Tongue River Basin Project/Northern Cheyenne Indian Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 1992, Big Horn County, Montana

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[FES 96-14]

Tongue River Basin Project/Northern Cheyenne Indian Reserved

Water Rights Settlement Act of 1992, Big Horn County, Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation (Interior), in conjunction with the

Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the Montana Department of Natural Resources

and Conservation.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement

(FEIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Reclamation, acting as

lead Federal agency, in conjunction with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, has

prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Tongue River

Basin Project portion of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reserved Water

Rights Settlement Act of 1992 (Settlement Act). The proposed action

affects the following trust assets of the Northern Cheyenne Indian

Tribe (Tribe) (1) the Tribe's existing water supplies held in Tongue

River Reservoir; (2) the safety of downstream Tribal lands; and (3)

additional water for the Tribe's use in the Tongue River Basin. The

FEIS evaluates the impact to the environment of various alternatives

for protecting these Tribal assets. The project includes the repair and

enlargement of the Tongue River Dam, the partial fulfillment of the

Northern Cheyenne Settlement Act, and the conservation, development,

and enhancement of fish and wildlife resources and habitat in the

Tongue River Basin.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Katherine Jabs, Area Manager,

Montana Projects Office, Bureau of Reclamation (Code: MT-100), P.O. Box

30137, Billings, Montana 59107, telephone: (406) 247-7298.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Negotiations between the Federal Government

(acting as trustee for the Tribe) and the State of Montana culminated

in 1991 with the signing of a water rights compact. Subsequently, the

compact was ratified by the United States Congress and the Northern

Cheyenne Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1992 (Settlement Act)

was signed into Public Law #102-374. During the negotiations, an

opportunity was identified to rehabilitate the presently unsafe State-

owned Tongue River Dam (Dam) and provide additional water to the Tribe

by raising the dam. The following action alternatives for

rehabilitating and replacing the spillway and raising the Dam crest

elevation 4 feet were evaluated in the FEIS: (1) A Labyrinth Weir

Spillway, (2) a Roller-Compacted Concrete (RCC) Spillway, and (3) No

Action. Other alternatives were considered and dismissed on the basis

of being technically or economically infeasible or resulted in greater

environmental effects. These dismissed alternatives ranged from

purchasing water rights to satisfy the Settlement Act to constructing a

new dam at another location. The preferred alternative

[[Page 13213]]

selected by the project sponsors is the RCC alternative.

During the process of negotiating the compact, the State of Montana

and the Bureau of Reclamation hosted numerous public and agency

informational meetings. More recently, during the NEPA process, public

scoping meetings were held during March 1993. A scoping document

containing the schedule for all meetings was mailed to approximately

2100 individuals and entities on the Northern Cheyenne Indian

Reservation and surrounding towns and cities. After the scoping process

was completed, the draft EIS was completed and sent out for agency and

public review and comment in mid 1995. Comments were received and

replies are incorporated in the FEIS.

There is a 30-day public comment period for the FEIS. Anyone

interested in obtaining a copy of the FEIS and/or wanting more

information relative to the study should contact the following persons:

Ms. Brenda Schilf, Project Coordinator, Bureau of Reclamation, Montana

Projects Office, P.O. Box 30137, Billings, MT 59107, (406) 247-7298.

Mr. Ernie Robinson, Project Coordinator, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, 128

Little Coyote Drive, Lame Deer, MT 59043, (406) 477-6503.

Mr. Stan Jones, Project Coordinator, Department of Natural Resources

and Conservation, 48 N. Last Chance Gulch, P.O. Box 201601, Helena,

Montana 59620-1601, (406) 444-0525.

Dated: March 14, 1996.

Katherine Jabs,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 96-7197 Filed 3-25-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-09-P