[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 191 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53022-53023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26497]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Water Allocation for the
Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin, Alabama and Georgia
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice of availability announces the public release of
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Water Allocation for
the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin, Alabama and Georgia.
The ACT River Basin Compact Commission is developing a water allocation
formula for the ACT river basin to provide an equitable sharing of
water within the basin between the States of Alabama and Georgia. A
change in allocation of water resources by the States may impact other
resources within the basin for which there is a Federal interest or
responsibility. This Draft EIS has been developed by the Corps of
Engineers (lead agency) and ten other cooperating Federal agencies. The
Draft EIS uses a programmatic framework for evaluating a range of flow
and reservoir conditions selected to bracket the flow conditions that
may result from the allocation formula. The objectives of the EIS are
to address the range of potential environmental and socioeconomic
impacts across the entire basin, serve as a baseline document for
future implementing actions, and meet the schedule for completion of
agency and public review prior to a decision by the Federal
Commissioner to the Compact Commission in late summer 1999. Follow-on
National Environmental Policy Act documentation (environmental
assessments of EISs) may be necessary to document specific impacts of
future implementing actions.
DATES: The public comment period for the Draft EIS will extend through
December 18, 1998.
ADDRESSES: To receive a copy of the Draft EIS, or to submit comments,
contact: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Inland
Environment Section, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001.
Copies are available in hard copy or CD-ROM format. A copy of the full
document may also be viewed at 60 libraries in the major cities and
universities within the States of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, or the
Main Report can be viewed on the Mobile District Web Page (http://
www.sam.usace.army.mil/sam/pd/actacfeis).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael J. Eubanks, ACT Basin EIS Project Manager, (334) 694-3861 or 1-
800-421-7637, facsimile number (334) 694-3815 or e-mail address
(michael.j.eubanks@sam.usace.army.mil).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ACT River Basin Compact Commission
includes the Governors of Alabama and Georgia and a Federal
Commissioner appointed by the President of the
[[Page 53023]]
United States, a non-voting member. Under the terms of the Compact, the
two State Commissioners must negotiate and agree on a proposed
allocation formula and present the formula to the Federal Commissioner
for concurrence before the allocation formula can be implemented. The
Federal Commissioner will have up to 255 days to reach a decision on
the allocation formula proposed by the States. Because water allocation
formulas have not yet been identified by the States and may not be
until late 1998, a programmatic approach is being used for this EIS.
Such an approach is appropriate when examining broad actions or
management programs when the actual implementation plans are not yet
known. The programmatic evaluation framework used in this EIS predicts
a range of flow or reservoir conditions at representative locations
within the river basin. Impacts of alternative flow conditions in the
high, moderate, and low range are compared to the impacts of flow
conditions for the no action alternative (existing operating conditions
within the basin). The final water allocation formula developed by the
States is expected to fall somewhere within the predicted range of flow
conditions. Flow conditions were modeled by using a historic flow data
record that represents 55 years of recorded stream flows. Hydrologic
modeling was used to project water use demands and associated impacts
over time for the years 1995, 2020, and 2050. Public comments can be
submitted through a variety of methods. Written comments may be
submitted to the Corps by mail, facsimile, or electronic methods, or
comments (written or oral) may be presented at one of five public
meetings scheduled for November 1998. The open house format meetings
will be conducted between the hours of 5-8 p.m., at the following
locations and dates:
Anniston City Meeting Center, 17th and Noble Street, Anniston, AL,
November 9th; Montgomery Civic Center, 300 Bibb Street, Montgomery, AL,
November 10th; Tallahassee Civic Center (Rooms A2&A3), 505 West
Pensacola Street, Tallahassee, FL, November 17th; Kennesaw State
University Gymnasium, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA, November 18th;
and Columbus Convention and Trade Center, 801 Front Avenue, Columbus,
GA, November 19th.
These public meetings will also provide information and receive
comments on the concurrently developed Draft EIS for Water Allocation
in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. The format
for all five meetings will be identical. Additional information on
these meetings will be mailed in a newsletter to the agencies and
public, announced in news releases, and made available on the Mobile
District Web Page.
Dated: September 25, 1998.
Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 98-26497 Filed 10-1-98; 8:45 am]
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