[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 63942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26068]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Criteria for Evaluating 
Water Conservation Plans

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: To meet the requirements of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 
and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA), the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) developed and published the 
Criteria for Evaluating Water Management Plans (Criteria). Note: For 
the purpose of this announcement, Water Management Plans are considered 
the same as Water Conservation Plans (Plans). The CVPIA requires 
Reclamation to evaluate, and revise if necessary, the Criteria every 3 
years. Reclamation is publishing this notice to allow the public to 
comment on the revised draft 2002 Criteria. Public comment on the 
revised Criteria is invited at this time. The draft revision is 
available for review and comment. A copy of the draft revision can be 
found at the following website: http://www.mp.usbr.gov/watershare/documents/files/cvpia/draft2002cvpiacriteria.pdf.
    A copy of the draft revision can be obtained by contacting persons 
at the address below. After the review period, if no significant 
changes are made based on comments from the public, the Criteria will 
be final. After the Criteria is final, it will be used to evaluate 
water conservation plans.

DATES: All public comments must be received by November 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: 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. We will honor such requests 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 
copies contact Leslie Barbre, Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, California 95825, 916-978-5232 (TDD 978-5608), or e-mail at 
[email protected]. Please mail comments to Bryce White, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California, 95825, or 
contact at 916-978-5208 (TDD 978-5608), or e-mail at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To be placed on a mailing list for any 
subsequent information, please contact Leslie Barbre or Bryce White at 
the e-mail address or telephone number above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are inviting the public to comment on the 
revision of the Criteria. Section 3405(e) of the CVPIA (Title 34 Pub. 
L. 102-575), requires the ``Secretary of the Interior to establish and 
administer an office on Central Valley Project water conservation best 
management practices that shall * * * develop Criteria for evaluating 
the adequacy of all water conservation plans developed by project 
contractors, including those plans required by Section 210 of the 
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982.'' Also, according to Section 
3405(e)(1), these criteria must be developed ``* * * with the purpose 
of promoting the highest level of water use efficiency reasonably 
achievable by project contractors using best available cost-effective 
technology and best management practices.'' The Criteria have the 
following applicability statements:
    Who Must Use These Criteria. These Criteria apply to water 
management plans submitted to Reclamation as required by applicable 
Central Valley Project water delivery contract or any contract that 
specifically invokes these criteria.
    Exceptions. The following are excepted from the requirement to 
prepare a water management plan using these criteria:
    [sbull] All Contractors that receive only irrigation water from any 
Federal Reclamation project, and deliver said water to less than 2,000 
acres of land.
    [sbull] All Contractors that receive only municipal and industrial 
(urban) water from any Federal Reclamation project, and provide said 
water to less than 3,300 people.
    [sbull] All Contractors that receive less than an annual average of 
2,000 acre-feet from any Federal Reclamation project.
    Reclamation will evaluate Plans based on the Criteria. The CVPIA 
requires Reclamation to evaluate, and revise if necessary, the Criteria 
every 3 years. The Criteria were previously revised in 1996 and 1999.

    Dated: October 1, 2002.
Donna E. Tegelman,
Regional Resources Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-26068 Filed 10-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P