[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 70 (Thursday, April 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 18491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6743]



[[Page 18491]]

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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO


United States Section; Notice of Availability of a Final 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for 
Improvements to the Lateral A/Retamal Dike Levee System, in the Lower 
Rio Grande Flood Control Project, Hidalgo County, TX

AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water 
Commission, United States and Mexico.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment (EA) 
and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969; the Council on Environmental Quality Final 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508); and the United States 
Section's Operational Procedures for Implementing Section 102 of NEPA, 
published in the Federal Register September 2, 1981, (46 FR 44083); the 
United States Section hereby gives notice that the Final Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Improvements to the 
Lateral A/Retamal Dike Levee System, in the Lower Rio Grande Flood 
Control Project, located in Hidalgo County, Texas are available. A 
notice of finding of no significant impact dated January 8, 2007 
provided a thirty (30) day comment period before making the finding 
final. The Notice was published in the Federal Register on January 8, 
2007 (Federal Register Notice, Vol. 72, No. 4, Pages 797-798).

For Further Information Contact: Daniel Borunda, Environmental 
Protection Specialist; Environmental Management Division; United States 
Section, International Boundary and Water Commission; 4171 N. Mesa, C-
100; El Paso, Texas 79902. Telephone: (915) 832-4767, e-mail: 
[email protected].
    Backgound: The USIBWC, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS), prepared this Environmental Assessment for 
the proposed action of raising the Lateral A/Retamal Dike Levee System 
located in Hidalgo County, Texas to improve flood control. This levee 
system is part of the LRGFCP that extends approximately 180 miles from 
the Town of Pe[ntilde]itas in south Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. The 
Lateral A/Retamal Dike Levee System extends approximately 14 miles, 
from the Carlson Settling Basin to Retamal Diversion Dam.
    The Proposed Action would increase the flood containment capacity 
of the Lateral A/Retamal Dike System to meet the 3-foot freeboard 
design criterion for flood protection. Throughout the approximately 
11.5-mile Lateral A segment, height increases between 1.5 and 4 feet 
are typically needed to reach the design freeboard value. For the 3.5-
mile Retamal Dike segment, typical increases in levee height range from 
0 to 2 feet. The increase in levee height will result in an expansion 
to the levee footprint by lateral extension of the structure. 
Structural improvements, such as a slurry cutoff barrier or a riverside 
impermeable liner, may be required for some levee segments where 
seepage is a potential problem.
    The Environmental Assessment assesses potential environmental 
impacts of the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative. Potential 
impacts on natural, cultural, and other resources were evaluated and 
mitigation measures were incorporated into the Proposed Action. A 
Finding of No Significant Impact was issued for the Proposed Action 
based on a review of the facts and analyses contained in the 
Environmental Assessment.
    The USIBWC is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain any 
project or works projected by the United States of America on the Lower 
Rio Grande Flood Control Project (LRGFCP) as authorized by the Act of 
the 74th Congress, Sess. I Ch. 561 (H.R. 6453), approved August 19, 
1935 (49 Stat. 660), and codified at 22 U.S.C. Section 277, 277a, 277b, 
277c, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. The LRGFCP 
was constructed to protect urban, suburban, and highly developed 
irrigated farmland along the Rio Grande delta in the United States and 
Mexico.
    Availability: Electronic copies of the Final EA and FONSI are 
available from the USIBWC Home Page at http://www.ibwc.state.gov.

    Dated: April 4, 2007.
Susan Daniel,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E7-6743 Filed 4-11-07; 8:45 am]
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