[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33622-33623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13530]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Kootenai National Forest Noxious Weed Management EIS; Kootenai 
National Forest, Lincoln County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for a proposal to manage noxious weeds (invasive plant 
species) on the Kootenai National Forest. The project includes the 
entire Kootenai National Forest. Counties included in the analysis area 
are Lincoln, Sanders, and Flathead in Montana, and Boundary and Bonner 
in Idaho.

DATES: Scoping comment date: Written comments or suggestions concerning 
the scope of the analysis should be postmarked by July 19, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Bob Castaneda, Forest 
Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest, 1101 Hwy 2 West, Libby, MT 59923. 
Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of the analysis 
may be sent to him at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Lou Kuennen, Team Leader, 
Kootenai National Forest Supervisor's Office, 1101 Hwy 2 W, Libby, MT 
59923, phone (406) 293-6211.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The analysis area is the entire Kootenai 
National Forest, approximately 2.2 million acres. The purpose and need 
of this project is to: (1) Prevent or discourage introduction and 
establishment of newly invading weed species on Forest land; (2) 
prevent or limit spread of established weeds into areas with few or no 
infestations on Forest land; (3) restore native plant communities and 
improve forage on specific big game summer and winter ranges; (4) treat 
weeds near the Forest boundary where adjacent landowners are interested 
in or are currently managing weeds; (5) limit spread of weeds into and 
within wilderness areas. Both ground and aerial application of 
herbicides is proposed to control noxious weeds. This application of 
herbicides will be part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The other 
areas of IPM are cultural, biological (bioagents),

[[Page 33623]]

and mechanical control as well as prevention and education. Noxious 
weeds generally possess one or more of the following characteristics: 
aggressive and difficult to manage, poisonous, toxic, parasitic, a 
carries or host of serious insects or disease, and generally non-
native. They also have a probability of causing economic or 
environmental damage. Specific areas of ground application will vary 
depending on weed locations. Potential areas of aerial applications 
have been identified and involve approximately 29,000 acres.
    Range of Alternatives: The Forest Service will consider a range of 
alternatives. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative in 
which none of the proposed activities would be implemented. Additional 
alternatives will examine ground and aerial herbicide application as 
well as respond to the issues and other resource values.
    Public Involvement and Scoping: Public participation will be 
especially important at several points during the analysis. The first 
point is during the scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7). The Forest Service 
will be seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal, 
State, and local agencies and other individuals or organizations that 
may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed action. This input 
will be used in preparation of the DEIS. The scoping process includes:
    1. Identifying potential issues;
    2. Identifying issues to be analyzed in depth;
    3. Eliminating insignificant issues or those which have been 
covered by a relevant previous environmental analysis;
    4. Exploring additional alternatives;
    5. Identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed 
action and alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects 
and connected actions); and
    6. Determining potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.
    Estimated Dates for Filing: The DEIS is expected to be filed with 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for 
public review by June 2005. At that time EPA will publish a notice of 
availability (NOA) of the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment 
period on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA's NOA appears 
in the Federal Register. It is very important that those interested in 
the management of invasive plants on the Kootenai National Forest 
participate at the time.
    Reviewer's Obligations: Federal court decisions have established 
that reviewers of DEIS's must structure their participation in the 
environmental review of the proposal so 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 have been raised at the draft stage 
may be waived if not raised until after completion of the FEIS (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 
Draft EIS 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 FEIS.
    To be most helpful, comments on the DEIS should be as specific as 
possible and may address the adequacy of the statement or the merits of 
the alternatives discussed (see the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3). It is also helpful if 
comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the draft document.
    After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be 
analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing FEIS. The 
FEIS completion date is scheduled for August 2005. The Forest Service 
is required to respond, in the FEIS, to the comments received (40 CFR 
1503.4). The responsible official will consider the comments, 
responses, disclosures of environmental consequences and applicable 
laws, regulations, and policies in making a decision regarding this 
proposal. The responsible official will document the decision and 
rationale in a Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
appeal under 36 CFR 215.
    Responsible Official: Bob Castaneda, Forest Supervisor of the 
Kootenai National Forest, is the Responsible Official (Decision Maker). 
As the Decision Maker he will decide if the proposed project will be 
implemented and will document the decision and reasons for the decision 
in the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest 
Service Appeal Regulations.

    Dated: June 7, 2004.
Frank Votapka,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest.
[FR Doc. 04-13530 Filed 6-15-04; 8:45 am]
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