Northwest Area Water Supply Project, ND, 74191-74192 [E8-28829]
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74191
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 235 / Friday, December 5, 2008 / Notices
regardless of jurisdiction, within
Socorro and Catron counties, New
Mexico, totaling 8.7 million acres. The
decision area for the PRMP/FEIS
includes 1.5 million acres of BLMadministered lands and 6.1 million
acres of Federal mineral estate located
in both counties. Until the Record of
Decision on the PRMP/FEIS is signed,
these lands and minerals will be
managed in accordance with the 1989
Socorro Resource Management Plan and
subsequent amendments.
The PRMP/FEIS describes the
physical, cultural, historic, and
socioeconomic resources in and around
the planning area and documents the
direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of four
alternatives for BLM-administered lands
and resources within the planning area.
The impact analysis focuses on resource
issues and concerns identified during
scoping and public involvement
activities. Issues identified during
scoping (not in priority order) and from
public comment were related to special
designations, soil and vegetation
conditions, transportation and access,
energy development, land use, and
recreation and heritage tourism
opportunities.
A summary of the four alternatives in
the PRMP/FEIS are as follows. The NoAction Alternative, Alternative A,
represents the continuation of existing
management, which is defined by the
1989 Socorro RMP and subsequent
amendments. Alternative B, the BLM’s
proposed alternative, proposes
managing the public lands for multiple
uses and sustaining the health,
diversity, and productivity of the lands
for present and future generations.
Alternative C emphasizes resource
protection, while Alternative D
emphasizes commodity production and
use, while still complying with
applicable laws, regulations, and BLM
policies. Within all alternatives, Areas
of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACECs) have been identified to protect
certain resources. The proposed
alternative has identified the following
ACECs due to their significant cultural,
scenic, or natural values: Cerro Pomo,
Horse Mountain, Ladron Mountain
Devil’s Backbone Complex,
Mockingbird Gap, Pelona Mountain,
Sawtooth, and Zuni Salt Lake. After the
Draft RMP/EIS was released to the
public, acreage corrections were made
to the following proposed ACECs to
address geographical information
system data errors. These errors affected
only the Alternative B acreages for the
Cerro Pomo ACEC and the Tinajas
ACEC. The corrections are shown in the
table below.
Draft RMP/EIS
dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
Cerro Pomo ACEC ..............................................................
Tinajas ACEC ......................................................................
(For additional information on
management restrictions and acreage
figures for each ACEC refer to Chapter
2 of the PRMP/FEIS.) These corrections
do not represent a change in the
management of the lands that were
evaluated in the Draft RMP/EIS. The
Draft RMP/EIS was released to the
public for a 90-day comment period in
April 2007. The BLM hosted public
meetings in Datil and Socorro, New
Mexico, to answer questions about the
document, as well as to solicit
comments from the public. Public
comments on the Draft RMP/EIS are on
file and available for public review at
the address listed above. Public
comments on the Draft RMP/EIS
resulted in the addition of clarifying text
in the PRMP/FEIS, but did not
substantively change the proposed
decisions in the preferred alternative.
Instructions for filing a protest with
the Director of the BLM regarding the
PRMP/FEIS may be found in the Dear
Reader Letter of Socorro Proposed
Resource Management Plan and Final
Environmental Impact Statement and at
43 CFR 1610.5–2. E-mail and faxed
protests will not be accepted as valid
protests unless the protesting party also
provides the original letter by either
regular or overnight mail postmarked by
the close of the protest period. Under
these conditions, the BLM will consider
the e-mail or faxed protest as an
advance copy and it will receive full
consideration. If you wish to provide
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:27 Dec 04, 2008
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26,284 acres .......................................................................
1,062 acres .........................................................................
the BLM with such advance
notification, please direct faxed protests
to the attention of the BLM protest
coordinator at (202) 452–5112, and emailed protests to Brenda_HudgensWilliams@blm.gov.
All protests including the follow up
letter (if e-mailing or faxing) must be in
writing and must be mailed to the
following address:
Regular Mail: Overnight Mail:
Director (210), Attention: Brenda
Williams,P.O. Box 66538, Washington,
DC 20035.
Overnight Mail: Director (210),
Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L
Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington,
DC 20036.
Before including your phone number,
e-mail address, or other personal
identifying information in your protest,
you should be aware that your entire
protest—including your personal
identifying information—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you can ask us in your protest to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Ron Dunton,
New Mexico Deputy State Director.
[FR Doc. E8–28707 Filed 12–4–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P
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Proposed RMP/EIS
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28,248 acres.
0 acres.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Northwest Area Water Supply Project,
ND
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Final
Environmental Impact Statement (Final
EIS) on Water Treatment.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), the Bureau of Reclamation
(Reclamation) is notifying the public
that Reclamation has prepared a Final
EIS on Water Treatment for the
Northwest Area Water Supply Project
(Project). The proposed action is to
construct a biota water treatment plant
for the Project to treat the source water
from Lake Sakakawea before it is
delivered into the Hudson Bay basin.
The Final EIS provides information and
analyses related to four water treatment
alternatives that would further reduce
the risk of a Project-related biological
invasion from the Missouri River basin
into the Hudson Bay basin. Reclamation
published a Draft EIS on December 21,
2007. The public comment period
continued through March 26, 2008.
Revisions were made in the Final EIS to
incorporate responses to comments and
identify the preferred alternative and
the associated cost estimate. However,
these revisions do not significantly
E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM
05DEN1
dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
74192
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 235 / Friday, December 5, 2008 / Notices
impact the analysis or results presented
in the Draft EIS. The Final EIS includes
written responses to all public
comments on the Draft EIS.
DATES: Reclamation will not make a
decision on the proposed action until at
least 30 days after filing of the Final EIS.
After the 30-day waiting period,
Reclamation will complete a Record of
Decision. The Record of Decision will
identify the selected action for
implementation and will discuss factors
and rationale used in making the
decision.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alicia Waters, Northwest Area Water
Supply Project EIS, Bureau of
Reclamation, Dakotas Area Office, P.O.
Box 1017, Bismarck ND 58502;
Telephone: (701) 221–1206, or FAX to
(701) 250–4326. You may submit an email to awaters@gp.usbr.gov. Additional
information is available to the public
regarding this EIS and is posted on the
Web site https://www.usbr.gov/gp/dkao.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Garrison Diversion
Unit’s Municipal, Rural, and Industrial
Water Supply (MR&I) program was
authorized by the U.S. Congress on May
12, 1986, through the Garrison
Diversion Unit Reformulation Act of
1986. This Act authorized the
appropriation of $200 million of Federal
funds for the planning and construction
of water supply facilities throughout
North Dakota. This Project is designed
as a bulk water distribution system that
will service local communities and rural
water systems in 10 counties in
northwestern North Dakota including
the community of Minot. The Project is
an inter-basin transfer of water from
Lake Sakakawea, in the Missouri River
basin to the water treatment plant
(WTP) in Minot, North Dakota, in the
Hudson Bay basin. Reclamation
completed an Environmental
Assessment (EA) and issued a Finding
of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
Project in 2001. Project construction
began in April 2002. In October 2002,
the Province of Manitoba, Canada filed
a legal challenge in U.S. District Court
in Washington DC to compel the
Department of the Interior to complete
an EIS on the Project. A Court Order
dated February 3, 2005, remanded the
case to Reclamation for completion of
additional environmental analysis.
Subsequent orders issued by the
District Court allowed construction to
continue on the distribution systems of
the Project while the EIS was being
prepared. Construction of the main
water pipeline between Lake Sakakawea
and the Minot WTP was completed in
2008. This buried pipeline was
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:27 Dec 04, 2008
Jkt 217001
constructed with several safeguards
which further reduce the risk of a
pipeline breach resulting in a Projectrelated biological invasion.
Alternatives: The purpose of the
proposed action is to adequately treat
the Project water from the Missouri
River basin (Lake Sakakawea) to further
reduce the risk of a Project-related
biological invasion into the Hudson Bay
basin. The Final EIS considers four
water treatment alternatives, a no action
alternative and three action alternatives,
to meet the purpose and need for the
proposed action. Each of the alternatives
evaluated include treatment processes
which would occur within the Missouri
River basin prior to the water being
pumped through the buried pipeline to
the Minot WTP. At the Minot WTP, the
water would be treated to meet Safe
Drinking Water Act standards.
Alternatives evaluated in the Final
EIS include a no action alternative, as
required by NEPA, and three action
alternatives. The alternatives evaluated
are:
• No Action. The selected action
alternative in the FONSI (Reclamation
2001) was evaluated as the No Action
Alternative in the EIS. The treatment
process includes chemical disinfection
of Missouri River water prior to delivery
into the Hudson Bay basin. Ultraviolet
(UV) disinfection would be provided
along with softening and filtration at the
existing Minot WTP.
• Basic Treatment. This treatment
alternative would include a
pretreatment (coagulation, flocculation,
sedimentation) process followed by
chemical and UV disinfection prior to
crossing the drainage divide. The
purpose of the pre-treatment process is
to reduce raw water turbidity which can
influence the effectiveness of the
disinfection processes. Softening and
filtration would be provided at the
existing Minot WTP.
• Conventional Treatment. This
treatment would include a pre-treatment
of Dissolved Air Flotation followed by
media filtration and disinfection using
UV and chemicals (chlorine and
chloramines) within the Missouri River
basin. Softening and filtration would be
provided at the existing Minot WTP.
• Microfiltration. This treatment
alternative would include pre-treatment
(coagulation, pin floc) followed by
membrane filtration and chemical and
UV disinfection processes prior to the
water crossing the drainage divide.
Softening and filtration would be
provided at the existing Minot WTP.
The Preferred Alternative identified
in the Final EIS includes a combination
of the treatment processes evaluated in
the alternatives described previously.
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Sfmt 4703
The treatment process of the Preferred
Alternative would include the chemical
disinfection evaluated as part of the No
Action Alternative and the UV
disinfection process evaluated as part of
the action alternatives. After this
treatment within the Missouri River
basin, the water would be pumped
through the existing pipeline to the
Minot WTP where it would be treated
with lime softening and filtration to
meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards.
All of the treatment alternatives
evaluated would effectively inactivate
and/or remove a broad range of
organisms, including all of the
potentially invasive species evaluated in
the Final EIS. Estimated costs for
construction and annual operation,
maintenance and replacement of the
alternatives evaluated are provided in
the Final EIS.
Public Review Locations: The Final
EIS is available for public inspection at
the following locations:
• Bismarck Public Library, 515 North
5th Street, Bismarck, ND.
• Minot Public Library, 516 2nd
Avenue SW., Minot, ND.
• Dakotas Area Office, Bureau of
Reclamation, 304 East Broadway,
Bismarck, ND.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort
Berthold Agency, 202 Main Street, New
Town, ND.
• North Dakota State Library, 603 East
Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND.
• Standing Rock Administrative
Service Center, Building 1, North
Standing Rock Avenue, Fort Yates, ND.
• Mohall Public Library, 112 Main
Street East, Mohall, ND.
• Bottineau City Hall, 115 West 6th
Street, Bottineau, ND.
Dated: November 26, 2008.
Bobbi C. Sherwood-Widmann,
Acting, Assistant Regional Director, Great
Plains Region.
[FR Doc. E8–28829 Filed 12–4–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree
Under the Oil Pollution Act
Notice is hereby given that on
November 25, 2008, a proposed Consent
Decree (‘‘Decree’’) in United States v.
f/v North Wind, Inc., Civil Action No.
1:06–cv–00272–DAE–BMK, was lodged
with the United States District Court for
the District of Hawaii.
The civil action relates to the July 1,
2005 incident when the M/V Casitas, a
145-foot motor vessel owned and
operated by f/v North Wind, Inc., ran
E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM
05DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 235 (Friday, December 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74191-74192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28829]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Northwest Area Water Supply Project, ND
AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement
(Final EIS) on Water Treatment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is notifying the public
that Reclamation has prepared a Final EIS on Water Treatment for the
Northwest Area Water Supply Project (Project). The proposed action is
to construct a biota water treatment plant for the Project to treat the
source water from Lake Sakakawea before it is delivered into the Hudson
Bay basin. The Final EIS provides information and analyses related to
four water treatment alternatives that would further reduce the risk of
a Project-related biological invasion from the Missouri River basin
into the Hudson Bay basin. Reclamation published a Draft EIS on
December 21, 2007. The public comment period continued through March
26, 2008. Revisions were made in the Final EIS to incorporate responses
to comments and identify the preferred alternative and the associated
cost estimate. However, these revisions do not significantly
[[Page 74192]]
impact the analysis or results presented in the Draft EIS. The Final
EIS includes written responses to all public comments on the Draft EIS.
DATES: Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action
until at least 30 days after filing of the Final EIS. After the 30-day
waiting period, Reclamation will complete a Record of Decision. The
Record of Decision will identify the selected action for implementation
and will discuss factors and rationale used in making the decision.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alicia Waters, Northwest Area Water
Supply Project EIS, Bureau of Reclamation, Dakotas Area Office, P.O.
Box 1017, Bismarck ND 58502; Telephone: (701) 221-1206, or FAX to (701)
250-4326. You may submit an e-mail to awaters@gp.usbr.gov. Additional
information is available to the public regarding this EIS and is posted
on the Web site https://www.usbr.gov/gp/dkao.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Garrison Diversion Unit's Municipal, Rural, and
Industrial Water Supply (MR&I) program was authorized by the U.S.
Congress on May 12, 1986, through the Garrison Diversion Unit
Reformulation Act of 1986. This Act authorized the appropriation of
$200 million of Federal funds for the planning and construction of
water supply facilities throughout North Dakota. This Project is
designed as a bulk water distribution system that will service local
communities and rural water systems in 10 counties in northwestern
North Dakota including the community of Minot. The Project is an inter-
basin transfer of water from Lake Sakakawea, in the Missouri River
basin to the water treatment plant (WTP) in Minot, North Dakota, in the
Hudson Bay basin. Reclamation completed an Environmental Assessment
(EA) and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
Project in 2001. Project construction began in April 2002. In October
2002, the Province of Manitoba, Canada filed a legal challenge in U.S.
District Court in Washington DC to compel the Department of the
Interior to complete an EIS on the Project. A Court Order dated
February 3, 2005, remanded the case to Reclamation for completion of
additional environmental analysis.
Subsequent orders issued by the District Court allowed construction
to continue on the distribution systems of the Project while the EIS
was being prepared. Construction of the main water pipeline between
Lake Sakakawea and the Minot WTP was completed in 2008. This buried
pipeline was constructed with several safeguards which further reduce
the risk of a pipeline breach resulting in a Project-related biological
invasion.
Alternatives: The purpose of the proposed action is to adequately
treat the Project water from the Missouri River basin (Lake Sakakawea)
to further reduce the risk of a Project-related biological invasion
into the Hudson Bay basin. The Final EIS considers four water treatment
alternatives, a no action alternative and three action alternatives, to
meet the purpose and need for the proposed action. Each of the
alternatives evaluated include treatment processes which would occur
within the Missouri River basin prior to the water being pumped through
the buried pipeline to the Minot WTP. At the Minot WTP, the water would
be treated to meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards.
Alternatives evaluated in the Final EIS include a no action
alternative, as required by NEPA, and three action alternatives. The
alternatives evaluated are:
No Action. The selected action alternative in the FONSI
(Reclamation 2001) was evaluated as the No Action Alternative in the
EIS. The treatment process includes chemical disinfection of Missouri
River water prior to delivery into the Hudson Bay basin. Ultraviolet
(UV) disinfection would be provided along with softening and filtration
at the existing Minot WTP.
Basic Treatment. This treatment alternative would include
a pretreatment (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation) process
followed by chemical and UV disinfection prior to crossing the drainage
divide. The purpose of the pre-treatment process is to reduce raw water
turbidity which can influence the effectiveness of the disinfection
processes. Softening and filtration would be provided at the existing
Minot WTP.
Conventional Treatment. This treatment would include a
pre-treatment of Dissolved Air Flotation followed by media filtration
and disinfection using UV and chemicals (chlorine and chloramines)
within the Missouri River basin. Softening and filtration would be
provided at the existing Minot WTP.
Microfiltration. This treatment alternative would include
pre-treatment (coagulation, pin floc) followed by membrane filtration
and chemical and UV disinfection processes prior to the water crossing
the drainage divide. Softening and filtration would be provided at the
existing Minot WTP.
The Preferred Alternative identified in the Final EIS includes a
combination of the treatment processes evaluated in the alternatives
described previously. The treatment process of the Preferred
Alternative would include the chemical disinfection evaluated as part
of the No Action Alternative and the UV disinfection process evaluated
as part of the action alternatives. After this treatment within the
Missouri River basin, the water would be pumped through the existing
pipeline to the Minot WTP where it would be treated with lime softening
and filtration to meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards.
All of the treatment alternatives evaluated would effectively
inactivate and/or remove a broad range of organisms, including all of
the potentially invasive species evaluated in the Final EIS. Estimated
costs for construction and annual operation, maintenance and
replacement of the alternatives evaluated are provided in the Final
EIS.
Public Review Locations: The Final EIS is available for public
inspection at the following locations:
Bismarck Public Library, 515 North 5th Street, Bismarck,
ND.
Minot Public Library, 516 2nd Avenue SW., Minot, ND.
Dakotas Area Office, Bureau of Reclamation, 304 East
Broadway, Bismarck, ND.
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Berthold Agency, 202 Main
Street, New Town, ND.
North Dakota State Library, 603 East Boulevard Avenue,
Bismarck, ND.
Standing Rock Administrative Service Center, Building 1,
North Standing Rock Avenue, Fort Yates, ND.
Mohall Public Library, 112 Main Street East, Mohall, ND.
Bottineau City Hall, 115 West 6th Street, Bottineau, ND.
Dated: November 26, 2008.
Bobbi C. Sherwood-Widmann,
Acting, Assistant Regional Director, Great Plains Region.
[FR Doc. E8-28829 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-P
