[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 32 (Friday, February 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10334-10335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03303]


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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO


Notice of Availability of an Amended Draft Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for 
Aquatic Habitat Restoration in the Rio Grande Canalization Project

AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water 
Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC).ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, the Council on Environmental Quality Final Regulations, and 
USIBWC Operational Procedures for Implementing Section 102 of NEPA, 
published in the Federal Register September 2, 1981, the USIBWC hereby 
gives notice that the amended Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Aquatic Habitat 
Restoration in the Rio Grande Canalization Project is available. The EA 
seeks to identify, develop, and design aquatic projects to implement 
aquatic habitat, wetland, and riparian habitat restoration for the Rio 
Grande Canalization Project (RGCP). An Environmental Impact Statement 
will not be prepared unless additional information which may affect 
this decision is brought to our attention within 30 days from the date 
of this Notice.

DATES: Public Comments: USIBWC will consider substantive comments from 
the public and stakeholders for 30 days after the date of publication 
of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Please note all written and email comments received during the 
comment period will become part of the public record, including any 
personal information you may provide. 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. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public disclosure in their 
entirety.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Elizabeth Verdecchia, Natural 
Resources Specialist, USIBWC, 4191 N Mesa; El Paso, Texas 79902. 
Telephone: (915) 832-4701, Fax: (915) 493-2428, email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Verdecchia, Natural 
Resources Specialist, Telephone: (915) 832-4701, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 4, 2009, the USIBWC issued a Record 
of Decision (ROD) on the long-term management of the RGCP in southern 
New Mexico and western Texas. The ROD committed the USIBWC to the 
restoration of aquatic and riparian habitat at up to 30 sites over 10 
years (through 2019). In May 2019, the USIBWC prepared a Draft EA to 
analyze the potential impact of seven action alternatives and a No 
Action Alternative to implement aquatic habitat within the RGCP, and 
the USIBWC extended the comment period (Federal Register July 22, 
2019). After public input and subsequent development of preliminary 
designs, USIBWC re-evaluated alternative sites for aquatic habitat and 
assessed the feasibility of three additional sites, two of which were 
added to the EA. The USIBWC has prepared an Amended Draft EA, which 
evaluates potential impacts of ten alternatives, including the No 
Action Alternative and the following sites: Yeso Arroyo, Angostura 
Arroyo, Broad Canyon Arroyo, Selden Point Bar, Las Cruces Effluent, 
Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, Downstream of Courchesne Bridge, 
Trujillo Restoration Site, and Montoya Intercepting Drain.
    Restoration actions could include invasive vegetation removal, 
native vegetation planting, overbank lowering, bank cuts, natural levee 
breaches, secondary channels, bank

[[Page 10335]]

destabilization, channel widening, arroyo mouth management, 
construction of inset floodplains, construction of wetland depressions, 
and use of supplemental water for on-site irrigation.
    Based on a review of the facts and analyses contained in the 
Amended Draft EA, the USIBWC has selected five projects as the 
Preferred Alternatives: Alternative D--Broad Canyon Arroyo, Alternative 
F--Las Cruces Effluent, Alternative G--Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park 
(MVBSP), Alternative H--Downstream of Courchesne Bridge, and 
Alternative J--Trujillo Arroyo. Alternatives Las Cruces Effluent and 
Downstream of Courchesne Bridge would require engineering designs prior 
to construction, while Alternatives Broad Canyon Arroyo and Trujillo 
Restoration Site, which are smaller and less complicated projects, 
could be constructed from conceptual designs. Downstream of Courchesne 
Bridge would be implemented as part of compensatory mitigation for 
future levee improvement projects. All alternatives would require 
appropriate permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for 
dredge and fill of Waters of the United States, per the Clean Water Act 
Sections 404 and 401.
    Potential impacts on natural, cultural, and other resources were 
evaluated in the Draft EA. The USIBWC has prepared a FONSI for the 
Preferred Alternatives, based on a review of the facts and analyses 
contained in the amended Draft EA.
    Availability: The electronic version of the amended Draft EA is 
available at the USIBWC web page: https://www.ibwc.gov/EMD/EIS_EA_Public_Comment.html.

    Dated: February 10, 2021.
Jennifer Pe[ntilde]a,
Chief Legal Counsel, International Boundary and Water Commission, 
United States Section.
[FR Doc. 2021-03303 Filed 2-18-21; 8:45 am]
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