[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 44180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3838]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Environmental Impact Statement; Reconstruction of the 
Furnace Creek Water Collection System; Death Valley National Park, Inyo 
County, CA; Notice of Approval of Record of Decision

    Summary: Pursuant to Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended) and the implementing 
regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 
part 1505.2), the Department of the Interior, National Park Service has 
prepared, and the Regional Director, Pacific West Region has approved 
the Record of Decision (and Statement of Findings for Wetlands and 
Floodplains) for the reconstruction of the Furnace Creek water 
collection system at Death Valley Natioal Park. Reconstructing the 
water collection system affords the park with the opportunity to 
provide a reliable quality and quantity of potable water to the users 
in the Furnace Creek area, to promote conservation of biological and 
cultural resources in the Texas-Travertine Springs area, and to enhance 
water resource protection and management in the Furnace Creek area. The 
no-action ``30-day wait period'' was officially initiated July 14, 
2006, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Federal Register 
notification of the filing of the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
    Decision: As soon as practicable the park will begin to implement 
the Preferred Alternative (with minor modifications from Alternative C 
as described in the Draft and Final EIS); as documented in the EIS, 
this alternative was deemed to be the ``environmentally preferred'' 
course of action and it was further determined that implementation of 
the selected actions will not constitute an impairment of park 
resources and values. In doing so, the park can rebuild the outdated 
water collection system in the Furnace Creek area to supply safe and 
reliable potable and nonpotable water to the park's main visitor use 
area, separate the potable and nonpotable water systems in the project 
area, and provide nonpotable water from the Inn Tunnel and a relocated 
Furnace Creek Wash collection gallery. The selected actions will 
provide potable water from two to three new groundwater wells in the 
Texas Springs Syncline, and will treat water collected for potable 
purposes using a reverse osmosis water treatment plant. The concentrate 
water generated from the water treatment process will be conveyed to 
the park's sewage treatment plant for evaporation. Non-potable water 
will be collected from Furnace Creek Wash and the Inn Tunnel. Water for 
riparian restoration purposes will be released from Texas Springs and 
Travertine Springs Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4. To meet maximum daily flow 
requirements, Alternative 3 will collect 600 gallons per minute (GPM) 
of potable water and 900 gpm of nonpotable water, and release 
approximately 770 gpm of riparian water.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Based upon agency comments and refinements 
desired by the planning team collaborative, the selected plan includes 
several adjustments from the Preferred Alternative as detailed in the 
EIS, including but not limited to the determination that reverse 
osmosis discharge water will be piped to wastewater treatment lagoons, 
thus eliminating any potential for unacceptable environmental effects 
through other discharge options. The selected project and three 
alternatives were identified and analyzed in the Final EIS, and 
previously in the Draft EIS (the latter was distributed in October, 
2005). A broad spectrum of foreseeable environmental consequences were 
assessed, and appropriate mitigation measures identified, for each 
alternative. Beginning with early scoping, through the preparation of 
Draft and Final EIS, a series of public meetings and open-houses were 
conducted locally. Overall approximately 10 written comments were 
received (as noted above, some agency comments served as the source of 
minor adjustments to the final selected plan). Key consultations or 
other contacts which aided in preparing the EIS involved (but were not 
limited to) the California State Historic Preservation Office, the 
Lahotan Region Water Quality Control Board, the California Department 
of Transportation, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and its Tribal Historic 
Preservation Officer, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
    Copies: Interested parties desiring to review the Record of 
Decision may obtain a complete copy by contacting Superintendent James 
T. Reynolds, Death Valley National Park, P.O. Box 579, Death Valley, 
California 92328; telephone (760) 786-3227 or via e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated: May 21, 2007.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 07-3838 Filed 8-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-FF-M