[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53908-53909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21829]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-IMRO-YELL-11188; 2310-0070-422]


Winter Use Plan, Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement, Yellowstone National Park

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of additional comment period for draft supplemental 
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service 
(NPS) announces the opening of an additional comment period on the 
Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for a 
Winter Use Plan for Yellowstone National Park, located in Idaho, 
Montana, and Wyoming.

DATES: The NPS will accept comments from the public for 30 days from 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice of 
the additional comment period.

ADDRESSES: Information is available for public review and comment 
online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/YELL (click on the link to the 
2012 Supplemental Winter Use Plan EIS), and at Yellowstone National 
Park headquarters, Mammoth Hot Springs, WY.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wade Vagias, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone 
National Park, WY 82190; telephone (307) 344-2035.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPS has decided, in response to numerous 
requests from members of the public, to open an additional comment 
period on the Draft SEIS. The original comment period was open for 45 
days, ending on August 20, 2012. The NPS Notice of Availability of the 
Draft SEIS was published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2012 (77 
FR 38824-38825) and the EPA Notice of Availability, which formally 
opened the comment period, was published on July 6, 2012 (77 FR 40037). 
The NPS held public meetings on the Draft SEIS in Jackson, Wyoming, on 
July 16, 2012; West Yellowstone, Montana, on July 17, 2012; Bozeman, 
Montana, on July 18, 2012; and Cody, Wyoming, on July 19, 2012. The NPS 
is opening an additional public comment period that will run for 30 
days from the date the EPA publishes its notice of the additional 
comment period in the Federal Register.
    Four alternatives are considered in the Draft SEIS. Alternative 1, 
the no-action alternative, would not permit public over-snow vehicle 
(OSV) use in Yellowstone but would allow for approved non-motorized use 
to continue. Alternative 1 has been identified as the environmentally 
preferable alternative. Alternative 2 would manage OSV use at the same 
levels as the 2011/2012 interim rule (318 best available technology 
(BAT) snowmobiles and 78 snowcoaches per day). Sylvan Pass would remain 
open. Alternative 3 would initially allow for the same level of use as 
alternative 2 (318 BAT snowmobiles and 78 snowcoaches per day), but 
would transition to snowcoaches only over a three-year period beginning 
in the 2017/2018 winter season. Upon complete transition, there would 
be 0 snowmobiles and up to 120 snowcoaches per day in the park, and 
Sylvan Pass would be closed.
    Alternative 4 is the NPS preferred alternative. This alternative 
would manage OSV use by transportation events. A total of 110 
transportation events would be allowed in the park each day. A 
transportation event would initially equal one snowcoach or one group 
of snowmobiles (average of 7 snowmobiles per group, averaged over the 
winter use season; groups could not exceed a maximum of 10 
snowmobiles). Operators would decide whether to use their daily 
allocation of transportation events for snowmobiles or snowcoaches, but 
no more than 50 daily transportation events could come from 
snowmobiles. OSV use would continue to be 100 percent guided, with four 
transportation events per day (one per gate) of up to 5 snowmobiles 
each allocated for non-commercially guided access. BAT requirements for 
snowmobiles would remain the same as the BAT requirements in the 2011/
2012 interim regulation until the 2017/2018 winter season, at which 
time additional sound and air emission requirements would be 
implemented. BAT requirements for snowcoaches would also be implemented 
beginning in the 2017/2018 season. If OSVs meet additional

[[Page 53909]]

established standards for air and sound emissions beyond those required 
for BAT, the group size of snowmobiles would be allowed to increase 
from an average of 7 to an average of 8 per transportation event, and 
snowcoaches would be allowed to increase from one to two snowcoaches 
per transportation event. These changes would allow for an increase in 
visitation while reducing transportation-generated noise and air 
impacts. Sylvan Pass would remain open.
    If you wish to comment on the Draft SEIS, you may submit your 
comments by any one of several methods. We encourage you to comment via 
the Internet at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/YELL (click on the link to 
the 2012 Supplemental Winter Use Plan EIS). You may also comment by 
mail to: Yellowstone National Park, Winter Use Draft SEIS, P.O. Box 
168, Yellowstone NP, WY 82190. Finally, you may hand deliver your 
comments to: Management Assistant's Office, Headquarters Building, 
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Comments will 
not be accepted by fax, email, or in any other way than those specified 
above. Bulk comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted 
on behalf of others will not be accepted.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware 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 your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: August 30, 2012.
Herbert C. Frost,
Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science National 
Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-21829 Filed 8-31-12; 8:45 am]
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