[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11344-11346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04745]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement--Multiple Reservoirs Land 
Management Plans

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) intends to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) addressing the impacts of 
alternative plans for managing public lands on eight TVA reservoirs in 
Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee: Chickamauga, Fort Loudoun, Great 
Falls, Kentucky, Nickajack, Normandy, Wheeler and Wilson. TVA also 
proposes to use the information included in these eight reservoir land 
management plans (RLMP) to revise its Comprehensive Valleywide Land 
Plan. Public comment is invited concerning the scope of the EIS, 
including the appropriate uses for TVA-managed public lands on these 
reservoirs and environmental issues that should be addressed as a part 
of this EIS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 4, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Matthew Higdon, Tennessee 
Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive (WT11D), Knoxville, 
Tennessee 37902. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected] or 
submitted on the TVA Web site at: https://www.tva.com/Environment/Environmental-Stewardship/Environmental-Reviews.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the EIS process, 
contact Matthew Higdon, NEPA Specialist, by email at [email protected], 
or by phone at (865) 632-8051. For information about the reservoir land 
plans, contact Heather Montgomery by email at [email protected] or by 
phone at (256) 386-3803.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is provided in accordance with 
the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 
to 1508) and TVA's procedures for implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act and its implementing regulations (36 CFR part 
800).
    TVA is a corporate agency and instrumentality of the United States, 
established by an act of Congress in 1933, to foster the social and 
economic welfare of the people of the Tennessee Valley region and to 
promote the proper use and conservation of the region's natural 
resources. Shortly after its creation, TVA began a dam and reservoir 
construction program that required the purchase of approximately 1.3 
million acres of land for the creation of 46 reservoirs within the 
Tennessee Valley region. Most of these lands are located underneath the 
water of the reservoir system or have since been sold by TVA or 
transferred to other state or federal agencies. Today, approximately 
293,000 acres of land along TVA reservoirs are managed by TVA for the 
benefit of the public.

Reservoir Land Management Plans

    TVA's eight RLMPs will address management of approximately 138,222 
acres of TVA-managed public lands surrounding the following reservoirs: 
Chickamauga, Fort Loudon, Great Falls, Nickajack and Normandy in 
Tennessee; Wheeler and Wilson in Alabama; and Kentucky in Tennessee and 
Kentucky. In the EIS, TVA will consider the potential environmental 
impacts of the eight RLMPs and the allocation of

[[Page 11345]]

reservoir parcels to one of seven land use zones: Non-TVA Shoreland, 
Project Operations, Sensitive Resource Management, Natural Resource 
Conservation, Industrial, Developed Recreation and Shoreline Access. 
These allocations will then be used to guide the types of activities 
that will be considered on each parcel of land. Proposed allocations 
will take into account past land use allocations, current land uses, 
existing land rights (easements, leases, etc.), public needs, the 
presence of sensitive environmental resources, and TVA policies. The 
RLMPs and parcel allocations would establish clear blueprints for 
future management of the public land TVA manages on these reservoirs.
    TVA has developed a proposed RLMP for each reservoir and made 
initial land use zone allocations for each reservoir parcel. These 
proposed RLMPs are the result of TVA's initial review of the suitable 
uses of parcels at each reservoir and will be considered as an Action 
Alternative in the EIS. TVA invites the public to review the proposed 
plans and parcel allocations on the TVA Web site during the scoping 
period and to submit comments, questions or suggestions on its 
proposal. Additional Action Alternative(s) may be developed based on 
public input submitted to TVA during the scoping period. If multiple 
Action Alternatives are considered, the primary difference between 
alternatives would be the amount of land allocated to each of these 
zones. Typically, lands currently committed to a specific use would be 
allocated in the RLMP to that current use; however, changes that 
support TVA goals and objectives will be considered. Committed lands 
include those subject to existing long-term easements, leases, licenses 
and contracts; lands with outstanding land rights; and lands that are 
necessary for TVA project operations.
    In the EIS, TVA will also consider a No Action alternative, under 
which TVA would continue to rely on previous land planning designations 
or current management of parcels. Of the eight reservoirs, seven have 
land use plans that were developed using different methodology and land 
use categories. Two reservoirs (Fort Loudoun and Normandy) were planned 
using TVA's Forecast System in the 1960s or 1970s; four reservoirs 
(Chickamauga, Kentucky, Nickajack, and Wheeler) were planned in the 
1980s and 1990s under the Multiple-Use Tract Allocation Methodology. A 
land plan has never been developed for Great Falls Reservoir, and only 
a portion of Wilson Reservoir has been planned previously. TVA will 
apply the single-use allocation methodology in developing new RLMPs for 
the eight reservoirs. Once completed, all TVA land plans will be based 
on the same methodology, ensuring that future management policies can 
be consistently applied across the region, as intended under TVA's 2011 
Natural Resource Plan.

Comprehensive Valleywide Land Plan

    In its Natural Resource Plan, TVA established a Comprehensive 
Valleywide Land Plan (CVLP) to guide uses of the 293,000 acres of TVA-
managed property on 46 reservoirs. The CVLP identifies target ranges 
for different types of land use allocations for the region. When 
establishing the CVLP in 2011, TVA based these ranges on parcel 
allocations from existing plans as well as ``rapid assessments,'' which 
were initial allocation designations of reservoir parcels conducted in 
order to establish an initial CVLP target range. Since 2011, TVA has 
conducted more thorough assessments of parcels on the eight reservoirs 
and found in many cases that the initial allocations do not accurately 
reflect actual uses of parcels, the presence of sensitive resources, or 
existing land rights or restrictions for parcels. Incorporating these 
corrections into the proposed RLMPs would necessitate minor revisions 
to the CVLP target ranges. Therefore, as part of this planning effort, 
TVA proposes to revise the CVLP ranges accordingly to the zone 
allocations proposed in the Action Alternative(s). The proposed 
revisions to the CVLP target ranges do not reflect a change to any 
other decisions made by TVA in its Natural Resource Plan. TVA remains 
committed to implementing its Natural Resource Plan and meeting the 
goals and objectives of the CVLP.
    In addition to the Natural Resource Plan, this planning process is 
necessary to comply with TVA's Land Policy (2006), which governs the 
planning, retention and disposal of land under TVA's stewardship. The 
reservoir land planning process provides a consistent method of 
evaluating suitable uses of TVA public land in a manner that 
systematically incorporates information, analyses, and input from the 
public, stakeholders, partners and TVA specialists, and protects 
significant resources (including threatened and endangered species, 
cultural resources, wetlands, unique habitats, natural areas, water 
quality and the visual character of the reservoir). This planning 
effort is also consistent with TVA's Shoreline Management Initiative 
(SMI). The EIS will tier from the Final EIS for the SMI (1998), which 
evaluated alternative policies for managing residential shoreline 
development on TVA reservoirs. Residential shoreline properties occur 
on the eight reservoirs, and the proposed RLMPs will not affect the 
policies for their management.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping is integral to the process for implementing NEPA and 
ensures that issues are identified early and properly studied; issues 
of little significance do not consume substantial time and effort; and 
analysis is thorough and balanced. TVA's NEPA procedures require that 
the scoping process commence soon after a decision has been reached to 
prepare an EIS to ensure an early and open process for determining the 
scope and for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed 
action. TVA anticipates that the major issues addressed in the EIS 
include water quality, water supply, aquatic and terrestrial ecology, 
endangered and threatened species, wetlands, prime farmlands, 
floodplains, recreation, aesthetics including visual resources, land 
use, historic and archaeological resources and socioeconomic resources.
    TVA invites members of the public as well as Federal, state, and 
local agencies and Native American tribes to comment on the scope of 
the EIS. Comments on the scope should be submitted no later than the 
date given under the DATES section of this notice. Pursuant to the 
regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 
implementing Section 106 of the NHPA, TVA also solicits comments on the 
potential of the proposed Plan to affect historic properties. This 
notice also provides an opportunity under Executive Orders 11990 and 
11988 for early public review of the potential for TVA's Plan to affect 
wetlands and floodplains, respectively. Please note, any comments 
received, including names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record and will be available for public inspection.
    After consideration of the public's input and analyzing the 
environmental consequences of each alternative, TVA will issue a draft 
EIS for public review and comment. TVA will notify the public of the 
draft EIS' availability and plans to hold public meetings during the 
review period. TVA expects to release the draft EIS and associated 
RLMPs in late 2016 and the final EIS and RLMPs in 2017. Once the NEPA 
review is completed, the final RLMPs and revised CVLP allocations will 
be submitted to the TVA Board of Directors for approval and adopted as 
guidelines for management of TVA public land consistent with the 
agency's

[[Page 11346]]

responsibilities under the TVA Act of 1933.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.

Wilbourne (Skip) C. Markham,
Director, Environmental Permitting and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2016-04745 Filed 3-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-01-P