[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6509-6510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3023]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


San Luis Reservoir and Los Banos Creek State Recreation Area 
Joint General Plan and Resource Management Plan, Merced County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact 
statement/environmental impact report (PEIS/EIR).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), proposes to 
prepare a draft PEIS/EIR for the San Luis Reservoir and Los Banos Creek 
State Recreation Area (SRA) joint General Plan and Resource Management 
Plan (GP/RMP). Scoping meetings are being conducted to elicit comments 
on the scope and issues to be addressed in the draft PEIS/EIR. The 
dates and times for the meetings are noted below.

DATES: The first scoping meeting was held on Saturday, January 11, 
2003, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Gustine, California. The second scoping 
meeting will be held on Thursday, February 20, 2003, from 1 p.m. to 3 
p.m. in Gustine, California.
    Written comments should be sent to Reclamation at the address below 
by March 10, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The meeting location is at the California Department of 
Parks and Recreation, Four Rivers District Office, 31426 Gonzaga Road, 
Gustine, CA, 95322.
    Written comments should be sent to Mr. Dan Holsapple, Bureau of 
Reclamation, South-Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, 
Fresno, CA 93721-1813; or faxed to 559-487-5130 (TDD 559-487-5933); or 
e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dan Holsapple, Bureau of 
Reclamation, at the above address, telephone: 559-487-5409; or Dennis 
Imhoff, CEQA Coordinator, California Department of Parks and 
Recreation, Four Rivers District, 31426 Gonzaga Road, Gustine, CA 
95322, telephone: 209-826-1197, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: San Luis Reservoir is approximately 5 miles 
west of the City of Los Banos, adjacent to State Route 152, in Merced 
County, California. Los Banos Creek State Recreation Area is located 
about 5 miles southwest of the City of Los Banos, south of State Route 
152, off Volta Road, just west of Interstate 5.
    Reclamation and DPR are preparing a joint draft PEIS/EIR. DPR will 
be the Lead Agency for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 
and Reclamation will be the Lead Agency for NEPA.
    DPR's General Plan Unit, in conjunction with its Four Rivers 
District Office, is developing the General Plan (GP) portion of the GP/
RMP, in accordance with Public Resources Code Sec.  5002.2 (General 
Plan guidelines) and Sec.  21000 et seq. (CEQA). The purpose of the GP 
is to guide future development activities and management objectives at 
the Park. Reclamation is developing a RMP portion of the GP/RMP, 
pursuant to the Reclamation Recreation Management Act of 1992, Title 
28, Pub. L. 102-575, the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
(CEQ) (40 CFR 1500-08) and the Federal Water Project Recreation Act. 
Reclamation and DPR are cooperating to prepare the GP/RMP in a 
consolidated planning process to solicit agency and stakeholder 
participation for both efforts simultaneously. The project areas for 
each plan will vary, based on differences in management and ownership; 
however, there will be common components within the joint GP/RMP.
    The San Luis Reservoir and the Los Banos Creek Retention Dam were 
built in 1965 as part of the Central Valley Project on lands owned by 
Reclamation. The lands are jointly managed by the California Department 
of Water Resources (DWR) and DPR. DPR is responsible for recreation and 
resource management while DWR manages the water supply facilities.
    There are additional tracts of land, managed by the California 
Department of Fish and Game (DFG) in the vicinity of the San Luis 
Reservoir, which were set aside to mitigate for construction impacts. 
These DFG-managed lands will not be part of the GP and PEIR/EIS, as DPR 
does not have management jurisdiction over these lands.
    San Luis Reservoir Wildlife Area and O'Neill Forebay Wildlife Area, 
federally owned lands which are managed by DFG, will be included in the 
RMP and PEIR/EIS.
    The objectives of the GP/RMP are to establish management 
objectives, guidelines, and actions to be implemented by Reclamation 
directly, or through its recreation contract with DPR to:
    [sbull] Protect the water supply and water quality functions of the 
reservoirs,
    [sbull] Protect and enhance natural and cultural resources in the 
SRA, consistent with Federal law and Reclamation policies,
    [sbull] Provide recreational opportunities and facilities 
consistent with the Central Valley Project purposes.
    The GP/RMP will be the primary management guideline for defining a 
framework for resource stewardship, interpretation, facilities, visitor 
use, and services. The joint plan will define an ultimate purpose, 
vision and intent for management through goal statements, guidelines, 
and broad objectives. The GP/RMP will be a long-term plan that will 
guide future specific actions at the SRA. Subsequent specific actions 
will be the subject of future environmental analysis as required.
    We would like to know the views of interested persons, 
organizations, and agencies as to the scope and content of the 
information to be included and analyzed in the draft PEIS/EIR. Agencies 
should comment on the elements of the environmental information that 
are relevant to their statutory responsibilities in connection with the 
proposed project.
    It is Reclamation's practice 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 
may also 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.


[[Page 6510]]


    Dated: February 3, 2003.
Frank Michny,
Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 03-3023 Filed 2-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P