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<br />.~ ' <br />06/2~!00 TU~ 10:28 FA! 303 312 689i <br /> <br />SUPERFUND <br /> <br />Ii!IUU~ <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />'''8'' <br />~ <br /> <br />UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <br />-REGION 8 <br />9S9 18TH STREET - SUITE 300 <br />DENVER, CO 80202-2466 <br />http://www,epa.gov/regIClnoa <br /> <br />June 23, 2000 <br /> <br />Ref: 8EPR-EP <br /> <br />Mr. David Hayes <br />Deputy Secretary <br />U.S. Department of the Interior <br />1849 C Street, N,W. <br />Was~0~D.C.20240 <br /> <br />RE: Review of the Preliminary Final <br />Supplemental EIS for the Animas - La Plata <br />Project, Colorado and New Mexico <br /> <br />Dear Deputy Secretary Hayes: <br /> <br />The Region 8 Office of the U.S, Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed the <br />Preliminary Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (PFSEIS), transmitted to EP A <br />on May 20, 2000, for the Animas-La Plata (ALP) Project in La Plata and Montezuma Counties, <br />Colorado, and San Juan County, New Mexico. In a separate letter to Mr. Pat Schumacher, <br />Southern District Manager, Western Colorado Area Office of the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), <br />we have provided EPA's determination as to whether the proposal is consistent with the Clean <br />Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines (40 CFRPart 230). A copy of that letter is enclosed. <br /> <br />EP A, as a cooperating agency under the National Environmental Policy Act, would also <br />like to provide the following comments for consideration pursuant to our authority under Section <br />309 of the Clean Air Act. These comments offer observations regarding the conflicts of the <br />proposed ALP Project with other Indian water uses in the San Juan River Basin, particularly for <br />safe drinking water supplies, and suggest improvements for the upcoming Final Supplemental EIS <br />to address this matter. <br /> <br />The Project is intended to resolve the Colorado Utes' water rights claims. We know that <br />the Department of the Interior agrees that it is important for the United States, in its capacity as <br />trustee for all Indian tribes, to assure that implenientation of the ALP Project does not adversely <br />affect the ability of the Navajo Nation and the TIcariIla-Apache Tobe to exercise their water rights <br />in the San Juan Basin - while at the same time preserving flows to assure the survival of <br />endangered fish. We appreciate the BOR's efforts to analyze the impacts of the Project <br />alternatives on other Tribes, <br /> <br />o Printed ()fl Recycled Paper <br />