[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2481-2482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1383]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area, Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County, 
Oregon

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to supplement a final environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare a supplement to the 
final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski 
Area on the Hood River Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest. 
The final EIS and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski 
Area were released in May 1991. The ROD was reversed by the Regional 
Forester in November 1991, based on inadequate cultural analysis. In 
May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort submitted a revised application 
for a new Master Plan. The revised application proposes to expand the 
existing day use ski area to a full season ski/recreaction area with 
increased capacity and permit area. It also withdraws their previous 
proposal to establish the ski area as a year-round destination resort 
with overnight housing. The alternatives will be revised based on the 
new proposed action and additional analysis that is conducted. The 
environmental analysis will be documented as a supplement to the 
existing analysis. The decision on a new master plan will be a 
conceptual decision that amends the Mt. Hood 

[[Page 2482]]
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1991). The 
construction of any improvements or new facilities authorized in the 
new master plan will be dependent upon future site specific 
environmental analysis and decisions.
    The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the Forest 
Service analyze the improvements to the Mt. Hood Meadows access road 
through the ski area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental 
document. As a cooperating agency, FHWA will review the supplemental 
EIS and sign a ROD for its approval and funding actions related to the 
access road. The decision on the road improvements will be site-
specific, not conceptual, and would authorize construction of any 
improvements. FHWA decisions would be implemented in accordance with 23 
CFR Part 771.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Roberta Moltzen, Forest 
Supervisor, Mt. Hood National Forest, 2955 NW Division Street, Gresham, 
Oregon 97030.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ken Davis, Hood River Ranger District, Mt. Hood National Forest, 6780 
Hwy. 35, Mt. Hood-Parkdale, Oregon 97041, Telephone: (541) 352-6002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The original proposed action was to 
establish Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area as a full-season destination resort 
with: a capacity of 15,000 persons; 1,500 units of overnight housing on 
National Forest System lands; 12 lifts and 1,166 developed acres of 
skiing; 46.3 acres of parking; and miscellaneous winter and summer 
uses. An expansion of the existing permit area by 855 acres was also 
proposed.
    The May 1995 Record of Decision would have authorized expansion of 
Mt. Hood Meadows from a day-use ski area to a full-season regional 
resort with: a maximum capacity of 15,000 persons; 500 units of 
overnight housing on National Forest System lands; 14 lifts and 1,165 
developed acres of skiing; parking based upon an average car occupancy 
and transit ridership formula; and miscellaneous winter and summer 
uses. An expansion of the permit area by 796 acres would have been 
authorized.
    Since the reversal of the May 1991 decision, additional cultural 
resource analysis has been conducted; the Northwest Forest Plan has 
designated portions of the proposed permit expansion area as Late 
Successional Reserve and Tier II Watershed; and additional facilities 
authorized under the ski area's 1978 Master plan (Gulch chairlift and 
Hood River Meadows base area expansion) have been approved and 
constructed. In May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows resort submitted a revised 
application for a new Master Plan. FHWA has also requested that 
improvement of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road be analyzed in the ski 
area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental document.
    The new proposed action would expand the existing day-use ski area 
to a full-season ski/recreation area with: a capacity of 15,210 
persons; 15 chairlifts, an unspecified number of surface lifts and 
associated ski terrain; 36.9 acres of parking; overnight use of skier 
service facilities for ski/snowboard camps; miscellaneous winter uses; 
and summer recreation facilities and uses. An expansion of the existing 
permit area by 796 acres is proposed. The new proposed action includes 
amending the Mt. Hood National Forest Land and resource Management Plan 
to permit ski area expansion and adoption of a new master plan.
    FHWA proposes to improve 0.7 mile of Oregon Highway 35 and 0.6 mile 
of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road (Forest Road 3555) to improve 
safety and to accommodate projected growth in traffic levels and 
expansion of the ski area. These improvements will be analyzed through 
the supplemental EIS. The FHWA will make a separate ROD for the road 
improvements.
    The supplement will be prepared and circulated in the same manner 
as the draft and final EIS (40 CFR 1502.9). Comments received on the 
draft supplemental EIS will be considered in the preparation of the 
final supplement. The draft supplement is expected to be available for 
public review and comment in April 1996. The comment period on the 
draft supplement will be 45 days from the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency's notice of availability appears in the Federal 
Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important at this early stage to 
give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
the draft supplement to the EIS must structure their participation in 
the environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and 
alerts an agency to the reviewer position and contentions. Vermont 
Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519.533 (1978). Also 
environmental objections that could be raised at the draft supplemental 
stage but that are not raised until after completion of the final 
Supplemental EIS may be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of 
Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d. 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin 
Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490f. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980).
    Comments on the draft supplement should be as specific as possible. 
It is also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of 
the draft supplement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the 
supplement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed 
in the supplement. 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.
    At the end of the comment period on the draft supplement, comments 
will be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the 
final Supplemental EIS. The final supplement is scheduled to be 
completed by July 1996.
    The Responsible Official, Forest Supervisor Roberta Moltzen will 
consider the comments, responses, environmental consequences discussed 
in the final Supplemental EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and 
policies. The responsible official will document the decision and 
rationale for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area in the Record of Decision. 
The Forest Service decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations (36 CFR Part 217).

    Dated: January 19, 1996.
Roberta Moltzen,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 96-1383 Filed 1-25-96; 8:45 am]
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