[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 51637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25462]



[[Page 51637]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Financial Assistance To Promote Water Conservation in the Klamath 
Basin

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to make monies available to promote water 
conservation in the Klamath Basin.

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SUMMARY: Section 2104 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2001, 
Pub. L 107-20, provided for financial assistance to eligible producers 
to promote water conservation in the Klamath Basin. This notice sets 
out the method by which the payment will be distributed on behalf of 
eligible producers to eligible owners and operators who did not receive 
certain expected deliveries of irrigation water within the Klamath 
Basin during the past crop year, and who agree to promote water 
conservation methods in future agricultural activities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ilka Gray, Agricultural Program 
Specialist, USDA/FSA/CEPD/STOP 0513, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., 
Washington, DC 20250-0513, (202) 690-0794, or email at: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2104 of the Supplemental 
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Pub. L. 107-20), provided $20,000,000 to make 
available financial assistance to eligible producers to promote water 
conservation in the Klamath Basin (Basin). The Basin is located in the 
high-desert inter-mountain region of Klamath County, Oregon, and 
Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, California. There are typically over 
220,000 acres of irrigated crops in the Basin including: alfalfa, 
50,450 acres; barley, 31,700 acres; other hay, 27,160 acres; and oats, 
8,800 acres. Cropland in the area is traditionally serviced by the 
deliveries of water by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's (USBR) Klamath 
Project (Project) which also delivers water to the Tule Lake and Lower 
Klamath National Wildlife Refuges. The Project was authorized by 
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. USBR is an entity within the U.S. 
Department of Interior (USDOI).
    From September 1, 2000, through March 26, 2001, the Basin watershed 
received about 32 percent of normal precipitation. Stream flows were 
estimated by USBR hydrologists to be at about 29 percent of normal. 
Meanwhile, as estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, the estimated snow pack in the upper 
Basin was about 34 percent of normal. Because of record low levels, 
USBR determined on April 6, 2001, that water could not be delivered 
under the Project to the producers who normally use Project water for 
irrigation purposes. There are about 1,400 agricultural producers whose 
land normally receives Klamath Basin Irrigated Contract Acres (Contract 
Acres) in the Basin whose farming operations were substantially 
impacted by the water shortage.
    To assist producers adversely affected by the drought, Congress 
included in section 2104 of Pub. L. 107-20 $20 million, to remain 
available until expended, from amounts available to the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation under 15 U.S.C. 713a-4, 
``for the Secretary of Agriculture to make available financial 
assistance to eligible producers to promote water conservation in the 
Klamath Basin, as determined by the Secretary.'' In addition, the 
statute specified that to the extent that regulations might be found to 
be needed, the issuance of regulations promulgated pursuant to this new 
authority would be made without regard to: (1) The notice and comment 
provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code; (2) the 
Statement of Policy of the Secretary of Agriculture effective July 24, 
1971 (36 FR 13804), relating to notices of proposed rulemaking and 
public participation in rulemaking; and (3) chapter 35 of title 44, 
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act''). 
It was also specified that in carrying out this section the Secretary 
should use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, United 
States Code, which exempts certain rules from having to undergo certain 
Congressional oversight procedures prior to the time that the rules are 
made effective.

Eligibility

    FSA will use data on Basin farming operations, along with data from 
USDOI, to identify the universe of eligible producers. Anyone that has 
an interest in the eligible land may also contact the FSA office to 
determine eligibility.
    Land within the Horsefly and Langell Valley Irrigation Districts in 
the Basin received water. Accordingly, land in those districts will not 
be eligible for payment under this new program. Likewise, under the 
2001 Klamath Basin Pilot Irrigation Demand Reduction Program, USBR 
purchased water normally provided to about 16,000 acres in the Basin 
and, because these producers have already been or will be compensated 
through that effort, this land will also be generally ineligible for 
this assistance. Benefits will be made available for producers that 
sold water to USBR for a per acre amount less than per acre payment 
that would otherwise be available to eligible land. The potential 
payment will be equal to the difference between the two amounts. In no 
case may this per acre payment, taken in the aggregate with the USBR 
per acre payment, exceed the per acre payment otherwise payable under 
this new program.
    Funds will be divided up according to contract acres and according 
to payment shares indicated. Such shares must be agreed to by the owner 
and operator located on the eligible land. Only undisputed requests for 
assistance will be paid. Producers will be provided with information on 
what kinds of conservation measures might be undertaken and other 
options as may be available to them. Such actions may include: (1) 
moving to less water-intensive crops, (2) improving irrigation 
scheduling, and (3) developing on-farm irrigation improvements such as 
land-leveling, canal maintenance, and sprinkler calibration. FSA can 
provide producers with assistance in determining the best water 
conservation practice(s) for their operation. All participating 
producers will agree to promote water conservation methods in future 
agricultural activities as a condition of payment. FSA will keep this 
agreement on file with the producers' other USDA records, and 
recipients may be subject to monitoring and/or enforcement measures.
    Further information about the program will be made available at the 
local Farm Service Agency offices of the USDA.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on October 4, 2001.
James R. Little,
Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency and Acting Executive Vice 
President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 01-25462 Filed 10-5-01; 9:50 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P