[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 47 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12503-12505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5726]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Granite Area Mining Projects; Umatilla National Forest, Grant 
County, Oregon

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a proposed action to approve Proposed Plans of 
Operation on mining claims located in the Granite Area, within the 
Granite Creek watershed, a tributary to the North Fork John Day River. 
The project area is located on the North Folk John Day Ranger District, 
approximately 34 air miles southeast of Ukiah, Oregon.
    The proposed action is a compilation of plans submitted by 
claimants operating within the analysis area. These plans describe the 
type of mining operations proposed and how they would be conducted, the 
type and standard of access routes, the means of transportation to be 
used, the period during which the proposed mining activity will take 
place and measures to be taken to meet the requirements for 
environmental protection. Operations include the exploration and 
extraction of valuable minerals from placer and lode deposits. Methods 
range from hand panning to more complex operations utilizing mechanical 
equipment. The 1990 Land and the Resource Management Plan FEIS for the 
Umatilla National Forest, as amended, provides overall guidance for 
management of this area. Some of the operations planned in the proposed 
action may not be in compliance with this plan.

DATES: Written comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be 
received on or before April 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions to the Responsible 
Official, Craig Smith-Dixon, North Folk John Day District Ranger, P.O. 
Box 158, Ukiah, OR 97880.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Reed, Project Team Leader, North 
Fork John Day Ranger District. Phone: (541) 427-3231.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The decision area includes approximately 900 
acres of claimed lands within the Umatilla National Forest in Grant 
County, Oregon. It is within the boundary of the Granite Creek 
Watershed. The legal description of the decision area is as follows: 
T8-10S, R34, 35, 35\1/2\E, W.M. surveyed. Some proposed activities are 
within the boundary of the North Folk John Day Wilderness Area.
    Gold was discovered in the project area in 1864 and a small gold 
rush shortly followed. Most of the gold produced in this area was 
placer gold mined from the gravel and bars of streams. There were also 
several large producing gold and silver mines. A large-scale dredge 
operated in many of the area streams in the later 1930's Most of the 
big mining was over by the 1950's as the economical discoveries were 
mined out. Exploration continues but no major production is occurring. 
Most current mining activity consists of small-scale placer operations.
    During the past years, several species of fish residing within 
streams located in or near the project area have been listed as 
threatened under the

[[Page 12504]]

Endangered Species Act. After reviewing the new listings, the Forest 
Service has determined that current mining operations could 
significantly affect these fish species. Therefore it is necessary for 
persons operating in the project area to submit new or modified Plans 
of Operations to the Forest Service. Under the regulations at 36 CFR 
228.4 and 228.5, and because of the potential significance of the 
effects, these plans must be analyzed in an Environmental Impact 
Statement.
    Mining operations are associated with the extraction of precious 
metals from placer and lode deposits. A number of different practices 
are being proposed on the various claims within the analysis area. 
These may include one or more of the following practices:
    Suction Dredging: Portable suction dredges would be used in stream 
during the period specified by the State of Oregon, generally July 15 
to August 15.
    Test Pits: Holes are dug either by hand or mechanical equipment to 
sample sub-surface deposits.
    Drilling: Portable drills are used as part of the exploration 
process to sample sub-surface mineral deposits.
    Placer Mining: This includes a wide variety of practices to extract 
minerals from placer deposits. The techniques include handwork with 
shovels and pans, small sluice boxes and more complex operations that 
use mechanical equipment. On the more heavily worked claims backhoes 
and front end loaders are used for digging, and power trommels for 
separation and extraction. Water, to varying degrees, is used in all 
these techniques. Some minor road maintenance and maintenance of 
existing structures is also planned.
    Lode Mining: This includes tunneling or other mechanical methods 
used to extract lode deposits.
    Activities, which would occur in association with mining operation, 
include mitigation practices such as construction or maintenance of 
settling ponds, and reclamation activities such as recontouring, 
seeding, and treatment of noxious weeds.
    Preliminary issues include: effects of proposed activities on water 
quality and the effects of proposed activities on fish habitat and 
aquatic Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive species.
    The Forest Service will consider a full range of alternatives, 
including a ``no-action'' alternative in which no mining activities 
would be approved. The no-action alternative is evaluated in order to 
establish a baseline condition of existing and future environmental 
conditions in the project area. Based on the issues gathered through 
scoping, the action alternatives may vary in the type of operations 
permitted, the timing of permitted operations and the types of 
mitigation required. Tentative action alternatives are: the proposed 
action and an alternative that modifies the proposed plans with 
additional mitigation to address effects of mining on water quality and 
fisheries habitat.
    Public participation will be especially important at several points 
during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process (40 CFR 
1501.7). Initial scoping began with the project listing in the 2000 
Winter Edition of the Umatilla National Forest's Schedule of Proposed 
Activities. This environmental analysis and decision making process 
will enable additional interested and affected people to participate 
and contribute to the final decision. The public is encouraged to take 
part in the process and is encouraged to visit with Forest Service 
officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the decision. 
The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and 
assistance from Federal, State, local agencies, and other individuals 
or organizations that may be interested in, or affected by the 
proposal. This input will be used in preparation of the Draft EIS. The 
scoping process includes:
    1. Identifying potential issues.
    2. Identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth.
    3. Identifying issues which have been covered by a relevant 
previous environmental analysis.
    4. Considering additional alternatives based on themes which will 
be derived from issues recognized during scoping activities.
    5. Identifying potential environmental effects of this project and 
alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative effects and 
connected actions).
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available to the public for review by 
September 1, 2000. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of 
Availability of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment 
period on the Draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes 
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. It is important 
that those interested in the management of the Umatilla National Forest 
participate at that time. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by 
December 1, 2000. In the Final EIS, the Forest Service is required to 
respond to comments and responses received during the comment period 
that pertain to the environmental consequences discussed in the Draft 
EIS and applicable laws, regulations, and policies considered in making 
a decision regarding the proposal.
    Comments received in response to this notice, 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. 
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. 
Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the 
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 a 
specified number of days.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice, at this early stage, of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
Draft EIS's 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, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental 
objections that could be raised at the draft environmental impact 
statement stage but that are not raised until completion of the final 
environmental impact statement 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 and respond to them in the final 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

[[Page 12505]]

chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy 
of the draft environmental impact statement or 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).
    The Forest Service is the lead agency. Craig Smith-Dixon, District 
Ranger, is the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official, he 
will decide which, if any, of the proposed plans will be implemented. 
He will document the decision and reasons for the decision in the 
Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service 
Appeal Regulations (36 CFR part 215).

    Dated: February 24, 2000.
Craig Smith-Dixon,
District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 00-5726 Filed 3-8-00; 8:45 am]
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