[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3533-3534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-1603]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[ID918-1610-00-UCRB]


Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, States of 
Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada and the 
Northern, Intermountain, and Pacific Northwest Regions

AGENCIES: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period for draft environmental 
impact statements (EISs).

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SUMMARY: On June 12, 1997, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 
Management published a notice of availability of two draft EISs in the 
Federal Register (62 FR 32076). That notice stated that a 120-day 
comment period was provided for the Eastside Draft EIS and for the 
Upper Columbia River Basin Draft EIS. On September 5, 1997, a second 
notice (62 FR 46941) extended the comment period to February 6, 1998. 
This notice is to inform interested parties that the comment period has 
been extended again to provide for public review of, and comment on, an 
economic and social report prepared in response to a requirement of the 
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 
1998.

DATES: Comments on the two draft EISs and on the economic and social 
report must now be submitted or postmarked no later than April 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the economic and social report will be mailed in 
mid-February to everyone on the mailing list for the Eastside and Upper 
Columbia River Basin Draft EISs. Interested parties not on the mailing 
list can obtain a copy from ICBEMP, 112 E. Poplar Street, Walla Walla, 
WA 99362 or by calling (509) 522-4030 or from ICBEMP, 304 N. 8th 
Street, Room 250, Boise, ID 83702 or by calling (208) 334-1770, ext. 
120. The economic and social report will also be available via the 
internet (http://www.icbemp.gov).
    Comments on the Eastside draft EIS, including the economic and 
social report, should be submitted in writing to ICBEMP, 112 East 
Poplar Street, P.O. Box 2076, Walla Walla, WA 99362. Comments on the 
Upper Columbia River Basin draft EIS, including the economic and social 
report, should be submitted in writing to ICBEMP, 304 N. 8th Street, 
Room 250, Boise, ID 83702. If your comments are in regard to both draft 
EISs, they may be sent to either office. Comments may also be made 
electronically by accessing the Project home page (http://
www.icbemp.gov), where a comment form is available. If you have already 
submitted your comments, you may now submit more comments on the draft 
EISs, including your comments regarding the economic and social report.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
EIS Team Leader Jeff Walter, 304 N. 8th Street, Room 250, Boise, ID 
83702, telephone (208) 334-1770 or EIS Deputy Team Leader Cathy 
Humphrey, 112 East Poplar Street, P.O. Box 2076, Walla Walla, WA 99362, 
telephone (509) 522-4030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Section 323 of the Department of the 
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998 Pub. L. 105-
83), the United States Congress directed the following: ``Using all 
research information

[[Page 3534]]

available from the area encompassed by the Project, the Secretaries [of 
Agriculture and the Interior], to the extent practicable, shall analyze 
the economic and social conditions, and culture and customs, of the 
communities at the sub-basin level within the Project area and the 
impacts the alternatives in the draft EISs will have on those 
communities. This analysis shall be published on a schedule that will 
allow a reasonable period of time for public comment thereon prior to 
the close of the comment periods on the draft EISs. The analysis, 
together with the response * * * to the public comment, shall be 
incorporated in the final EISs and * * * subsequent decisions related 
thereto.''
    The required analysis has been prepared. It is a report on the 
existing economic and social conditions at the community level within 
the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project area and, to 
the extent practicable, an analysis of the effects of the alternatives 
described in the draft EISs upon communities. This report will be 
distributed to the public by mid-February, providing approximately 
seven weeks for review and comment before the comment period closes 
April 6, 1998.

    Dated: January 16, 1998.
Martha Hahn,
Director, Bureau of Land Management.

    Dated: January 16, 1998.
Jack Blackwell,
Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 98-1603 Filed 1-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-11-M, 4310-GG-M