[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 209 (Friday, October 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63146-63147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24251]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ER-FRL-6657-2]


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 2, 2004 (69 FR 
17403).

Draft EISs

    ERP No. D-NAS-K11114-HI Rating EC2, Outrigger Telescopes Project, 
Proposed for the W.M. Keck Observatory Site within the Mauna Kea 
Science Reserve, Funding, Construction, Installation and Operation, 
Island of Hawaii.
    Summary: EPA expressed concerns about the cumulative impacts to 
native Hawaiian cultural resources, visual resources, and species 
impacts, and asked for more information supporting the selection of the 
proposed alternative.
    ERP No. D-NOA-K91013-HI Rating EC2, Seabird Interaction Mitigation 
Methods, To Reduce Interaction with Seabird in Hawaii-Based Longline 
Fishery and Pelagic Squid Fishery Management, To Establish an Effective 
Management Framework for Pelagic Squid Fisheries, Fishery Management 
Plan, Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region, Exclusive 
Economic Zone of the U.S. and High Sea.
    Summary: EPA expressed concerns over the impacts to seabirds 
associated with the preferred alternative, and requested more 
information on the effects of the newly-established U.S. squid fishery 
of protected species.
    ERP No. D-NOA-L91025-00 Rating EC2, 2005-2006 Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Fishery, Proposed Acceptable Biological Catch and Optimum 
Yield Specifications and Management Measures, WA, OR and CA.
    Summary: EPA expressed concerns about projected exceedences for 
optimum yields for canary and widow rockfish, impacts on essential fish 
habitat, and the need to increase observer coverage for better 
accounting of bycatch.
    ERP No. D-NOA-L99010-AK Rating LO, Pribilof Islands Setting for the 
Annual Subsistence Harvest of Northern Fur Seals, To Determine and 
Publish the Take Ranges, Pribilof Islands, AK.
    Summary: EPA does not object to the proposed harvest levels or 
their associated impacts.
    ERP No. DS-TPT-K61154-CA Rating LO, Presidio Trust Public Health 
Service Hospital (PUSH or Building 1801) at the Presidio of San 
Francisco (Area B) of Presidio Trust Management Plan, To Rehabilitate 
and Reuse Buildings, Gold Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco 
Bay, Marin County, CA.
    Summary: EPA had a lack of objections to the project as proposed.

Final EISs

    ERP No. F-AFS-J65375-MT Sheep Creek Range Analysis, Grazing and 
Special Use Allotments Reorganization, Grazing and Special Use Permits 
Issuance, Lewis and Clark National Forest, White Sulphur Springs Ranger 
District, Meagher and Cascade Counties, MT.
    Summary: EPA supports improved grazing management, but expressed 
environmental concerns about continued impacts to water quality from 
delays in reducing grazing pressure (AUMs) on allotments with less than 
properly functioning streams for 3-5 years or longer. EPA recommends 
more timely implementation of grazing improvements, including AUM 
reductions, on allotments with non-functioning and functioning-at-risk 
streams.
    ERP No. F-AFS-L65372-AK Threemile Timber Sale, Implementation, 
Petersburg Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, AK.
    Summary: No comment letter was sent to the preparing agency.
    ERP No. F-AFS-L65373-AK Gravina Island Timber Sale, Implementation, 
Timber Harvest and Related Activities, Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger 
District, Tongass National Forest, AK.
    Summary: The Final EIS responded to EPA's concerns by developing a 
new alternative that combined helicopter and land-based timber 
extraction and selecting an alternative that is less damaging to 
riparian areas and greatly limited road access, protecting deer habitat 
and intertidal areas which are

[[Page 63147]]

subsistence resources for native Alaskans. EPA continues to have 
concerns about the adverse impacts to streams and wetlands, as well as 
cumulative impacts from roads and access to the roadless area.
    ERP No. F-AFS-L65452-ID South Fork Wildfire Salvage Project, 
Harvesting Fire-Killed and Imminently Dead Trees, Cascade Ranger 
District, Boise National Forest, Valley County, ID.
    Summary: No comment letter was sent to the preparing agency.
    ERP No. F-BLM-L65446-AK Alpine Satellite Development Plan, 
Construction and Operation of Five Oil Production Pads, Associated 
Well, Roads, Airstrips, Pipelines and Powerlines, Authorization and 
Permits Issuance, Northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-
Alaska, Colville River Delta, North Slope Borough, AK.
    Summary: EPA has environmental concerns about the Preferred 
Alternative (Alternative F). The Final EIS does not provide sufficient 
information, data, analyses, or discussion to ensure that all 
developmental components of the Preferred Alternative will meet the 
substantive environmental requirements of Clean Water Act Section 404. 
In addition, EPA has concerns about impacts from current road alignment 
design, disturbance from access to production pads, the potential for 
violation of Special Condition 10 of the Corps Permit, erosion from pad 
sidesloped, lack of specific mitigation measures, and insufficient 9 
information regarding air quality impacts.
    ERP No. F-COE-L32011-AK Akutan Harbor Navigation Improvements 
Project, Construction and Implementation, Bering Sea, City of Akutan, 
AK.
    Summary: EPA agreed with U.S. Army Corps' conclusion that the 
project would not violate Alaska's water quality standards or exceed 
the Akutan Harbor TMDL load allocations. However, EPA reiterated 
objections to the direct and indirect effects on wetlands, and 
requested that the Corps explore offsite beneficial use options to the 
stockpiling of dredged material in wetlands. EPA also recommended that 
the Corps explore compensatory mitigation through wetland enhancements 
during detailed project design.
    ERP No. F-NOA-E39066-FL Programmatic EIS--Seagrass Restoration in 
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Implementation, U.S. Army 
COE Section 404 and CZMA Permits, Monroe County, FL.
    Summary: EPA continues to fully support the proposed restoration 
goals for Seagrass damaged in FKNMS waters, but requests that some 
issues be clarified in the NOAA ROD.

    Dated: October 26, 2004.
Robert W. Hargrove,
Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 04-24251 Filed 10-28-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P