[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52503-52505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22630]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary

[RR83530000, 189R5065C6, RX.59389832.1009676]


National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures for the 
Bureau of Reclamation (516 DM 14)

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of proposed revisions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intent to revise the Bureau of 
Reclamation (Reclamation) procedures for compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) in the Departmental Manual (DM) 
at 516 DM 14. The proposed revisions are to establish a new Categorical 
Exclusion (CE) for the

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transfer of title of certain projects and facilities from Reclamation 
to a qualifying non-Federal project entity. The new CE would allow for 
more efficient review of appropriate title transfer actions. This 
notice is also an invitation to comment on Reclamation's proposed new 
CE.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before November 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the proposed new CE to Title 
Transfer CE Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation, Mail Stop 84-53000, 
Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80523; or by email to [email protected]. 
The public can review the CE substantiation documentation at 
www.usbr.gov/title. The web address for Reclamation's current 
procedures, at Series 31, Part 516, Chapter 14, dated May 27, 2004, is 
https://www.doi.gov/elips/browse.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Catherine Cunningham, 
Environmental Compliance Division, Bureau of Reclamation, (303) 445-
2875; or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Reclamation was founded in 1902. Its original mission was one of 
civil works construction to develop the water resources of the arid 
Western United States to promote the settlement and economic 
development of that region. Results are well known in the hundreds of 
projects that were developed to store and deliver water. That 
substantial infrastructure made Reclamation the largest wholesale 
supplier of water and the second largest producer of hydropower in the 
United States.

Title Transfer

    Title transfer is a voluntary conveyance of ownership (title) for 
water projects, portions of projects, or project facilities such as 
dams, canals, laterals, and other water-related infrastructure and 
facilities to beneficiaries of those facilities. Title transfer divests 
Reclamation of responsibility for the operation, maintenance, 
management, regulation of, and liability for the project, lands, and 
facilities to be transferred. It also provides the non-Federal entity 
with greater autonomy and flexibility to manage the facilities to meet 
their needs, in compliance with Federal, state, and local laws and in 
conformance with contractual obligations. The transfer of title of a 
project or set of facilities will, in effect, sever Reclamation's ties 
with that project or those conveyed facilities.
    Under the Reclamation Act of 1902, the responsibility for 
operations, maintenance, and replacement of facilities can be, and 
often is, contractually transferred to the water users. Title or 
ownership of facilities and projects, however, must remain with the 
United States until Congress specifically authorizes their transfer. 
Since 1995, Reclamation has been working closely with qualifying 
entities of specific projects and has conveyed over 30 projects and/or 
project-related facilities, including dams, reservoirs, canals, 
laterals, buildings, project lands, and easements.
    Transfer of title is a Federal action under NEPA. NEPA requires 
that when a major Federal action would have significant impacts on the 
quality of the human environment, a statement be prepared to describe 
the impacts and effects on the human environment associated with the 
Federal action. When a Federal agency determines that a certain 
category of actions will not normally have an individually or 
cumulatively significant effect on the human environment and for which 
neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact 
statement is required, that category of actions may be excluded from 
further NEPA review (40 CFR 1508.4).
    Reclamation proposes to establish a new CE to facilitate the 
transfer of title to a limited set of simple, uncomplicated projects 
and/or project facilities. The new CE would be added to the DM at 516, 
chapter 14, in section 14.5, paragraph F. entitled, ``Title Transfer 
Activities.''

Text of Proposed Addition to 516 DM 14, Section 14.5 Categorical 
Exclusion

F. Title Transfer Activities

    (1) ``Transfer from Federal ownership of facilities and/or interest 
in lands to a qualifying entity where there are no competing demands 
for use of the facilities, where the facilities are not hydrologically 
integrated, where, at the time of transfer, there would be no planned 
change in land or water use, or in operation, or maintenance of the 
facilities and where the transfer would be consistent with the 
Secretary's responsibilities, including but not limited to the 
protection of land and water resources held in trust for federally 
recognized Indian tribes and ensuring compliance with international 
treaties and interstate compacts.''
    The CE would be limited to the transfer of projects and/or project 
facilities from Federal ownership to a qualifying entity, which means 
an agency of State or local government or Indian tribe, a municipal 
corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or other entity such as a 
water district that, as determined by the Secretary, has the capacity 
to continue to manage the conveyed property for the same purposes for 
which the property has been managed under Reclamation law. Accordingly, 
projects involving the following considerations of a qualifying non-
Federal entity would generally be eligible to be considered for the 
title transfer CE:
    1. The potential transferee must demonstrate the technical 
capability to maintain and operate the facilities and lands on a 
permanent basis and an ability to meet financial obligations associated 
with the transferred assets.
    2. The potential transferee must affirm that they have no plans to 
change the maintenance, operations, or use of the lands and water 
associated with the transferred facilities.
    3. The potential transferee must ensure that there are no competing 
demands for use of the transferred facilities.
    4. The potential transferee must ensure that the facilities 
proposed for transfer are not hydrologically integrated with other 
facilities thereby impacting other contractors, stakeholders or 
activities.
    5. The potential transferee must ensure that the United States' 
Native American trust responsibilities are satisfied prior to taking 
the action. Outstanding Native American claims that are pending before 
the Department of the Interior (Department) and that would be affected 
by the proposed transfer must be resolved prior to application of the 
CE to the transfer.
    6. The potential transferee must ensure that issues involving 
interstate compacts and agreements are resolved and treaty and 
international agreement obligations are fulfilled prior to transfer.
    7. The potential transferee must assume responsibility for all 
commitments and agreements into the future.
    8. Potentially affected state, local, and tribal governments, 
appropriate Federal agencies, and the public will be notified of the 
initiation of discussion to transfer title and will have: (a) The 
opportunity to voice their views and suggest options for remedying any 
problems; and (b) full access to relevant information, including 
proposals, analyses, and reports related to the proposed transfer. The 
title transfer process will be carried out in an open and public 
manner. Once Reclamation has negotiated an agreement with a transferee, 
Reclamation will seek legislation to

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authorize the negotiated terms of the transfer of each project or 
facility.
    Eligibility for this CE would be determined by Reclamation, based 
on results of on-site inspections, surveys, and other methods of 
evaluation and documentation prepared by Reclamation to determine the 
presence or absence of the exceptions. To determine that a proposed 
title transfer fits within the CE, Reclamation would review the 
proposal to determine that all the following apply:
    1. The Departmental extraordinary circumstances listed at 43 CFR 
46.215 would not be triggered by the title transfer action.
    2. The title transfer action would not change:
    a. Operation and maintenance of the facilities or lands 
transferred;
    b. land or water use.
    3. The title transfer action would not involve any unresolved issue 
associated with compliance with interstate compacts and agreements; 
meeting the Secretary's Native American trust responsibilities; 
fulfilling treaty and international agreement obligations.
    Even for a title transfer action that meets these criteria, 
Reclamation may, within its discretion, decide to prepare an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) instead of applying the CE.

Basis for Establishing the Categorical Exclusion

    To date, Reclamation has prepared EAs and made findings of no 
significant impact (FONSI) on each of the eight projects shown below, 
indicating location and EA/FONSI date. These EAs and FONSIs 
substantiate Reclamation's record to demonstrate that no individually 
or cumulatively significant effects are typically attributable to the 
eligible types of activities that would be included in the proposed CE. 
The EA and FONSI documentation for the following projects is available 
at www.usbr.gov/title:
    1. Clear Creek Unit, Central Valley Project, California, 1998.
    2. Distribution System to Carpinteria Valley Water District, 
California, 2000.
    3. Distribution System to the Montecito Water District, California, 
2001.
    4. Robert B. Griffith Water Project, Nevada, 2001.
    5. McGee Creek, Oklahoma, 2006.
    6. Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Conveyance, 
Nevada, 2007.
    7. Arbuckle (partial), Oklahoma, 2014.
    8. Water Distribution System to Goleta Water District, California, 
2007 (transfer pending).
    Reclamation has prepared two EISs on title transfer proposals and 
two EAs for projects that involved more complex actions than those that 
would meet the eligibility criteria. Reclamation has also prepared 12 
EAs and FONSIs on title transfer proposals for which mitigation was 
applied to reduce impacts to less than significant. Several of these 
proposals involved issues of concern including sites of interest to 
tribal communities and adverse effects to historic properties.
    The full complement of these EAs, FONSIs, and EISs and 
Reclamation's knowledge and experience contribute to the body of work 
Reclamation has used to analyze its title transfer actions and validate 
its definition of projects for which the proposed CE would be used. 
Based on the consideration of the types of projects that meet the 
eligibility and exception criteria above, Reclamation proposes to 
determine that this category of actions would not individually or 
cumulatively have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment.
    Reclamation invites comments on this proposed CE and will consider 
all comments received. When Reclamation makes a determination on 
establishing a new CE, the new language would be incorporated into 516 
DM 14 under internal Departmental administrative procedures. At that 
time, Reclamation intends to employ the same internal Departmental 
administrative procedures to make routine updates to the DM, including 
references to regulations and policies, organizational changes, and 
formatting.

Public Disclosure Statement

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware 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.

    Authority: NEPA, the National Environmental Quality Improvement 
Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.); E.O. 11514, March 
5, 1970, as amended by E.O. 11991, May 24, 1977; and Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1507.3).

Michaela E. Noble,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2018-22630 Filed 10-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P