[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 90 (Thursday, May 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26643-26644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-2303]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Buckman Water Diversion Project, Santa Fe 
County, New Mexico

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior and Forest Service, 
Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), as amended, (Pub. L. 91-190, 43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Taos Field Office and USDA Forest 
Service (Forest Service), Santa Fe National Forest, announce the 
availability of the FEIS for the Buckman Water Diversion Project. The 
FEIS analyzes the environmental consequences of a proposal to divert 
water from the Rio Grande.

DATES: The Buckman Water Diversion Project FEIS will be available for 
review and comment for 30 calendar days starting on the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The BLM and Forest Service 
can best utilize your comments and resource information submissions 
within that 30-day comment period.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS may be submitted as follows:
    1. Electronic comments may be submitted at [email protected]. 
Please do not use special characters or attachments, as the BLM e-mail 
security system may not accept them.
    2. Written comments may be mailed or delivered to the BLM at: 
Buckman Water Diversion Project FEIS, Project Manager, Bureau of Land 
Management, Taos Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, NM 87571.
    The BLM will only accept comments on the Buckman Water Diversion 
Project FEIS if they are submitted using one of the methods described 
above. To be given consideration, all FEIS comment submittals must 
include the commenter's name and address. Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. Our practice is to make 
comments available for public review at the BLM--Taos Field Office 
during business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
except for Federal holidays. Copies of the FEIS have been sent to 
affected Federal, State, and local government agencies, Tribal 
governments, and interested parties. The document will be available 
electronically at the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm.
    Copies of the FEIS will also be available at the following 
locations:
     Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, 1474 
Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
     Bureau of Land Management, Taos Field Office, 226 Cruz 
Alta Rd., Taos, NM 87571.
     Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, 1474 Rodeo Road, 
Santa Fe, NM 87505.
     Forest Service, Espanola Ranger District, 1710 North 
Riverside Dr., Espanola, NM 87533.
     City of Santa Fe, Sangre de Cristo Water Division, 801 
West San Mateo, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
     Santa Fe County, Utilities Department, 205 Montezuma Ave., 
Santa Fe, NM 87501.
     USDI Bureau of Reclamation, 555 Broadway Ave. Albuquerque 
NM 87102.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sher Churchill, Bureau of Land 
Management, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, Taos Field Office, 
226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, NM 87571 or Mr. Sanford Hurlocker, Forest 
Service, District Ranger, Espanola Ranger District, P.O. Box 3307, 
Espanola, NM 87533. Ms. Churchill and Mr. Hurlocker can be reached by 
telephone at 505.751.4725 and 505.753.7331, respectively. Requests for 
information may be submitted electronically at http://www.blm.gov/nm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area is located northwest of 
Santa Fe, New Mexico. If authorized, the project would be predominantly 
located on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management 
and the Forest Service; a relatively small portion of the project 
facilities would be located

[[Page 26644]]

on private lands and Bureau of Land Management lands leased to the City 
of Santa Fe. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are joint 
lead agencies for this project; the Department of Interior Bureau of 
Reclamation (contributing funds), City of Santa Fe, and Santa Fe County 
are cooperating agencies. The City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, and 
Las Companas Limited Partnership are the ``Project Applicants.'' The 
proposed Buckman Water Diversion Project is designed to address the 
immediate need for a sustainable means of accessing water supplies for 
the Project Applicants. Most of the water would be derived from the San 
Juan-Chama Project, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation inter-basin transfer 
project. The remainder would be ``native'' water rights owned by the 
Project Applicants, and diverted from the Rio Grande. The Project 
Applicants propose to construct and operate a surface water diversion 
facility at the Rio Grande near the western terminus of Buckman Road 
located within the Santa Fe National Forest, near the existing Buckman 
Well Field. The water would be pumped to the Santa Fe vicinity, where 
it would serve municipal and community water supply customers. The 
Buckman Water Diversion is proposed to be constructed with the capacity 
necessary to meet the near-term need for water, based on physical, 
technical, and environmental limitations. The proposed project has an 
independent use from the long-term water management strategy being 
undertaken by the City and the County.
    On July 22, 2002, the BLM and Forest Service published a Notice of 
Intent to prepare an EIS for the Buckman Water Diversion Project in the 
Federal Register. Scoping meetings were held in August and September 
2002. Issues and concerns identified during scoping and throughout the 
NEPA process were addressed in the Draft EIS. On December 17, 2004, the 
BLM and Forest Service published the Notice of Availability of the 
Draft EIS for this project in the Federal Register. The 60-day comment 
period ended on February 14, 2005. Thirteen (13) comments were received 
from individuals, organizations, and agencies. Specific comment 
responses are provided in the FEIS, and issues and concerns raised 
during the review and prior to completion of the FEIS are addressed in 
the FEIS.
    The Buckman Water Diversion Project FEIS provides detailed analyses 
of the No Action Alternative, the Proposed Action, and several 
alternatives. The No Action Alternative would result in the agencies 
not authorizing permits for the construction and operation of a water 
diversion and associated infrastructure. The Proposed Action includes a 
diversion structure at the Rio Grande; water transmission facilities, 
including pumps and booster station buildings, water tanks, settling 
ponds and pipes; water treatment facilities; electric power 
improvements; and road improvements necessary to build and operate the 
facilities. While analyzing the Proposed Action, it was determined that 
there were alternatives for different infrastructure, and the effects 
of these alternatives were analyzed for possible inclusion in a 
composite preferred alternative. Therefore, three sediment facility 
alternatives, two raw water pipeline alternatives, three treated water 
pipeline alternatives, and two power upgrade alternatives were analyzed 
in detail. The FEIS discloses details of these infrastructural 
alternatives and the environmental consequences of implementing them.
    The BLM's and Forest Service's Preferred Alternative is to 
authorize rights-of-way and easements to the Applicants so that they 
may construct, operate, and maintain the road improvements and major 
facilities and their locations as described in the Proposed Action, 
plus one of the alternatives for each of the following: the sediment 
facility, the raw water pipeline, the treated water pipeline, and the 
power upgrade facility. The Preferred Alternative also includes 
mitigation and monitoring requirements to protect resources. The 
Preferred Alternative will avoid disturbance to the historic Buckman 
town site, minimize visual impacts on viewers from White Rock Overlook 
and along Buckman Road, and avoid creating new utility corridors. The 
alternatives, including the agencies' Preferred Alternative, conform to 
existing laws and regulations, and provide for resource protection.
    In compliance with Section 7(c) of the Endangered Species Act, as 
amended, the FEIS includes a biological assessment for the purpose of 
identifying endangered or threatened species, which may be affected by 
the Preferred Alternative. A Biological Opinion is forthcoming and will 
be included in the formulation of the final decision.

    Dated: March 12, 2007.
Sam Des Georges,
BLM-Taos Field Office Manager.
Daniel J. Jiron,
Santa Fe National Forest, Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 07-2303 Filed 5-9-07; 8:45 am]
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