[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67381-67382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23525]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR04310000, 16XR0680A1, RX002361010021000]


Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Continued Implementation of the 2008 Operating 
Agreement for the Rio Grande Project, New Mexico and Texas

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has prepared 
a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to analyze the 
environmental impacts of continuing to implement the 2008 Rio Grande 
Project Operating Agreement (Operating Agreement) through 2050, and by 
this Notice is announcing its availability. The Operating Agreement is 
a written agreement describing how Reclamation allocates, releases from 
storage, and delivers Rio Grande Project water to the Elephant Butte 
Irrigation District (EBID) in New Mexico, the El Paso County Water 
Improvement District No. 1 (EPCWID) in Texas, and to Mexico. In 
addition, the FEIS evaluates the environmental effects of a proposal to 
renew a contract to store San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant 
Butte Reservoir.

DATES: Reclamation will not issue a final decision on the proposed 
action for a minimum of 30 days after the date that the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of Weekly 
Receipt of Environmental Impact Statements in the Federal Register. 
After the 30-day public review period, Reclamation will complete a 
Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD will state the action that will be 
implemented and discuss all factors leading to that decision.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS are available for public inspection at 
the following locations:
     Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 555 
Broadway NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
     Bureau of Reclamation, El Paso Field Division, 10737 
Gateway West, Suite 350, El Paso, Texas 79935.
     Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, 125 
South State Street, Room 8100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138.

Libraries

     New Mexico State University--Branson Library, 1305 Frenger 
Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003.
     University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University 
Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79968.
    Electronic copies of the FEIS are available at: http://www.usbr.gov/uc/envdocs/eis.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jennifer Faler, Area Manager, 
Albuquerque Area Office, telephone: (505) 462-3600; address: 555 
Broadway NE., Suite 100, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; email: 
[email protected]. Any persons wishing to be added to a mailing list of 
interested parties may write or call Ms. Faler at this address or 
telephone number.
    Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf may call 
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to 
contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in order to leave a message or 
question with the above named individual. You will receive a reply 
during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reclamation prepared the FEIS in cooperation 
with five agencies:
     United States Section of the International Boundary and 
Water Commission,
     Colorado Division of Water Resources,
     EBID,
     EPCWID, and
     Texas Rio Grande Compact Commissioner.
    The purpose for the proposed Federal action is to meet contractual 
obligations of Reclamation to EBID and EPCWID, and to comply with 
applicable law governing water allocation, delivery, and accounting. 
These obligations are currently fulfilled under the Operating 
Agreement. The need for the proposed Federal action is to resolve the 
long and litigious history of the Rio Grande Project, and to enter into 
mutually agreeable operational criteria that comply with applicable 
law, court decrees, settlement agreements, and contracts. The purpose 
and need for similar action is to respond to a request to store San 
Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant Butte Reservoir.

The FEIS Analyzes Five Alternatives

    The FEIS describes and analyzes five alternatives: The Preferred 
Alternative (Alternative 1) is continuation of the Operating Agreement 
and the San Juan-Chama storage contract through 2050.

[[Page 67382]]

Alternative 2 would not store San Juan-Chama Project water in Elephant 
Butte Reservoir. Alternative 3 would not include the carryover 
accounting provision. Alternative 4 would not include the diversion 
ratio adjustment. Alternative 5 is the No Action Alternative and it 
would eliminate both the carryover accounting and diversion ratio 
adjustment from Rio Grande Project allocation and accounting 
procedures.
    The FEIS analyzes the effect of these five alternatives on (1) 
water resources (total storage, Elephant Butte Reservoir elevations, 
allocation, releases, net diversion, farm surface water deliveries, 
farm groundwater deliveries, groundwater elevations, and water 
quality); (2) biological resources (vegetation communities including 
wetlands, wildlife, aquatic species, and special status species and 
critical habitat); (3) cultural resources (historic properties, Indian 
sacred sites, and resources of tribal concern); and (4) socioeconomic 
resources (Indian trust assets, recreation, hydropower, regional 
economic impacts and economic benefits, and environmental justice).
    On January 15, 2014, a Notice of Intent was published in the 
Federal Register (79 FR 2691) inviting public scoping comments on the 
proposed action of continuing to implement the Operating Agreement 
through 2050. A Notice of Availability was published in the Federal 
Register on March 18, 2016 (81 FR 14886), and the public was invited to 
provide comments on the Draft EIS during an 83-day comment period 
ending on June 8, 2016.

Public Disclosure

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

    Dated: September 7, 2016.
Brent Rhees,
 Regional Director, Upper Colorado Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-23525 Filed 9-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P