[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 247 (Friday, December 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80987-80988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32716]



[[Page 80987]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33407]


Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation Construction 
Into the Powder River Basin

AGENCY: Lead: Surface Transportation Board. Cooperating: U.S.D.A Forest 
Service; U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management; U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers; U.S.D.I. Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Coast Guard.

ACTION: Extension of public comment period on Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    On September 27, 2000, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) was issued in this proceeding. The Draft EIS provided a 90-day 
period (to and including January 5, 2001) for interested parties to 
submit comments.
    The Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) and the 
cooperating agencies\1\ have received requests from a wide variety of 
groups and individuals, including several public officials and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, to extend the January 5, 2001 comment 
due date. The majority of the requests ask for a 90-day extension, 
generally citing the length of the Draft EIS and the scope and 
complexity of the proposal. While a few commenters argue that no 
extension is necessary, others have asked for as much as a 6-month or 
1-year extension of time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation; and the U.S. Coast Guard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discussion and Conclusions

    In establishing a 90-day comment period--which is twice as long as 
the minimum set forth in the Council on Environmental Quality's 
Guidelines (40 CFR 1506.10)--SEA believed that all interested parties 
would have sufficient time to review and comment on the Draft EIS. 
However, during the same time the public is reviewing and preparing 
comments on the Draft EIS, SEA and the cooperating agencies are also 
seeking public comment on the other documents contained in it (U.S. 
Forest Service Forest Plan Amendments, the Programmatic Agreement and 
Identification Plan, the Memorandum of Agreement, and the Biological 
Assessment). In addition, the comment period is running on Dakota, 
Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's (DM&E's) two permit applications to the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 
and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (Section 404 permit 
applications). Many of the requests for additional time stated that it 
has been difficult to review simultaneously all of these documents. 
Moreover, at the recent public meetings on the Draft EIS, including the 
Native American Tribal meeting on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, a 
number of participants argued that environmental justice communities 
could participate more effectively with more time to file comments.
    It is important to move the environmental review process in this 
and every case forward without undue delay. But those requesting an 
extension here have made a strong case that more time is needed to 
provide an adequate opportunity for meaningful review and comment by 
the public, including environmental justice communities, on the Draft 
EIS and the other related documents in this particularly complex case. 
In these circumstances, the comment period will be extended for an 
additional 60 days, or until March 6, 2001. The extension will apply to 
the Draft EIS itself, the documents appended to it (the Forest Plan 
Amendments, the Programmatic Agreement and Identification Plan, the 
Memorandum of Agreement, and the Biological Assessment), and the 
Section 404 permit applications.\2\ Comments on all of these documents 
must be postmarked by March 6, 2001. In order to issue the Final EIS in 
a timely manner, no further extensions will be granted absent 
compelling, unforeseen circumstances.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has notified SEA that it 
will issue a decision extending the comment period on DM&E's Section 
404 permit applications to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to March 
6, 2001, to coincide with the due date for comments on the Draft EIS 
and associated documents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We note that, at the recent public meetings conducted to hear 
comments on the Draft EIS, a number of participants contended that 
additional mitigation measures are needed to adequately protect 
residents of the communities potentially impacted by DM&E's proposal. 
The extended comment period will provide an opportunity for DM&E and 
the affected communities to explore mutually acceptable ways to reduce 
potential impacts on communities, and to submit any agreements that are 
reached to the Board. The Board encourages railroads and communities to 
negotiate private solutions addressing specific local environmental 
concerns because these agreements are generally more effective, and in 
some cases, more far-reaching than environmental mitigation options we 
could impose unilaterally. In the absence of negotiated agreements 
submitted to the Board,\3\ SEA, in preparing the Final EIS, will give 
careful consideration to what measures it should recommend for 
mitigating adverse impacts to community residents if, following the 
completion of environmental review, we give final approval to this 
project.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Our practice is to impose as a condition to our decisions 
approving railroad transactions a requirement that the railroad 
comply with the terms of all negotiated agreements developed with 
states, local communities, and other entities regarding 
environmental issues. These agreements substitute for specific local 
mitigation for a community that otherwise would be imposed. However, 
we cannot impose conditions based on negotiated agreements without 
knowing the terms of those agreements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Submit Comments

    Comments on the Draft EIS must be postmarked by March 6, 2001, and 
mailed to the address below. For comment letters over 5 pages, please 
mail a signed original plus 10 copies. For comment letters 5 pages or 
less, a signed original is sufficient. Comments must be mailed to: 
Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, STB Finance Docket No. 
33407, Surface Transportation Board 1925 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001, Please write the following in the lower left hand corner of 
the envelope: Attention: Victoria Rutson, Environmental Project 
Director, Environmental Filing.
    Comments on the Forest Plan Amendments should be filed directly 
with the U.S. Forest Service. Please send written comments on the 
Forest Plan Amendments to Wendy Schmitzer, USFS Project Coordinator, 
Douglas Ranger District, 2250 East Richards Street, Douglas, WY 82633, 
or call (307) 358-1634. You may email comments on the Forest Plan 
Amendments to: [email protected].
    Comments on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting 
requirements, specifically on DM&E's Section 404 permit applications, 
should be filed directly with the appropriate Corps of Engineers 
district office. Please send comments on the Section 404 permit 
application relating to Minnesota to Mr. Timothy Fell, U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, St. Paul District, 190 5th Street East, St. Paul, MN 
55101-1638. Please send comments on the Section 404 permit application 
relating to South Dakota and Wyoming to Mr. Jerry Folkers, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, 215 North 17th Street, Omaha, NE 
68102-4978.
    When submitting comments, please be as specific as possible and

[[Page 80988]]

substantiate your concerns and recommendations.

    By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice Chairman Burkes, and 
Commissioner Clyburn.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-32716 Filed 12-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P