[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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