[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 73 (Monday, April 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20171-20172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-7709]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO930-05-9260NQ-COQB]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Alamosa River Watershed 
Restoration Master Plan

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, lead; 
Fish and Wildlife Service; cooperating agency; United States Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture, cooperating agency.

ACTION: Notice of Release of Draft Alamosa River Watershed Restoration 
Master Plan.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public and other agencies of 
availability of the Draft Alamosa River Watershed Restoration Master 
Plan (ARWRMP) for comment. The draft plan describes the Alamosa River 
environment and the impacts to watershed resources and land uses, and 
briefly describes proposed restoration projects. It comprehensively 
addresses all watershed restoration needs, including those resulting 
from injuries pursuant to the federal Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) regulations in CFR 43 part 11, as 
well as restoration needs arising from other impacts. The draft plan 
also outlines several sets of projects based on competing needs and 
limited funding, and proposes a preferred restoration alternative, 
consisting of a project set that best addresses the various resource 
impacts. The preferred alternative provides for natural resource 
restoration within the Alamosa River watershed. The draft plan 
envisions funds from the NRDAR settlement, along with matching funds, 
grants, and other funding sources, to support the preferred 
alternative. The restoration actions ultimately undertaken will result 
from proposals for specific actions that respond to the needs and 
selected projects identified in the preferred restoration alternative.

DATES: A public meeting will be held to present the draft plan and to 
respond to comments and questions. This meeting will be held on March 
21, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at Centauri School just south of La Jara, 
Colorado on highway 285. Persons may comment in writing on the draft 
plan at the addresses given below for Rob Robinson. The 30 day comment 
period will end April 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Persons may obtain copies of the draft document and comment 
on the draft by writing, telephoning, faxing, or e-mailing: Rob 
Robinson at the Bureau of Land Management, 2850 S. Youngfield Street, 
Lakewood, Colorado 80215, phone 303-239-3642, fax 303-239-3799, email: 
[email protected]. The document is also available at the following 
Internet address: http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/nrda/Summitville.htm/. Copies of the document will be available for on-site 
review in the Del Norte Public Library, 190 Grand Avenue, Del Norte, CO 
81131 or U.S. Department of Agriculture, Conejos County Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, 15 Spruce, La Jara, CO 81140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, more commonly known as the 
federal ``Superfund'' law) [42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq.] and the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act 
(CWA) [33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.] authorize States, federally recognized 
Tribes, and certain federal agencies, which have the authority to 
manage or control natural resources, to act as ``trustees'' on behalf 
of the public, to restore, rehabilitate, replace, and/or acquire 
natural resources equivalent to those harmed by hazardous substance 
releases. The U.S. Department of the Interior (represented by the 
Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (represented by the U.S. Forest Service), the 
State of Colorado (represented by the Departments of Law, Natural 
Resources, and Public Health and the Environment) are Trustees for 
natural resources considered in this Natural Resource Damage Assessment 
and Restoration (NRDAR) project, pursuant to subpart G of the National 
Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300.600 
and 300.610) and Executive Order 12580.
    The objective of the NRDAR process in the Alamosa River watershed 
is to compensate the public, through restoration actions, for losses to 
natural resources and services that have been caused by releases of 
toxic metals into the watershed. Restoration activities will be funded 
in part by natural resource damages recovered in settlement from the 
party responsible for recent contamination emanating from the 
Summitville mine in the upper watershed. The damages received must be 
used to restore, rehabilitate, replace

[[Page 20172]]

and/or acquire the equivalent of those natural resources that have been 
injured.
    The Trustees have a Memorandum of Agreement which establishes a 
Trustee Council to develop and implement a restoration plan for 
ecological restorations in the Alamosa River watershed. The Trustees 
followed the NRDAR regulations found at 43 CFR part 11 for development 
of the draft plan. The Trustees have worked together, in a cooperative 
process, to determine appropriate restoration activities to address 
natural resource injuries caused by Summitville releases of hazardous 
substances, as well as other watershed impacts identified during 
planning. The draft plan addresses the Trustees' overall approach to 
restore, rehabilitate, replace or acquire the equivalent of natural 
resources injured by the release of toxic metals into the Alamosa River 
watershed environment. Comments received during the above public 
comment period will be incorporated into a final document as 
appropriate.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347.

    Dated: February 25, 2005.
Robert H. Robinson,
Summitville Trustee Council Representative, Division of Energy, Lands 
and Minerals, Colorado State Office, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 05-7709 Filed 4-15-05; 8:45 am]
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