[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 139 (Thursday, July 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37703-37704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18043]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Renewal of Sacramento River Settlement Contracts, Central Valley 
Project, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental document 
(environmental assessment or environmental impact statement) and notice 
of public meetings.

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

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 
proposes to prepare an environmental document to evaluate alternatives 
for renewal of long-term contracts with the entities and individuals 
asserting rights to divert water from the natural flow of the 
Sacramento River. These entities and individuals, known as the 
Sacramento River settlement contractors, typically receive both non-
Central Valley Project water, referred to as base supply, and 
supplemental water from the Central Valley Project, referred to as 
Project water. The current contracts expire in 2004, and the proposed 
renewals would extend for at least 25 years.
    At present it is not clear whether the scope of the action and 
anticipated project impacts will require preparation of an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) instead of an environmental 
assessment (EA). However, to ensure the timely and appropriate level of 
NEPA compliance and to limit potential future delays to the project 
schedule, Reclamation is proceeding as if the project impacts would 
require preparation of an EA. Reclamation will re-evaluate the need for 
an EIS after obtaining written and oral comments on the project scope, 
alternatives and environmental impacts, and after Reclamation's 
evaluation of potential impacts of the proposed project. Reclamation 
will publish a notice of change if a decision is made to prepare an EIS 
rather than an EA. However, the scoping process to be conducted will 
suffice for either course of action.
    There are no known Indian Trust Asset or environmental justice 
issues associated with the proposed action.

DATES: Three 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:

 Monday, August 6, 2001, 1 to 4 p.m., Tracy, California
 Tuesday, August 7, 2001, 1 to 4 p.m., Concord, California
 Wednesday, August 8, 2001, 1 to 4 p.m., Red Bluff, California

    Written comments on the scope of the environmental document should 
be mailed to Reclamation at the address below by August 27, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The meeting locations are as follows:

 Tracy at Veterans of Foreign Wars, 430 West Grant Line Road
 Concord at Hilton Hotel, 1970 Diamond Boulevard

[[Page 37704]]

 Red Bluff at Red Bluff Community/Senior Center, 1500 South 
Jackson Street

    Written comments on the scope of the environmental document should 
be sent to Buford Holt, Environmental Specialist, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Northern California Area Office, 16349 Shasta Dam 
Boulevard, Shasta Lake, CA 96019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Buford Holt at the above address, by 
telephone at (530) 275-1554, or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Central Valley Project (CVP) was first 
authorized as a Federal project in 1935 and includes facilities on the 
Trinity River, Sacramento River, American River, Sacramento-San Joaquin 
Delta, San Joaquin River, Stanislaus River and offstream storage and 
conveyance facilities associated with the San Luis Reservoir and Delta 
Mendota Canal. Construction of dams on the Sacramento River and the 
Trinity River substantially modified the flows of the Sacramento River. 
Prior to construction of the CVP, individuals and entities along the 
Sacramento River were diverting water for irrigation and municipal and 
industrial uses under various claims of right. In order to settle the 
controversy over assertions of water rights, the United States, acting 
through the Bureau of Reclamation, negotiated contracts that provided 
for agreement on diversion of water and CVP water service. The term of 
these Sacramento River settlement contracts was not to exceed 40 years 
and the contracts expire on March 31, 2004. The settlement contracts 
provide for renewal which must be accomplished prior to March 31, 2004.
    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.

Special Services

    Persons requiring any special services should contact Sammie 
Cervantes at (916) 978-5104. Please notify Ms. Cervantes 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: June 29, 2001.
Laura Allen,
Deputy Regional Environmental Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-18043 Filed 7-18-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P