[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68837-68838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20155]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Folsom Dam Safety and Flood Damage Reduction (DS/FDR) Action--
Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and notice of public 
hearings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), CEQ NEPA Regulations (40 CFR 1502.9[c][1]), 
and Public Resources Code, sections 21000-21177 of the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Code of 
Regulations, title 14, section 15088.5 of the CEQA Guidelines, the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the lead Federal agency; the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), a cooperating Federal agency; the 
Reclamation Board of the State of California, the lead State agency; 
and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), the local 
sponsor, have made available for public review and comment a Draft EIS/
EIR for the Folsom DS/FDR Action.
    The Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/EIR describes five action alternatives 
which include numerous features that address previously identified and 
ongoing dam safety, flood damage reduction, and security issues by 
modifying Folsom Dam and Appurtenant Structures (the Folsom Facility). 
The alternatives include features that would address Reclamation's dam 
safety objectives and the Corps' flood damage reduction objectives 
jointly, as well as features or increments that would exclusively 
address dam safety, security, or flood damage reduction objectives and 
would be constructed and authorized by the respective agencies. 
Engineering, economic, and environmental studies have been conducted to 
help determine reasonable design alternatives and their impacts. The no 
action alternative is also included in these analyses.
    As part of the NEPA process, two public hearing sessions will be 
held to provide interested individuals and organizations with an 
opportunity to comment verbally and in writing on the Folsom DS/FDR 
Draft EIS/EIR. The first hour of each public hearing session will allow 
time to review information stations and displays, ask questions, and 
provide written comments on comment forms; the formal hearing will be 
held for one hour and be extended to two hours if needed. Information 
gathered from the EIS/EIR review process will be used in conjunction 
with technical and economic principles to determine the preferred 
alternative.

DATES: Comments on the Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/EIR should be submitted 
on or before Monday, January 22, 2007 to Mr. Shawn Oliver at the 
address below.
    Two public hearings will be held:
     Tuesday, January 9, 2007, 2 to 4 p.m. (to be extended 1 
additional hour, if needed), Sacramento, CA.
     Wednesday, January 10, 2007, 7 to 9 p.m. (to be extended 1 
additional hour, if needed), Folsom, CA.

[[Page 68838]]


ADDRESSES: The public hearings will be held at:
     Sacramento at the Sacramento Library Galleria, 828 I 
Street, Sacramento, CA.
     Folsom at Folsom Community Center, 52 Natoma Street, 
Folsom, CA.
    Send written comments on the Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/EIR to Mr. 
Shawn Oliver, Bureau of Reclamation, 7794 Folsom Dam Road, Folsom, CA 
95630 (e-mail: [email protected]). Send requests for a compact disk 
or a bound copy of the Draft EIS/EIR to Ms. Rosemary Stefani, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone: (916) 
978-5309, or e-mail: [email protected]. The Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/
EIR will also be available on the Web at: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=1808
    Copies of the Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/EIR are available for public 
review at the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office Library, Building 67, 
Room 167, Denver Federal Center, 6th and Kipling, Denver, CO 80225.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office 
Library, 2800 Cottage Way, W-1825, Sacramento, CA 95825-1898.
     El Dorado County Library, 345 Fair Lane, Placerville, CA 
95667-5699.
     Folsom Public Library, 300 Persifer Street, Folsom, CA 
95630.
     Natural Resources Library, U.S. Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street, NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 
20240-0001.
     Roseville Public Library, 311 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA 
95678.
     Sacramento Central Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 
95814-2589.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Shawn Oliver at (916) 989-7256, 
TDD (916) 978-5608; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Folsom Facility consists of 12 
structures (dams and dikes), which impound the American River forming 
the Folsom Reservoir. Both Reclamation and the Corps share in the 
responsibility of ensuring that the Folsom Facility is maintained and 
operated under their respective agency dam safety regulations and 
guidelines, as defined by Congress. As a part of their 
responsibilities, Reclamation and the Corps have determined that the 
Folsom Facility requires structural improvements to increase overall 
public safety above existing conditions by improving the facilities' 
ability to reduce flood damages and address dam safety issues posed by 
hydrologic (flood), seismic (earthquake), and static (seepage) events. 
While these events have a low probability of occurrence in a given 
year, due to the large population downstream of Folsom Dam, modifying 
the facilities is prudent and required to improve public safety above 
current baseline conditions.
    Reclamation has identified the need for expedited action to reduce 
hydrologic, static, and seismic risks under its Safety of Dams Program. 
The Corps in partnership with the Reclamation Board/DWR and SAFCA have 
identified the need to reduce the risk of flooding in the Sacramento 
area. These agencies have combined their efforts resulting in common 
solutions to be phased-in for the structural and functional concerns of 
the Folsom Facility.
    The Folsom DS/FDR Draft EIS/EIR discusses the project background, 
purpose and need, project description and alternatives, and related 
projects. The Draft EIS/EIR addresses the impacts of project 
construction on aquatic resources, terrestrial vegetation and wildlife, 
hydrology, water quality, groundwater, water supply, hydropower 
resources, socioeconomics, soils, minerals, geological resources, 
visual resources, agricultural resources, transportation and 
circulation, noise, cultural resources, land use, planning and zoning, 
recreation resources, public services and utilities, air quality, 
population and housing, public health and safety, public services and 
utilities, environmental justice, and Indian trust assets.

Additional Information

    If special assistance is required at the public hearings, please 
contact Mr. Shawn Oliver, Bureau of Reclamation, at (916) 989-7256. 
Please notify Mr. Oliver as far in advance of the hearings as possible 
to enable Reclamation to secure the needed services. If a request 
cannot be honored, the requestor will be notified.
    Comments received in response to this notice will become part of 
the administrative record and are subject to public inspection. Our 
practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, home 
phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, available for public 
review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their names 
and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider withholding 
this information, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comments. In addition, you must present a rationale for 
withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that 
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. 
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of 
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be 
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.

Frank Michny,
 Acting Assistant Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. E6-20155 Filed 11-27-06; 8:45 am]
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