[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 117 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33317-33318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16222]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Moira Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to provide timber for the 
Ketchikan Area timber sale program. The Record of Decision will 
disclose how the Forest Service has decided to provide harvest units, 
roads, and associated timber harvesting facilities. The proposed action 
is to harvest up to an estimated 435 million board feet (mmbf) of 
timber on an estimated 3,000 acres in several timber sales. A range of 
alternatives responsive to significant issues will be developed and 
will include a no-action alternative. The proposed timber harvest is 
located within Tongass Forest Plan Value Comparison Units 683, 691, 
692, 693, and 694 on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, on the Craig 
Ranger District of the Ketchikan Area of the Tongass National Forest.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be received 
by July 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Forest Supervisor's Office; 
Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan Area; Attn: Moira EIS; Federal 
Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposal and EIS 
should be directed to Dale Kanen, District Ranger, Craig Ranger 
District, Tongass National Forest, P.O. Box 500, Craig, AK 99921; 
telephone (907) 826-3271 or Norm Matson, Planning Biologist, Federal 
Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901; telephone (907) 228-6273.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public participation will be an integral 
component of the study process and will be especially important at 
several points during the analysis. The first is during the scoping 
process. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and 
assistance from Federal, State, local agencies, individuals and 
organizations that may interested in, or affected by, the proposed 
activities. The scoping process will include: (1) identification of 
potential issues; (2) identification of issues to be analyzed in depth; 
and (3) elimination of insignificant issues or those which have been 
covered by a previous environmental review. Written scoping comments 
are being solicited through a scoping package that will be sent to the 
project mailing list. For the Forest Service to best use the scoping 
input, comments should be received by July 30, 1998. Tentative issues 
identified for analysis in the EIS include the potential effects of the 
project on and the relationship of the project to: Subsistence 
resources, old-growth ecosystem management and the maintenance of 
habitat for viable populations of wildlife and plant species, timber 
supply, scenery and recreational resources, anadromous and resident 
fish habitat, soil and water resources, wetlands, cultural resources 
and others.
    Based on results of scoping and the resource capabilities within 
the project area, alternatives including a ``no action'' alternative 
will be developed for the Draft Environmental Impact

[[Page 33318]]

Statement (Draft EIS). The Draft EIS is projected to be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 1999. Subsistence 
hearings, as provided for in Title VIII, Section 810 of the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), are planned during 
the comment period on the Draft EIS. The Final EIS is anticipated by 
April 2000.
    The comment period on 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 important 
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 an agency to the reviewer's position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 
553 (1978). Environmental objections that could have been raised at the 
draft environmental impact statement stage 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, 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 made available to the Forest Service at a time when it 
can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final 
environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns of the proposed action, comments during scoping and 
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. 
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and 
addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public 
record on this proposed action and will be available for public 
inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and 
considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have 
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Parts 215 or 
217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request 
the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing 
how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. 
Requesters should be aware that, under FOIA, confidentiality may be 
granted in only very limited circumstances, such as to protect trade 
secrets. The Forest Service will inform the requester of the agency's 
decision regarding the request for confidentiality, and where the 
request is denied, the agency will return the submission and notify the 
requester that the comments may be resubmitted with or without name and 
address within 7 days.
    Permits: permits required for implementation include the following:

1. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers
    --Approval of discharge of dredged or fill material into the waters 
of the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act;
    --Approval of the construction of structures or work in navigable 
waters of the United States under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors 
Act of 1899;
2. Environmental Protection Agency
    --National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (402) Permit;
    --Review Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan;
3. State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources
    --Tideland Permit and Lease or Easement;
4. State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation
    --Solid Waste Disposal Permit;
    --Certification of Compliance with Alaska Water Quality Standard 
(401 Certification)

Responsible Official

    Bradley E. Powell, Forest Supervisor, Ketchikan Area, Tongass 
National Forest, Federal Building, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901, is the 
responsible official. The responsible official will consider the 
comments, response, disclosure of environmental consequences, and 
applicable laws, regulations, and policies in making the decision and 
stating the rationale in the Record of Decision.

    Dated: June 9, 1998.
Bradley E. Powell,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-16222 Filed 6-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M