[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 198 (Friday, October 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63445-63446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26034]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement, 
Federal Water Rights Acquisition Program for Washoe, Storey, and Lyon 
Counties, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA) intends to file with the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a proposed 
water rights acquisition program to fulfill federal obligations 
identified in the Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement, and 
that the FEIS is available for final public review. Details of the 
proposed action, alternatives and areas of environmental concern 
addressed in the FEIS are provided in the Supplementary Information 
section.

DATES: Written comments must arrive by November 8, 2002. The Record of 
Decision will be issued on or after November 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES: You may mail, hand carry or telefax comments to Tom Strekal, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Western Nevada Agency, 1677 Hot Springs Road, 
Carson City, Nevada 89706, telefax (775) 887-3531.
    Copies of the FEIS have been mailed to interested agencies, to 
local libraries, to individuals who participated in the scoping process 
and public hearings and to parties who requested a copy of the 
document. To obtain a copy of the FEIS, contact Tom Strekal at (775) 
887-3500. Please specify whether you wish a paper or CD-ROM version of 
the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Tom Strekal at (775) 887-3500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BIA has completed a FEIS for a proposal 
to initiate a federal water rights acquisition program to acquire 
Truckee River water rights. The Truckee River Water Quality Settlement 
Agreement (WQSA), signed on October 10, 1996, establishes a joint 
program to improve Truckee River water quality by increasing flows in 
the river through the purchase and dedication of Truckee River water 
rights for instream flow. The acquisition program would fulfill federal 
obligations identified in the WQSA.
    The FEIS evaluates the proposed action, two action alternatives, 
and a no action alternative. It describes the existing environment and 
potential environmental consequences of a water rights acquisition 
program. The FEIS considers the following issues: air quality, 
groundwater and surface water supply, river flow, water quality, 
biological resources including desert vegetation, riparian vegetation, 
fish, threatened and endangered species, and socio-economic resources 
including cultural resources, recreation, and land use.
    The BIA's proposed action is the preferred alternative. This is an 
acquisition strategy that would allow water rights to be acquired from 
willing sellers located in any portion of the study area. The proposed 
action presumes most water rights would be acquired from the Truckee 
Division of the Newlands Project, due to the greater potential 
availability of water rights and

[[Page 63446]]

the lower cost per acre-foot. Additional water rights would be acquired 
from the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area and from lands located within 
the Truckee River corridor from Vista downstream to Wadsworth, Nevada. 
Water associated with acquired rights would be stored, whenever 
possible, in Truckee River reservoirs owned and operated by the Bureau 
of Reclamation. Stored WQSA water would be released from storage to 
enhance Truckee River flow during periods of low flow (primarily June-
September) according to a schedule prepared by the parties acquiring 
water rights under WQSA and the Pyramid Lake Tribe (Joint Program 
Parties).
    Other alternatives considered in the FEIS evaluate strategies that 
would focus acquisition efforts in the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area or 
in the Truckee Division. Acquiring water rights exclusively from the 
Reno-Sparks metropolitan area would likely result in acquisition of the 
least amount of water rights due to the high cost per acre-foot. A 
strategy focused on water rights in the Truckee Division would result 
in the acquisition of the greatest amount of water rights.
    The Draft EIS (DEIS) was released for public review on October 5, 
2001. Public hearings were held on November 27, 28, 29, and 30, 2001, 
in Fernley, Nixon, Fallon, and Sparks, Nevada, respectively. At those 
public hearings, formal comments were received from seven individuals. 
The DEIS was available for public review from October 5 through 
December 5, 2001. Responses to comments received on the DEIS are 
addressed in the FEIS.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the location shown in the ADDRESSES 
section during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish the BIA to withhold your name and/or 
address from public review or disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your written comments. Such requests will be honored to the extent 
allowed by law. The BIA will not, however, consider anonymous comments. 
All submissions from organizations or businesses and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses will be available for public inspection in their 
entirely.

Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 
1508) implementing the procedural requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), 
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the 
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian 
Affairs by 209 DM 8.1.

    Dated: September 26, 2002.
Neal A. McCaleb,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 02-26034 Filed 10-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P