[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 143 (Thursday, July 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43255-43256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16936]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R6-ES-2008-N0125, 64411-9821-0031-W3]


Notice of Availability, Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental 
Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability, Draft Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), on behalf of the 
Department of the Interior (DOI), as the natural resource trustee, 
announces the release for public review of the Draft Natural Resource 
Damage Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA) for the 
Cherokee County Superfund Site, Cherokee County, Kansas. The Draft RP/
EA presents the Service's overall approach and preferred restoration 
alternatives that compensate for impacts to natural resources caused by 
the release of hazardous substances from former mining activities in 
Cherokee County, Kansas.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the RP/EA are available for review during office 
hours at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services 
Field Office, 2609 Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502, and online 
at http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/nrda/CherokeeCounty.htm. Requests 
for copies of the RP/EA may be made to the same address. Copies also 
will be available at the Columbus, Baxter Springs, and Galena libraries 
in Cherokee County. Interested members of the public are invited to 
review and comment on the RP/EA. Written comments will be considered 
and addressed in the final RP/EA at the conclusion of the 30-day public 
comment period. Written comments or materials regarding the RP/EA 
should be sent to the Kansas Ecological Services Field Office at the 
address given above.
    Public Comment Availability: Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, be advised that your entire comment--including your 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from public 
review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that 
we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gibran Suleiman, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services Field Office, 2609 
Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502. Interested parties also may 
call 785-539-3474 ext. 114, or e-mail [email protected] for 
further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The DOI, acting as natural resource Trustee, reached two different 
natural resource damages settlements with Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. 
(Eagle-Picher) in 1991 and LTV Corporation (LTV) in 1986 for natural 
resource

[[Page 43256]]

injuries associated with the discharge of hazardous substances at 
various locations at former mining sites within the Cherokee County 
Superfund Site, Cherokee County, Kansas. The discharge of hazardous 
substances injured Service trust resources (migratory birds and 
threatened and endangered species). The natural resource damages 
settlement funds compensate for injuries at former lead and zinc mines 
within the Cherokee County Superfund site and must be used to restore, 
rehabilitate, replace, and/or to acquire equivalent natural resources 
at various locations within Cherokee County, Kansas, and in certain 
cases, in surrounding counties (e.g., Crawford, Montgomery, and Labette 
Counties).
    The RP/EA describes several habitat restoration alternatives. The 
preferred alternatives consist of, but are not limited to, preservation 
of high quality prairies and riparian areas, stream sediments dredging, 
and in some cases, restoration of prairies that have been compromised 
in some fashion, primarily in Cherokee County. These actions will 
compensate for injuries to natural resources, including migratory 
birds, and migratory bird habitat and Threatened and Endangered 
Species, and are outlined and described in full in the EA/RP.

Author

    The primary author of this notice is Gibran Suleiman, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services Field Office, 2609 
Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.

    Authority: The authority for this action is the Clean Water Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.), and the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 as amended, 
commonly known as Superfund (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the Natural 
Resource Damage Assessment Regulations found at 43 CFR, part 11, and 
the National Environmental Policy Act. It is intended to describe 
and evaluate the Trustee's proposal to restore natural resources 
injured by the release of hazardous materials at the Cherokee County 
Superfund Site.

    Dated: May 15, 2008.
Gary G. Mowad,
Acting Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
 [FR Doc. E8-16936 Filed 7-23-08; 8:45 am]
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