13730 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 14, 1995 / Notices

Dated: March 8, 1995.

Susan K. Feldman,

Committee Management Officer, NIH.

[FR Doc. 95–6187 Filed 3–13–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO–070–5101–CO12]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment (EA) and

Notice To Scoping Meetings, and, if

Determined To Be Necessary, Prepare

an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) on a Proposed Replacement Raw

Water Pipeline in Mesa County, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Assessment (EA), and

Notice to Scoping Meetings, and, if

determined to be necessary, prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

on a Proposed Replacement Raw Water

Pipeline in Western Colorado.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Grand Junction

Resource Area Office, Grand Junction

District, will be directing the

preparation of a NEPA document. The

NEPA document will be initiated as an

EA, with the understanding that it may

be upgraded to an EIS. The document

will be prepared by a third party

contractor, and will address impacts of

the Plateau Creek Pipeline Replacement

project proposed by the Ute Water

Conservancy District (Ute Water). The

project is a raw water conveyance

system proposed on private and public

lands in Mesa County, Colorado to

replace a deteriorated and under sized

pipeline currently approved under BLM

ROW grant C 081282.

DATES: Written comments will be

accepted until 4:00 p.m., MST, on April

13, 1995. A public scoping meeting will

be held at 7:00 p.m. on March 29, 1995,

at the Two Rivers Convention Center,

159 Main Street, Grand Junction,

Colorado.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

the Grand Junction Area Manager,

Bureau of Land Management, 2815 H

Road, Grand Junction, CO 81506, ATTN:

Plateau Creek Pipeline Replacement

Project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dave Stevens, (303) 244–3009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

existing Plateau Creek Pipeline is an

essential part of the Ute Water system

which provides water to more than

55,000 Grand Valley residents. The Ute

Water service area includes most of the

Grand Valley area surrounding the City

of Grand Junction, Colorado, and

extends from east of the Town of

Palisade to within 5 miles of the

Colorado-Utah stateline. Ute Water is a

political subdivision of the State of

Colorado formed under the Water

Conservancy Act of 1937, and is

considered to be a quasi-municipal

entity.

The existing prestressed concrete pipe

was installed in the early 1960s. A

pipeline consisting of 42-inch and 36-

inch diameter pipe carries raw water for

approximately 4.5 miles from the Lower

Molina Power Plant tail race to two

storage reservoirs. From the reservoirs,

water is conveyed via a 24-inchdiameter pipeline approximately 14

miles along Plateau Creek Canyon and

adjacent to Interstate Highway 70 to Ute

Water’s treatment plant located on

Rapid Creek, near the Town of Palisade.

As of 1994, the pipeline was no longer

able to provide an adequate flow rate to

meet the peak day customer demands.

The pipeline is presently subject to

frequent breaks due to deteriorated pipe

condition, and is unreliable due to its

location within geologic hazards and

stream erosion areas. In order for Ute

Water to meet its commitment of

providing a reliable, cost effective, high

quality water source, replacement of the

pipeline is necessary. The pipeline size

and capacity will be determined from

independent water demand projections

based on population estimates to be

generated and documented as part of

this effort.

Ute Water has preliminary scoping to:

(1) identify interested stakeholders and

agencies, (2) define key issues, and (3)

identify initial alternatives. On the basis

of the preliminary scoping, 16

alternatives were developed. These

include seven alternatives along the

Plateau Creek corridor, three different

alternatives involving use of water from

nearby utilities, a Colorado River pump

station alternative, two alternatives for

supplying water from the Kannah Creek

watershed, two alternatives for

supplying water from the Whitewater

Creek watershed, and a No Action

alternative. Groundwater alternatives

and conservation actions will be

addressed in the EA. Four of the

initially considered alternatives,

selected on the basis of screening

criteria described in Section 404(b) of

the Clean Water Act, are proposed for

evaluation in the EA. These are:

Alternative A—Replacement of the

pipeline on an alignment parallel to

Plateau Creek such that impacts to all

resources are minimized.

Alternative B—Replacement of the

pipeline parallel to Plateau Creek

entirely within the existing state

highway 65 and 330 rights-of-way.

Alternative C—Replacement of the

pipeline in either alignment A or B with

a smaller pipeline. This alternative

includes provisions for construction of

a booster station at the mouth of Plateau

Canyon to be built at a future date to

meet long-term demands.

Alternative D—A ‘‘no federal action’’

alternative.

Major issues identified during the

preliminary scoping include: (1)

wetlands and riparian areas, (2)

threatened and endangered species, (3)

wildlife habitat, (4) need for demand

projections, and (5) water depletion

issues. Preliminary review by the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM),

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and

Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)

indicates that the anticipated impacts

may be entirely mitigable, and may be

limited to temporary disturbance.

However, there is a potential that

significant impacts may be identified

during the EA process and it may be

necessary to convert this documentation

effort into an EIS. Therefore, it is also

the intent of this NOI to provide for

public notice and review necessary for

an EIS pursuant to NEPA.

The tentative project schedule is:

Begin Public Comment Period—March 1995

Complete Final EA—January 1996

EA Finding—March 1996

Complete Final Design—January 1997

Begin Construction—March 1997

The BLM’s scoping process will

include: (1) Identification of additional

issues to be addressed; (2) Identification

of additional viable alternatives, and (3)

Notification of interested groups,

individuals and agencies so that

additional information concerning these

issues can be obtained.

The scoping process will be initiated

by publication of this NOI in the

Federal Register and issuance of a news

release announcing the start of the

process; letters of invitation to

participate in the scoping process, and

distribution of a scoping document

describing the proposed action,

alternatives and significant issues being

considered is available upon request.

Mark T. Morse,

District Manager.

[FR Doc. 95–6280 Filed 3–13–95; 8:45 am]

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