[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 141 (Friday, July 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 43994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18523]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Termination of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Proposed Regional Watershed Supply Project in Wyoming and Colorado

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Regulatory 
Branch is notifying interested parties that it has terminated the 
process to develop a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and 
has withdrawn the Section 404 Clean Water Act permit application for 
the proposed `Regional Watershed Supply Project' submitted in 2008 by a 
private water development entity known as Million Conservation Resource 
Group (MCRG). The original Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS was 
published in the Federal Register on Friday, March 20, 2009 (74 FR 
11920), with subsequent amended announcements on May 8, 2009 (74 FR 
21665) and August 11, 2009 (74 FR 40171).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the termination of 
this EIS process should be addressed to Ms. Rena Brand, Project 
Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Denver Regulatory Office, 9307 
S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80128-6901; (303)-979-4120; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After the initial public scoping process in 
2009, the Corps received 7,409 substantive comments related to the 
applicant's proposal to construct a 558 mile water pipeline from 
Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Southwest Wyoming to a terminating storage 
reservoir near Pueblo, Colorado, designed to supply up to 250,000 acre 
feet of water annually to various municipal and agricultural entities 
in Eastern Wyoming and the Front Range of Colorado. A common concern 
expressed dealt with the need for the water, what entities would be 
using the water, and for what purposes. On April 1, 2011, MCRG 
expressed to the Corps that they wished to change the primary purpose 
of the project to power generation. When the EIS process started in 
2009, it was understood that the project purpose was water supply, so 
all EIS work done to date, to include public scoping was related to 
that purpose. The project now has an uncertain and variable purpose, 
which technically makes the applicant's permit application incomplete. 
Additionally, Corps' regulations require that applicants be provided 
sufficient time to respond to requests from the Corps for information, 
normally not to exceed 30 days. At the close of a recent 60-day stop 
work request by MCRG, the Corps decided to withdraw the permit 
application, as MCRG did not officially respond with a decision about 
how the EIS was to proceed, as requested by the Corps. The Corps 
decided that now is the appropriate time to officially terminate the 
EIS. The Corps' neutral role in this EIS process was to evaluate the 
environmental consequences of proposed projects such as these under 
authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The preparation of the 
EIS was being conducted by a third-party contractor directed by the 
Corps, and funded by the permit applicant, which is typical of Corps 
Regulatory EIS studies. Withdrawal of the permit application and 
termination of the EIS process will not prevent MCRG from re-applying 
at a later date, and will not affect other ongoing Corps water supply 
studies along the Colorado Front Range.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-18523 Filed 7-21-11; 8:45 am]
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