[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8098-8100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03039]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[AAK6006201 1565A2100DD AOR3030.999900]
National Environmental Policy Act: Implementing Procedures;
Additions to Categorical Exclusions for Bureau of Indian Affairs (516
DM 10)
AGENCY: Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Final National Environmental Policy Act Implementing
Procedures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations
implementing NEPA, and Department of the Interior (Department) NEPA
implementing regulations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in the
Department is adding three categorical exclusions (CE) to the
Departmental Manual 516 DM 10. The three proposed CEs pertain to timber
harvesting on Indian lands.
DATES: Effective Date: The categorical exclusions are effective
February 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of the new categorical exclusions contact
Mr. David Koch, Acting Chief Forester, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C
Street, Washington, DC 20240; email: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Koch, Acting Chief Forester,
(202) 208-4837.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Harvesting timber on Indian lands, as defined in 25 CFR 163.1,
allows landowners to realize value from lands held in trust for them by
the Federal Government or subject to restrictions against alienation.
The National Indian Forest Resources Management Act, and its
implementing regulations, require the Secretary, with the participation
of the landowners, to undertake forest land management activities on
Indian forest
[[Page 8099]]
lands, including the approval of timber harvests. As a result of the
need for Federal permits and contracts, such projects are Federal
actions that require compliance with the NEPA. The BIA has typically
conducted NEPA reviews of actions associated with timber harvesting by
preparing Environmental Assessments (EA). The addition of CEs to cover
these three categories of small actions will allow for a more efficient
NEPA review because those EAs resulted in findings of no significant
impacts which were substantiated over time. The three proposed CEs were
developed based on CEs currently used by the United States Forest
Service (FS), as described in FS regulations 36 CFR 220, and adopted by
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as described the Departmental
Manual, 516 DM 11. The BIA relied on the experience of the FS and BLM
and applied its expertise to benchmark these CEs and determined these
are appropriate to establish as BIA CEs.
Because these CEs have important implications for actions occurring
on Indian lands, the BIA initiated consultation and requested comments
from all federally recognized tribes. This consultation period began on
July 23, 2014, and concluded on September 21, 2014. Public comments
were also solicited through a notice placed in the Federal Register on
November 14, 2014 [79 FR 68287].
Comments on the Proposal
The BIA received no comments from tribes, and no public comments.
Conclusion
The Department and the BIA determined that the actions defined in
the CEs presented at the end of this notice normally do not
individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human
environment and, absent extraordinary circumstances, do not require
preparation of an Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact
Statement. This finding is based on the analysis of the application of
similar CEs established and used by other Federal departments and
agencies; and the professional judgment of BIA environmental and
forestry personnel who conducted environmental reviews of similar
actions that resulted in Findings of No Significant Impact.
Categorical Exclusions
The Department will add the following categorical exclusions to the
Departmental Manual at 516 DM 10.5: H. Forestry.
(11) Harvesting live trees not to exceed 70 acres, requiring no
more than 0.5 mile of temporary road construction. Such activities:
(a) Shall not include even-aged regeneration harvests or vegetation
type conversions.
(b) May include incidental removal of trees for landings, skid
trails, and road clearing.
(c) May include temporary roads which are defined as roads
authorized by contract, permit, lease, other written authorization, or
emergency operation not intended to be part of the BIA or Tribal
transportation systems and not necessary for long-term resource
management. Temporary roads shall be designed to standards appropriate
for the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and
impacts on land and resources; and
(d) Shall require the treatment of temporary roads constructed or
used so as to permit the reestablishment by artificial or natural
means, of vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the
vegetative cover was disturbed by the construction or use of the road,
as necessary to minimize erosion from the disturbed area. Such
treatment shall be designed to reestablish vegetative cover as soon as
practicable, but at least within 10 years after the termination of the
contract.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
(a) Removing individual trees for sawlogs, specialty products, or
fuelwood.
(b) Commercial thinning of overstocked stands to achieve the
desired stocking level to increase health and vigor.
(12) Salvaging dead or dying trees not to exceed 250 acres,
requiring no more than 0.5 mile of temporary road construction. Such
activities:
(a) May include incidental removal of live or dead trees for
landings, skid trails, and road clearing.
(b) May include temporary roads which are defined as roads
authorized by contract, permit, lease, other written authorization, or
emergency operation not intended to be part of the BIA or Tribal
transportation systems and not necessary for long-term resource
management. Temporary roads shall be designed to standards appropriate
for the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and
impacts on land and resources; and
(c) Shall require the treatment of temporary roads constructed or
used so as to permit the reestablishment, by artificial or natural
means, of vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the
vegetative cover was disturbed by the construction or use of the road,
as necessary to minimize erosion from the disturbed area. Such
treatment shall be designed to reestablish vegetative cover as soon as
practicable, but at least within 10 years after the termination of the
contract.
(d) For this CE, a dying tree is defined as a standing tree that
has been severely damaged by forces such as fire, wind, ice, insects,
or disease, such that in the judgment of an experienced forest
professional or someone technically trained for the work, the tree is
likely to die within a few years.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
(a) Harvesting a portion of a stand damaged by a wind or ice event.
(b) Harvesting fire damaged trees.
(13) Commercial and non-commercial sanitation harvest of trees to
control insects or disease not to exceed 250 acres, requiring no more
than 0.5 miles of temporary road construction. Such activities:
(a) May include removal of infested/infected trees and adjacent
live uninfested/uninfected trees as determined necessary to control the
spread of insects or disease; and
(b) May include incidental removal of live or dead trees for
landings, skid trails, and road clearing.
(c) May include temporary roads which are defined as roads
authorized by contract, permit, lease, other written authorization, or
emergency operation not intended to be part of the BIA or tribal
transportation systems and not necessary for long-term resource
management. Temporary roads shall be designed to standards appropriate
for the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and
impacts on land and resources; and
(d) Shall require the treatment of temporary roads constructed or
used so as to permit the reestablishment, by artificial or natural
means, of vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the
vegetative cover was disturbed by the construction or use of the road,
as necessary to minimize erosion from the disturbed area. Such
treatment shall be designed to reestablish vegetative cover as soon as
practicable, but at least within 10 years after the termination of the
contract.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
(a) Felling and harvesting trees infested with mountain pine
beetles and immediately adjacent uninfested trees to control expanding
spot infestations (a buffer); and
(b) Removing or destroying trees infested or infected with a new
exotic insect or disease, such as emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned
beetle, or sudden oak death pathogen.
[[Page 8100]]
Dated: February 5, 2015.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-03039 Filed 2-12-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-A2-P