[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18712-18714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3481]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Millville Peak/Logan Peak Road Relocation Project, Wasatch-Cache
National Forest, Cache County, UT
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Supervisor of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest
gives notice of the agency's intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement on a proposal to relocate a total of about 5 miles of the
Millville Peak and Logan
[[Page 18713]]
Peak Roads (Forest Roads 20168 and 20042, respectively) due to road
damage and safety concerns. The relocation would place construction in
adjacent roadless areas.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by May 12, 2006. The draft environmental impact statement is expected
to be published in November 2006, with public comment on the draft
material accepted for a period of 45 days, and the final environmental
impact statement is expected in March, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Rob Cruz, District Ranger, Logan
Ranger District, 1500 East Highway 89, Logan, Utah 84321, ATTN:
Millville Peak/Logan Peak Road EIS. Or, e-mail comments to: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evelyn Sibbernsen, Environmental
Coordinator, Logan Ranger District, 1500 East Highway 89, Logan, Utah
84321, (435) 755-3620.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose of the Millville Peak/Logan Peak Road Relocation
Project is for public safety, resource improvement, and to provide a
safe, reliable, ground access route for maintenance of the State-owned
communications facility at Logan Peak.
The State of Utah, Information Technology Services, owns a high
voltage electrical power line buried beneath the surface of a portion
of the public access roadways, Millville Peak Road (Forest Road 20168)
and Logan Peak Road (Forest Road 20042). The power line, installed
nearly twenty years ago, serves the State-owned radio communications
facility located at Logan Peak. The tower houses microwave equipment
for several local, state, and national public safety entities providing
a vital link in their communications systems.
Normal vehicular and off-highway recreational traffic on the
roadway, combined with irregular road maintenance and seasonal erosion,
have severely damaged the surface of the roadway to the site, exposing
the power line at several locations. The potential for death and
serious injury is significant around those locations where the cable
has been exposed. Severe damage to the roadway also impacts
accessibility to the communications facility at Logan Peak.
The first two-thirds of the 16-mile roadway accessing the
communications site have been repaired and maintained where the cable
could be buried deeper and the road maintained with additional gravel
and installation of proper drainage. However, along the later section
where the roadway gets excessively steep and rocky, road damage has
resulted in the cable becoming increasingly exposed. Travel on this
section of the road is unsafe and limits access to the communications
facility on Logan Peak. The cable can no longer be safely covered and
the road damage cannot be corrected by maintenance.
There is a need to eliminate the public safety hazard posed by the
exposed electrical power cable and a need to improve ground access to
this vital communications facility located on Logan Peak.
Proposed Action
The Forest Service proposes to re-Iocate a total of about 5 miles
of the Millville Peak and Logan Peak Roads. The new roadways would be
relocated away from the cable and designed to maintain an 8% or lower
grade. They would be relocated up to one quarter mile from the existing
roadways (at the greatest extent) and would have a maintenance level of
2; the same as the existing roads. The old roadways would be physically
closed and revegetated.
The Millville Peak Road forms a part of the boundary between the
Mount Logan North Roadless Area (19, 197 acres) and the Mount Logan
South Roadless Area (17,001 acres). The section of road to be relocated
would be constructed near the edge of the two roadless areas. The
management prescriptions within which the road would be relocated,
Management Prescriptions 3.1w (Watershed Emphasis) and 2.7 (Special
Interest Areas), allow no road construction. Re-alignment of the road
within the 3.1w or 2.7 management prescriptions would necessitate a
non-significant amendment of the Forest Plan.
Possible Alternatives
A no action alternative will be considered as well as any other
alternatives that may be developed in response to significant issues.
Responsible Official
The Responsible Official is Faye Krueger, Forest Supervisor,
Wasatch-Cache National Forest, 8236 Federal Building, 125 South State
Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84138.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made is whether or not to relocate this section
of the Millville Peak and Logan Peak Roads and if so, where and to what
degree.
Scoping Process
The Forest Service invites comments and suggestions on the scope of
the analysis to be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS). In addition, the Forest Service gives notice that it is
beginning a full environmental analysis and decision-making process for
this proposal so that interested or affected people may know how they
can participate in the environmental analysis and contribute to the
final decision. This notice of intent initiates the scoping process
which guides the development of the environmental impact statement. The
Forest welcomes any public Service comments on the proposal.
Preliminary Issues
Preliminary issues identified by the interdisciplinary team include
the effects on the roadless character of the Mount Logan North and
Mount Logan South Roadless Areas, the effects on motorized recreation
challenge opportunities, access to routes that connect to the portion
of the Millville Peak Road that would be relocated (such as Forest Road
20126), effects on snowmobile opportunities and experience from the new
road cut just below Logan Peak, the potential for new weed infestations
from the new road cut, effects on threatened, endangered, and sensitive
plant and wildlife species, and the effectiveness of the old Millville
and Logan Peak Road closures in preventing future (unauthorized) use.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
A draft environmental impact statement will be prepared for
comment. The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement
will be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
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
draft environmental impact statements 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.
[[Page 18714]]
NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that
could be raised at the draft environmental impact statement stage but
that are not raised until after completion of the final environmental
impact statement 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 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 on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. 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, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: April 6, 2006.
Faye L. Krueger,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 06-3481 Filed 4-11-06; 8:45 am]
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