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. CO ""::'" C'..; ....-I C) C.) . . , Federal Responsibilities and Actions The Department of the Interior has reserved unto itself the corridor selection decisions and the Federal environmental compliance and permitting activities. On July 1,1982, Reclamation established the Saline Water Transport and Use Office in Denver, Colorado, to be the Federal focus for Aquatrain studies. Four Reclamation employees and one Bureau of Land Management employee are currently staffing the office. Discussions are underway with the Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration, to provide additional technical staff. An outline of th~ Plan of Study has been prepared and a literature search is underway to identify presently available corridor and environmental information. Assuming necessary authorities and funding are available, it appears that Federal environmental and permitting activities can be completed by mid-year 1985. A Cooperative Agree~ent between Reclamation and Grace defining relative roles and responsibilities, has been forwarded to Grace for signature. That cooperative agreement confirms the division of responsibilites contained in Under Secretary Hodel's April 22, 1982, letter and provides for housing the key non-Federal participants jointly in Reclamation's Saline Water Transport and Use Office. W.R. Grace & Co. Responsibilities and Actions Grace, as the lead private sector entity for the joint venture, has agreed to (1) as~ume technology development responsibilities for the saline water coal transport pipeline; (2) seek to attract private sector interests including coal users, transportation interests, and other coal producers; and (3) develop procedures for financing the non-Federal share of the project. Through a large number of meetings, arranged by Grace and Reclamation, most potential participants have been contacted and invited to participate. J ~ Representatives of the environmental community have been contacted and a productive dialog has begun. Major areas of envrionmental COncern involve (1) coal mining in sensitive areas, (2) air quality considerations, and (3) saline water disposal. Through the efforts of San Oi ego Gas and E1.ectri c Co., some 20 util iti es have indicated interest in using a site near Blythe, California, as a regional coal based power park for the early 1990's with coal being delivered by Aquatrain. It is possible that the coal can be entirely used domestically for power generation purposes. The pacific rim countries have not, to date, given any firm expressions of interest in utilizina Aquatrain to deliver coal for export; however, those discussions are continuing with (1) a representative of W. R. Grace & Co., currently in the Far East, (2) a major Japan-U.S. Coal Conference scheduled. (more) 2