[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76516-76517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31144]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVL00000-L51010000-ER0000-LVRWF12F3450 241A; MO; N-78803; 
13-08807; TAS:14X5017]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Clark, 
Lincoln, and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project Right-
of-Way, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine 
Counties Groundwater Development Project Right-of-Way (ROW). The Deputy 
Secretary of the Department of the Interior approved the ROD on 
December 19, 2012, which constitutes the final decision of the 
Department of the Interior and makes the decision effective 
immediately.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request from the BLM 
Water Projects Office, Nevada State Office, or at the Web site: http://www.blm.gov/5w5c. To request a printed copy of the ROD with a CD 
containing the attachments, contact the BLM Nevada State Office, Water 
Projects Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502, phone 775-861-
6681, or email: [email protected]. Copies of the ROD will be 
available for review at the following BLM offices in Nevada:
     BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno;
     BLM Ely District Office, 702 North Industrial Way, Ely;
     BLM Caliente Field Office, US Hwy 93, Bldg 1, 
Caliente; and
     BLM Southern Nevada District Office, 4701 North Torrey 
Pines, Las Vegas

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Penny Woods, BLM Project Manager, 1340 
Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502, telephone: 775-861-6466, or email: 
[email protected] with ``ROD Copy Request'' in the subject line.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After extensive environmental analysis, 
consideration of public comments, and application of pertinent Federal 
laws and policies, it is the decision of the Department of the Interior 
to offer to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) a ROW grant for 
the construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of the 
mainline water pipeline, main power lines, pump stations, regulating 
tanks, and other ancillary facilities of the project for a groundwater 
delivery system. The Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation and 
Development Act of 2004, Public Law 108-424, directs the Secretary of 
the Interior to issue a ROW grant on Federal lands in Lincoln, and 
Clark counties, Nevada for this project. The ROW grant will authorize 
the use of public lands in perpetuity. The decision authorizes BLM to 
issue of a ROW grant to the SNWA for the preferred alternative as 
analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), issued on 
August 3, 2012. The Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice 
of Availabilty of the Final EIS in the Federal Register on August 3, 
2012.
    The ROD adopts Alternative F in the Final EIS, which includes an 
alignment from Las Vegas Valley north through Coyote Spring, Delamar, 
Dry Lake, terminating in central Spring Valley, with a lateral route 
into Cave Valley.

[[Page 76517]]

The ROD does not authorize any infrastructure facilities to be 
constructed in Snake Valley. The ROD limits future pumping amounts to 
those amounts granted by the Nevada State Engineer rulings in March 
2012. In addition, this decision adopts a realignment that would 
reroute the main power line from Spring Valley to the Gonder Substation 
across Steptoe Valley, slightly to the north within a corridor on U.S. 
Forest Service land. This realignment will require a special use permit 
from the U.S. Forest Service.
    Although the Final EIS analyzed future facilities and groundwater 
development on a programmatic basis, the ROD does not authorize any of 
this possible future development. Rather, the ROD lays out a process 
for the BLM to conduct analyses in the future for the additional 
development. The process includes BLM engagement with state, local and 
tribal governments and other Federal agencies, as well as the 
proponent, to develop groundwater and resource information and to 
establish data collection, action triggers, and monitoring and 
mitigation procedures.
    This is the final decision for the Department of the Interior and, 
in accordance with the regulations at 43 CFR 4.410(a)(3), is not 
subject to appeal under Departmental regulations at 43 CFR part 4. Any 
challenge to this decision, including the BLM Authorized Officer's 
issuance of the ROW as directed by this decision, must be brought in 
federal district court.

Amy Lueders,
Nevada State Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-31144 Filed 12-26-12; 8:45 am]
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