[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48720-48721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-23240]
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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION
Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water
Commission, United States and Mexico.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969; the Council on Environmental Quality Final
Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 1508); and the Operational
Procedures of the United States Section, International Boundary and
Water Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC), for implementing
section 102 of NEPA, published in the Federal Register September 2,
1981 (46 FR 44083-44094); the USIBWC hereby gives notice that the Final
Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for
Quisto Energy Corporation (Quisto) to construct, operate, and maintain
a gas well located on the Main Floodway of the Lower Rio Grande Flood
Control Project (LRGFCP) are available. The USIBWC finds that the
proposed action to issue a license to Quisto for such works is not a
major federal action that would have a significant adverse effect on
the quality of the human environment. A Notice of Finding of No
Significant Impact was signed August 2, 1995, (60 FR 40603) and
provided a thirty (30) day review and comment period before making the
finding final.
ADDRESS: Mr. Yusuf E. Farran, Division Engineer, Environmental
Management Division, United States Section, International Boundary and
Water Commission, United States and Mexico, 4171 North Mesa Street, C-
310, El Paso, Texas 79902-1441, telephone: 915/534-6704, Fax: 915/534-
668.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Action
The action proposed is for the USUBWC to issue a license to Quisto
to construct, operate, and maintain a gas well and install related
features within Meyerhoff No. 5 Drilling Unit, Lot 271, Kelly-Pharr
Subdivision, Hidalgo County, Texas. The gas well is proposed to be
located on privately owned land within the Main Floodway of the USIBWC
LRGFCP approximately 8 kilometers southeast of the town of Pharr.
Access to the drilling site is by way of existing county and private
roads.
Alternatives Considered
Three alternatives were considered in the Final Environmental
Assessment (EA):
The Proposed Action Alternative is for Quisto to construct,
operate, and maintain a gas well in a cultivated field within the Main
Floodway of the USIBWC LRGFCP. This proposed action will require USIBWC
to issue a license to ensure that such works do not cause an
obstruction to flood flows within the floodway or interfere with the
operation and maintenance of the LRGFCP.
The No Action Alternative is for Quisto to not construct, operate,
and maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of the LRGFCP. The no
action alternative will not require the USIBWC to issue a license since
no work will be done within the LRGFCP. The no action alternative will
result in the denial of access to the mineral owner to rightfully owned
minerals, loss of tax revenues to the State of Texas, and result in an
unrecoverable clean energy source.
The Directional Well Alternative is for Quisto to drill a well from
outside the Main Floodway to a depth below the
[[Page 48721]]
proposed surface location. The directional well alternative will not
require USIBWC to issue a license since no work will be done within the
LRGFCP. The directional well alternative is considered not workable
because of a lack of an available surface drillsite outside the Main
Floodway and technical problems associated with a bottomhold location
some 457 meters or more from the surface location.
Environmantal Assessment
The USIBWC received from Quisto a completed Environmental
Assessment (EA) for the proposed gas well and related features. The EA
is currently available for review and comment.
Finding of the Final Environmental Assessment
The Final EA finds that the proposed action for Quisto to
construct, operate, and maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of
the USIBWC LRGFCP (and USIBWC to issue a license for such work) does
not constitute a major federal action which would cause a significant
local, regional, or national adverse impact on the environment based on
the following facts:
1. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has determined that no
waters of the United States including the wetlands will be impacted by
the proposed gas well and related features.
2. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that
federally listed endangered or threatened species are unlikely to be
adversely affected by the proposed gas well and related features.
3. The Texas Historical Commission has determined that no survey is
required and the project may proceed.
4. The USIBWC has determined that the proposed gas well and related
features will have no significant effect upon the flood carrying
capacity of the Main Floodway.
Availability
Single copies of the Final Environmental Assessment and Final
Finding of No Significant Impact may be obtained by request at the
above address.
Dated: September 11, 1995.
Randall A. McMains,
Attorney.
[FR Doc. 95-23240 Filed 9-19-95; 8:45 am]
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