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Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Lower Duchesne River Wetlands Mitigation Project (LDWP), Duchesne and Uintah Counties, UT

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.


PDF Version (2 pp, 52K, About PDF)


[Federal Register: August 14, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 158)]
[Notices]
[Page 47645-47646]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14au08-66]

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UTAH RECLAMATION MITIGATION AND CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Lower
Duchesne River Wetlands Mitigation Project (LDWP), Duchesne and Uintah
Counties, UT

AGENCY: Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision (ROD).

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SUMMARY: On May 22, 2008, the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and
Conservation Commission (Commission) selected the Proposed Action
presented in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), Lower
Duchesne River Wetlands Mitigation Project (LDWP), April 2008. The
Record of Decision (ROD) for that action is available as described
below. The LDWP is required to mititate for impacts of the Bonneville
Unit of the Central Utah Project and to fulfill other commitments to
the Ute Indian Tribe made as part of the Central Utah Project. The U.S.
Department of the Interior--Central Utah Project Completion Act Office,
and the Commission were joint-lead agencies for the FEIS, and the Ute
Indian Tribe was the lead planning partner. The LDWP FEIS addresses
potential impacts related to construction and operation of features
proposed for the LDWP and incorporates responses to public comments
received on the Draft EIS. Based on the information and analyses in the
FEIS and other relevant information, the Commission determined the
Proposed Action responds best to LDWP needs and purposes and does so in
an environmentally sound manner with least potential for adverse
effects on social and economic resources.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD and/or FEIS can be obtained at the Utah
Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, 230 South 500 East,
Suite 230, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84102-2045. They may also be viewed on
the internet via the following Web address: http://
www.mitigationcommission.gov/news.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Mingo, Planning
Coordinator at (801) 524-3168.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The LDWP will fulfill certain environmental
mitigation commitments of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah
Project. The Strawberry Aqueduct and Collection System is a key
component of the Bonneville Unit, collecting water from the Upper
Duchesne River and its tributaries and storing it in Strawberry
Reservoir for delivery westward to the Wasatch Front in Utah. As a
result, wetlands and wildlife habitats along the Duchesne River have
been adversely impacted. Substantial wetland impacts occurred on the
Uintah and Ouray Reservation lands of the Ute Indian Tribe. The LDWP
has been planned in conjunction with the Ute Indian Tribe and is
intended to fulfill a longstanding commitment to mitigate for these
impacts on Ute Indian tribal wetland wildlife resources and to provide
additional wetland/wildlife benefits to the Ute Indian Tribe. The
Proposed Action would create, restore, and otherwise enhance riparian
wetland habitats along or near the Duchesne

[[Page 47646]]

River in Utah as partial mitigation for these Bonneville Unit impacts.
Approximately 4,807 acres of land composed of 3,215 acres of Ute Indian
Tribal trust lands, and 1,592 acres of fee lands to be acquired by the
Federal Government, would be acquired and developed into three cohesive
wetlands management units. A portion of the water currently managed by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Ute Indian Tribe under the
existing Uinta Indian Irrigation Project would be utilized, along with
water that may be acquired with fee land acquisitions, to create,
restore and enhance wetlands throughout the LDWP area. Lands acquired
in fee title (except lands acquired by eminent domain) would be
transferred to the Ute Indian Tribe. All LDWP lands (leased Tribal
trust and acquired lands) would be managed for project purposes by the
Ute Indian Tribe under management agreements with the Joint Lead
Agencies to achieve the prescribed wetlands-associated fish and
wildlife benefits, and for other wetland/wildlife related tribal
benefits. A Notice of Intent to initiate public scoping and prepare a
Draft EIS for the LDWP was published in the Federal Register on April
25, 2001 (66 FR 20827). Scoping was accomplished by means of three
public meetings convened in Ft. Duchesne, Roosevelt and Salt Lake City,
Utah in May 2003. Joint Lead Agencies filed the DEIS with the EPA on
November 17, 2003. Notice of Availability of the DEIS was announced in
the Federal Register on November 24, 2003 (68 FR 65943). Three public
meetings were held in Ft. Duchesne, Roosevelt and Salt Lake City, Utah
in December 2003, to receive public comment on the DEIS. Comments
received during the public comment period from November 17, 2003 to
February 17, 2004, were considered in preparation of the FEIS.

    Dated: August 4, 2008.
Mark A. Holden,
Projects Manager.
[FR Doc. E8-18831 Filed 8-13-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-05-P

 
 

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