CA 
92225.
 Yuma County Library, 350 S. 3rd Ave., Yuma, AZ 85364.

    Dated: June 30, 2000.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, Department of 
the Interior.
[FR Doc. 00-17194 Filed 7-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P