5210 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 20 / Tuesday, February 1, 2005 / Notices 

issues including, but not limited to, the 

role of public comment, the 

government-to-government relationship, 

affected employee considerations, and 

other issues as may be raised during the 

process of developing this policy. The 

Service will seek input from Indian 

Country, nongovernment organizations, 

and the public as it develops its policy.

Issue 15: No process identified to 

resolve disagreements over performance 

deficiencies.

Concern: Section 10.3.b provides no 

final guidance for resolution of 

disagreements on performance. 

Comment: ‘‘This says that after the 

Refuge Manager informs CSKT of a 

deficiency, the CSKT will have a 

‘reasonable amount of time to either 

remedy the performance deficiency or 

establish that no deficiency exists. 

***’ This implies that CSKT can 

unilaterally decide that the Refuge 

Manager is wrong and that they are not 

deficient in performance.’’

Response: Section 18 of the AFA 

refers to 25 CFR part 1000, subpart R 

(‘‘Appeals’’), as well as 25 U.S.C. 450m1, as the authority and process for 

dispute resolution. To address this 

public concern, the AFA was amended 

to read that the CSKT would 

‘‘demonstrate to the Refuge Manager’’

that an alleged deficiency does not exist. 

The revised Section 10.A.3.b(2) now 

reads as follows: 

(2) Written Notice. The Refuge 

Manager will notify the Tribal Council 

in writing of any other performance 

deficiency, including any performance 

deficiency that constitutes grounds for 

reassumption under Section 16.C of this 

AFA. The written notice will identify 

the Activity and describe the 

performance deficiency at issue, the 

applicable Operational Standard or term 

or condition of this AFA, and why the 

performance of the CSKT does not meet 

the Operational Standard or term or 

condition. The notice will give the 

CSKT a reasonable amount of time to 

either remedy the performance 

deficiency or demonstrate to the Refuge 

Manager that no performance deficiency 

exists, the amount of time to be set by 

the Refuge Manager depending on the 

nature of the deficiency.

Dated: January 6, 2005. 

Matt Hogan, 

Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service.

[FR Doc. 05–1785 Filed 1–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Rate Adjustments for Indian Irrigation 

Projects

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rate 

adjustments. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) owns, or has an interest in, 

irrigation facilities located on various 

Indian reservations throughout the 

United States. We are required to 

establish rates to recover the costs to 

administer, operate, maintain, and 

rehabilitate those facilities. We request 

your comments on the proposed rate 

adjustments.

DATES: Interested parties may submit 

comments on the proposed rate 

adjustments on or before April 4, 2005.

ADDRESSES: All comments on the 

proposed rate adjustments must be in 

writing and addressed to: Arch Wells, 

Director, Office of Trust Services, Attn: 

Irrigation and Power, MS–4655–MIB, 

Code 210, 1849 C Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20240, Telephone (202) 

208–5480.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

details about a particular irrigation 

project, please use the tables in 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section to 

contact the regional or local office 

where the project is located.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The tables 

in this notice list the irrigation project 

contacts where the BIA recovers its 

costs for local administration, operation, 

maintenance, and rehabilitation, the 

current irrigation assessment rates, and 

the proposed rates for the 2005 

irrigation season and subsequent years 

where applicable. 

What Are Some of the Terms I Should 

Know for This Notice? 

The following are terms we use that 

may help you understand how we are 

applying this notice. 

Administrative costs means all costs 

we incur to administer our irrigation 

projects at the local project level. Local 

project level does not normally include 

the Agency, Region, or Central Office 

costs unless we state otherwise in 

writing. 

Assessable acre means lands 

designated by us to be served by one of 

our irrigation projects and to which we 

provide irrigation service and recover 

our costs. (See Total assessable acres.) 

BIA means the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs. 

Bill means our statement to you of the 

assessment charges and/or fees you owe 

the United States for administration, 

operation, maintenance, and/or 

rehabilitation. The date we mail or hand 

deliver your bill will be stated on it. 

Costs mean the costs we incur for 

administration, operation, maintenance, 

and rehabilitation to provide direct 

support or benefit to an irrigation 

facility. 

Customer means any person or entity 

that we provide irrigation service to. 

Due date is the date on which your 

bill is due and payable. This date will 

be stated on your bill. 

I, me, my, you, and your means all 

interested parties, especially persons or 

entities that we provide irrigation 

service to and who receive beneficial 

use of our irrigation projects affected by 

this notice and our supporting policies, 

manuals, and handbooks. 

Irrigation project means, for the 

purposes of this notice, the facility or 

portions thereof, that we own, or have 

an interest in, including all appurtenant 

works, for the delivery, diversion, and 

storage of irrigation water to provide 

irrigation service to customers for whom 

we assess periodic charges to recover 

our costs to administer, operate, 

maintain, and rehabilitate. These 

projects may be referred to as facilities, 

systems, or irrigation areas. 

Irrigation service means the full range 

of services we provide customers of our 

irrigation projects, including, but not 

limited to, water delivery. This includes 

our activities to administer, operate, 

maintain, and rehabilitate our projects. 

Maintenance costs means all costs we 

incur to maintain and repair our 

irrigation projects and equipment of our 

irrigation projects and is a cost factor 

included in calculating your operation 

and maintenance (O&M) assessment. 

Must means an imperative or 

mandatory act or requirement. 

Operation and maintenance (O&M) 

assessment means the periodic charge 

you must pay us to reimburse our costs. 

Operation or operating costs means 

costs we incur to operate our irrigation 

projects and equipment and is a cost 

factor included in calculating your O&M 

assessment. 

Past due bill means a bill that has not 

been paid by the close of business on 

the 30th day after the due date, as stated 

on the bill. Beginning on the 31st day 

after the due date we begin assessing 

additional charges accruing from the 

due date. 

Rehabilitation costs means costs we 

incur to restore our irrigation projects or 

features to original operating condition 

or to the nearest state which can be 

achieved using current technology and 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 20 / Tuesday, February 1, 2005 / Notices 5211

is a cost factor included in calculating 

your O&M assessment. 

Total assessable acres means the total 

acres served by one of our irrigation 

projects. 

Total O&M cost means the total of all 

the allowable and allocatable costs we 

incur for administering, operating, 

maintaining, and rehabilitating our 

irrigation projects serving your farm 

unit. 

Water means water we deliver at our 

projects for the general purpose of 

irrigation and other purposes we agree 

to in writing. 

Water delivery is an activity that is 

part of the irrigation service we provide 

our customers when water is available. 

We, us, and our means the United 

States Government, the Secretary of the 

Interior, the BIA, and all who are 

authorized to represent us in matters 

covered under this notice. 

Does This Notice Affect Me? 

This notice affects you if you own or 

lease land within the assessable acreage 

of one of our irrigation projects, or you 

have a carriage agreement with one of 

our irrigation projects. 

Where Can I Get Information on the 

Regulatory and Legal Citations in This 

Notice? 

You can contact the appropriate 

office(s) stated in the tables for the 

irrigation project that serves you, or you 

can use the Internet site for the 

Government Printing Office at http://

www.gpo.gov.

Why Are You Publishing This Notice? 

We are publishing this notice to notify 

you that we propose to adjust one or 

more of our irrigation assessment rates. 

This notice is published in accordance 

with the BIA’s regulations governing its 

operation and maintenance of irrigation 

projects, specifically, 25 CFR 171.1. 

These sections provide for the fixing 

and announcing of the rates for annual 

assessments and related information for 

our irrigation projects. 

What Authorizes You To Issue This 

Notice? 

Our authority to issue this notice is 

vested in the Secretary of the Interior by 

5 U.S.C. 301 and the Act of August 14, 

1914 (38 Stat. 583; 25 U.S.C. 385). The 

Secretary has in turn delegated this 

authority to the Assistant Secretary—

Indian Affairs under part 209, chapter 

8.1A, of the Department of the Interior’s 

Departmental Manual.

When Will You Put the Rate 

Adjustments Into Effect? 

We will put the rate adjustments into 

effect for the 2005 irrigation season and 

subsequent years where applicable. 

How Do You Calculate Irrigation Rates? 

We calculate irrigation assessment 

rates in accordance with 25 CFR 171.1(f) 

by estimating the cost of normal 

operation and maintenance at each of 

our irrigation projects. The cost of 

normal operation and maintenance 

means the expenses we incur to provide 

direct support or benefit for an irrigation 

project’s activities for administration, 

operation, maintenance, and 

rehabilitation. These costs are then 

applied as stated in the rate table in this 

notice. 

What Kinds of Expenses Do You 

Include in Determining the Estimated 

Cost of Normal Operation and 

Maintenance? 

We include the following expenses: 

(a) Personnel salary and benefits for 

the project engineer/manager and 

project employees under their 

management control; 

(b) Materials and supplies; 

(c) Major and minor vehicle and 

equipment repairs; 

(d) Equipment, including 

transportation, fuel, oil, grease, lease 

and replacement; 

(e) Capitalization expenses; 

(f) Acquisition expenses; 

(g) Maintenance of a reserve fund 

available for contingencies or 

emergency expenses for, and insuring, 

reliable operation of the irrigation 

project; and 

(h) Other expenses we determine 

necessary to properly perform the 

activities and functions characteristic of 

an irrigation project. 

When Should I Pay My Irrigation 

Assessment? 

We will mail or hand deliver your bill 

notifying you of the amount you owe to 

the United States and when such 

amount is due. If we mail your bill, we 

will consider it as being delivered no 

later than 5 business days after the day 

we mail it. You should pay your bill no 

later than the close of business on the 

30th day after the due date stated on the 

bill. 

What Information Must I Provide for 

Billing Purposes? 

We must obtain certain information 

from you to ensure we can properly 

process, bill for, and collect money 

owed to the United States. We are 

required to collect the taxpayer 

identification number or social security 

number to properly bill the responsible 

party and service the account under the 

authority of, and as prescribed in, 

Public Law 104–143, the Debt 

Collection Improvement Act of 1996. 

(a) At a minimum, this information is: 

(1) Full legal name of person or entity 

responsible for paying the bill; 

(2) Adequate and correct address for 

mailing or hand delivering our bill; and 

(3) The taxpayer identification 

number or social security number of the 

person or entity responsible for paying 

the bill. 

(b) It is your responsibility to ensure 

we have correct and accurate 

information for paragraph (a) of this 

section. 

(c) If you are late paying your bill due 

to your failure to furnish such 

information or comply with paragraph 

(b) of this section, you cannot appeal 

your bill on this basis. 

What Can Happen if I Do Not Provide 

the Information Required for Billing 

Purposes? 

We can refuse to provide you 

irrigation service. 

If I Allow My Bill To Become Past Due, 

Could This Affect My Water Delivery? 

If we do not receive your payment 

before the close of business on the 30th 

day after the due date stated on your 

bill, we will send you a past due notice. 

Your bill will have additional 

information concerning your rights. We 

will consider your past due notice as 

delivered no later than 5 business days 

after the day we mail it. We have the 

right to refuse water delivery to any of 

your irrigated land on which the bill is 

past due. We can continue to refuse 

water delivery until you pay your bill or 

make payment arrangements that we 

agree to. Our authority to demand 

payment of your past due bill is 31 CFR 

901.2, ‘‘Demand for Payment.’’

Are There Any Additional Charges If I 

Am Late Paying My Bill? 

Yes. We will assess you interest on 

the amount owed and use the rate of 

interest established annually by the 

Secretary of the United States Treasury 

(Treasury) to calculate what you will be 

assessed (31 CFR 901.9(b)). You will not 

be assessed this charge until your bill is 

past due. However, if you allow your 

bill to become past due, interest will 

accrue from the due date, not the past 

due date. Also, you will be charged an 

administrative fee of $12.50 for each 

time we try to collect your past due bill. 

If your bill becomes more than 90 days 

past due, you will be assessed a penalty 

charge of 6 percent per year and it will 

accrue from the date your bill initially 

5212 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 20 / Tuesday, February 1, 2005 / Notices 

became past due. Our authority to assess 

interest, penalties, and administration 

fees on past due bills is prescribed in 31 

CFR 901.9, ‘‘Interest, penalties, and 

costs.’’

What Else Can Happen To My Past Due 

Bill? 

If you do not pay your bill or make 

payment arrangements that we agree to, 

we are required to send your past due 

bill to the Treasury for further action. 

We must send your bill to Treasury no 

later than 180 days after the original due 

date of your irrigation assessment bill. 

The requirement for us to send your 

unpaid bill to Treasury is prescribed in 

31 CFR 901.1, ‘‘Aggressive agency 

collection activity.’’

Who Can I Contact for Further 

Information? 

The following tables are the regional 

and project/agency contacts for our 

irrigation facilities. 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P

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What Irrigation Assessments or Charges 

Are Proposed for Adjustment By This 

Notice? 

The rate table below contains the 

current rates for all of our irrigation 

projects where we recover our costs for 

operation and maintenance. The table 

also contains the proposed rates for the 

2005 season and subsequent years 

where applicable. An asterisk 

immediately following the name of the 

project notes the irrigation projects 

where rates are proposed for 

adjustment.

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5218 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 20 / Tuesday, February 1, 2005 / Notices 

Consultation and Coordination With 

Tribal Governments (Executive Order 

13175) 

The BIA irrigation projects are vital 

components of the local agriculture 

economy of the reservations on which 

they are located. To fulfill its 

responsibilities to the tribes, tribal 

organizations, water user organizations, 

and the individual water users, the BIA 

communicates, coordinates, and 

consults on a continuing basis with 

these entities on issues of water 

delivery, water availability, costs of 

administration, operation, maintenance, 

and rehabilitation. This is accomplished 

at the individual irrigation projects by 

Project, Agency, and Regional 

representatives, as appropriate, in 

accordance with local protocol and 

procedures. This notice is one 

component of the BIA’s overall 

coordination and consultation process 

to provide notice and request comments 

from these entities on adjusting our 

irrigation rates. 

Actions Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use (Executive Order 

13211) 

The rate adjustments will have no 

adverse effects on energy supply, 

distribution, or use (including a 

shortfall in supply, price increases, and 

increase use of foreign supplies) should 

the proposed rate adjustments be 

implemented. This is a notice for rate 

adjustments at BIA owned and operated 

irrigation projects, except for the Fort 

Yuma Irrigation Project. The Fort Yuma 

Irrigation Project is owned and operated 

by the Bureau of Reclamation with a 

portion serving the Fort Yuma 

Reservation. 

Regulatory Planning and Review 

(Executive Order 12866) 

These rate adjustments are not a 

significant regulatory action and do not 

need to be reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This rate making is not a rule for the 

purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act because it is ‘‘a rule of particular 

applicability relating to rates.’’ 5 U.S.C. 

601(2). 

Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995 

These rate adjustments impose no 

unfunded mandates on any 

governmental or private entity and are 

in compliance with the provisions of the 

Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995. 

Takings (Executive Order 12630) 

The Department has determined that 

these rate adjustments do not have 

significant ‘‘takings’’ implications. The 

rate adjustments do not deprive the 

public, state, or local governments of 

rights or property. 

Federalism (Executive Order 13132) 

The Department has determined that 

these rate adjustments do not have 

significant Federalism effects because 

they pertain solely to Federal-tribal 

relations and will not interfere with the 

roles, rights, and responsibilities of 

states. 

Civil Justice Reform (Executive Order 

12988) 

In accordance with Executive Order 

12988, the Office of the Solicitor has 

determined that this rule does not 

unduly burden the judicial system and 

meets the requirements of sections 3(a) 

and 3(b)(2) of the Order. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

These rate adjustments do not affect 

the collections of information which 

have been approved by the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. The OMB Control Number is 

1076–0141 and expires April 30, 2006. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

The Department has determined that 

these rate adjustments do not constitute 

a major Federal action significantly 

affecting the quality of the human 

environment and that no detailed 

statement is required under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4370(d)).

Dated: January 12, 2005. 

David W. Anderson, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 05–1747 Filed 1–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–060–1320–EL, WYW154432] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement, To 

Initiate Scoping, Provide Notice of a 

Public Meeting, and To Solicit 

Comments on Fair Market Value and 

Maximum Economic Recovery for a 

Federal Coal Lease Application 

Received From Cordero Mining 

Company for a Coal Tract in the 

Decertified Powder River Federal Coal 

Production Region, WY

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) has received a 

competitive coal lease application from 

Cordero Mining Company for a 

maintenance tract of Federal coal 

adjacent to the company’s Cordero Rojo 

Mine in Campbell County, Wyoming. A 

maintenance tract is a parcel of land 

containing coal reserves nominated for 

leasing that may be used to extend an 

existing mine. This tract, which was 

applied for as a lease by application 

(LBA) under the provisions of 43 Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3425.1, is 

called the Maysdorf Tract and has been 

assigned LBA case number 

WYW154432. Consistent with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) regulations, BLM must prepare 

an environmental analysis prior to 

holding a competitive Federal coal lease 

sale. In accordance with the provisions 

of section 102(2)(C) of NEPA, BLM is 

announcing it will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for this lease application and is 

soliciting public comments regarding 

issues and resource information.

DATES: This notice initiates the EIS 

scoping process and request for Fair 

Market Value (FMR) and Maximum 

Economic Recovery (MER) comments 

(see 43 CFR 3425.4). The BLM can best 

use public input if comments and 

resource information are submitted 

within 60 days of publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register. On 

February 15, 2005, the BLM will host an 

open house between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. 

and a public scoping meeting will be 

held at 7 p.m. at the Clarion Western 

Plaza Motel, 2009 South Douglas 

Highway, Gillette, Wyoming. The 

purpose of an open house is to provide 

information to the public regarding the 

Powder River Basin (PRB) Coal Review. 

At the public scoping meeting the 

public is invited to submit comments 

and resource information, and offer 

issues or concerns to be considered in