[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 208 (Friday, October 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63004-63005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8936]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Supplement to Notice of Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Proposed Implementation of Interim Water 
Storage Contracts Associated With the Southeastern Federal Power 
Customers Settlement Agreement, at Lake Sidney Lanier/Buford Dam, GA

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Announcement of meetings.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Mobile District, 
issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) on June 16, 2006 (71 FR 34901) 
describing the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS), as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to 
address the proposed implementation of interim water storage contracts 
at Lake Sidney Lanier/Buford Dam, GA, as contained in a settlement 
agreement associated with the Southeastern Federal Power Customers, 
Inc., (SeFPC) v. Secretary of the Army, et al. (1:00CV02954-TPJ) 
lawsuit. The Draft EIS will also address any changes in water 
management operations at Lake Lanier/Buford Dam, as well as the 
potential for other changes to operations in downstream reservoir 
projects in the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint Rivers (ACF) basin, 
which would result from implementation of the interim water storage 
contracts. This supplement to the NOI provides additional information 
explaining the scoping process that will be used to gather information 
on the project from the public and details regarding the dates and 
locations of public scoping meetings.

DATES: Scoping comments may be provided anytime during preparation of 
the EIS, but would be most useful for planning purposes if provided by 
December 29, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about this Draft EIS or the 
NEPA process can be answered by: Ms. Joanne Brandt, Environmental 
Compliance Manager, Inland Environment Team, U.S. Army Engineer

[[Page 63005]]

District--Mobile, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001; telephone (251) 
690-3260; or delivered by electronic facsimile at (251) 694-3815; or E-
mail: [email protected]. You may also request to be 
included on the mailing list for public distribution of meeting 
announcements and documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Scoping Meetings. Public scoping 
meetings have been scheduled to allow participation from interested 
individuals throughout the ACF basin. Five public scoping meetings will 
be held on the dates and at the locations listed below. All meetings 
will have the same format and present the same information to the 
public. These meetings will be conducted as open-house meetings with 
subject matter experts located at various information stations. A court 
reporter will be available to accept oral statements, and comment forms 
will be available to accept specific written comments.
    Tuesday, November 28, 2006, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Georgia Mountains 
Center, 301 Main Street SW., Gainesville, GA 30503, (770) 534-8420.
    Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Renaissance Waverly 
Hotel, 2450 Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339, (888) 391-8724.
    Thursday, November 30, 2006, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Troup County Parks and 
Recreation Center, 1220 Lafayette Parkway, LaGrange, GA 30240, (706) 
883-1670.
    Tuesday, December 5, 2006, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Dothan Conference Center, 
3113 Oxmoor Industrial Boulevard, Dothan, AL 36303, (800) 453-5302.
    Wednesday, December 6, 2006, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., The Center for Economic 
and Workforce Development, Tallahassee Community College, 444 Appleyard 
Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32304, (850) 201-6200.
    Currently Identified Environmental Issues. The EIS will address the 
potential for any impacts to the multiple project purposes identified 
for Lake Sidney Lanier/Buford Dam and downstream reservoirs along with 
other resource areas of interest, including hydropower, navigation, 
water quality, water supply, flood control, fish and wildlife 
conservation, endangered and threatened species, recreation, cultural 
resources, and socioeconomic concerns. This preliminary list could be 
revised according to your comments and continued coordination and 
analyses conducted during preparation of the EIS.
    Public Participation. Public participation throughout the NEPA 
process is essential. The Corps invites full public participation to 
promote open communication and better decision making. All persons, 
stakeholders, and organizations that have an interest in the interim 
water storage contracts, including Federal, State and local agencies 
and officials, appropriate Federally recognized Indian tribes, other 
interested parties and the public, including minority, low-income, 
disadvantaged individuals, are invited to participate in the NEPA 
process. Assistance will be provided upon request to anyone having 
difficulty with understanding how to participate. Public comments are 
welcomed anytime throughout the NEPA process.
    Scoping Comments. Your input and participation in the scoping 
process will help identify the issues that need to be evaluated in the 
EIS. Comments on the project may be submitted in written form or 
presented verbally at one of the five public scoping meetings. You can 
make a difference by providing us with your specific comments or 
concerns about the implementation of the interim water storage 
contracts. By commenting, the Corps will address and consider your 
concerns in the EIS. Your comments should focus on the potential 
environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid 
or lessen environmental impacts. Your comments can also address 
significant issues and resource areas of concern; additional 
stakeholders to be involved in the evaluation process; sources of 
pertinent information and any significant data gaps; assist in 
identifying and focusing the alternatives to be evaluated; defining the 
baseline for comparison of impacts; and appropriate methods and tools 
that can be used to assess impacts of the proposed action. The more 
specific your comments, the more useful they will be.
    The Corps encourages electronic filing of comments in response to 
this NOI. For information on electronically filing comments, see the 
instructions at http://www.LanierEIS-InterimStorageContracts.org under 
the Comments link. The public scoping meetings (date, time, and 
location listed above) are designed to provide another opportunity to 
offer comments on the proposed action. Interested groups and 
individuals are encouraged to attend these meetings and to present 
comments that they believe should be addressed in the EIS. Following 
completion of the public scoping meetings, a report will be prepared to 
summarize the comments received and areas of concern identified during 
the scoping period.
    Web Page. Additional information about the project is available 
from the Web page http://www.LanierEIS-InterimStorageContracts.org. If 
you would also like to be included on the mailing list for public 
distribution of meeting announcements, newsletters and other documents, 
you may fill out a contact form on the Web page.

    Dated: October 20, 2006.
Peter F. Taylor,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 06-8936 Filed 10-26-06; 8:45 am]
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