[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76516-76517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31144]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNVL00000-L51010000-ER0000-LVRWF12F3450 241A; MO; N-78803;
13-08807; TAS:14X5017]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Clark,
Lincoln, and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project Right-
of-Way, NV
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine
Counties Groundwater Development Project Right-of-Way (ROW). The Deputy
Secretary of the Department of the Interior approved the ROD on
December 19, 2012, which constitutes the final decision of the
Department of the Interior and makes the decision effective
immediately.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request from the BLM
Water Projects Office, Nevada State Office, or at the Web site: http://www.blm.gov/5w5c. To request a printed copy of the ROD with a CD
containing the attachments, contact the BLM Nevada State Office, Water
Projects Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502, phone 775-861-
6681, or email: [email protected]. Copies of the ROD will be
available for review at the following BLM offices in Nevada:
BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno;
BLM Ely District Office, 702 North Industrial Way, Ely;
BLM Caliente Field Office, US Hwy 93, Bldg 1,
Caliente; and
BLM Southern Nevada District Office, 4701 North Torrey
Pines, Las Vegas
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Penny Woods, BLM Project Manager, 1340
Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502, telephone: 775-861-6466, or email:
[email protected] with ``ROD Copy Request'' in the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After extensive environmental analysis,
consideration of public comments, and application of pertinent Federal
laws and policies, it is the decision of the Department of the Interior
to offer to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) a ROW grant for
the construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of the
mainline water pipeline, main power lines, pump stations, regulating
tanks, and other ancillary facilities of the project for a groundwater
delivery system. The Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation and
Development Act of 2004, Public Law 108-424, directs the Secretary of
the Interior to issue a ROW grant on Federal lands in Lincoln, and
Clark counties, Nevada for this project. The ROW grant will authorize
the use of public lands in perpetuity. The decision authorizes BLM to
issue of a ROW grant to the SNWA for the preferred alternative as
analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), issued on
August 3, 2012. The Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice
of Availabilty of the Final EIS in the Federal Register on August 3,
2012.
The ROD adopts Alternative F in the Final EIS, which includes an
alignment from Las Vegas Valley north through Coyote Spring, Delamar,
Dry Lake, terminating in central Spring Valley, with a lateral route
into Cave Valley.
[[Page 76517]]
The ROD does not authorize any infrastructure facilities to be
constructed in Snake Valley. The ROD limits future pumping amounts to
those amounts granted by the Nevada State Engineer rulings in March
2012. In addition, this decision adopts a realignment that would
reroute the main power line from Spring Valley to the Gonder Substation
across Steptoe Valley, slightly to the north within a corridor on U.S.
Forest Service land. This realignment will require a special use permit
from the U.S. Forest Service.
Although the Final EIS analyzed future facilities and groundwater
development on a programmatic basis, the ROD does not authorize any of
this possible future development. Rather, the ROD lays out a process
for the BLM to conduct analyses in the future for the additional
development. The process includes BLM engagement with state, local and
tribal governments and other Federal agencies, as well as the
proponent, to develop groundwater and resource information and to
establish data collection, action triggers, and monitoring and
mitigation procedures.
This is the final decision for the Department of the Interior and,
in accordance with the regulations at 43 CFR 4.410(a)(3), is not
subject to appeal under Departmental regulations at 43 CFR part 4. Any
challenge to this decision, including the BLM Authorized Officer's
issuance of the ROW as directed by this decision, must be brought in
federal district court.
Amy Lueders,
Nevada State Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-31144 Filed 12-26-12; 8:45 am]
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