Reclamation Bureau May 24, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) as joint lead agencies have prepared a final programmatic environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (Program). This FEIS also serves as the Biological Assessment necessary for consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1997, the States of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) signed a Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska (Cooperative Agreement). In this document, the signatories agreed to pursue a basinwide, cooperative approach to improve and maintain habitat for four threatened and endangered species which use the Platte River in Nebraska: whooping crane (Grus americana), interior least tern (Sterna antillarum), piping plover (Charadrius melodus), and pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). This Program will provide ESA compliance for Service and Reclamation water projects in the Platte River Basin for the four target species, as well as for other participating projects which require Federal permits.