Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices 20639

separate notice of this meeting will be

sent to all parties on the study mailing

list.

Individuals and agencies may offer

information or data relevant to the

environmental or socioeconomic

impacts by attending the public scoping

meeting. Comments, suggestions, and

requests to be placed on the mailing list

for announcements should be sent to

Stephanie J. Hall, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, Los Angeles District, P.O.

Box 532711, Los Angeles, CA 90053–

2325, ATTN: CESPL–PD–RN, or the

following E-mail address:

shall@spl.usace.army.mil.

Availability of the Draft EIS: The Draft

EIS is scheduled to be published and

circulated in March 2002, and a public

hearing to receive comments on the

Draft EIS will be held after it is

published.

Dated: March 23, 2001.

John P. Carroll,

Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.

[FR Doc. 01–10013 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–KF–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of

Engineers

Intent to Prepare Draft Environmental

Impact Statement for Operation and

Maintenance of Lake Sidney Lanier,

Georgia

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

SUMMARY: The Mobile District, U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)

intends to prepare a Draft

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

to address the full range of activities

performed by the Corps to operate and

maintain Lake Sidney Lanier. Lake

Lanier is located in the upper

Chattahoochee River Basin north of

Atlanta, Georgia. Buford Dam forms the

38,024-acre multiple purpose lake

project, with 540 miles of shoreline and

18,131 acres of lands above the full

power pool elevation of 1070.

Authorized project purposes include

hydroelectric power, flood control,

water quality, water supply, fish and

wildlife, navigation, and recreation. An

EIS was prepared for the lake project in

1974. Although the project purposes

under which Lake Lanier is operated

and maintained have not changed since

1974, the overall environmental setting

for Lake Lanier has experienced major

modifications in response to the growth

of the Atlanta metropolitan region. The

new EIS is being prepared to evaluate

the continued operation and

maintenance of Lake Lanier in the

context of the changed conditions.

ADDRESSES: District Engineer, U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile

District, ATTN: CESAM–PD–E, P.O. Box

2288, Mobile, Alabama 36628–0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Glen Coffee, Environment and

Resources Branch, telephone (334) 690–

2729. Electronic mail may be addressed

to:

glendon.l.coffee@sam.usace.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

Lake Lanier is located north of

Atlanta, Georgia, a region that has been

greatly impacted by the metropolitan

area’s rapid growth. The Project’s appeal

from both aesthetic and recreational

aspects make it one of the most highly

utilized Corps lakes in the country.

Additionally, the limited amount of

government-owned land surrounding

the lake has created an attractive setting

for area residents who want to live near

the lake. These developments put

increasing pressures on the lake’s

shoreline as adjacent landowners are

permitted private boat docks and

associated facilities. Further,

commercial marinas operated as

concessions on the lake are also

operating at or near boat storage

capacity, as are the numerous recreation

areas surrounding the lake.

Even in the 1974 EIS, the trend for

increasing development of neighboring

private lands around the lake was

recognized, along with the demands that

would be placed on the lake’s resources

to accommodate the explosive

population growth. In 1974, the Corps

had issued permits for approximately

2,500 private docks. This number

increased to around 6,500 docks at the

time the last Shoreline Management

Plan update was prepared in 1987. In

2000, the number of permits issued for

private docks increased to 8,200. Based

on the 9-year period ending in 2000, it

is anticipated that approximately 175

new permits could be issued each year

into the immediate future, with the

potential number of permits eventually

rising to 16,000. The growth trend of

boat dock permits, concessions, and

club sites could cover more than 250

miles (or 46%) of Lanier’s public

shoreline.

The combination of private boat

docks, commercial marinas, and boat

ramps contribute to the over 25,000

boats that can occur on Lake Lanier at

any given time, even though all boats

are not necessarily in use

simultaneously. Peak boat usage occurs

during the summer months, particularly

the three principal summer holidays of

Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor

Day. A 1985 study indicated that project

waters at that time were overused on

occasion by 71%. Application of the

same evaluation criteria to the current

number of boats stored on Lake Lanier

and the maximum use of available

recreation facilities indicates the level of

overuse has increased today to

approximately 160%.

At the same time recreational use by

the public is increasing, demands are

also being placed on the lake’s storage

volume to meet the expanding water

needs of the ApalachiocolaChattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Basin and

the neighboring Alabama-CoosaTallapoosa (ACT) Basin. The

competition for water between the

States of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia

has intensified. A cooperative effort has

been underway for several years

between the three States and the Corps

of Engineers to develop a water

management strategy that would

accommodate the interstate needs of

these two basins from their respective

headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. While

the water management strategy will

eventually develop a Water Allocation

Formula, the timeframe within which

the agreement will be reached is

uncertain and the scope of the formula

has not been fixed. Once agreement is

reached by the States on the new Water

Allocation Formula, a comprehensive

water management plan (and

accompanying EIS) will be prepared to

address reservoir operations in the ACF

and ACT Basins. Since Lake Lanier is

the uppermost reservoir in the ACT

Basin, water allocations will certainly

influence the manner in which Lake

Lanier’s water levels will be managed in

the future. As a result, a new and

separate EIS must be developed to

evaluate the range of water management

scenarios within which project

operation and maintenance activities

will be performed. It will not be the

purpose of this Lake Lanier operation

and maintenance EIS to evaluate the

eventual water management plan for the

Buford/Lake Lanier project. Instead, the

EIS will focus on the entire range of

project operation and maintenance

actions performed within the lake and

on government-owned lands

surrounding the lake within the

framework of varying lake levels that

could result from implementation of a

future Water Allocation Formula

developed for the ACF Basin.

20640 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices

2. Proposed Action

The EIS will identify and evaluate the

impacts on the environment of the

proposed actions to operate and

maintain Lake Lanier. Management

actions within Lake Lanier will focus on

shoreline management activities,

recreation, fish and wildlife, timber

management, real estate, and water

quality, within the context of the larger

water management scenarios that are

conducted to accomplish the

hydropower generation, navigation, and

water supply project purposes.

3. Alternatives

a. No Action: No action would

represent a continuation of the existing

operation and management actions

addressed in the original 1974 EIS.

b. The full range of alternatives to

implement the operation and

maintenance program at Lake Lanier to

be addressed in the new EIS has not

been identified. The alternatives will be

developed during the early stages of

work on the EIS and will include

alternative methods of implementation

for project operation and maintenance

actions and project site alternatives as

appropriate.

4. Scoping Process

The Corps invites full public

participation in the development of the

EIS to promote open communication

and better decision-making. All persons

and organizations that have an interest

in the operation and maintenance of

Lake Lanier, are urged to participate in

this National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) environmental analysis process.

Public involvement will be most

beneficial and worthwhile in identifying

pertinent environmental issues, offering

useful information such as published or

unpublished data, direct personal

experience or knowledge to inform

decision-making, assistsance in

designing the scope of operation and

maintenance options that should be

considered, and recommending suitable

mitigation measures as warranted.

Those wishing to contribute

information, ideas, alternatives for

actions, and so forth can furnish these

contributions in writing to the points of

contact identified above, or by attending

public scoping opportunities.

Public comments are welcomed

anytime throughout the NEPA process.

Formal oppportunities for public

participation include:

(1) Input provided at the formal

scoping meeting that will be held in the

vicinity of Lake Lanier—June 2001.

(2) Input provided via a variety of

public involvement forums that will be

conducted—June-July 2001.

(3) Review and comment on the draft

EIS—July 2002.

(4) Comments/Presentation on the

draft EIS—July 2002.

(5) Review of the Final EIS—October

2002.

Precise schedules and locations for

public involvement activities will be

announced in the local news media.

You may also request to be included on

the mailing list for public distribution of

meeting announcements and

documents.

Dated: April 12, 2001.

J. David Norwood,

Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.

[FR Doc. 01–10011 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–CR–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Army Corps

of Engineers

Grant of Exclusive Licenses

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with 37 CFR

404.7(b)(1)(i), announcement is made of

a prospective exclusive license of

Russian Patent No. 2126867 titled

‘‘Concrete Armor Unit to Protect Coastal

and Hydraulic Structures and

Shorelines.’’

DATES: Written objections must be filed

not later than June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Waterways

Experiment Station, 3909 Halls Ferry

Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180–6199, Attn:

CEWES–OC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Phil Stewart (601) 634–4113, e-mail

stewarp@exl.wes.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Concrete Armor Unit was invented by

Jeffrey A. Melby and George F. Turk.

Rights to the patent application

identified above has been assigned to

the United States of America as

represented by the Secretary of the

Army. The United States of America as

represented by the Secretary of the

Army intends to grant an exclusive

license for all fields of use, in the

manufacture, use, and sale in the

territories and possessions, including

territorial waters of Russia to W.F. Baird

and Associates, a Delaware corporation

with principal offices at 2981 Yarmouth

Greenway, Madison, Wisconsin 53711.

Pursuant to 37 CFR 404.7(b)(1)(i), any

interested party may file a written

objection to this prospective exclusive

license agreement.

Richard L. Frenette,

Counsel.

[FR Doc. 01–10012 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–92–M

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No: 84.349A]

Early Childhood Educator Professional

Development Programs

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for

new awards and final procedures and

requirements for a fiscal year (FY) 2001

competition for Early Childhood

Educator Professional Development

Program grants.

SUMMARY: The Secretary invites

applications for new grant awards for

FY 2001 for Early Childhood Educator

Professional Development programs.

These grants are authorized by the

Department of Education

Appropriations Act for 2001 under

section 2102 of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965

(ESEA). The Secretary also announces

final procedures and requirements to

govern this competition and FY 2001

awards of these grants.

Purpose of Program

The purpose of Early Childhood

Educator Professional Development

Program grants is to provide replicable

high-quality professional development

programs to improve the knowledge and

skills of early childhood educators who

work in early childhood programs

located in urban or rural high-poverty

communities, and who serve primarily

children from low-income families.

These professional development

programs must primarily provide

research-based training that will

improve early childhood pedagogy and

will further children’s language and

literacy skills to prevent them from

encountering reading difficulties when

they enter school. These grants

complement the President’s early

reading initiative, which will support

local efforts to enhance the school

readiness of young children,

particularly those from low-income

families, through scientifically based

reading research that is designed to

improve the verbal skills, phonological

awareness, letter knowledge, prereading skills, and early language

development of children ages three

through five. The Department intends to

disseminate information about these