Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 4 / Monday, January 8, 2007 / Notices 797 

While the current LORAN–C system 

is based on technology developed in the 

1960’s, a portion of the stations have 

been updated to allow for an enhanced 

signal (Enhanced LORAN) once the 

entire system is upgraded. More 

information about Enhanced LORAN 

(eLORAN) is available at: http:// 

www.navcen.uscg.gov/loran/9th-pulsemodulation-ldc.html. Although 

eLORAN would improve both the 

accuracy and reliability of LORAN 

transmissions, and provide a precise 

timing service, further capital 

investment would be required before 

such a system would be fully 

operational. 

The Department of Transportation 

and the Department of Homeland 

Security are evaluating: (1) 

Decommissioning the LORAN system, 

(2) maintaining the system as currently 

configured, and (3) whether further 

investment in modernizing and 

improving LORAN is in the public 

interest. 

Next Steps for this Project 

At this time, the Department of 

Transportation and the Department of 

Homeland Security seek public input on 

the various decisions currently under 

consideration, namely (1) the extent to 

which the current LORAN–C in its 

current form is used for positioning, 

navigation and timing, and (2) the 

extent to which eLORAN would be 

applied to these same practices as either 

a complementary service or as a backup 

to GPS. After considering all comments, 

the Department of Transportation and 

the Department of Homeland Security 

will inform the public of the agreed 

course of action with respect to future 

investment in LORAN. 

Dated: December 22, 2006. 

Robert Zitz, 

Deputy Under Secretary for Preparedness, 

Department of Homeland Security. 

Jeffrey N. Shane, 

Under Secretary for Policy, Department of 

Transportation. 

[FR Doc. E6–22421 Filed 1–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND 

WATER COMMISSION, UNITED 

STATES AND MEXICO, AND UNITED 

STATES SECTION 

Notice of Availability of a Draft 

Environmental Assessment and 

Finding of No Significant Impact for 

Improvements to the Lateral A/Retamal 

Dike Levee System, in the Lower Rio 

Grande Flood Control Project, located 

in Hidalgo County, TX 

AGENCY: United States Section, 

International Boundary and Water 

Commission, United States and Mexico. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft 

Environmental Assessment (EA) and 

Draft Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI). 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Council on 

Environmental Quality Final 

Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 

1508), and the United States Section, 

International Boundary and Water 

Commission’s (USIBWC) Operational 

Procedures for Implementing Section 

102 of NEPA, published in the Federal 

Register September 2, 1981, (46 FR 

44083); the USIBWC hereby gives notice 

that the Draft Environmental 

Assessment and FONSI for 

Improvements to the Lateral A/Retamal 

Dike Levee System, in the Lower Rio 

Grande Flood Control Project, located in 

Hidalgo County, Texas, are available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Borunda, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Environmental 

Management Division, United States 

Section, International Boundary and 

Water Commission; 4171 N. Mesa, C–

100; El Paso, Texas 79902. Telephone: 

(915) 832–4767; e-mail: 

daniel.borunda@ibwc.state.gov. 

DATES: Comments on the Draft EA and 

Draft FONSI will be accepted through 

February 5, 2007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The USIBWC is authorized to 

construct, operate, and maintain any 

project or works projected by the United 

States of America on the Lower Rio 

Grande Flood Control Project (LRGFCP), 

as authorized by the Act of the 74th 

Congress, Sess. I Ch. 561 (H.R. 6453), 

approved August 19, 1935 (49 Stat. 660), 

and codified at 22 U.S.C. Section 277, 

277a, 277b, 277c, and Acts amendatory 

thereof and supplementary thereto. The 

LRGFCP was constructed to protect 

urban, suburban, and highly developed 

irrigated farmland along the Rio Grande 

delta in the United States and Mexico. 

The USIBWC, in cooperation with the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS), prepared this Draft 

Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) 

for the proposed action of raising the 

Lateral A/Retamal Dike Levee System 

located in Hidalgo County, Texas to 

improve flood control. This levee 

system is part of the LRGFCP that 

extends approximately 180 miles from 

the Town of Pen ̃itas in south Texas to 

the Gulf of Mexico. The Lateral A/ 

Retamal Dike Levee System extends 

approximately 14 miles, from the 

Carlson Settling Basin to Retamal 

Diversion Dam. 

Proposed Action 

The Proposed Action would increase 

the flood containment capacity of the 

Lateral A/Retamal Dike System to meet 

the 3-foot freeboard design criterion for 

flood protection. Throughout the 

approximately 11.5-mile Lateral A 

segment, height increases between 1.5 

and 4 feet are typically needed to reach 

the design freeboard value. For the 3.5- 

mile Retamal Dike segment, typical 

increases in levee height range from 0 to 

2 feet. The increase in levee height will 

result in an expansion to the levee 

footprint by lateral extension of the 

structure. Structural improvements, 

such as a slurry cutoff barrier or a 

riverside impermeable liner, may be 

required for some levee segments where 

seepage is a potential problem. 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

A No Action Alternative was 

evaluated for the Lateral A/Retamal 

Dike System. This alternative will retain 

the existing configuration of the system, 

as designed over 30 years ago, and the 

current level of protection currently 

associated with this system. Under 

severe storm events, current 

containment capacity may be 

insufficient to fully control Rio Grande 

flooding, with risks to personal safety 

and potential property damage. 

Summary of Findings 

Pursuant to NEPA guidance (40 Code 

of Federal Regulations 1500–1508), The 

President’s Council on Environmental 

Quality issued regulations for NEPA 

implementation which included 

provisions for both the content and 

procedural aspects of the required 

Environmental Assessment. The 

USIBWC completed an EA of the 

potential environmental consequences 

of raising the Lateral A/Retamal Dike 

System to meet current requirements for 

flood control. The EA, which supports 

this Finding of No Significant Impact, 

evaluated the Proposed Action and No 

Action Alternative. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
798 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 4 / Monday, January 8, 2007 / Notices 

Levee System Evaluation 

No Action Alternative 

The No Action Alternative was 

evaluated as the single alternative action 

to the Proposed Action. The No Action 

Alternative will retain the current 

configuration of the Lateral A/Retamal 

Dike System, with no impacts to 

biological and cultural resources, land 

use, community resources, or 

environmental health issues. In terms of 

flood protection, however, current 

containment capacity under the No 

Action Alternative may be insufficient 

to fully control Rio Grande flooding 

under severe storm events, with 

associated risks to personal safety and 

property. 

Proposed Action 

Biological Resources 

Improvements to the Lateral A/ 

Retamal Dike Levee would require 

vegetation removal. The approximate 

removal is 151 acres of herbaceous 

vegetation, 3 acres of Mesquite-Acacia 

woodland, and 8 acres of Texas EbonyAnacua forest. Given its small extent, 

woodland removal would have a 

minimum impact on wildlife habitat. No 

significant effects are anticipated for any 

of the 25 threatened and endangered 

species with potential habitat near the 

right-of-way (ROW). None of 17 

wetlands located within the ROW are 

located within the construction corridor 

and would be impacted by the potential 

levee expansion. Indirect impacts to 

wetlands near the corridor will be 

avoided, as required, by modification of 

the levee expansion alignment. 

Cultural Resources 

Improvements to the Lateral A/ 

Retamal Levee system may adversely 

affect known archaeological resources, 

by mechanical excavation or by burial 

under the expanded levee footprint. 

Resources potentially affected include 

nine areas with a high probability to 

contain historic or prehistoric 

archaeological materials, and two 

known archaeological sites. Historic-age 

resources would also be affected, 

primarily structures associated with 

irrigation canals along the levee. These 

resources are the levee, canals, weir 

gates, standpipes, bridges, and 

residential structures. Several of the 

historic-age resources identified are 

located landside of the levee, across 

irrigation canals, and will not be 

adversely affected or minimally 

affected. 

Water Resources 

Improvements to the levee system 

would increase flood containment 

capacity to control the design flood 

event with a negligible increase in water 

surface elevation. Levee footprint 

expansion would not affect water 

bodies. 

Land Use 

The expansion would take place 

almost completely within the ROW. 

Removal of approximately 3 acres of 

woodlands from natural resources 

management areas would be required. 

Levee expansion would affect less than 

1 acre of active agricultural areas. Two 

irrigation canals along the levee would 

be temporarily affected by construction 

activities. There is a minimum potential 

for impacts on urban areas since no 

residential developments are located 

near the levee. 

Community Resources 

In terms of socioeconomic resources, 

the influx of federal funds into Hidalgo 

County from the levee improvement 

would have a positive local economic 

impact limited to the construction 

period; the impact would represent less 

than 1 percent of the annual county 

employment, income and sales values. 

No adverse impacts to 

disproportionately high minority and 

low-income populations were identified 

for construction activities. Moderate 

utilization of public roads is required 

during construction; a temporary 

increase in access road use would be 

required for equipment mobilization to 

staging areas. 

Environmental Health Issues 

Estimated air emissions of five criteria 

pollutants during construction represent 

less than 0.7 percent of the Hidalgo 

County annual emissions inventory. 

There would be a moderate increase in 

ambient noise levels due to excavation 

and fill activities. No long-term and 

regular exposure is expected above 

noise threshold values. A database 

search identified no waste storage or 

disposal sites within the expanded levee 

footprint and its vicinity. 

Best Management Practices and 

Mitigation 

Engineering design measures will be 

used, including optimization of the 

levee expansion alignment to avoid 

impacts on wooded vegetation, 

wetlands, and other natural resources. 

Riverside expansion will be used for a 

majority of the Lateral A/Retamal Dike 

Levee System. During construction, best 

management practices will include 

development of a storm water pollution 

prevention plan to minimize impacts of 

receiving waters, and use of sediment 

barriers and soil wetting to minimize 

erosion. 

To protect vegetation, the 

construction corridor may be revegetated with herbaceous or woody 

vegetation, as agreed with the natural 

resources management organization 

where the corridor is located. Final 

surveys prior to the start of the project 

would determine the types and amounts 

of vegetation to be removed, and 

separation between construction 

corridor and boundaries of wetlands. To 

protect wildlife, construction activities 

will be scheduled to occur, to the extent 

possible, outside the bird migratory 

season. 

If buried cultural materials are 

encountered during construction, work 

would cease and notification given to 

the State Historic Preservation Officer. 

Mitigation actions recommended by the 

Texas Historical Commission (THC) for 

potential impacts to historical or 

archaeological resources will be 

specified in a Memorandum of 

Agreement between THC and the 

USIBWC. 

Availability 

Single hard copies of the Draft 

Environmental Assessment and Finding 

of No Significant Impact may be 

obtained by request at the above 

address. Electronic copies may also be 

obtained from the USIBWC Home Page 

at http://www.ibwc.state.gov. 

Dated: December 29, 2006. 

Allen Thomas, 

Attorney Advisor. 

[FR Doc. E7–46 Filed 1–5–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7010–01–P 

JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

Hearing of the Judicial Conference 

Advisory Committee on Rules of 

Bankruptcy Procedure 

AGENCY: Judicial Conference of the 

United States, Advisory Committee on 

Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. 

ACTION: Notice of cancellation of open 

hearing. 

SUMMARY: The public hearing on 

proposed amendments to the Federal 

Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, 

scheduled for January 22, in 

Washington, DC, has been canceled. 

[Original notice of hearing appeared in 

the Federal Register of October 2, 2006.] 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

K. Rabiej, Chief, Rules Committee 

Support Office, Administrative Office of 

the United States Courts, Washington, 

DC 20544, telephone (202) 502–1820. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES