[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12353-12354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04124]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-IMR-YELL-12081; PPWONRADE2, PMP00EI05.YP0000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(SEIS) for a Winter Use Plan for Yellowstone National Park, located in 
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

DATES: The National Park Service will execute a Record of Decision no 
sooner than 30 days following publication by the Environmental 
Protection Agency of the Notice of Availability of the Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

ADDRESSES: Information will be 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 Final SEIS supplements the 2011 Final 
Winter Use Plan/EIS. Four alternatives are considered in the 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 interim regulations in place from the 
2009/2010 winter season through the 2012/2013 winter season (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

[[Page 12354]]

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 voluntary 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. Sylvan Pass would remain open.
    More information regarding Yellowstone in the winter, including 
educational materials and a detailed history of winter use in 
Yellowstone, is available at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/winteruse/index.htm.

    Dated: January 15, 2013.
John Wessels,
Regional Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-04124 Filed 2-21-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-CB-P