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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 0,00336 and one public meeting, the Department received 49 comment letters from 47 respondents. Of these letters, 24 commented only on the rule, 23 commented on both the proposed rule and the draft programmatic environmental assessment (DPEA), and 2 commented only on the DPEA As a result of receiving differing comments on the definition of authorized entity and several other technical matters, the Department reopened the comment period on September 21, 1998 (63 FR 50183) for a 30-day period ending October 21,1998. The Department requested interested parties to provide comments on three specific questions. The Department received 10 letters from 11 respondents during the reopened comment period. The respondents included three State agencies, three water districts, one water authority, one water users association, and three environmental organizations. We reviewed and analyzed all pertinent comments and revised the final rule based on these comments. Thus, the public has influenced the scope and formulation of this rule. Secretarial Discretion Comment: Does the Secretary of the Interior have the authority to enter into an agreement that binds future Secretaries to commit unused apportionment to a specific user in a particular State over a multiple-year period? Response: Yes. The Secretary's release ofICUA in any year will be pursuant to Article II(B)( 6) of the Decree. The Decree does not preclude the Secretary from releasing unused apportionment to a specific user in a particular State. The Secretary will agree to release ICUA only during the year in which it is developed by the storing entity. Moreover, under ~ 414.3(a)(12) of the finairule, the Secretary will commit in the Storage and Interstate Release Agreement to release ICUA after the storing entity has certified to the Secretary, and the Secretary has verified in accordance with ~ 414.3(a)(15), that the quantity ofICUA requested by the consuming entity has been developed or will be developed in that year. Further, the ICUA released by the Secretary will be limited to the quantity developed by a storing entity during that year. Eligjbilitv to be an Authorized Entitv Note: There is also a discussion on the contractual requirements necessary to qualifY as an authorized entity in the section of this preamble addressing comments received during the reopened comment period. Comment: The most frequently mentioned comment concerned the definition for the term "authorized entity." Some thought "authorized entity" should be defined broadly to enable the widest possible participation and others thought the term should be defined very narrowly to limit participation to State agencies. Indian Tribes commented that the definition should be expanded to include the Tribes under the Secretary's authority under the BCP A. Tribes further commented that the proposed definition of "authorized entity" will give State government a virtual monopoly 4