[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 222 (Tuesday, November 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68698-68699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27272]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR02630000, 14XR0680A2, RX191247001000000]


Notice of Availability of Resource Management Plan and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Newlands Project, Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has prepared the 
Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final 
RMP/EIS) for the Newlands Project. This Final RMP/EIS provides a range 
of alternatives for managing Reclamation-administered lands in the 
Newlands Project Planning Area, which is in the west-central Nevada 
counties of Washoe, Storey, Lyon, and Churchill.

DATES: Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action 
until at least 30 days after release of the Final RMP/EIS. After the 
30-day waiting period, Reclamation will complete a Record of Decision 
(ROD). The ROD will state the action that will be implemented and will 
discuss all factors leading to the decision.

[[Page 68699]]


ADDRESSES: Please send any correspondence to Mr. Bob Edwards, Resources 
Division Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, 705 N. Plaza Street, Room 320, 
Carson City, NV 89701; via fax at 775-882-7592; or by email to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bob Edwards at 775-884-8342. The 
Final RMP/EIS will be available from the following Web site: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=2822. See the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for locations where copies of the 
Final RMP/EIS are available for public review.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Availability of the Draft RMP/
EIS was published in the Federal Register on May 28, 2013 (78 FR 
31974). The comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS ended on July 29, 2013. 
The Final RMP/EIS contains responses to all comments received and 
reflects comments and any additional information received during the 
review period.
    The Newlands Project provides irrigation water from the Truckee and 
Carson Rivers for cropland in the Lahontan Valley near Fallon and 
benchlands near Fernley in western Nevada through a series of 
diversions, canals, dams, and reservoirs. The Newlands Project Planning 
Area (Planning Area) encompasses approximately 442,000 acres 
surrounding the Newlands Project facilities and is composed of all 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)-administered lands, including water 
bodies, managed as part of the Newlands Project.
    The Newlands Project lands have been administered to date in 
accordance with applicable directives, and standards. The purpose of 
the Newlands Project RMP is to provide a single, comprehensive land use 
plan that will guide contemporary resource and recreation needs of the 
Federal lands administered by Reclamation in the Planning Area. The RMP 
will help support the Newland Project's authorized purposes: Water 
supply, recreation, water quality, support of fish and wildlife, and 
any other purposes recognized as beneficial under the laws of Nevada.
    This RMP addresses the use of Federal lands administered by 
Reclamation in the Planning Area that are ancillary to the primary 
purpose of providing water for irrigation. The water resource itself 
and the facilities and infrastructure used to transport and store water 
are excluded from this RMP.
    This Final RMP/EIS addresses the interrelationships among the 
various resources in the Planning Area and provides management options 
to balance resource management between Reclamation's mission and 
authority, and the needs of the public to use these lands. 
Reclamation's authority to prepare the RMP is outlined in the 
Reclamation Recreation Management Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-575, Title 
28).
    The purposes of the Newlands Project RMP are as follows:
     Provide a framework to ensure Reclamation plans and 
activities comply with all appropriate Federal, State, and local laws, 
rules, regulations, and policies;
     Provide for the protection and management of natural and 
cultural resources and public health and safety;
     Provide for non-water based recreation management and 
development and other uses consistent with contemporary and 
professional resource management and protection theories, concepts, and 
practices; and
     Be consistent with Reclamation's fiscal goals and 
objectives.

The RMP is needed because no unifying management plan exists to guide 
Reclamation in achieving the demands listed above.

Proposed Resource Management Plan

    Three management alternatives were developed to address the major 
planning issues. Each alternative provides direction for resource 
programs based on the development of specific goals and management 
actions. Each alternative describes specific issues influencing land 
management and emphasizes a different combination of resource uses, 
allocations, and restoration measures to address issues and resolve 
conflicts among users. Resource program goals are met in varying 
degrees across alternatives. Management scenarios for programs not tied 
to major planning issues or mandated by laws and regulations often 
contain few or no differences in management between alternatives. The 
alternatives vary in the degree to which activities are allowed or 
restricted, the amount of access allowed for activities, and the amount 
of mitigation or restoration required for authorized activities. 
Grazing is where the alternatives differ the most and was of most 
interest to the public during scoping.
    Copies of the Final RMP/EIS are available for public review at the 
following locations:
     Washoe County Library, Fernley Branch Lyon County Library, 
and the Churchill County Library
     Natural Resources Library, Department of the Interior, 
1849 C Street NW., Main Interior Building, Washington, DC 20240
     Bureau of Reclamation, Lahontan Basin Area Office, 705 N. 
Plaza Street, Room 320, Carson City, NV

Public Disclosure

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in any correspondence, you 
should be aware that your entire correspondence--including your 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you can ask us in your correspondence to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

     Dated: September 8, 2014.
Jason R. Phillips,
Deputy Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-27272 Filed 11-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4332-90-P