[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 137 (Monday, July 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44027-44028]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17945]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Santa Fe Municipal Watershed Wildland-Urban Interface Fuels 
Reduction Project, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe County, NM

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service and City of Santa Fe (City) are proposing a 
project to reduce the potential for a large scale, high intensity 
wildfire to destroy the municipal watershed and impact the City's 
potable water supply. Current conditions indicate that the watershed is 
at high risk of catastrophic wildfire and subsequent severe flooding.
    The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) to disclose the potential environmental effects of treating 
vegetation in portions of the municipal watershed to reduce the 
severity of a high intensity wildfire. The EIS will be prepared 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA 
(40 CFR parts 1500 to 1508), and USDA NEPA Policies and Procedures (7 
CFR part 1b; Forest Service Manual 1950).
    The City of Sante Fe, Sangre de Cristo Water Division, is a 
cooperating agency in the proposed project.
    The proposed project would be accomplished in multiple stages, 
treating several hundred acres each year, over a five-to-ten year 
period. Treatment effectiveness and results would be evaluated and 
adjustments made as needed, prior to implementing the following years 
treatments. The proposal involves thinning the smaller trees in the 
forest over approximately 2,500 acres. After removing thinned trees 
that are accessible along the existing road and chipping and hauling 
out the limbs and tops from along the road, any remaining thinned 
materials would be piled and burned. In addition, approximately 4,500 
acres would be broadcast prescribed burned to reduce fuels on the 
steep, remote upper slopes. The proposed project does NOT involve road 
construction, commercial timber sales, or removal of mature trees. The 
proposed project would treat patches of forested land on both National 
Forest System and City lands within the Santa Fe municipal watershed.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before 
July 31, 2000. The draft environmental impact statement is expected to 
be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available 
for public review in October 2000. A Final Environmental Impact 
Statement is expected to be published in January 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposal, or 
requests to be placed on the project mailing list, to Land Management 
Planning, Santa Fe National Forest, 1474 Rodeo Road, P.O. Box 1689, 
Santa Fe, NM 87505-1689.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David W. Tippets, Project Public 
Affairs Leader, (505) 438-7685 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Santa Fe River watershed within the 
national forest was designated a municipal watershed and closed to 
public entry in 1932. Within the national forest boundary, the City has 
two reservoirs, potable water delivery system facilities, stream flow 
gauging stations, and a primitive service road. Most of the canyon is 
roadless and very rugged. The watershed is the source of approximately 
40 percent of Santa Fe's drinking water.
    The proposed treatments are within pinon-juniper, ponderosa pine, 
and drier mixed conifer forest. Treatments are designed primarily to 
break up fuel continuity, increase soil-stabilizing grasses and shrubs, 
and reduce the amount of small trees, which act as fuel ladders and 
carry fire into the tree crowns. Treatments would also enhance the 
diversity of vegetation and wildlife habitats over the landscape. The 
treatments proposed are consistent with the Santa Fe National Forest 
Land and Resource Management Plan.
    Preliminary issues include potential effects to human health and 
safety; soil and water; air quality; aquatic, riparian and upland 
habitats; threatened, endangered, and sensitive wildlife, fish, and 
plants; social and economic; and the effectiveness of treatments on 
fuel loading and fire behavior. To address these issues, the Forest 
Service and City will develop a range of alternatives, including a No 
Action alternative and other action alternatives.
    Public participation has been an integral component of this 
proposed project and will continue to be important throughout the 
course of the NEPA process. During the last year, the Forest Service 
has been actively seeking information, comments, and assistance from 
individuals and organizations, State, local agencies, Indian tribes, 
and other Federal agencies that may be interested in, or affected by, 
the proposed project. Local environmental groups, other non-profit 
organizations, and scientists from universities and research stations 
have been active participants and partners throughout the early stages 
of the planning for this proposed project. Involvement efforts have 
included numerous public field trips, a January 2000 scoping letter, 
meetings with interest groups, and a scientific forum with the 
community.
    The public involvement scoping process includes: (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. For the Forest Service 
to best use the scoping input, comments should be received no later 
than 30 days from the date of this publication.
    The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) is expected to be 
filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and available for public 
review in October 2000. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of 
Availability of the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on 
the draft environmental impact statement will be 45 days from the date 
the EPA publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. A 
final environmental impact statement (FEIS) will be published after all 
comments are reviewed and responded prepared. A Record of Decision 
(ROD) will be published at the time the FEIS is released. The final 
decision will be subject to administrative review under CFR 215.17.
    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 
DEIS 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)). Also, environmental objections that 
could be raised at the DEIS stage but that are not raised until after 
completion of the FEIS 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

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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 regarding the proposed action, comments should be as 
specific as possible. 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 and available for public inspection. Comments submitted 
anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, those who submit 
anonymous comments may not have standing to appeal the subsequent 
decision under 36 CFR part 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 is the lead agency for the preparation of the 
Environmental Impact Statement. The Responsible Official for this 
environmental analysis is Leonard Atencio, Forest Supervisor, Santa Fe 
National Forest.

    Dated: July 5, 2000.
Leonard Atencio,
Forest Supervisor, Santa Fe National Forest.
[FR Doc. 00-17945 Filed 7-14-00; 8:45 am]
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