[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 54 (Friday, March 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13619-13620]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7270]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, Northern, 
Intermountain, and Pacific Northwest Regions

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

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 320786). 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. 
On January 23, 1998, a third notice (6 FR 3533) extended the comment 
period to April 6, 1998. This notice is to inform interested parties 
that the comment period has been extended again to provide additional 
time 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 May 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the economic and social report were mailed the 
second week of March 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 
EIS, 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 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 
EIS. 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

[[Page 13620]]

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 has been distributed to 
the public, providing approximately eights weeks for review and comment 
before the comment period closes May 6, 1998.

    Dated: March 12, 1998.
J. David Brunner,
Acting State Director Bureau of Land Management.

    Dated: March 12, 1998.
Robert W. Williams,
Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 98-7270 Filed 3-19-98; 8:45 am]
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