3584 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 15 / Friday, January 23, 1998 / Notices

Improvement Act requires the Service to

establish new compatibility policy and

regulations within two years of

enactment. There are no other directives

in the Refuge Improvement Act for

specific policy updates; however, the

Service desires to move forward

expeditiously on the specific policies

listed in this notice to incorporate the

most important provisions of the Refuge

Improvement Act into all management

functions. The Service estimates that

draft Service Manual chapters for these

issues will be available for public

review and comment beginning in May

1998.

This notice and the public

participation in this implementation

process is being conducted in

accordance with the policy and

rulemaking requirements of the

Administrative Procedures Act (5 U.S.C.

553), other appropriate Federal laws and

regulations, including the National

Wildlife Refuge System Improvement

Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105–57), Executive

Order 12996, and associated Service

policies and procedures.

Dated: January 16, 1998.

Donald Barry,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and

Wildlife and Parks.

[FR Doc. 98–1607 Filed 1–22–98; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

[CO–030–5101–00–YCKD; COC–51280]

Notice of Availability of the Draft

Supplement to the Final Environmental

Impact Statement for a TransColorado

Gas Transmission Project; Colorado

and New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Department of the Interior, and Forest

Service, Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a

Supplement to The Final Environmental

Impact Statement TransColorado Gas

Transmission Project; Colorado and

New Mexico.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as

lead agency, and in cooperation with

the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has

prepared a Draft Supplement

(Supplement) to the Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

for the TransColorado Gas Transmission

(TransColorado) project on federal lands

in Colorado and New Mexico.

TransColorado is the proponent. Lands

managed by the BLM in the Montrose,

Craig, and Grand Junction Districts in

Colorado, and the Farmington District in

New Mexico, and the USFS in the

Uncompahgre and San Juan National

Forests, Colorado, are crossed by the

TransColorado pipeline project. The

Supplement addresses the

environmental impacts of the

construction, operation, maintenance,

and ultimate abandonment of known

proposed route changes and minor

realignments (less than 100 ft.) of the

approved pipeline and right-of-way

(ROW) grant COC–51280, and the

impacts of the proposed construction

and use of known additional temporary

work areas adjacent to the approved

ROW or, proposed ROW route changes

or minor realignments. This

Supplement will also address the

impacts of the construction and use

minor realignments and alternative

temporary work areas in unspecified

locations. These unspecified temporary

work areas and minor realignments will

be addressed to accommodate

conditions that might be encountered

during construction. Also addressed in

the Supplement are proposed

modifications to several environmental

protection measures contained in the

original right-of-way (ROW) grant and

Record of Decision (ROD).

Please focus comments on the

proposed actions and alternatives in the

Supplement to the FEIS.

DATES: The 60-day public comment

period for the Draft Supplement runs

from January 23, 1998 until March 9,

1998.

Written comments on the Draft

Supplement must be submitted or

postmarked no later than March 9, 1998.

Written comments may also be

presented at the public meetings to be

held on February 17, 1998, at 7:00 p.m.

in the Double Tree Inn, 501 Camino del

Rio in Durango, Colorado; on February

18, 1998 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ponderosa

Restaurant, 108 South 8th in Dolores,

Colorado; and on February 19, 1998 at

7:00 pm at the Holiday Inn, 755 Horizon

Drive in Grand Junction, Colorado.

ADDRESSES: Any comments on this

document should be sent to Bill

Bottomly, TransColorado Project

Manager, Bureau of Land Management,

Montrose District Office, 2465 South

Townsend Avenue, Montrose, CO

81401. The Draft Supplement to the

FEIS and the FEIS are available for

public review at the above address, and

at the following offices of the BLM and

USFS: the Grand Junction District

Office, the Montrose District Office, the

Grand Mesa/Uncompahgre/Gunnison

National Forest Office, the San Juan

National Forest/San Juan Resource Area

office, and the Farmington District

Office.

Public reading copies are available at

the federal depository libraries in

Colorado and New Mexico and public

libraries within San Juan County, New

Mexico, and La Plata, Montezuma,

Dolores, San Miguel, Montrose, Delta,

Mesa, Garfield and Rio Blanco Counties,

Colorado.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill

Bottomly (970) 240–5337, Ilyse Auringer

(970) 385–1341, or Steve Hemphill (970)

874–6633.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After

preparing a Draft and Final

Environmental Impact Statement in

1992, the BLM and the USFS signed

Records of Decision on December 1,

1992 and issued a ROW grant and

adjacent Temporary Use Permit (TUP)

for subsequent construction, operation

and maintenance of the 292 mile-long

TransColorado Gas Transmission

pipeline from Meeker, Colorado to

Bloomfield, New Mexico. Under the

authority of the Mineral Leasing Act of

1920 (30 U.S.C. 185), as amended by the

Act of November 16, 1973 (37 Stat. 567),

BLM issued a 50 foot-wide ROW grant

on December 4, 1997, accompanied by

a 25 foot-wide TUP, excepting 1.7 miles

near Grand Junction, Colorado. The

FERC issued TransColorado a Certificate

of Public Convenience and Necessity on

June 3, 1994. TransColorado completed

the 22.5 mile Phase I of the project in

December, 1996. The proponent is now

prepared to construct the remainder of

the pipeline during 1998.

Public participation has occurred

throughout the Supplement to the FEIS

process. The Notice of Intent (NOI) to

prepare this Supplement to the FEIS

was published in the Federal Register

on November 21, 1997. ‘‘Open House’’

forums were held from October 21

through December 10, 1997 at Norwood,

Durango, Delta, Rangely, Dolores, and

Grand Junction, Colorado. Field trips to

locations on the San Juan National

Forest were offered on November 15 and

22, 1997.

Signed: January 14, 1998.

Jamie E. Connell,

Associate District Manager, Montrose District,

BLM.

Robert L. Storch,

Forest Supervisor, Grand Mesa/

Uncompahgre/Gunnison National Forests.

[FR Doc. 98–1542 Filed 1–22–98; 8:45 am]

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