Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices 67803 

BOEM seeks comments on 

implementing targeted leasing and 

information on areas of specific interest 

within the Call Area as it continues 

analyzing areas most suitable for oil and 

gas leasing. 

5. Instructions on Responding to the 

Call 

BOEM requests parties interested in 

leasing any whole or partial blocks 

within the Call Area to indicate their 

interest in, and comment on, blocks that 

they would like included in a proposed 

lease sale. Parties should explicitly 

nominate whole or partial blocks and 

rank them using the following 

indicators: 1 [high], 2 [medium], or 3 

[low]. Parties are encouraged to be as 

specific as possible in prioritizing 

blocks and supporting nominations with 

detailed information, such as relevant 

geologic, geophysical, and economic 

data. BOEM will consider as low 

priority areas where interest has been 

indicated but not prioritized. 

Parties may also nominate blocks by 

OPD and leasing map designations to 

ensure correct interpretation of their 

nominations. OPDs and leasing maps 

are available on BOEM’s website at 

https://www.boem.gov/Maps-and-GISData/. 

See subsection 6, ‘‘Protection of 

Privileged, Proprietary, and Personal 

Information,’’ regarding protection and 

release of information and how to 

submit proprietary information. 

BOEM also seeks comments from the 

public regarding particular geological, 

environmental, biological, 

archaeological, and socioeconomic 

conditions, potential use conflicts, or 

other information about conditions that 

could affect the potential leasing and 

development of particular areas. 

Comments may refer to broad areas or 

particular OCS blocks. 

6. Protection of Privileged, Proprietary, 

and Personal Information 

BOEM will protect privileged or 

proprietary information in accordance 

with the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) and OCSLA requirements. To 

avoid inadvertent release of such 

information, you should mark all 

documents and every page containing 

such information with ‘‘Confidential— 

Contains Proprietary Information.’’ To 

the extent a document contains a mix of 

proprietary and nonproprietary 

information, you should clearly mark 

the document to indicate which portion 

of the document is proprietary and 

which is not. Exemption 4 of FOIA 

applies to trade secrets and commercial 

or financial information that you submit 

that is privileged or confidential. BOEM 

considers nominations of specific blocks 

to be proprietary. Therefore, BOEM will 

not release information that identifies 

any particular nomination with any 

particular party, so as not to 

compromise the competitive position of 

any participants. 

Please be aware that BOEM’s practice 

is to make all other comments, 

including the names and addresses of 

individuals, available for public 

inspection. Before including your 

address, phone number, email address, 

or other personally identifiable 

information in your comment, please be 

advised that your entire comment, 

including your personally identifiable 

information, may be made publicly 

available at any time. For BOEM to 

consider withholding from disclosure 

your personally identifiable 

information, you must identify, in a 

cover letter, any information contained 

in your comments that, if released, 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of your personal privacy. You 

must also briefly describe any possible 

harmful consequences of the disclosure 

of information, such as embarrassment, 

injury, or other harm. 

Even if BOEM withholds your 

information in the context of this Call, 

your submission is subject to the FOIA. 

If your submission is requested under 

the FOIA, your information will only be 

withheld if BOEM determines that one 

of the FOIA exemptions to disclosure 

applies. Such a determination will be 

made in accordance with the 

Department’s FOIA regulations and 

applicable law. 

BOEM will make available for public 

inspection all comments, in their 

entirety, submitted by organizations and 

businesses (except as provided above for 

proprietary information) or by 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives of organizations or 

businesses. 

Elizabeth Klein, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21679 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2023–0046] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Gulf of 

Mexico Regional Outer Continental 

Shelf Oil and Gas Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare 

a programmatic environmental impact 

statement (PEIS); request for comments. 

SUMMARY: Consistent with the 

regulations implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 

BOEM announces its intent to prepare a 

Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Regional Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (GOM Oil and Gas PEIS). The 

GOM Oil and Gas PEIS will analyze the 

potential impacts of a representative oil 

and gas lease sale in available OCS areas 

of the Western, Central, and Eastern 

Planning Areas (Proposed Action) and 

the associated potential site and 

activity-specific approvals resulting 

from a sale. This NOI announces the 

scoping process BOEM will use to 

identify significant issues and potential 

alternatives for consideration in the 

GOM Oil and Gas PEIS. The draft PEIS 

will include a summary of all 

alternatives, information, and analyses 

submitted during the scoping process 

for consideration by BOEM and the 

cooperating agencies. 

DATES: BOEM will consider comments 

received by November 1, 2023. BOEM 

will hold two virtual public scoping 

meetings for the GOM Oil and Gas PEIS. 

The first will be held on October 17, 

2023, at 6 p.m. CDT, and the second on 

October 19, 2023, at 1 p.m. CDT. 

Additional information and 

registration for the public meetings may 

be found here: https://www.boem.gov/ 

Gulf-of-Mexico-Oil-and-Gas-PEIS or by 

calling 1–800–200–4853. 

ADDRESSES: Detailed information can be 

found on BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/Gulf-of-Mexico-Oil-andGas-PEIS. 

Written comments can be submitted 

through the regulations.gov web portal: 

Navigate to https://www.regulations.gov 

and search for Docket No. BOEM–2023– 

0046. Select the document in the search 

results on which you want to comment, 

click on the ‘‘Comment’’ button, and 

follow the online instructions for 

submitting your comment. A 

commenter’s checklist is available on 

the comment web page. Enter your 

information and comment, then click 

‘‘Submit.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Helen Rucker, BOEM New Orleans 

Office, Office of Environment, 1201 

Elmwood Park Blvd., New Orleans, 

Louisiana 70123, telephone (504) 736– 

2421, or email helen.rucker@boem.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


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67804 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices 

Purpose of and Need for the Proposed 

Action 

The purpose of the Federal Proposed 

Action is to offer for lease, and 

ultimately to allow for potential postlease development through plan and 

permit approvals (subject to additional 

environmental review and regulatory 

oversight), those areas that may contain 

economically recoverable oil and gas. 

This purpose is consistent with BOEM’s 

mandate to further the orderly 

development of OCS oil and gas 

resources under the OCS Lands Act. 

Each individual proposed lease sale 

would provide qualified bidders the 

opportunity to bid upon and lease 

available acreage in the GOM OCS in 

order to explore, develop, and produce 

oil and natural gas. 

The need for the Proposed Action is 

to manage the development of OCS oil 

and gas resources in an environmentally 

and economically responsible manner. 

Oil from the GOM OCS contributes to 

meeting domestic demand; however, 

combustion of oil and natural gas from 

the GOM OCS creates greenhouse gas 

(GHG) emissions, fueling climate 

change, which poses a significant global 

threat. The long-term goal of the Biden 

administration is to reach net-zero GHG 

emissions by 2050 and to limit global 

warming to less than 1.5° Celsius. The 

administration also established goals of 

a 50 percent reduction of 2005 GHG 

emissions by 2030 and a carbon 

pollution-free power sector by 2035 

(https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefingroom/statements-releases/2021/04/22/ 

fact-sheet-president-biden-sets-2030- 

greenhouse-gas-pollution-reductiontarget-aimed-at-creating-good-payingunion-jobs-and-securing-u-s-leadershipon-clean-energy-technologies/). 

To meet these targets, the United 

States would have to drastically change 

the way it both consumes and supplies 

energy. An increase in renewable energy 

production, electrification, energy 

efficiency, and reduced consumption 

leads to less reliance on oil and gas 

resources and reduced demand. Refer to 

chapters 1.2 and 6 of the 2024–2029 

National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing 

Proposed Final Program (2024–2029 

National OCS Proposed Final Program) 

for details on U.S. energy needs and 

national and regional energy markets, 

respectively. Additionally, under the 

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 

117–169, enacted Aug. 16, 2022), 

Congress directed that the Secretary of 

the Interior must hold an offshore oil 

and gas lease sale(s) totaling 60 million 

acres in the year prior to issuing any 

wind energy leases. 

Proposed Action and Preliminary 

Alternatives 

The Proposed Action evaluated in this 

PEIS is to hold an oil and gas lease sale 

on the U.S. GOM OCS. This PEIS is 

expected to be used to inform the 

decision for the first GOM lease sale 

proposed in the 2024–2029 National 

OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It 

also is expected to be used and 

supplemented as appropriate for 

decisions on future proposed GOM lease 

sales. In addition, this PEIS will be used 

for tiering of associated post-lease site 

and activity-specific OCS oil- and gasrelated activity analyses and approvals. 

In this PEIS, BOEM will analyze four 

alternatives to the Proposed Action: a no 

action alternative and three action 

alternatives. Because this PEIS analyzes 

a representative lease sale, Alternative A 

(No Action) is the cancellation of a 

single proposed GOM lease sale. 

The first action alternative 

(Alternative B) offers all available 

unleased acreage in the U.S. GOM OCS, 

including the Western and Central 

Planning Areas and the portion of the 

Eastern Planning Area not subject to 

Presidential withdrawal. Alternative B 

correlates to Program Area 1 from the 

2024–2029 National OCS Proposed 

Final Program and would satisfy the 

requirement in the Inflation Reduction 

Act to offer an aggregate of at least 60 

million acres for offshore oil and gas 

leasing within a 12-month period prior 

to issuing offshore wind energy leases. 

Alternative B analyzes lease stipulations 

and other mitigation measures for 

environmental protection. 

The second action alternative 

(Alternative C) would allow for a 

proposed lease sale excluding targeted 

portions of the Central, Western, and 

Eastern Planning Areas within the U.S. 

GOM OCS. Alternative C would satisfy 

the requirement in the Inflation 

Reduction Act to offer an aggregate of at 

least 60 million acres for offshore oil 

and gas leasing within a 12-month 

period prior to issuing offshore wind 

energy leases. Alternative C would 

exclude several areas for environmental 

protection purposes and to avoid 

conflicts with other ocean uses. Under 

this alternative, BOEM would analyze 

the effects of a single oil and gas sale 

offering at least the aggregate area 

required by the Inflation Reduction Act 

to allow wind energy leases to be 

issued. 

The final action alternative 

(Alternative D) would allow for a 

proposed lease sale excluding even 

more targeted portions than Alternative 

C in the Central and Western Planning 

Areas within the U.S. GOM OCS. 

Alternative D would exclude more of 

the OCS for environmental 

considerations and to avoid conflicts 

with other ocean uses. However, this 

Alternative would not on its own satisfy 

the aggregate lease acreage requirements 

of the Inflation Reduction Act to issue 

offshore wind energy leases. Selection 

of this alternative would require at least 

one additional lease sale within a 12- 

month period in order to satisfy the 

requirements of the Inflation Reduction 

Act. 

A complete description of the 

alternatives considered may be found 

here: https://www.boem.gov/Gulf-ofMexico-Oil-and-Gas-PEIS. 

Summary of Potential Impacts 

Potential impacts to resources may 

include adverse or beneficial impacts on 

air quality; water quality; coastal 

communities and habitats; benthic 

communities and habitats (including 

protected corals); pelagic communities 

and habitats; fishes and invertebrates; 

birds; marine mammals; sea turtles; 

commercial fisheries; recreational 

fishing; recreational resources; land use 

and coastal infrastructure; social factors 

(including environmental justice); 

economic factors; and cultural, 

historical, and archaeological resources. 

These potential impacts will be 

analyzed in the draft and final GOM Oil 

and Gas PEIS. 

Based on a preliminary evaluation of 

these resources, previous NEPA 

analyses, and BOEM’s extensive history 

of leasing in the GOM, BOEM expects 

potential impacts on the resources listed 

above from routine air emissions, 

discharges and wastes, bottom 

disturbance, noise, coastal land use or 

modification, lighting and visual 

impacts, offshore habitat modification 

or space use, and socioeconomic 

changes. Additional impacts may occur 

from accidental events such as 

unintentional releases into the 

environment, response activities, or 

strikes and collisions. Past GOM oil and 

gas NEPA analyses (assuming analyzed 

mitigation measures are adopted) have 

shown that impacts range from 

negligible to moderate with most being 

negligible or minor and some beneficial. 

Post-Lease Plan/Permit Approvals and 

Tiering 

If the Department of the Interior 

ultimately decides to move forward 

with an individual lease sale, neither 

this PEIS nor the resulting individual 

lease sale record of decision (ROD) will 

authorize any immediate activities 

(beyond ancillary activities under a 

lease) or approve any individual 

applications for plans or permits. The 


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GOM Oil and Gas PEIS will provide a 

programmatic environmental analysis 

and framework to support future 

decision-making on individual plan and 

permit submittals. 

When plans or permit applications are 

submitted to BOEM or the Bureau of 

Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 

the site-specific characteristics of the 

project will be evaluated by preparing 

additional environmental analyses that 

may tier from this PEIS or incorporate 

it by reference. Based on the sitespecific applications and evaluations, 

BOEM may then reach a site-specific 

determination and approve, approve 

with modifications, or disapprove 

individual plans or permits. This PEIS 

may inform future BOEM decisionmaking on plan submittals but does not 

approve or authorize any applications or 

plans. Therefore, neither this PEIS nor 

a resulting lease sale ROD constitutes a 

final agency action authorizing or 

approving any individual plan(s) or 

permit(s). 

Anticipated Authorizations and 

Consultations 

In conjunction with this PEIS, BOEM 

may undertake various consultations or 

coordination in accordance with 

applicable Federal laws, such as the 

Endangered Species Act, 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

National Historic Preservation Act 

(NHPA), and Coastal Zone Management 

Act, as appropriate. BOEM will also 

conduct government-to-government 

Tribal consultations. 

Decision-Making Schedule 

After the draft PEIS is completed, the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

will publish a notice of availability 

(NOA). BOEM will request public 

comments on the draft PEIS through its 

own NOA for the draft PEIS. BOEM 

currently expects both NOAs for the 

draft PEIS to be published in summer 

2024. After the public comment period 

ends, BOEM will review and respond to 

comments received and will develop the 

final PEIS. BOEM will make the final 

PEIS available to the public at least 30 

days prior to issuance of any ROD. If the 

decision is to hold a sale, the ROD will 

document the final decision on the area 

and terms to be offered in the sale, 

including any required mitigation (e.g., 

through lease stipulations). 

Scoping Process 

This NOI commences the public 

scoping process to identify issues and 

potential alternatives for consideration 

in the GOM Oil and Gas PEIS. BOEM 

will hold two virtual public scoping 

meetings as described above under the 

‘‘Dates’’ caption and at https://

www.boem.gov/Gulf-of-Mexico-Oil-andGas-PEIS. Throughout the scoping 

process, Federal agencies, Tribal, State, 

and local governments, and the public 

have the opportunity to help BOEM 

identify significant resources and issues, 

impact-producing factors, mitigation 

measures, and reasonable alternatives to 

be analyzed in the PEIS, as well as to 

provide additional information. 

BOEM will also use the NEPA 

comment process to initiate the section 

106 consultation process under the 

NHPA (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.), as 

permitted by 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). To 

inform the section 106 consultation, 

through this notice BOEM seeks public 

input regarding the identification of 

historic properties affected by or 

potential effects to historic properties 

from activities associated with approval 

of oil and gas development in the GOM. 

NEPA Cooperating Agencies 

BOEM, as the lead agency, invites 

other Federal agencies and Tribal, State, 

and local governments to consider 

becoming cooperating agencies in the 

preparation of this PEIS. The Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA 

regulations specify that qualified 

agencies and governments are those 

with ‘‘jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise.’’ Potential cooperating 

agencies should consider their authority 

and capacity to assume the 

responsibilities of a cooperating agency 

and should be aware that an agency’s 

role in the environmental analysis 

neither enlarges nor diminishes the final 

decision-making authority of any other 

agency involved in the NEPA process. 

Upon request, BOEM will provide 

potential cooperating agencies with a 

written summary of expectations for 

cooperating agencies, including 

schedules, milestones, responsibilities, 

scope and detail of cooperating 

agencies’ expected contributions, and 

availability of pre-decisional 

information. BOEM anticipates this 

summary will form the basis for a 

memorandum of agreement between 

BOEM and any non-Department of the 

Interior cooperating agency; a 

memorandum of understanding is 

required in the case of non-Federal 

agencies. See 43 CFR 46.225(d). 

Agencies also should consider the 

factors for determining cooperating 

agency status in the CEQ memorandum 

entitled ‘‘Cooperating Agencies in 

Implementing the Procedural 

Requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act,’’ dated 

January 30, 2002. This document is 

available on the internet at: 

www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/ 

nepapub/nepa_documents/RedDont/GCEQ-CoopAgenciesImplem.pdf. 

BOEM does not provide financial 

assistance to cooperating agencies. 

Governmental entities that are not 

cooperating agencies will have 

opportunities to provide information 

and comments to BOEM during the 

public input stages of the NEPA process. 

Comments 

Federal agencies, Tribal, State, and 

local governments, and other interested 

parties are requested to comment on the 

scope of this PEIS, significant issues 

that should be addressed, and 

alternatives that should be considered. 

For information on how to submit 

comments, see the ‘‘Addresses’’ section 

above. 

BOEM does not consider anonymous 

comments. Please include your name 

and address as part of your comment. 

Comments submitted in response to this 

notice are a matter of public record. You 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your address, 

phone number, email address, and other 

personally identifiable information 

included in your comment—may be 

made publicly available. 

You may request that BOEM withhold 

your personally identifiable information 

from public disclosure. For BOEM to 

consider withholding from disclosure 

your personally identifying information, 

you must identify, in a cover letter, any 

information contained in the submittal 

of your comments that, if released, 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of your personal privacy. You 

must also briefly describe any possible 

harmful consequences from disclosing 

your information, such as 

embarrassment, injury, or other harm. 

Even if BOEM withholds your 

information in the context of this NOI, 

your submission is subject to the 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If 

your submission is requested under the 

FOIA, BOEM can only withhold your 

information if it determines that one of 

the FOIA’s exemptions to disclosure 

applies. Such a determination will be 

made in accordance with the 

Department of the Interior’s FOIA 

regulations and applicable law. 

Additionally, under section 304 of the 

NHPA, BOEM is required, after 

consultation with the Secretary of the 

Interior, to withhold the location, 

character, or ownership of historic 

property if it determines that disclosure 

may, among other things, cause a 

significant invasion of privacy, risk 

harm to the historic property, or impede 

the use of a traditional religious site by 

practitioners. Tribal entities and other 


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67806 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices 

parties providing information on 

historic resources should designate 

information that they wish to be held as 

confidential and provide the reasons 

why BOEM should do so. 

All submissions from organizations or 

businesses and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety. 

Request for Identification of Potential 

Alternatives, Information, and 

Analyses Relevant to the Proposed 

Action 

BOEM requests data, traditional and 

indigenous knowledge, comments, 

views, information, analysis, 

alternatives, or suggestions relevant to 

the analysis of the Proposed Action 

from the public; affected Federal, Tribal, 

State, and local governments, agencies, 

and offices; the scientific community; 

industry; or any other interested party. 

Specifically, BOEM requests 

information on the following topics: 

1. Potential mitigation measures, 

including GOM oil and gas development 

alternatives, and the effects these could 

have on: 

a. Biological resources, including 

birds, coastal communities, benthic 

communities, pelagic communities, fish, 

invertebrates, essential fish habitat, 

marine mammals, and sea turtles; 

b. Physical resources and conditions, 

including air quality, water quality, 

coastal habitats, benthic habitats, and 

pelagic habitats; and 

c. Socioeconomic and cultural 

resources, including commercial 

fishing, recreational fishing, 

demographics, employment, economics, 

environmental justice, land use and 

coastal infrastructure, navigation and 

vessel traffic, other uses (such as marine 

minerals, military use, and aviation), 

recreation and tourism, and scenic and 

visual resources. 

2. The identification of historic 

properties within the GOM, the 

potential effects on those historic 

properties from GOM oil and gas 

development, and any information that 

supports identification of historic 

properties under the NHPA. BOEM also 

solicits proposed measures to avoid, 

minimize, or mitigate any adverse 

effects on historic properties. If any 

historic properties are identified, a 

potential effects analysis will be 

available for public and NHPA 

consulting party comment in the draft 

PEIS. 

3. Information on other current or 

planned activities in the GOM, 

including any mitigation measures, their 

possible impacts on the alternatives, 

and the alternatives’ possible impacts 

on those activities. 

4. Other information relevant to 

impacts on the human environment 

from potential GOM oil and gas 

development alternatives, including any 

mitigation measures. 

To promote informed decisionmaking, comments should be as specific 

as possible and should provide as much 

detail as necessary to meaningfully and 

fully inform BOEM of the commenter’s 

position. Comments should explain why 

the issues raised are important for 

consideration of the Proposed Action, as 

well as economic, employment, and 

other impacts affecting the quality of the 

human environment. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., and 

40 CFR 1501.9. 

James J. Kendall, 

Regional Director, New Orleans Office, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21675 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4340–98–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

[RR04084000, XXXR4081X1, 

RN.20350010.REG0000] 

Public Meeting of the Colorado River 

Basin Salinity Control Advisory 

Council 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation is 

publishing this notice to announce that 

a Federal Advisory Committee meeting 

of the Colorado River Basin Salinity 

Control Advisory Council (Council) will 

take place. This meeting is open to the 

public. 

DATES: The meeting will take place inperson and virtually on the following 

two days: Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 

from 1:30 p.m. to approximately 5:00 

p.m. (MDT), and Wednesday, October 

25, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (MDT). 

ADDRESSES: The in-person meeting will 

be held at the New Mexico State Capitol 

Building at 411 S Capitol Street, Santa 

Fe, New Mexico 87501. 

To access the meeting virtually, 

please contact Clarence Fullard; see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Clarence Fullard, telephone (303) 253– 

1042; email at cfullard@usbr.gov. 

Individuals who are deaf, deafblind, 

hard of hearing, or have a speech 

disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 

TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting of the Council is being held 

under the provisions of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act of 1972. The 

Council was established by the Colorado 

River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 

(Pub. L. 93–320) (Act) to receive reports 

and advise Federal agencies on 

implementing the Act. 

Purpose of the Meeting: The purpose 

of the meeting is to discuss the 

accomplishments of Federal agencies 

and make recommendations on future 

activities to control salinity. 

Agenda: Council members will be 

briefed on the status of salinity control 

activities. The Bureau of Reclamation, 

Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, and United States 

Geological Survey of the Department of 

the Interior; the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service of the Department 

of Agriculture; and the Environmental 

Protection Agency will each present a 

progress report and a schedule of 

activities on salinity control in the 

Colorado River Basin. The Council will 

discuss salinity control activities, the 

contents of the reports, and the Basin 

States Program created by Public Law 

110–246, which amended the Act. A 

final agenda will be posted online at 

https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/ 

salinity/ at least one week prior to the 

meeting. 

Meeting Accessibility/Special 

Accommodations: The meeting is open 

to the public. Individuals wanting 

virtual access to the meeting should 

contact Clarence Fullard (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) no later 

than October 16, 2023, to receive 

instructions. Please make requests in 

advance for sign language interpreter 

services, assistive listening devices, or 

other reasonable accommodations. We 

ask that you contact the person listed in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section of this notice at least seven (7) 

business days prior to the meeting to 

give the Department of the Interior 

sufficient time to process your request. 

All reasonable accommodation requests 

are managed on a case-by-case basis. 

Public Comments: The Council 

chairman will provide time for oral 

comments from members of the public 

at the meeting. Individuals wanting to 

make an oral comment should contact 

Clarence Fullard (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT) to be placed on 


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