75560 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 242 / Friday, December 17, 2004 / Notices 

4. Comments may be submitted 

during the public open houses and 

hearings that will be held at a later date; 

and 

5. Written comments may be mailed 

directly, or delivered, to the BLM 

at:Rawlins RMP/EIS, Bureau of Land 

Management Rawlins Field Office, 1300 

N. Third Street, P.O. Box 2407, Rawlins, 

WY 82301–2407. 

BLM will only accept comments on 

the Rawlins RMP DEIS if they are 

submitted in one of the five methods as 

described above. To facilitate analysis of 

comment and information submitted, 

BLM strongly encourages the public to 

submit comments in an electronic 

format through either the Web site or 

electronic mail. To be given 

consideration by BLM all DEIS 

comment submittals must include the 

commenter’s name and street address. 

Our practice is to make comments, 

including the names and street 

addresses of each respondent, available 

for public review at the BLM office 

listed above during business hours (7:45 

a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through 

Friday, except for Federal holidays. 

Your comments may be published as 

part of the EIS process. Individual 

respondents may request 

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold 

your name or street address or both from 

public review or from disclosure under 

the Freedom of Information Act, you 

must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your written comments. 

Such requests will be honored to the 

extent allowed by law. We will not 

consider anonymous comments. All 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses will be made available for 

public inspection in their entirety.

Dated: January 4, 2004.

Editorial Note: This document was 

received at the Office of the Federal Register 

December 13, 2004. 

Robert A. Bennett, 

State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–27532 Filed 12–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Notice of Availability of Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Buckman Water Diversion Project, 

Santa Fe County, New Mexico

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. Forest Service, Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land 

Management, Taos Field Office, and 

Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, 

announce the availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

for the Buckman Water Diversion 

Project.

DATES: The Buckman Water Diversion 

Project DEIS will be available for review 

for 60 days from the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

publishes its Notice of Availability 

(NOA) in the Federal Register. The 

Bureau of Land Management and Forest 

Service can best utilize your comments 

and resource information submissions 

within the 60 day review period 

provided above. Any meetings or public 

involvement activities associated with 

distribution of the DEIS will be 

announced at least 15 days in advance 

through the local media, at Web site 

http://www.nm.blm.gov, and/or 

mailings.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS have 

been sent to affected Federal, State, and 

local government agencies and to 

interested parties, and will be available 

via the Internet at http://

www.nm.blm.gov.

Copies of the DEIS will also be 

available at the following locations: 

• Bureau of Land Management, New 

Mexico State Office, 1474 Rodeo Road, 

Santa Fe, NM 87505. 

• Forest Service, Santa Fe National 

Forest, 1474 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 

87505. 

• Tetra Tech, Santa Fe Office, 502 

West Cordova Road, Santa Fe,NM 

87505. 

• City of Santa Fe, Sangre de Cristo 

Water Division, 801 West San Mateo, 

Santa Fe, NM 87504. 

• Santa Fe County, Utilities 

Department, 205 Montezuma Ave., 

Santa Fe, NM 87501. 

• USDI Bureau of Reclamation, 555 

Broadway Ave., Albuquerque, NM 

87102. 

Comments must be sent to Mr. Sandy 

Hurlocker (Buckman Diversion 

Comments), Espanola Ranger District, 

PO Box 3307, Espanola, New Mexico 

87533. E-mail comments may be 

directed to the following e-mail address: 

comments-southwestern-santafeespanola@fs.fed.us

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTRACT:

The Bureau of Land Management 

contact is Ms. Sher Churchill, Planning 

and Environmental Coordinator, Taos, 

Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, 

New Mexico 87571, telephone (505) 

751–4725. The Forest Service contact is 

Mr. Sandy Hurlocker, NEPA 

Coordinator, Espanola Ranger District, 

P.O. Box 3307, Espanola, New Mexico 

87533, telephone (505) 753–7331. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

project area is located northwest of 

Santa Fe, New Mexico. The DEIS 

describes and analyzes the impacts of 

alternatives for approximately 9 miles of 

upgrades to an existing access road and 

for construction and operation of a 

water diversion intake on the Rio 

Grande; sediment settling ponds; pumps 

and water pipelines to move the 

withdrawn water approximately 15 

miles to the vicinity of its use; two 

water treatment plants; and and two 

power lines a 115 Kv and a 12.47 Kv 

plus one substation. 

If authorized, the project will be 

predominantly located on public lands 

administered by the Bureau of Land 

Management and the Forest Service; and 

a relatively small portion of the project 

facilities will be located on private 

lands and Bureau of Land Management 

lands leased to the City of Santa Fe. 

The Forest Service and Bureau of 

Land Management are co-lead agencies 

for this project; the Department of 

Interior Bureau of Reclamation 

(contributing funds), City of Santa Fe 

and Santa Fe County are cooperating 

agencies. The City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe 

County and Las Companas Limited 

Partnership are the project applicants. 

The project applicants (City of Santa 

Fe, Santa Fe County, and Las Companas 

Limited Partnership) have proposed the 

Buckman Water Diversion Project to 

meet the immediate need for a 

sustainable means of accessing water 

supplies that make more direct use of 

the Applicants’ water rights by diverting 

San Juan-Chama Project water and 

native Rio Grande water while reducing 

impacts to the aquifer. The Applicants 

propose to construct and operate a 

surface water diversion facility at the 

Rio Grande near the western terminus of 

Buckman Road located within the Santa 

Fe National Forest, near the existing 

Buckman Well Field. The water will be 

pumped to the Santa Fe vicinity where 

it will serve municipal and community 

water supply customers. 

The Buckman Water Diversion is 

proposed to be constructed with the 

capacity necessary to meet the near-term 

need for water, based on physical, 

technical, and environmental 

limitations. The proposed project has an 

independent utility from the long-term 

water management strategy being 

undertaken by the City and the County. 

The scoping process has included 

public meetings, field reviews, and 

interactions with various State and

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 242 / Friday, December 17, 2004 / Notices 75561

Federal agencies. Issues identified 

during scoping led to the development 

of alternatives to a number of 

components in the proposed action. 

Also, on-going discussions and 

evaluations conducted by the lead 

agencies and Applicants have resulted 

in the identification of additional action 

items (such as power infrastructure and 

road upgrades) that have been 

incorporated into the proposed action 

and other action alternatives. The DEIS 

describes and analyzes the direct, 

indirect and cumulative effects of a 

range of action alternatives and the No 

Action alternative in detail. The 

alternatives, including the Agencies’

Preferred Alternative, conform to 

existing laws and regulations, and 

provide for resource protection.

Sam DesGeorges, 

BLM Taos Field Manager.

Gilbert Zepeda, 

Santa Fe Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 04–26871 Filed 12–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–100–05–1310–DB] 

Notice of Meeting of the Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group’s 

Transportation Task Group

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (1976) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (1972), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group (PAWG) 

Transportation Task Group 

(subcommittee) will meet in Pinedale, 

Wyoming, for a business meeting. Task 

Group meetings are open to the public.

DATES: A PAWG Transportation Task 

Group meeting is scheduled for January 

25, 2005, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting of the PAWG 

Transportation Task Group will be held 

in the Lovatt room of the Pinedale 

Library at 155 S. Tyler Ave., Pinedale, 

WY.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill 

Wadsworth, BLM/Transportation TG 

Liaison, Bureau of Land Management, 

Pinedale Field Office, 432 E. Mills St., 

PO Box 738, Pinedale, WY 82941; 307–

367–5341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Pinedale Anticline Working Group 

(PAWG) was authorized and established 

with release of the Record of Decision 

(ROD) for the Pinedale Anticline Oil 

and Gas Exploration and Development 

Project on July 27, 2000. The PAWG 

advises the BLM on the development 

and implementation of monitoring plans 

and adaptive management decisions as 

development of the Pinedale Anticline 

Natural Gas Field (PAPA) proceeds for 

the life of the field. 

After the ROD was issued, Interior 

determined that a Federal Advisory 

Committees Act (FACA) charter was 

required for this group. The charter was 

signed by Secretary of the Interior, Gale 

Norton, on August 15, 2002, and 

renewed on August 13, 2004. An 

announcement of committee initiation 

and call for nominations was published 

in the Federal Register on February 21, 

2003 (68 FR 8522). PAWG members 

were appointed by Secretary Norton on 

May 4, 2004. 

At their second business meeting, the 

PAWG established seven resource- or 

activity-specific Task Groups, including 

one for Transportation. Public 

participation on the Task Groups was 

solicited through the media, letters, and 

word-of-mouth. 

The agenda for this meeting will 

include information gathering and 

discussion related to developing a 

transportation monitoring plan to assess 

the impacts of development in the 

Pinedale Anticline gas field, and 

identifying who will do and who will 

pay for the monitoring. Task Group 

recommendations are due to the PAWG 

in February, 2005. At a minimum, 

public comments will be heard just 

prior to adjournment of the meeting.

Dated: December 8, 2004. 

Priscilla E. Mecham, 

Field Office Manager.

[FR Doc. 04–27648 Filed 12–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–27–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[CA–310–0777–XG] 

Notice of Public Meeting: Northwest 

California Resource Advisory Council

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976 (FLPMA), and the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act of 1972 

(FACA), the U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) Northwest California Resource 

Advisory Council will meet as indicated 

below.

DATES: The meeting will be held 

Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 2 and 3, 

2005, in Redding, California. On Feb. 2, 

the council members convene at 10 a.m. 

at the BLM Redding Field Office, 355 

Hemsted Dr., and depart immediately 

for a field tour of projected land 

exchange sites. Members of the public 

are welcome on the tour, but they must 

provide their own transportation and 

lunch. On Feb. 3, the council convenes 

at 8 a.m. in the Conference Center at the 

McConnell Foundation headquarters, 

800 Shasta View Drive in Redding. Time 

for public comment has been set aside 

for 10:30 a.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich 

Burns, BLM Ukiah Field Office 

manager, (707) 468–4000; or BLM 

Public Affairs Officer Joseph J. Fontana, 

(530) 252–5332.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 12-

member council advises the Secretary of 

the Interior, through the BLM, on a 

variety of planning and management 

issues associated with public land 

management in Northwest California. At 

this meeting, agenda topics will include 

the proposed ‘‘Area 51’’ land exchange, 

other land exchange issues, 

transportation funding and recreation 

issues. All meetings are open to the 

public. Members of the public may 

present written comments to the 

council. Each formal council meeting 

will have time allocated for public 

comments. Depending on the number of 

persons wishing to speak, and the time 

available, the time for individual 

comments may be limited. Members of 

the public are welcome on field tours, 

but they must provide their own 

transportation and lunch. Individuals 

who plan to attend and need special 

assistance, such as sign language 

interpretation and other reasonable 

accommodations, should contact the 

BLM as provided above.

Dated: December 10, 2004. 

Joseph J. Fontana, 

Public Affairs Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–27592 Filed 12–16–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–40–P