Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 215 / Monday, November 6, 2000 / Notices 66557

Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico and

Utah.

This notice has been sent to officials

of the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River

Reservation, Wyoming; CheyenneArapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Comanche

Indian Tribe, Oklahoma; Fort Sill

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi Tribe

of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the

Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation,

New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of

Oklahoma; Navajo Nation, Arizona,

New Mexico and Utah; Northern

Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern

Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana;

Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo

of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of

Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta,

New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New

Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico;

Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo

of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San

Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San

Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of San

Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of

Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa

Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa

Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo

Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos,

New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New

Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico;

Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of

Utah; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the

Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute

Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray

Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe

of the Ute Mountain Reservation,

Colorado, New Mexico and Utah; and

the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,

New Mexico. Representatives of any

other Indian tribe that believes itself to

be culturally affiliated with these

human remains should contact Jan I.

Bernstein, Collections Manager and

NAGPRA Coordinator at the University

of Denver Department of Anthropology

and Museum of Anthropology, 2000

Asbury, Sturm Hall S–146, Denver, CO

80208–2406, email jbernste@du.edu,

telephone (303) 871–2543, before

December 6, 2000. Repatriation of the

human remains to the Skull Valley Band

of Goshute Indians of Utah; the

Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the

Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; the

Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and

Ouray Reservation, Utah; and the Ute

Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain

Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico and

Utah may begin after that date if no

additional claimants come forward.

Dated: October 30, 2000.

John Robbins,

Assistant Director, Cultural Resources

Stewardship and Partnerships.

[FR Doc. 00–28425 Filed 11–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–F

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Notice of Intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

on the Imperial Irrigation District/San

Diego County Water Authority Water

Conservation and Transfer Project

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation,

Interior.

ACTION: Amended Notice of Intent to

Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact

Report/Environmental Impact Statement

(EIR/EIS).

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) intends to be a cooperating

agency (pursuant to 40 CFR section

1501.6) in the Bureau of Reclamation’s

(Bureau) preparation of a joint EIR/EIS

pursuant to the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) and the California

Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The

joint EIR/EIS will be developed for: (1)

the conservation and transfer of water

from Imperial Irrigation District (IID) to

the San Diego County Water Authority

(SDCWA), the Coachella Valley Water

District (CVWD) and/or the

Metropolitan Water District of Southern

California (MWD) and (2) approval of a

Habitat Conservation Plan, and issuance

of an incidental take permit, pursuant to

section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered

Species Act of 1973, as amended,

including consideration of conservation

measures or plans addressing Statelisted species.

This notice is being furnished

pursuant to the Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations for

Implementing the Procedural Provisions

of the National Environmental Policy

Act (40 CFR section 1501.22). Pursuant

to regulations at 40 CFR (sections 1501.7

and 1508.22), the Bureau, as lead agency

pursuant to NEPA, and the Service, as

the Federally authorized permitting

agency, are seeking suggestions and

information from other agencies and the

public on the scope of issues and

alternatives to be considered in

preparation of the joint EIR/EIS

pertaining to possible issuance of a

Federal incidental take permit. To

satisfy both NEPA and CEQA, the

Service, as a cooperator, with the

Bureau as the Federal lead agency and

IID as the State lead agency are

conducting this additional scoping

process for the preparation of the

environmental documents.

DATES: In order to expedite the planning

process, the above agencies request all

scoping comments on this notice be

received by December 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should address written

comments to Ms. Nancy Gilbert,

Assistant Field Supervisor, Fish and

Wildlife Service, 2730 Loker Avenue

West, Carlsbad, California 92008. You

may also send comments by facsimile to

(760) 431–9618.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Ms.

Carol Roberts, Salton Sea Coordinator,

or Mr. Pete Sorensen, Division Chief, at

the above Carlsbad address or by

telephone at (760) 431–9440. Persons

wishing to obtain background material

may contact Mr. Steve Knell of the

Imperial Irrigation District at 333 E.

Barioni Blvd., P.O. Box 937, Imperial

California 92251, or by telephone at

(760) 339–9266.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Bureau is publishing this notice to

amend the September 27, 1999 Notice of

Intent (see 64 FR 52102) to provide

public notice that the project EIR/EIS

will include an evaluation of the

impacts associated with the potential

issuance of an incidental take permit.

This was not specifically addressed in

the initial Notice of Intent provided for

the project. The Habitat Conservation

Plan will cover a broad array of

activities including: water conservation,

water conveyance and drainage,

operation and maintenance, system

improvements, miscellaneous activities,

and third party activities required to

achieve the conservation and transfer of

up to 300,000 acre-feet of water per year

from IID to the SDCWA and to meet the

voluntary cap on IID’s water use of 3.1

million acre-feet per year from the

Colorado River. Up to 100,000 acre-feet

of the water conserved by IID may be

transferred to the CVWD and/or MWD,

instead of SDCWA, as part of the

proposed Quantification Settlement

Agreement on the Colorado River. The

EIR/EIS will evaluate transfer volumes

up to 400,000 acre-feet per year. The IID

(Applicant) intends to request an

incidental take permit for up to 96 listed

(Federal and State) and unlisted species

of concern (fish, wildlife, and plants)

under specific provisions of the permit.

In the case of unlisted species, the

permit will provide coverage should

these species be listed in the future. The

Plan will cover all areas of IID’s water

delivery and collection system from the

Imperial Dam on the Colorado River

throughout the Imperial Valley

(approximately 470,000 acres) into the

Salton Sea.

Availability of Documents

During the comment period the

documents will be available for public

inspection by appointment during

normal business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,

66558 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 215 / Monday, November 6, 2000 / Notices

1The record is defined in sec. 207.2(f) of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19

CFR 207.2(f)).

Monday through Friday) at the Service’s

Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, the

Imperial Irrigation District headquarters

in Imperial, and the San Diego County

Water Authority office in San Diego.

Availability of the draft EIR/EIS for

public review and comment will be

announced and noticed in the local

media and by a Federal Register notice.

Background

IID is an irrigation district formed

under California law which provides

irrigation water and power to the lower

southeastern portion of the California

desert. IID was established in 1911 to

deliver Colorado River water to lands

within the Imperial Valley, California

for agriculture, domestic, industrial and

other beneficial uses. IID maintains a

complex system of delivery canals,

laterals, and drains which serve

approximately 470,000 acres of

intensive agriculture. The project area is

approximately bounded by the AllAmerican Canal to the south, the East

Highline Canal to the east, the Westside

Main Canal to the west, and the Salton

Sea to the north. Agricultural drainage

flows into the New and Alamo Rivers

and into the Salton Sea, a designated

repository for agricultural drainage.

On April 29, 1998, IID and SDCWA

executed an agreement for the

conservation and transfer of up to

300,000 acre-feet of Colorado River

water per year from IID to SDCWA. As

part of the project, IID intends to

implement a conservation program that

includes the participation of Imperial

Valley land owners and tenants so that

on-farm as well as system based

conservation can be implemented to

achieve the required level of

conservation. This transfer is a key part

of the California 4.4 Plan that will result

in California water agencies using only

their 4.4 million acre-foot

apportionment of the Colorado River.

California is currently diverting up to

5.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River

water per year. Subsequent negotiations

with other Colorado River water rights

holders in California have resulted in a

proposed Quantification Settlement

Agreement among IID, MWD, and

CVWD which would reduce the

maximum amount of conserved water

transferred to SDCWA to 200,000 acrefeet per year and would provide for the

transfer of the additional 100,000 acrefeet to the CVWD and the MWD.

A joint EIR/EIS is being prepared by

the Bureau and the IID with the Service

as a cooperating agency to address the

impacts associated with the project and

with permit issuance for the project.

Additional information on the project

can be found in the original Notice of

Intent published at 64 FR 52102.

Scoping meetings were held in response

to that Notice of Intent on October 12–

20, 1999, and no additional scoping

meetings are planned in response to this

notice.

Section 9 of the Endangered Species

Act and the Service regulations prohibit

the ‘‘take’’ of threatened or endangered

wildlife. Take means to harass, harm,

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap,

capture, or collect listed animal species,

or attempt to engage in such conduct (16

U.S.C. 1538). Harm may include

significant habitat modification that

actually kills or injures wildlife by

significantly impairing essential

behavior patterns, including breeding,

feeding and sheltering [50 CFR 17.3(c)].

The Service, however, may issue

permits to take endangered and/or

threatened wildlife incidental to, and

not the purpose of, otherwise lawful

activities. Regulations governing

permits for endangered and threatened

species are found at 50 CFR 17.22 and

17.32.

In anticipation of applying for an

incidental take permit the IID is

developing a Habitat Conservation Plan.

Accordingly, under section 10 of the

Endangered Species Act, the Service

may issue a permit to the IID

authorizing the take of listed and

unlisted species incidental to the

otherwise lawful conservation and

transfer of up to 300,000 acre-feet of

Colorado River water per year to the

SDCWA, the CVWD, and the MWD, and

additional conservation necessary to

achieve the IID’s voluntary cap of 3.1

million acre-feet/year on their use of

Colorado River water.

The permit application will include a

Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) and an

Implementation Agreement that define

the responsibilities of all parties under

the Plan. IID’s Plan will cover roughly

the area along the length of the AllAmerican Canal and north of the AllAmerican Canal to the Salton Sea

bounded on the east by the East

Highline Canal and on the west by the

Westside Main Canal. The Plan will

identify the species proposed for

coverage under the Plan including

federally-listed species for which take

would be granted at the time of permit

issuance as well as other species of

concern for which take would be

granted should those species be listed in

the future. The Plan also describes

alternatives to the action and includes

measures to minimize and mitigate

impacts to species covered in the Plan.

The Plan will address minimization and

mitigation using both a habitat based

and a species by species approach. The

joint EIR/EIS will consider IID’s

proposed project (Proposed Action

Alternative) along with other

alternatives and the No Action

Alternative. Under the Proposed Action

Alternative the Service would review

IID’s incidental take permit application

under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the

Endangered Species Act.

Environmental review of the Plan will

be conducted in accordance with the

requirements of the 1969 National

Environmental Policy Act as amended

(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), National

Environmental Policy Act regulations

(40 CFR parts 1500–1508), other

appropriate regulations, and Service

procedures for compliance with those

regulations. This notice is being

furnished in accordance with section

1501.7 of the National Environmental

Policy Act to obtain suggestions and

information from other agencies and the

public on the scope of issues to be

addressed in the joint EIR/EIS.

The Service will utilize the joint EIR/

EIS in its evaluation of the permit

application, the Habitat Conservation

Plan, Implementing Agreement,

associated documents, and comments

submitted thereon to determine whether

the application meets the requirements

of section 10(a) of the Endangered

Species Act. If the Service determines

that the requirements have been met,

the Service will issue a permit for the

incidental take of the covered listed

species.

Dated: October 30, 2000.

Robert W. Johnson,

Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–28431 Filed 11–3–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

COMMISSION

[Investigation Nos. 731–TA–474 and

475 (Review)]

Chrome-Plated Lug Nuts From China

and Taiwan

Determinations

On the basis of the record 1 developed

in these subject five-year reviews, the

United States International Trade

Commission determines, pursuant to

section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930

(19 U.S.C. § 1675(c)) (the Act), that

revocation of the antidumping duty

orders on chrome-plated lug nuts from

China and Taiwan would not be likely

to lead to continuation or recurrence of

material injury to an industry in the