[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 93 (Monday, May 15, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25928-25929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11840]



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INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO


Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact

AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water 
Commission, United States and Mexico.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969; the Council on Environmental Quality Final 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508); and the Operational 
Procedures of the United States Section, International Boundary and 
Water Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC), for implementing 
section 102 of NEPA, published in the Federal Register September 2, 
1981 (46 FR 44083-44094); the USIBWC hereby gives notice that the Final 
Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of no Significant Impact for 
Quisto Energy Corporation (Quisto) to construct, operate, and maintain 
a gas well located on the Main Floodway of the Lower Rio Grande Flood 
Control Project (LRGFCP) are available. The USIBWC finds that the 
proposed action to issue a license to Quisto for such works is not a 
major federal action that would have a significant adverse effect on 
the quality of the human environment. A Notice of Finding of No 
Significant Impact was signed April 3, 1995, (60 FR 19081-19082) and 
provided a thirty (30) day review and comment period before making the 
finding final.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Yusuf E. Farran, Division Engineer, Environmental 
Management Division, International Boundary and Water Commission, 
United States and Mexico, United States Section, 4171 North Mesa 
Street, C-310, El Paso, Texas 79902-1441. Telephone: 915/534-6704, Fax: 
915/534-6680.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Action

    The action proposed is for the USIBWC to issue a license to Quisto 
to construct, operate, and maintain a gas well and install related 
features within Smith-Coates Well #1 Drilling Unit on Lot 2, Block 15 
of John Closer Subdivision, Hidalgo County, Texas. The gas well is 
proposed to be located on privately owned land within the Main Floodway 
of the USIBWC LRGFCP approximately 8 kilometers south of Pharr. Access 
to the drilling site is by way of existing county and private roads and 
a proposed 274-meter long road.

Alternatives Considered

    Three alternatives were considered in the Final Environmental 
Assessment (EA):
    The Proposed Action Alternative is for Quisto to construct, 
operate, and maintain a gas well in a cultivated field within the Main 
Floodway of the USIBWC LRGFCP. This proposed action will require the 
USIBWC to issue a license to ensure that such works do not cause an 
obstruction to flood flows within the floodway or interfere with 
[[Page 25929]] the operation and maintenance of the LRGFCP.
    The No Action Alternative is for Quisto to not construct, operate, 
and maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of the LRGFCP. The no 
action alternative will not require the USIBWC to issue a license since 
no work will be done within the LRGFCP. The no action alternative will 
result in the denial of access to the mineral owner to rightfully owned 
minerals, loss of tax revenues to the State of Texas, and result in an 
unrecoverable clean energy source.
    The Directional Well Alternative is for Quisto to drill a well from 
outside the Main Floodway to a depth below the proposed surface 
location. The directional well alternative will not require the USIBWC 
to issue a license since no work will be done within the LRGFCP. The 
directional well alternative is considered not workable because of 
technical problems associated with a bottomhole location some 305 
meters or more from the surface location and subsurface geological 
hazards endemic to the area.

Finding of the Final Environmental Assessment

    The Final EA finds that the proposed action for Quisto to 
construct, operate, and maintain a gas well within the Main Floodway of 
the USIBWC LRGFCP (and the USIBWC to issue a license for such work) 
does not constitute a major federal action which would cause a 
significant local, regional, or national adverse impact on the 
environment based on the following facts:
    1. The United States Army Corps of Engineers has determined that no 
waters of the United States including wetlands will be impacted by the 
proposed gas well and related features.
    2. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that 
federally listed endangered or threatened species are unlikely to be 
adversely affected by the proposed gas well and related features.
    3. The Texas Historical Commission and Department of Antiquities 
Protection has determined that no survey is required and the project 
may proceed.
    4. The USIBWC has determined that the proposed gas well and related 
features will have no significant effect upon the flood carrying 
capacity of the Main Floodway.

Availability

    Single copies of the Final Environmental Assessment and Final 
Finding of No Significant Impact may be obtained by request at the 
above address.

    Dated: May 4, 1995.
Suzette Zaboroski,
Staff Counsel.
[FR Doc. 95-11840 Filed 5-12-95; 8:45 am]
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