Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / Notices 25727

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS

OF THE ACT:

None.

[FR Doc. 96– 12712 Filed 5–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4190–29–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Secretary

[Public Notice 2393; Delegation of Authority

No. 145–13]

Delegation of Authority

Pursuant to the Arms Export Control

Act as amended (22 U.S.C. 2778 et seq.);

section 504 and 508 of the FREEDOM

Support Act (Public Law 102–511);

Executive Order 11958, January 18,

1977, 42 FR 4311, as amended; the

President’s Memorandum Delegation of

Authority dated April 21, 1994; and

Section 1(a)(4) of the State Department

Basic Authorities Act, as amended, State

Department Delegation of Authority No.

145 of February 4, 1990, 45 FR 11655,

as amended, is further amended as

follows:

(a) Section 1(a)(3) is amended:

(1) by striking the word ‘‘and’’ at the

end of subparagraph (B);

(2) by striking the period at the end

of subparagraph (C) and inserting in lieu

thereof: ‘‘, and’’; and

(3) by adding the following new

subparagraph:

(D) Section 1324(a) of Title XIII of the

Defense Authorization Act, 1996 (Public

Law 104–106).

(b) Section 1(a)(8) is amended by

striking ‘‘The functions specified in

section 504 of the FREEDOM Support

Act (22 U.S.C. 5801)’’ and inserting in

lieu thereof: ‘‘The functions specified in

sections 504 and 508 of the FREEDOM

Support Act (22 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.)’’.

This delegation of authority shall be

published in the Federal Register.

Dated: May 16, 1996.

Warren Christopher,

Secretary of State.

[FR Doc. 96–12875 Filed 5–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–10–M

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Chickamauga Dam—Navigation Lock

Project

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Issuance of record of decision.

SUMMARY: This notice is provided in

accordance with the Council on

Environmental Quality’s regulations and

with TVA’s procedures implementing

the National Environmental Policy Act.

TVA has decided to adopt the preferred

alternative identified in TVA’s final

environmental impact statement (EIS)

made available to the public on March

26, 1996. A Notice of Availability of the

final EIS was published in the Federal

Register on April 5, 1996 (61 FR 15252).

The preferred alternative is to construct

a new 110 x 600 foot lock to replace the

existing lock at Chickamauga Dam.

Because of structural problems and

safety concerns caused by concrete

growth, the existing lock at

Chickamauga Dam has a limited life

expectancy, at most 10 years. TVA will

continue to monitor the existing lock

and make the necessary repairs to keep

the lock in operation until the new lock

is available for service. Design and

construction of the new lock, subject to

available funding, are expected to begin

five years prior to closure of the existing

lock. This will allow the new lock to be

operational before the existing lock is

closed, thereby maintaining navigation

on the upper Tennessee River.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

W. Gary Brock, Manager, Water

Resources Projects and Planning,

Tennessee Valley Authority, West

Tower 10C–432, Knoxville, Tennessee

37902, or by calling (423) 632–8877.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Tennessee River is formed at the

confluence of the Holston and French

Bread Rivers near Knoxville in eastern

Tennessee. From this confluence, the

river flows 652 miles through

Tennessee, northern Alabama,

northeastern Mississippi, and western

Kentucky to enter the Ohio River near

Paducah, Kentucky. Along most of its

counsel, the river falls gradually for a

total of 515 feet except in the Muscle

Shoals, Alabama, area where a drop of

100 feet occurs in less than 20 miles.

The existing navigation system on the

Tennessee River consists of nine

multipurpose dams and lock projects

with a total of 13 navigation locks. The

system creates a series of navigation

pools that provide a nine foot navigable

channel along the entire length of the

river except for a three mile stretch at

Knoxville where, in periods of low

water, the depth diminishes to seven

feet and the channel width diminishes

to about 200 feet. Navigation locks on

the Tennessee River range in size from

110 x 1000 foot lock at Pickwick Dam

to 60 x 300 foot double lift auxiliary

lock at Wilson Dam.

The upper Tennessee River navigation

system begins at Chickamauga Dam,

river mile 471, and extends 181

upstream to the confluence of the

Holston and French Broad Rivers. The

system consists of four navigation locks

located at Chickamauga, Watts Bar, Fort

Loudoun, and Melton Hill dams. The

four locks were constructed in 1937,

1941, 1942 and 1963 respectively. The

predominant commodities trafficked on

the upper Tennessee River system are

asphalt, grains, ores and minerals, and

forest products.

TVA’s Chickamauga Dam and

Navigation Lock Project is located in

Hamilton County, Tennessee,

approximately 13 miles northeast of

downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Chickamauga Lock currently has a

traffic level of about 2.1 million tons per

year.

TVA and the United States Army

Corps of Engineers (USACE) began

studying navigation problems on the

upper Tennessee River in 1987. The

study results were published in 1988 by

the Nashville District of the USACE in

a report entitled, Commodity Traffic and

Benefit Study for Navigation

Improvements on the Upper Tennessee

River. Both agencies agreed that the

small and aging locks on the upper

Tennessee River—Chickamauga, Watts

Bar, Fort Loudoun—were constraints to

navigation and that concrete growth at

Chickamauga lock threatened its

continued operation. Concrete growth

was not a problem at Watts Bar and Fort

Loudoun because of the type of cement

and aggregate used to construct the

projects.

The 1988 study examined the

feasibility of increasing the existing

locks to 110 x 600 feet size in order to

bring the upper Tennessee navigation

locks into conformance with locks

below Chickamauga on the lower

Tennessee River. The study concluded,

however, that the benefits would not

justify the cost of three new locks on the

upper Tennessee River, and that TVA

transportation planners should

concentrate on improvements at

Chickamauga and Watts Bar Locks.

The results of the study of lock

improvement benefits at Chickamauga

and Watts Bar Dams were presented in

a USACE report entitled Upper

Tennessee River Navigation

Improvement Study Navigation System

Analysis (1993) which was produced

under contract for TVA. The focus of

this study was to estimate benefits that

would accrue from a new 110 x 600 foot

lock at Chickamauga which would be

constructed before the existing lock was

closed for an 18 month rehabilitation.

At that time, engineering data indicated

that the lock could be rehabilitated to

function as an auxiliary lock. The study

concluded that if any capacity

constraints occurred at Watts Bar Lock,

nonstructural measures could be used to
25728 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / Notices

control the situation. TVA will continue

to evaluate Watts Bar and Fort Loudoun

projects. However, TVA has no planned

upgrades of these facilities in the

foreseeable future.

Because of structural problems and

safety concerns TVA continued to

perform engineering analyses of the

Chickamauga Lock and Dam using new

methodology referred to as finite

element analysis. The finite element

analysis completed in 1995, revealed

that because of concrete growth the lock

could not be rehabilitated and that, at

best, could function for another ten

years. At some point, the lock would

have to be closed to form a permanent

water barrier at the dam. To close the

lock, a concrete plug would be poured

into the lock chamber to form a

permanent water barrier.

Extensive structural repairs and

maintenance activities to alleviate

problems resulting from concrete

continue to be made at Chickamauga

Lock. Instrumentation was installed to

monitor structural movements and

internal stresses.

In its evaluation of alternatives to

replace the existing lock at

Chickamauga Dam, plugging the lock

was defined as TVA’s no action

alternative. At this time, the alternative

of taking absolutely no action is not

acceptable because of the deteriorating

nature of the lock and potential

consequences of dam safety and

navigation.

TVA issued a draft EIS on May 10,

1995, that considered the alternative of

continued operation of the existing lock.

The final EIS does not consider the

alternative of rehabilitating the lock

because of information described above

that became available after release of the

draft EIS.

Alternatives Considered

The following four alternatives were

considered by TVA in its final EIS in

attempting to address the structural

problems and safety concerns caused by

concrete growth at the Chickamauga

Lock.

Alternative 1. Construct a new 110 x

600 foot lock (preferred alternative).

Alternative 2. Permanently close

existing lock (no action alternative).

Alternative 3. Construct new 60 x 360

foot lock (replacement in-kind).

Alternative 4. Construct new 75 x 400

foot lock.

The environmental impacts of these

alternatives were evaluated in the final

EIS. Because of the structural problems

and safety concerns, all construction

alternatives include plugging the

existing lock after the new lock is

completed.

Under the no action alternative, the

existing lock would have been plugged

and no replacement lock built in its

place. This would have eliminated

navigation through Chickamauga Dam.

Upstream industries dependent upon

barge transportation would be forced to

shift to truck or rail transport of

commodities, and recreational boaters

and commercial tour operator would not

be able to move between Chickamauga

and Nickajack Reservoirs. Plugging the

existing lock at a cost of $6.8 million to

form a permanent water barrier at the

dam would have been the least cost

alternative for solving the structural

problems at the lock.

The 110 x 600 foot lock represents the

general standard for locks on the lower

Tennessee River and thus, is well suited

for barges in general use today. Lock

capacity for the 110 x 600 foot lock has

been rated at 35.7 million tons.

Construction of the 110 x 600 foot lock

is estimated to cost $225 million. Total

cost of the new lock, including $6.8

million for closure of the existing lock,

is $231.8 million in 1995 dollars.

Construction of the 60 x 360 and 75 x

400 foot locks would have cost $135

million and $160 million respectively.

Basis for the Decision

TVA decided to adopt Alternative 1,

that is, construct a new 110 x 600 foot

lock, to address the structural problems

at Chickamauga Lock based on

environmental, social, economic,

recreational, and engineering and public

safety considerations. Alternative 1 was

chosen as the preferred alternative

because it would maintain navigation

on the upper Tennessee River and

represents the general standard for locks

on the lower Tennessee River and, thus

is well suited for barges in general use

today.

Overall benefits include (1)

economies related to a more efficient

lock at Chickamauga, (2) a cheaper

competitive barge alternative to

overland transportation, and (3)

construction of a reliable lock at

Chickamauga.

Among the three lock sizes

considered in this EIS, the benefit cost

ratio (4.3) for the 110 x 600 foot lock is

higher than the benefit cost ratio (2.5)

for the other two locks. The

environmental impacts from the

construction and operation of the

smaller 60 x 360 and 75 x 400 foot locks

would be similar to the impacts

associated with the preferred 110 x 600

foot lock.

A new 110 x 600 foot lock is expected

to generate 467 new jobs and $16.7

million in new income annually in the

Hamilton County area over its five-year

construction period. Of the 467 jobs,

267 would be directly created while 200

mostly commercial sector positions

would be indirectly created. The $9.8

million directly generated income

would also result in an additional $6.87

million in indirect monetary gain. While

the bulk of these employment and

income benefits would accrue to

Hamilton County, the project would

also have a positive impact on seven

other counties identified in the project

area.

Under alternative 2, plugging the lock

would result in the abandonment of 297

miles of navigable inland waterway and

the public’s investment in three

navigation locks (Watts Bar, Fort

Loudoun, and Melton Hill) above

Chickamauga. The loss of commercial

traffic on the upper Tennessee River is

estimated to cost the nation $25 million

annually. Additionally, having a lock in

place at Chickamauga Dam provides

shippers in east Tennessee, North

Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina a

competitive alternative to overland

transportation modes and a low cost

source of certain commodities. For these

reasons, the no action alternative is

unacceptable to TVA.

TVA also considered the use of

portage facilities around Chickamauga

Dam to support upstream barge use

without the construction of a new lock.

However, because this alternative was

not economically feasible, it was not

evaluated in detail.

Construction of a new lock would

result in the loss of some specimen of

the endangered pink mucket during

dredging for channel improvements.

Other potential adverse environmental

impacts from construction of a new lock

can be substantially avoided or

minimized through mitigation

measures. By comparison, the no action

alternative of plugging the lock without

replacing it would stop navigation

between Chickamauaga and Nickajack

reservoirs, isolate the upper from the

lower Tennessee River, and block the

potential upstream movement of

spawning migratory species such as

sauger and buffalo. TVA has therefore

concluded that there is no clear

environmentally preferable alternative

for the Chickamauga Dam—Navigation

Lock Project.

Environmental Consequences and

Commitments

Environmental consequences

associated with construction of a new

110 x 600 foot lock are set out in the

final EIS. Environmental impacts

include minor loss of aquatic habitat

and resident population of freshwater

mussels, included one listed
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / Notices 25729

endangered species (pink mucket,

Lampsillis orbiculata) These losses

would be mitigated by relocating the

mussels and possibly by other means to

be determined during consultation with

the United States Fish and Wildlife

Service. Disposal sites would be

landscaped and vegetated, and potential

impacts to a federally endangered plant

(Mountain skullcap, Scutellaria

montana) located adjacent to a disposal

site will be mitigated through

maintenance of a contiguous 250-foot

forest buffer zone. Shoreline restoration

downstream will be performed so as to

offset erosion and improve riverine

wetlands downstream of the project.

Fugitive dust would be reasonably

controlled through periodic wetting of

construction road surfaces or as

required by local and state air

regulations. No chemical agents, such as

oils, will be used to control fugitive

dust. Construction of a new lock will

have an impact on the existing historic

dam complex and will require a Section

106 review. No potential adverse effects

on archaeological or cultural resources

are anticipated. Temporary high noise

levels and navigation traffic congestion

would be expected during construction.

Environmental impacts associated

with the operation of the new lock

include socioeconomic benefits

associated with the continuation of

commercial and recreation lockages and

the loss of four spillway bays. Loss of

four spillways bays will not adversely

impact TVA’s ability to control flooding

up to a 5500 year flood event. Further,

through appropriate design of discharge

structures, TVA will attempt to

minimize potential impact on the

upstream migration of certain fish

species, such as sauger and buffalo.

The construction and operational

environmental impacts for the smaller

60 × 360 and 75 × 400 foot locks would

be similar to the impacts associated

with the proposed 110 × 600 foot lock.

Environmental impacts associated

with the no action alternative of

plugging the lock without replacing it,

include blocking the potential upstream

movement of spawning migratory fishes,

such as sauger and buffalo.

Additionally, navigation through

Chickamauga Dam would cease, causing

significant economic impact to industry

and recreation and would isolate the

upper Tennessee River from the lower

river system for commercial navigation.

This would result in a shift to land

transport of goods shipped through

Chickamauga Lock which would have

adverse impact on air quality from

increased truck and rail traffic. Further,

separation of the National Oak Ridge

Laboratory and other industry from

access to barge transportation could

result in lost opportunities for industrial

expansion, and at Oak Ridge, the

inability to move certain national

defense equipment there for

maintenance and repair.

Additionally, a number of mitigation

and monitoring requirements will be

incorporated in construction and

operational permits needed for the

Chickamauga Dam—Navigation Lock

Project.

Dated: May 13, 1996.

Kathryn J. Jackson,

Senior Vice President, Resource Group.

[FR Doc. 96–12815 Filed 5–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8120–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Tennessee

Valley Authority.

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS

ANNOUNCEMENT: 61 FR 22078 (May 13,

1996).

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED TIME AND DATE OF

MEETING: 10 a.m. (CDT), Wednesday,

May 15, 1996.

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED PLACE OF

MEETING: TVA Customer Service Center,

310 Research Boulevard, Starkville,

Mississippi.

CHANGES IN THE MEETING: Each member

of the TVA Board of Directors has

approved the addition of the following

items to the previously announced

agenda:

F—Unclassified

1. Board approval of a 1996 Funding Plan

for nuclear plant decommissionings.

For more information, contact TVA

Public Relations at (423) 632–6000,

Knoxville, Tennessee. Information is

also available at TVA’s Washington

Office (202) 898–2999.

Dated: May 17, 1996.

William L. Osteen,

Associate General Counsel and Assistant

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–13023 Filed 5–20–96; 1:15 pm]

BILLING CODE 8120–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Security Measures; Hellenikon

International Airport, Athens, Greece

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation has

now determined that Hellenikon

International Airport, Athens, Greece,

maintains and carries out effective

security measures.

Notice

By notice published on March 28,

1996, I announced that I had

determined that Hellenikon

International Airport, Athens, Greece,

did not maintain and carry out effective

security measures and that, pursuant to

49 U.S.C. 44907(d), I was providing

public notification of that

determination. I now find that

Hellenikon International Airport

maintains and carries out effective

security measures. My determination is

based on a recent Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) assessment

which reveals that security measures

used at the airport now meet or exceed

the Standards and Recommended

Practices established by the

International Civil Aviation

Organization.

I have directed that a copy of this

notice be published in the Federal

Register and that the news media be

notified of my determination. In

addition, as a result of this

determination, the FAA will direct that

signs posted in U.S. airports relating to

my March 21, 1996, determination be

removed, and U.S. and foreign air

carriers will no longer be required to

provide notice of that determination to

passengers purchasing tickets for

transportation between the United

States and Athens, Greece.

Dated: May 15, 1996.

Federico Pen ̃ a,

Secretary of Transportation.

[FR Doc. 96–12800 Filed 5–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P

Federal Aviation Administration

Agency Information Collection Activity

Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

the information collection request

described below has been forwarded to

the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for review and comment. The

FAA is requesting an emergency

clearance by June 3, 1996, in accordance

with 5 CFR § 1320.13. The following

information describes the nature of the

information collection and its expected

burden.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

TITLE: Application for Employment with

the Federal Aviation Administration.