30 Day Federal Register Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 13, 2012 / Notices

Notice of intent and scoping
meeting.

ACTION:

The Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
proposes to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
20-year extension (March 1, 2015
through February 28, 2034) of the
existing 2005 Mendota Pool 10-year
Exchange Agreements. The Mendota
Pool 10-year Exchange Agreements that
are currently in place span the years
2005 to 2014, and an extension of the
agreements is necessary for Mendota
Pool Group farmers to continue this
exchange after 2014. The proposed
extension would allow Mendota Pool
Group farmers in the Mendota Pool area
to continue to pump up to 26,250 acrefeet per year of groundwater of suitable
quality into the Mendota Pool for
exchange of up to 25,000 acre-feet per
year Central Valley Project water
delivered to the San Luis Canal for use
by Mendota Pool Group farmers in the
San Luis Canal service area of San Luis
Water District and Westlands Water
District when the existing agreements
expire.
DATES: Written comments on the scope
of the EIS should be mailed to Ms. Rain
Healer at the address below by
December 14, 2012.
A public scoping meeting will be held
on November 27, 4:00–7:00 p.m., in
Fresno, California.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the
scope of the EIS should be sent to Ms.
Rain Healer, Bureau of Reclamation,
1243 N Street, SCC–431, Fresno,
California 93720, or via email to
rhealer@usbr.gov.
The public scoping meeting will be
held at the Bureau of Reclamation’s
South-Central California Area Office,
1243 N Street, Fresno, California.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Rain Healer, Natural Resources
Specialist, Bureau of Reclamation at the
above address, via email at
rhealer@usbr.gov or at 559–487–5196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Mendota Pool Group (MPG) is
comprised of an unincorporated
association of farmers that own
approximately 50,000 acres of
historically irrigated farmland in
Westlands Water District and San Luis
Water District. The MPG members have
wells located near the Mendota Pool
and in Farmers Water District. In 2004,
Reclamation and the MPG completed a
Final EIS for the 10-year program, and
a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued
March 30, 2005. The 2004 Final EIS
evaluated impacts to groundwater
levels, land subsidence, groundwater

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SUMMARY:

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quality, surface water quality, sediment
quality, biological resources, Central
Valley Project operations, archeological
and cultural resources, land use and
traffic, air quality, noise, environmental
justice, and socioeconomics. The
primary adverse effect of the action was
to increase the cumulative rate of
groundwater degradation in wells west
of the Mendota Pool, primarily MPG
wells. Mitigation actions that addressed
potential impacts of the exchange
program were included in the EIS and
incorporated into the exchange
agreement. These mitigation actions
include a baseline pumping program,
design constraints, a monitoring
program, and adaptive management, all
of which would be continued or
expanded upon with the proposed 20year extension.
The objective of the proposed 20-year
extension is to enable the MPG to
maintain production on historically
irrigated lands by obtaining sufficient
good quality water at cost-effective
prices to offset cutbacks in Central
Valley Project deliveries. The action is
not intended to increase the amount of
water for farming activities but would
continue to replace water allocated for
other Central Valley Project purposes.
This program would enable participants
to:
• Replace water no longer available
due to restrictions on water exports
from the Delta.
• Deliver water to farms for an
average cost that approximates the cost
of contract water and does not exceed
the costs of supplemental water on the
open market.
• Maintain production on lands with
long-term water supply contracts that
have regularly produced agricultural
commodities.
• Avoid or minimize, through
incorporation of design constraints and
management practices, impacts to
environmental resources such as surface
water, groundwater levels, land
subsidence, groundwater quality and
biological resources including sensitive
species.
There are no known Indian Trust
Asset or environmental justice issues
associated with the proposed extension.
Special Assistance for Public Meetings
If special assistance is required to
participate in the scoping meeting,
please contact Ms. Rain Healer at 559–
487–5196, or via email at
rhealer@usbr.gov. A telephone device
for the hearing impaired (TTY) is
available at 800–735–2929.

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Public Disclosure
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.
Dated: September 24, 2012.
Anastasia T. Leigh,
Regional Environmental Officer, Mid-Pacific
Region.
[FR Doc. 2012–27556 Filed 11–9–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians
Notice of Proposed Renewal of
Information Collection: Application To
Withdraw Tribal Funds From Trust
Status
Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians, Interior.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

In compliance with section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the
Special Trustee for American Indians,
Department of the Interior, is
announcing its intention to request
renewal approval for the collection of
information for Application to
Withdraw Tribal Funds from Trust
Status, OMB Control Number 1035–
0003 . This collection request has been
forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and
approval. The information collection
request (ICR) describes the nature of the
information collection and the expected
burden and cost.
DATES: OMB has up to 60 days to
approve or disapprove the information
collection request, but may respond
after 30 days; therefore, public
comments should be submitted to OMB
by December 13, 2012, in order to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the
Department of the Interior (1035–0003),
by telefax at (202) 395–5806 or via email
to OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov.
Also, please send a copy of your
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 13, 2012 / Notices
comments to Frank Perniciaro,
Management Analyst, Office of the
Special Trustee, Office of External
Affairs, 4400 Masthead St. NE., Room
323, Albuquerque, NM 87109, or send
an email to
frank_perniciaro@ost.doi.gov.
Additionally, you may telefax your
comments to him at (505) 796–3167.
Individuals providing comments should
reference OMB control number 1035–
0003, Application to Withdraw Tribal
Funds from Trust Status.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request more information on this
information collection or to obtain a
copy of the collection instrument,
please write or call Frank Perniciaro,
(505) 816–1173, Office of the Special
Trustee, Office of External Affairs, 4400
Masthead St. NE., Room 323,
Albuquerque, NM 87109. You may also
send your request by emailing him at
frank_perniciaro@ost.doi.gov. To see a
copy of the entire ICR submitted to
OMB, go to: http://www.reginfo.gov and
select Information Collection Review,
Currently Under Review.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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I. Abstract
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which
implement the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–131), require
that interested members of the public
and affected parties have an opportunity
to comment on information collection
and recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR
1320.8(d). This notice identifies an
information collection activity that the
Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians has submitted to
OMB for renewal.
Public Law 103–412, The American
Indian Trust Fund Management Reform
Act of 1994 (Act), allows Indian tribes
on a voluntary basis to take their funds
out of trust status within the
Department of the Interior (and the
Federal Government) in order to manage
and invest such funds on their own. 25
CFR Part 1200, subpart B, Sec. 1200.13,
‘‘How does a tribe apply to withdraw
funds?’’ describes the requirements for
application for withdrawal. The Act
covers all tribal trust funds including
judgment funds as well as some
settlements funds, but excludes funds
held in Individual Indian Money
accounts. Both the Act and the
regulations state that upon withdrawal
of the funds, the Department of the
Interior (and the Federal Government)
have no further liability for such funds.
Accompanying their application for
withdrawal of trust funds, tribes are
required to submit a Management Plan

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for managing the funds being
withdrawn, to protect the funds once
they are out of trust status.
This information collection allows the
Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians to collect the tribes’
applications for withdrawal of funds
held in trust by the Department of the
Interior. If this information were not
collected, the Office of the Special
Trustee for American Indians would not
be able to comply with the American
Indian Trust Fund Management Reform
Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103–412), and
tribes would not be able to withdraw
funds held for them in trust by the
Department of the Interior.
II. Data
(1) Title: Application to Withdraw
Tribal Funds from Trust Status, 25 CFR
1200.
OMB Control Number: 1035–0003.
Current Expiration Data: November
30, 2012.
Type of Review: Information
Collection Renewal.
Affected Entities: Tribal Governments.
Estimated annual number of
respondents: One respondent per year.
Frequency of response: Once per tribe
per trust fund withdrawal application.
(2) Annual reporting and record
keeping burden:
Total annualized reporting per
respondent: 1.
Total annualized reporting: 750
hours.
(3) Description of the need and use of
the information: The statutorilyrequired information is needed to
approve tribal applications to withdraw
funds from accounts held in trust for
tribes by the United States Government,
for self-management.
(4) As required under 5 CFR
1320.8(d), a Federal Register notice
soliciting comments on the information
collection was published on June 7,
2012 (77 FR 33767). No comments were
received. This notice provides the
public with an additional 30 days in
which to comment on the proposed
information collection activity.
III. Request for Comments
The Department of the Interior invites
comments on:
(a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the collection
and the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and

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67667

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
collection techniques or other forms of
information techniques.
‘‘Burden’’ means the total time, effort,
or financial resources expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain,
disclose or provide information to or for
a Federal agency. This includes the time
needed to review instructions; to
develop, acquire, install and utilize
technology and systems for the purpose
of collecting, validating and verifying
information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing
and providing information; to train
personnel and to be able to respond to
a collection of information, to search
data sources, to complete and review
the collection of information; and to
transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
All written comments, with names
and addresses, will be available for
public inspection. If you wish us to
withhold your personal information,
you must prominently state at the
beginning of your comment what
personal information you want us to
withhold. We will honor your request to
the extent allowable by law. If you wish
to view any comments received, you
may do so by scheduling an
appointment with the Office of the
Special Trustee for American Indians by
calling Frank Perniciaro at (505) 816–
1173. A valid picture identification is
required for entry into the Office of the
Special Trustee for American Indians,
4400 Masthead Street NE., Albuquerque,
NM 87109.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid
Office of Management and Budget
control number.
Dated: October 16, 2012.
James P. Barham,
Director, Office of External Affairs, Office of
the Special Trustee for American Indians.
[FR Doc. 2012–27521 Filed 11–9–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–2W–P

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