[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 49679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16818]


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

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 Central Valley Project 
Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA) and the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, 
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 2005 draft 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 Web site: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/watershare/documents/2005DraftCriteria.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 
Plans.

DATES: All public comments must be received by September 30, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Please mail comments to Jerry Townsend, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825, or contact 
at 916-978-5223 (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 Jerry Townsend 
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 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 Plan using these Criteria:
     All Contractors that receive only irrigation water from 
any Federal Reclamation project, and deliver said water to less than 
2,000 acres of land.
     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.
     All Contractors that receive a combination of irrigation 
and urban water amounting to less than an annual average of 2,000 acre-
feet from any Federal Reclamation project.
    Reclamation will evaluate Plans based on these Criteria. The CVPIA 
requires Reclamation to evaluate, and revise if necessary, the Criteria 
every 3 years. The Criteria were previously revised in 1996, 1999, and 
2002.
    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, which we will honor 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, or contact at 916-978-5232 (TDD 978-
5608), or e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated: July 25, 2005.
Donna E. Tegelman,
Regional Resources Manager.
[FR Doc. 05-16818 Filed 8-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-MN-P