[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33475-33476]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14393]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 113 / Friday, June 12, 2015 / 
Notices  

[[Page 33475]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

Farm Service Agency


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI); request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Farm Service Agency (FSA), on 
behalf of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), intends to prepare a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) as required by the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The PEIS will assess 
the potential environmental consequences associated with proposed 
discretionary changes to the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). 
This notice informs the public of FSA's intent to seek public comment 
on potential changes being considered for BCAP and on any environmental 
concerns related to the proposed changes. The input we receive as a 
result of this notice will enable us to develop alternatives for 
implementing the proposed changes to BCAP and begin to evaluate the 
impacts of those alternatives, as required by NEPA.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by July 13, 2015. 
Comments received after this date will be considered to the extent 
possible.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this NOI. In your 
comments, include the volume, date, and page number of this issue of 
the Federal Register. You may submit comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments;
     Email: gs.com">BCAPComments@cardno-gs.com
     Online: Go to http://bcappeis.com. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: (757) 594-1469.
     Mail, Hand Delivery, or Courier: BCAP PEIS, c/o Cardno 
TEC, Inc., 11817 Canon Blvd., Suite 300, Newport News, VA 23606.
    All written comments will be available for inspection online at 
www.regulations.gov and in the Office of the Director, Conservation and 
Environmental Programs Division, FSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Ave SW., 
Room 4709, South Building, Washington, DC, 20250, between 8 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. A copy of this 
notice is available through the FSA homepage at http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nell Fuller, National Environmental 
Compliance Manager, USDA, FSA, CEPD, Stop 0513, 1400 Independence Ave, 
SW., Washington, DC, 20250-0513, telephone: (202) 720-6303. Persons 
with disabilities who require alternative means for communication 
should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 
TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As required by NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), 
the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing 
the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and FSA's 
NEPA compliance regulations (7 CFR part 799), FSA intends to assess 
potential discretionary changes to BCAP in 2015 by preparing a PEIS. 
The purpose of the PEIS process is to provide FSA decision makers, 
other agencies, Tribes, and the public with an analysis of the 
potential beneficial, adverse, and cumulative environmental impacts 
associated with proposed discretionary changes to BCAP.
    BCAP was first authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act 
of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill, Pub. L. 110-246). BCAP is a voluntary 
program that is intended to assist agricultural and forest land owners 
and operators with the establishment and production of eligible crops 
in selected project areas for conversion to bioenergy. Additionally, 
BCAP provides matching payments for the collection, harvest, storage 
and transportation of eligible material to designated biomass 
conversion facilities for use as heat, power, biobased products, 
research, or advanced biofuels. BCAP is administered by FSA on behalf 
of CCC with the support of other Federal and local agencies. More 
detailed information on BCAP may be obtained at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/bcap.
    Since BCAP was initially authorized, FSA has completed extensive 
NEPA analysis relating to BCAP and to specific project areas and 
feedstocks. In 2010, a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PEIS) for BCAP was published by FSA and resulted in a Record 
of Decision (ROD) that was signed on October 27, 2010. That PEIS 
evaluated environmental consequences of establishing and administering 
the BCAP as specified in the 2008 Farm Bill. The PEIS examined the 
environmental consequences of two alternatives: Targeted BCAP 
Implementation and Broad BCAP Implementation. Since 2010, Environmental 
Assessments (EA) have been prepared for various project areas and for 
specific feedstocks.
    The Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill, Pub. L. 113-79) 
amended and reauthorized BCAP through 2018. The 2014 Farm Bill included 
a number of non-discretionary changes to BCAP. Those changes are 
primarily administrative in nature and do not alter the general scope 
of the program. The 2014 Farm Bill changes have already been 
implemented through rulemaking (80 FR 10569-10575) and do not require 
additional analysis under NEPA.
    FSA is currently considering discretionary changes to the way BCAP 
is implemented. Those discretionary changes define the scope of the new 
PEIS for which this NOI applies. The new PEIS that will be prepared for 
the proposed discretionary changes to BCAP will tie to the other 
applicable BCAP NEPA documentation as appropriate and will examine only 
those aspects of the program that are not covered in previous analyses. 
Copies of all FSA NEPA documents can be found at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/nepa.

Proposed Changes

    FSA is proposing several discretionary changes to further improve 
the functionality and flexibility of the establishment and annual

[[Page 33476]]

payments part of BCAP. No discretionary changes are being proposed for 
the matching payments part of BCAP. The proposed changes include:
     Consideration and review of additional crops including: 
pongamia pinnata, giant miscanthus seeded and rhizome clones, giant 
reed (Arundo donax), pennycress (Thlaspi arvense), energy cane 
(Saccharum spp.), biomass sorghum, sweet sorghum, yellowhorned fruit 
tree, eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides), kenaf, jatropha, 
eucalyptus (fast growing), castor beans (Ricinus communis), short 
rotation pine, tropical maize, hybrid willow, sweetgum, black locust, 
loblolly pine, aspen, rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) and 
guayule (Parthenium argentatum).
     Requirements or additional practices for conservation 
plans on expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) or Agricultural 
Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) land acres that would be enrolled 
in BCAP project areas.
     Potential for enrolling annual crops in BCAP project areas 
for contracts of less than five years.
     Program management processes that could help offset the 
lack of crop insurance for biomass crops or provide sufficient 
information for the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) 
to establish coverage.
     Treatment of the required FSA annual rental reductions in 
the event of no bioenergy market end use (conversion to heat, power, 
advance biofuel or biobased product) for the harvested or collected 
biomass crops.
    FSA will conduct scoping meetings to provide information on the 
proposed changes to BCAP and to solicit input from program 
participants, the public, and other stakeholders on the environmental 
impacts of these changes and alternatives to these changes. FSA will 
hold five scoping meetings. Each meeting will begin with an Open House 
(6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.) followed by a presentation (6:30 p.n.-7 p.m.). At 
the conclusion of the presentation FSA will accept verbal comments and 
answer questions. Times and locations are provided in the table below.

          Table 1--Public Meeting Dates, Times, and Locations*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date                      Time               Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 14, 2015.................  6 p.m.-8 p.m.....  Hilton Garden Inn
                                                    Sacramento/South
                                                    Natomas, 2540
                                                    Venture Oaks Way,
                                                    Sacramento, CA
                                                    95833.
July 15, 2015.................  6 p.m.-8 p.m.....  Pacific Beach Hotel,
                                                    2490 Kalakaua
                                                    Avenue, Honolulu, HI
                                                    96815.
August 3, 2015................  6 p.m.-8 p.m.....  Hampton Inn & Suites
                                                    Raleigh-Durham
                                                    Airport, 8021 Acro
                                                    Corporate Drive,
                                                    Raleigh, NC 27617.
August 4, 2015................  6 p.m.-8 p.m.....  Orlando Airport
                                                    Marriott Lakeside,
                                                    7499 Augusta
                                                    National Drive,
                                                    Orlando, FL 32822.
August 5, 2015................  6 p.m.-8 p.m.....  Holiday Inn Sioux
                                                    City, 701 Gordon
                                                    Drive, Sioux City,
                                                    IA 51101.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The five public meeting locations were chosen for the purposes of
  allowing public input from communities where BCAP has an existing
  project area or where FSA is aware that project area planning is in
  underway.

    Under NEPA, the PEIS process provides a means for the public to 
provide input on implementation alternatives and environmental concerns 
for federal actions and programs. This notice informs the public of 
FSA's intent to prepare a PEIS for discretionary changes to BCAP, and 
provides notice of the opportunity for public input on the proposed 
discretionary changes. The PEIS will provide an analysis that evaluates 
program effects in appropriate contexts, describes the intensity of 
adverse as well as beneficial environmental impacts, and addresses the 
cumulative environmental impacts associated with the proposed changes 
to BCAP. There will be additional opportunities for public comment on 
the draft PEIS when it is developed. The final PEIS and subsequent 
Record of Decision will be used by FSA decision-makers in implementing 
changes to BCAP.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2015.
Val Dolcini,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation, and 
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 2015-14393 Filed 6-11-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-05-P