[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 240 (Friday, December 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71158-71159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24223]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation


Proposed Lower Yuba River Accord, Yuba County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact 
Report/Environmental Impact Statement/ (EIR/EIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Bureau of 
Reclamation

[[Page 71159]]

(Reclamation) and the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) have prepared the 
Final EIR/EIS for the Proposed Lower Yuba River Accord (Yuba Accord). 
The Final EIR/EIS contains responses to comments received on the Draft 
EIR/EIS.
    The purpose of the Yuba Accord is to resolve instream flow issues 
associated with operation of the Yuba River Development Project (Yuba 
Project) in a way that protects and enhances lower Yuba River fisheries 
and local water-supply reliability. At the same time, it would provide 
revenues for local flood control and water supply projects, water for 
the CALFED Program to use for protection and restoration of Sacramento-
San Joaquin Delta (Delta) fisheries, and improvements in statewide 
water supply management, including supplemental water for the Central 
Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP).
    A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIR/EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on Monday, July 2, 2007 (72 FR 36036). The public 
review period on the Draft EIR/EIS ended on August 24, 2007.

DATES: Under NEPA, no Federal decision can be made until at least 30 
days after release of the Final EIR/EIS. When Reclamation completes the 
Record of Decision, it will identify the action to be implemented.
    Under CEQA, YCWA certified the Final EIR/EIS on October 23, 2007 
and filed a Notice of Determination (NOD) with the State Clearinghouse.

ADDRESSES: Send requests for a compact disk or a bound copy of the 
Final EIR/EIS to Dianne Simodynes, HDR Surface Water Resources, Inc., 
1610 Arden Way, Suite 175, Sacramento, CA 95815-4041, telephone: (916) 
569-1096. The Yuba Accord Final EIR/EIS will also be available on the 
Web at: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=2549.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Tim Rust, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Division of Resources Management, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 
95825, at (916) 978-5516, or by e-mail at [email protected]; or Mr. 
Curt Aikens, YCWA, at 1220 F Street, Marysville, CA 95901, at (530) 
741-6278, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Yuba Accord represents an effort on the 
part of the Yuba River stakeholders to find a solution to the 
challenges of competing interests by providing water for fisheries, 
developing new tools to ensure local reliable water supply, crafting a 
revenue stream to pay for the Yuba Accord, and providing additional 
water for out-of-county environmental and consumptive uses. These 
various objectives would be met through implementation of the Yuba 
Accord, which includes the ``Principles of Agreement for Proposed Lower 
Yuba River Fisheries Agreement'' (Fisheries Agreement), the 
``Principles of Agreement for Proposed Conjunctive Use Agreements'' 
(Conjunctive Use Agreements), and the ``Principles of Agreement for 
Proposed Long-term Transfer Agreement'' (Water Purchase Agreement).

The Yuba Accord agreements are:
     A Fisheries Agreement among YCWA, California Department of 
Fish and Game, and the collective non-governmental organizations, with 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service 
supporting the agreement. Under the Yuba Accord Fisheries Agreement, 
YCWA would revise the operation of the Yuba Project to provide instream 
flows in the lower Yuba River to protect and enhance fisheries and to 
increase downstream water supplies.
     Conjunctive Use Agreements between YCWA and water 
districts within Yuba County for the implementation of a comprehensive 
program of conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater supplies 
and actions to improve water use efficiencies.
     A Water Purchase Agreement among YCWA, the California 
Department of Water Resources (DWR), and Reclamation. Under this 
agreement, Reclamation and DWR would purchase water for the CALFED 
Environmental Water Account and for the CVP and SWP project uses.

All three of these agreements need to be in place for the Yuba Accord 
to be implemented.
    The Final EIR/EIS analyzes the impacts of implementing the Yuba 
Accord on surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, water supply, 
hydropower, flood control, water quality, fisheries, wildlife, 
vegetation, special-status species, recreation, visual, cultural 
resources, Indian Trust Assets, air quality, land use, socioeconomic, 
growth inducement, and environmental justice resources and conditions. 
Alternatives evaluated in the Final EIR/EIS include the No Action 
Alternative, No Project Alternative, Proposed Project/Action 
Alternative (Yuba Accord Alternative), and Modified Flow Alternative. 
In addition, the Final EIR/EIS addresses other past, present, and 
reasonably foreseeable actions in conjunction with the implementation 
of the Yuba Accord, thus analyzing cumulative impacts. The Final EIR/
EIS contains the comments received on the Draft EIR/EIS and responses 
to those comments.
    Copies of the Final EIR/EIS are available for public review at the 
following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation Library, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, CA 95825.
     Yuba County Water Agency, 1220 F Street, Marysville, CA 
95901.
     Department of Water Resources, Division of Environmental 
Services, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
     Sacramento Public Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 
95814.
     Yuba County Library, 303 2nd Street, Marysville, CA 95901.

    Dated: October 19, 2007.
Michael Jackson,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
 [FR Doc. E7-24223 Filed 12-13-07; 8:45 am]
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