2726 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the 

above individual during normal 

business hours. The FIRS is available 24 

hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a 

message or question with the above 

individual. You will receive a reply 

during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

project is a collaborative effort among 

Federal, State, and county governments 

as well as conservation organizations 

and the University of Idaho to improve 

and maintain functioning sage-grouse 

habitat in Owyhee County, Idaho. The 

proposal is to remove early-stage 

encroachment of western juniper 

(Juniperus occidentalis) from Greater 

Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus 

urophasianus) habitat across 1.5 million 

acres in the BLM Bruneau and Owyhee 

Field Offices. Treatment areas were 

selected based on the current 

distribution of sage-grouse and focused 

within a 10 kilometer radius of 

occupied sage-grouse leks. A lek is an 

area where sage-grouse gather each 

spring for mating and is considered 

breeding habitat. 

Recent research suggests that sagegrouse populations incur negative 

impacts at a very low level of juniper 

encroachment, and that no leks remain 

active when conifer cover exceeds 4 

percent. Within the proposed treatment 

area, thousands of acres of sage-grouse 

habitat are being encroached upon by 

western juniper. Removal of early-stage 

juniper encroachment would improve 

and maintain suitable sage-grouse 

habitat. Many acres within the project 

area do not meet the criteria for 

treatment, for example, areas where 

juniper is well established and areas 

where no juniper trees are present. 

Therefore, actual treatment acres would 

be considerably less than the 1.5 million 

acres identified as the project area. 

Proposed treatments include cutting 

and lopping juniper, leaving the 

material on site, or cutting followed by 

jackpot burning. Jackpot burning— 

burning when the ground is saturated, 

frozen, or covered by snow—would be 

utilized in areas where scattering cut 

juniper is not feasible or desirable. 

Mastication of juniper using a track-hoe 

fitted with a grinding implement could 

also occur within 100 feet of existing 

roads. The BLM may use handsaws to 

implement treatment within designated 

wilderness or wilderness study areas, as 

determined through a minimum 

requirements analysis. 

The purpose of public scoping is to 

determine relevant issues that will 

influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis, including 

alternatives, and to guide the process for 

developing the EIS. At present, the BLM 

has identified the following preliminary 

issues: 

• Juniper slash near roads posing a 

threat to the public and firefighters 

during a wildfire, 

• Introduction and spread of invasive 

and noxious vegetation, 

• Impacts to raptor nests, 

• Removal of old growth juniper, 

• Disturbance to lekking, nesting or 

wintering sage-grouse during project 

implementation, 

• Disturbance to migratory birds, and 

• Effects of juniper management on 

wilderness characteristics. 

Appropriate mitigation measures 

would be used to minimize impacts to 

sage-grouse habitat, old growth juniper, 

raptor nests, migratory birds, and 

wilderness characteristics. These 

mitigation measures would be identified 

in detail in the EIS and would primarily 

include physical avoidance and timing 

restrictions during implementation. 

The BLM will use NEPA public 

participation requirements to assist the 

agency in satisfying the public 

involvement requirements under 

Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 

470(f)) pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). 

Information about historic and cultural 

resources within the area potentially 

affected by the proposed sage-grouse 

habitat project will assist the BLM in 

identifying and evaluating impacts to 

such resources in the context of both 

NEPA and Section 106 of the NHPA. 

The BLM will consult with Indian 

Tribes on a government-to-government 

basis in accordance with Executive 

Order 13175 and other policies. Tribal 

concerns, including impacts on Indian 

trust assets and potential impacts to 

cultural resources, will be given due 

consideration. Federal, State, and local 

agencies, that may be interested in or 

affected by the proposed sage-grouse 

habitat project may request or be 

requested by the BLM to participate in 

the development of the environmental 

analysis as a cooperating agency. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7. 

James M. Fincher, 

BLM Boise District Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00741 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLMTC 00900.L16100000.DP0000] 

Notice of Public Meeting, Dakotas 

Resource Advisory Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Dakotas 

Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will 

meet as indicated below. 

DATES: The Dakotas Resource Advisory 

Council meeting will be held on 

February 12, 2015 in Bowman, North 

Dakota. The meeting will start at 9:00 

a.m. and adjourn at approximately 4:30 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Bowman City Offices, 101 

First Street Northeast, Bowman, North 

Dakota. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Jacobsen, Public Affairs Specialist, 

BLM Eastern Montana/Dakotas District, 

111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, 

Montana 59301; (406) 233–2831; 

mjacobse@blm.gov. Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–677–8339 

to contact the above individual during 

normal business hours. The FIRS is 

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 

to leave a message or question with the 

above individual. You will receive a 

reply during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 15- 

member council advises the Secretary of 

the Interior through the BLM on a 

variety of planning and management 

issues associated with public land 

management in North and South 

Dakota. At this meeting, topics will 

include: An Eastern Montana/Dakotas 

District report, North Dakota and South 

Dakota Field Office manager reports, 

Montana/Dakotas State Office RAC chair 

meeting topics for discussion, Ft. Meade 

Recreation Area trails projects report, 

individual RAC member reports and 

other issues the council may raise. All 

meetings are open to the public and the 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2727 

public may present written comments to 

the council. Each formal RAC meeting 

will also have time allocated for hearing 

public comments. Depending on the 

number of persons wishing to comment 

and time available, the time for 

individual oral comments may be 

limited. Individuals who plan to attend 

and need special assistance, such as 

sign language interpretation, tour 

transportation or other reasonable 

accommodations should contact the 

BLM as provided above. 

Authority: 43 CFR 1784.4–2. 

Chip Kimball, 

Acting Eastern Montana/Dakotas District 

Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00724 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

[RR83550000, 145R5065C6, 

RX.59389832.1009676] 

Quarterly Status Report of Water 

Service, Repayment, and Other WaterRelated Contract Actions 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of 

contractual actions that have been 

proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation) and are new, 

discontinued, or completed since the 

last publication of this notice. This 

notice is one of a variety of means used 

to inform the public about proposed 

contractual actions for capital recovery 

and management of project resources 

and facilities consistent with section 9(f) 

of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. 

Additional announcements of 

individual contract actions may be 

published in the Federal Register and in 

newspapers of general circulation in the 

areas determined by Reclamation to be 

affected by the proposed action. 

ADDRESSES: The identity of the 

approving officer and other information 

pertaining to a specific contract 

proposal may be obtained by calling or 

writing the appropriate regional office at 

the address and telephone number given 

for each region in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michelle Kelly, Reclamation Law 

Administration Division, Bureau of 

Reclamation, P.O. Box 25007, Denver, 

Colorado 80225–0007; telephone 303– 

445–2888. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Consistent 

with section 9(f) of the Reclamation 

Project Act of 1939, and the rules and 

regulations published in 52 FR 11954, 

April 13, 1987 (43 CFR 426.22), 

Reclamation will publish notice of 

proposed or amendatory contract 

actions for any contract for the delivery 

of project water for authorized uses in 

newspapers of general circulation in the 

affected area at least 60 days prior to 

contract execution. Announcements 

may be in the form of news releases, 

legal notices, official letters, 

memorandums, or other forms of 

written material. Meetings, workshops, 

and/or hearings may also be used, as 

appropriate, to provide local publicity. 

The public participation procedures do 

not apply to proposed contracts for the 

sale of surplus or interim irrigation 

water for a term of 1 year or less. Either 

of the contracting parties may invite the 

public to observe contract proceedings. 

All public participation procedures will 

be coordinated with those involved in 

complying with the National 

Environmental Policy Act. Pursuant to 

the ‘‘Final Revised Public Participation 

Procedures’’ for water resource-related 

contract negotiations, published in 47 

FR 7763, February 22, 1982, a tabulation 

is provided of all proposed contractual 

actions in each of the five Reclamation 

regions. When contract negotiations are 

completed, and prior to execution, each 

proposed contract form must be 

approved by the Secretary of the 

Interior, or pursuant to delegated or 

redelegated authority, the Commissioner 

of Reclamation or one of the regional 

directors. In some instances, 

congressional review and approval of a 

report, water rate, or other terms and 

conditions of the contract may be 

involved. 

Public participation in and receipt of 

comments on contract proposals will be 

facilitated by adherence to the following 

procedures: 

1. Only persons authorized to act on 

behalf of the contracting entities may 

negotiate the terms and conditions of a 

specific contract proposal. 

2. Advance notice of meetings or 

hearings will be furnished to those 

parties that have made a timely written 

request for such notice to the 

appropriate regional or project office of 

Reclamation. 

3. Written correspondence regarding 

proposed contracts may be made 

available to the general public pursuant 

to the terms and procedures of the 

Freedom of Information Act, as 

amended. 

4. Written comments on a proposed 

contract or contract action must be 

submitted to the appropriate regional 

officials at the locations and within the 

time limits set forth in the advance 

public notices. 

5. All written comments received and 

testimony presented at any public 

hearings will be reviewed and 

summarized by the appropriate regional 

office for use by the contract approving 

authority. 

6. Copies of specific proposed 

contracts may be obtained from the 

appropriate regional director or his or 

her designated public contact as they 

become available for review and 

comment. 

7. In the event modifications are made 

in the form of a proposed contract, the 

appropriate regional director shall 

determine whether republication of the 

notice and/or extension of the comment 

period is necessary. 

Factors considered in making such a 

determination shall include, but are not 

limited to, (i) the significance of the 

modification, and (ii) the degree of 

public interest which has been 

expressed over the course of the 

negotiations. At a minimum, the 

regional director will furnish revised 

contracts to all parties who requested 

the contract in response to the initial 

public notice. 

Definitions of Abbreviations Used in the 

Reports 

ARRA American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 

BCP Boulder Canyon Project 

Reclamation Bureau of Reclamation 

CAP Central Arizona Project 

CUP Central Utah Project 

CVP Central Valley Project 

CRSP Colorado River Storage Project 

FR Federal Register 

IDD Irrigation and Drainage District 

ID Irrigation District 

LCWSP Lower Colorado Water Supply 

Project 

M&I Municipal and Industrial 

NMISC New Mexico Interstate Stream 

Commission 

O&M Operation and Maintenance 

OM&R Operation, Maintenance, and 

Replacement 

P-SMBP Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program 

PPR Present Perfected Right 

RRA Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 

SOD Safety of Dams 

SRPA Small Reclamation Projects Act of 

1956 

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

WD Water District 

Pacific Northwest Region: Bureau of 

Reclamation, 1150 North Curtis Road, 

Suite 100, Boise, Idaho 83706–1234, 

telephone 208–378–5344. 

1. Irrigation, M&I, and Miscellaneous 

Water Users; Idaho, Oregon, 

Washington, Montana, and Wyoming: 

Temporary or interim irrigation and 

M&I water service, water storage, water 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES