[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 15 (Monday, January 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1525]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 24, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 

G. Antolini and Son, Colson Quarry Operations

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA and Pacific Unified School District.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS), as required by the National Environmental Quality Act 
(NEPA). The proposed project is to evaluate a 10-Year Plan of 
Operations submitted by G. Antolini and Son for continuing quarrying 
operations at the Colson Quarry. The quarry is located on the Santa 
Lucia Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara 
County, California. The proposal could result in the approval of the 
proposed Operating Plan and the issuance of a Contract for the Sale of 
Mineral Materials to G. Antolini and Son. Operating period could be for 
as little as five years or as long as ten years. Proposed operating 
volume is an annual maximum of two thousand tons.

DATES: Any new information or issues regarding this analysis will be 
accepted on or before February 23, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments concerning new information or issues 
related to this analysis to Dennis Cooper, Lands and Minerals 
Assistant, 1616 Carlotti Drive, Santa Maria, California, 93454.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions about the proposed action should be directed to Dennis 
Cooper, Lands and Minerals Assistant, 1616 Carlotti Drive, Santa Maria, 
California, 93454, telephone (805) 925-9538.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project has been proposed by G. Antolini 
and Son, in order to continue quarrying operations inside approximately 
fifty acres of National Forest System lands on the Los Padres National 
Forest. The proposed operation would involve additional open-pit mining 
of decorative building stone from approximately eighteen acres of 
National Forest System lands. The remaining thirty-two acres is divided 
into sixteen acres for support facilities and sixteen acres for old 
waste dumps. Disposal of mine wastes would be inside of the existing 
quarry area. Annual volume of stone removed from the quarry would not 
exceed 2000 tons per year. Proposed project is for a total of ten 
years.
    The original proposal by G. Antolini and Son resulted in the 
preparation of an environmental assessment for the proposed action and 
four alternatives. The four alternatives included ``No Action'' and 
three alternatives that would allow quarrying operations. The three 
operating alternatives vary in the amounts of Forest land that would be 
disturbed, the different operating requirements and/or the lengths 
imposed on the total operating time. Based on agency scoping and issues 
related to reclamation and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act 
[SMARA] (California Public Resources Code 2710 et seq.), it was 
determined that an environmental impact statement would be required.
    The project will require G. Antolini and Son to submit to the 
Resource Management Department, Santa Barbara County, California, a 
Reclamation Plan as per SMARA. Any decision to approve the proposed 
Operating Plan would be in accordance with Forest Service rules and 
regulations for the disposal of mineral materials as found at 36 CFR 
228.40 through 228.67 and the regulations contained in SMARA. The 
County of Santa Barbara, California, as per the October 1992 Memorandum 
of Understanding between the State of California, Department of 
Conservation and the State Mining and Geology Board, the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, 
and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 
California, will be accepting the final EIS as a functionally 
equivalent document to meet their requirements under SMARA.
    In an effort to inform and to seek new information, comments and 
assistance during the original scoping period, the Santa Lucia Ranger 
District, Los Padres National Forest, formally contacted ninety-two 
Federal, State, and local agencies and other individuals and 
organizations who potentially were interested in or were affected by 
the proposed action in December 1992. An additional twenty-four 
potentially interested individuals were formally contacted in January 
1993. A total of seven written responses were received by the Forest 
Service. This input was used to determine the scope of the document and 
to validate the range of alternatives. The final phase of the public 
involvement process will be the request for public comments on the 
draft EIS.
    Preliminary issues which have been identified are: visual viewshed, 
cultural and paleontological resource impacts, slope stability, 
rehabilitation and reclamation of the mine and all of the associated 
area, impacts to water quality, impacts to air quality, noise 
pollution, additional traffic and the need for road maintenance, 
impacts to the biological resources, and socioeconomic effects.
    The responsible official for the Forest Service and the NEPA 
process is Kathryn J. Silverman, District Ranger, Santa Lucia Ranger 
District, 1616 Carlotti Drive, Santa Maria, California, 93454.
    The decision to be made by the District Ranger is whether or not to 
approve the proposed 10-Year Plan of Operations for the Colson Quarry, 
as submitted by G. Antolini and Son, or to select another alternative 
for management of the current quarry and the associated National Forest 
System lands.
    The estimated date for completion of the DEIS is February 22, 1994. 
The estimated date for completion of the final EIS is April 14, 1994.
    The comment period of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is importation 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
draft environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts the agency to the reviewer's position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, U.S. 519, 553 
(1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the 
draft environmental impact stage but that are not raised until after 
completion of the final environmental impact statement may be waived or 
dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F. 2nd 1016, 1022 
(9th Cir. 1986) and Western Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 
1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings, it is very 
important that those interested in this proposed action participate by 
the close of the 45 day comment period so that substantive comments and 
objections are available to the Forest Service at a time when it can 
meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the environmental 
impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the 
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft 
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives 
formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer 
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing 
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.

    Dated: January 12, 1994.
Kathryn J. Silverman,
District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 94-1525 Filed 1-21-94; 10:00 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M