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<br />! . <br /> <br />The Department acknowledges that the Ten Tribes Partnership (in comments to <br />Reclamation on the Draft Interim Surplus Criteria Environmental Impact Statement) <br />proposed the Tribal Accounting Pool (TAP) in Lake Mead. The TAP was a proposed <br />methodology to track the amounts of undeveloped tribal water and determine the portion <br />of surplus, normal, and shortage water delivered to other non-partnership Lower Basin <br />users as a result of undeveloped Ten Tribes' water in the Lower Basin. The Department <br />of the Interior did not include the TAP methodology as part of the Interim Surplus <br />Guidelines and does not believe that revision of the Operating Criteria to include the TAP <br />methodology is appropriate. See e.g., u.s. Department of the Interior, Response to Ten <br />Tribes Partnership, Interim Surplus Guidelines, Final Environmental Impact Statement, <br />Volume III at page B-208 (Comment 13). <br /> <br />Comment No.6 - (Letter No.2): The Quechan Tribe asks Reclamation to consider <br />whether Reclamation should adopt the Operating Criteria as a rule, pursuant to the <br />Administrative Procedure Act. <br /> <br />Res'{Jonse: The Administrative Procedure Act (AP A) was originally enacted in 1946, was <br />significantly amended in 1966, and has been subsequently modified by Congress. <br />Primary purposes of the APA are (1) to require agencies to keep the public informed on <br />organization,. procedures, and rules; (2) to provide for public participation in the <br />rulemaking process; (3) to prescribe uniform standards of conduct for rule making and <br />adjudicatory proceedings; and (4) to address judicial review of agency decisionmaking. <br /> <br />The AP A addresses rulemaking. A "rule" is defined as: "the whole or part of an agency <br />statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, <br />interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, pr<?cedure, or practice <br />requirements of an agency. . . "5 U.S.C. ~ 551(4). Rulemaking is usually referred to as <br />either formal or informal. While developedptirsuant to specific provisions of the <br />Colorado River Basin Project Act, the review of the Operating Criteria should be <br />categorized as informal rulemaking. . <br /> <br />Consistent with the AP A, Reclamation has provided for public participation and review <br />of the Operating Criteria. Reclamation has developed a thorough adininistrative record. <br />Notices regarding five-year reviews are also publicly noticed through the Federal <br />Register. All comment letters received and notes from public meetings, as well as any <br />analysis performed by Reclamation, are part of the public record. The public has been <br />kept informed of the intent of the review and encouraged to participate. The Department <br />believes that it is meeting the requirements of the AP A and all actions are in accordance <br />with applicable federal law. <br /> <br />Comment No.7 - (Letter No.2): . The Quechan Tribe is also concerned about the <br />Operating Criteria's cumulative effects on the Colorado River and on its senior rights in <br />the river when considered with the many other federal activities that affect the flow of the <br />Colorado River. <br /> <br />14 <br /> <br />