[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 49 (Friday, March 12, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11852-11853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5648]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ER-FRL-6649-3]


Environmental Impact Statements and Regulations; Availability of 
EPA Comments

    Availability of EPA comments prepared pursuant to the Environmental 
Review Process (ERP), under section 309 of the Clean Air Act and 
section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act as amended. 
Requests for copies of EPA comments can be directed to the Office of 
Federal Activities at (202) 564-7167. An explanation of the ratings 
assigned to draft environmental impact statements (EISs) was published 
in FR dated April 04, 2003 (68 FR 16511).

Draft EISs

    ERP No. D-AFS-J65016-UT Rating EC2, Bear Hodges II Timber Sale 
Management Plan. Selective Timber Harvest of Spruce Stands With or 
Without Road Construction, Implementation, Wasatch National Forest 
(WCNF), Logan Ranger District, Cache and Rich Counties, UT.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns with adverse impacts 
to soil and vegetation, the potential for impacts to aquatic resources, 
and need for more specific information on mitigation of these impacts.
    ERP No. D-AFS-J65399-00 Rating EC2, High Mountains Heli-Skiing 
(HMH) Project, Issuance of a New 5-Year Special Use Permit (SUP) to 
Continue Operating Guided Helicopter Skiing in Portions of the Bridger-
Teton National Forest and Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF), Teton 
and Lincoln Counties, WY and Teton and Bonneville Counties, ID.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns regarding impacts to 
wildlife and reduced likelihood that proposed wilderness areas would be 
designated as Wilderness. EPA requested additional information on 
refueling sites, avalanche control activities and winter range impacts.
    ERP No. D-AFS-J65400-UT Rating EC2, East Fork Fire Salvage Project 
Timber Harvesting of Dead and Dying Trees, Implementation. Wasatch-
Cache National Forest, Evanston Ranger District, Summit County, UT.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns with soil erosion, 
soil disturbance and soil compaction; runoff and potential degradation 
of water quality and aquatic habitats; sedimentation of streams and 
water-storage reservoirs; fish and wildlife impacts to sensitive 
species; and the potential to establish and spread noxious weeds. EPA 
recommended the selected alternative restrict harvest to the lands 
accessible with existing roads to minimize impact to water quality.
    ERP No. D-BLM-J65393-CO Rating LO, Colorado Canyons National 
Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Resource 
Management Plan, Implementation, Mesa County, CO.
    Summary: EPA expressed lack of objections however, EPA suggest 
additional analysis of compliance with land health standards, increased 
use of the adaptive management to address recreational use and 
additional monitoring for water quality, erosion and levels of 
vegetative cover.
    ERP No. D-BLM-L65440-OR Rating EC2, Upper Deschutes Resource 
Management Plan, Implementation, Deschutes, Klamath, Jefferson and Cook 
Counties, OR.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns about ongoing water 
quality problems on streams in the planning area. EPA recommended that 
the final EIS include goals for the restoration of water quality 
through planned revision of grazing management, or other appropriate 
means.
    ERP No. D-DOE-L02032-OR Rating EC2, COB Energy Facility, 
Construction of a 1,160-megawatt (MW) Natural Gas-Fired and Combined-
Cycle Electric Generating Plant, Right-of-Way Grant across Federal Land 
under the Jurisdiction of BLM, Klamath Basin, Klamath County, OR.
    Summary: EPA raised environmental concerns related to the lack of 
detailed evaluation of alternatives to the proposed site for the energy 
generation facility and the route of the proposed transmission line. 
EPA recommended that additional evaluation and discussion of 
alternatives to the proposed project be included in the final EIS.
    ERP No. D-FHW-C40161-NY Rating EC2, NY-17 Parksville/SH-5223, 
Liberty-County Line, Part 1 Construction and Reconstruction to 
Interstate Standards, Funding and U.S. Army COE Section 404 Permit 
Issuance, Town of Liberty, Sullivan County, NY.
    Summary: EPA expressed environmental concerns regarding indirect 
impacts to wetlands. EPA requested additional information on these 
impacts and on the proposed wetlands and water quality mitigation plan.
    ERP No. D-FHW-J40161-UT Rating LO, I-15, 31st Street in Ogden to 
2700

[[Page 11853]]

North in Farr West, Reconstruction, Widening and Interchange 
Improvements, Funding and U.S. Army COE Section 404 Permit, Weber 
County, UT.
    Summary: While EPA has no objections to the proposed project, EPA 
did request clarification regarding the impacts to perrenial streams in 
the Weber River watershed as well as on the impacts to air quality.
    ERP No. D-IBW-G39039-00 Rating LO, Rio Grande Canalization Project 
(RGCP), Long-Term River Management Alternatives Practices, 
Implementation, from below Percha Dam in Sierra County, NM to American 
Dam in El Paso, TX.
    Summary: EPA had no objections to the proposed action.
    ERP No. D-NOA-E90018-GA Rating LO, Gray's Reef National Marine 
Sanctuary Draft Management Plan (DMP), Address Current Resource 
Conditions and Compatible Multiple Uses, Located 17.5 Nautical miles 
off Sapelo Island, GA.
    Summary: EPA supports the National Ocean Service Preferred 
Alternatives on anchoring prohibitions and fishing gear restrictions to 
rod, reel and handline to protect the resources in the Gray's Reef 
National Marine Sanctuary.
    ERP No. D-NPS-C65004-NY Rating LO, Saratoga National Historical 
Park General Management Plan, Implementation, Hudson River Valley, 
Towns of Stillwater and Saratoga, Saratoga County, NY.
    Summary: EPA has no objections to the proposed management plan.
    ERP No. D-NRC-F06023-IL Rating EC2, Dresden Nuclear Power Station, 
Unit 2 and 3, Supplement 17, NUREG 1437, Renewal of a Nuclear Power 
Plan Operating License, Grundy County, IL.
    Summary: EPA has environmental concerns regarding the information 
provided on the radiological impacts, cooling water system impacts on 
aquatic organisms, thermal impacts, risk estimates and on-site storage.

Final EISs

    ERP No. F-COE-C39016-NJ Union Beach Community Project, Provision of 
Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction to Residential, Commercial and 
Recreational Resources, Located along the Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook 
Bay Shoreline, Monmouth County, NJ.
    Summary: EPA raised environmental concerns over the adequacy of the 
proposed wetlands mitigation plan and requested that appropriate 
information on mitigation be provided to EPA prior to the issuance of 
the Record of Decision (ROD). In addition, a Clean Air Act General 
Conformity Determination needs to be prepared prior to the issuance of 
the ROD.

    Dated: March 9, 2004.
Ken Mittelholtz,
Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 04-5648 Filed 3-11-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M