[Federal Register: December 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 248)]
[Notices]
[Page 76750-76751]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28de05-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Plumas National Forest; Plumas County, CA; Empire Vegetation
Management Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplement to the environmental
impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a supplement to the final
Environmental Impact Statement to document and clarify additional
analysis of cumulative environmental effects primarily in five resource
areas: Vegetation, Fire/Fuels/Air Quality, Wildlife, Watershed, and
Botanical Resources/Noxious Weeds. The supplement will also clarify the
discussion of planning areas. Additional details will be added to
Appendix D: Proposed Actions for Each Road in Each Watershed and
Appendix G: Past, Present, and Reasonably Foreseeable Future Actions.
Additional maps will be included to provide further information to the
public.
DATES: Scoping is not required for supplements to environmental impact
statements (40 CFR 1502.9(c)4(4)). The draft supplemental environmental
impact statement is expected to be issued in January 2006 and the final
supplemental environmental impact statement is expected in April 2006.
ADDRESSES: Plumas National Forest, 159 Lawrence Street, P.O. Box 11500,
Quincy, CA 95971; Mount Hough Ranger District, 39696 Highway 70,
Quincy, CA 95971.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Rotta, Interdisciplinary Team
Leader, Mt. Hough Ranger District 39696 Highway 70, Quincy, CA 95971
(530) 283-7687.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The prior notice of intent for this project
appeared in the Federal Register on February 9, 2005. The Notice of
Availability for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement appeared on
May 20, 2005. A Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of
Decision were issued on August 9, 2005. The legal notice of the Record
of Decision appeared in the Feather River Bulletin on August 24, 2005.
The decision was appealed and later reversed on November 18, 2005.
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose and need remain the same as was described in the FEIS.
In the FEIS, the purpose of and need for the project has three
elements: (1) To implement fuel reduction in the Wildland Urban
Interface (WUI) and, as part of the larger HFQLG fuel treatment
strategic network as called for by the HFQLG Act (Section 401(b)(1) and
(d)(1)) and the HFQLG amendment to the LRMP, to reduce the potential
size and intensity of wildfires and provide fire suppression personnel
safe locations for taking action against wildfires; (2) to implement
group selection and individual tree selection, as directed in the HFQLG
Act (Section 401(b)(1) and (d)(2)) and the HFQLG amendment to the LRMP,
to test the effectiveness of an uneven-aged silvicultural system in
achieving an all-aged, multistory, fire resilient forest, providing an
adequate timber supply that contributes to the economic stability of
rural communities, and improving and maintaining ecological health of
the forest; and (3) to reduce impacts of the transportation system on
forest resources and provide the necessary access for the fuel
treatments and the group and individual tree selection harvests.
Proposed Action
The proposed action and all alternatives will remain the same as
described in the FEIS. These alternatives include varied levels of fuel
treatments, group selection timber harvest, individual tree selection
harvest and transportation system improvement.
[[Page 76751]]
Responsible Official
Jim Pena, Forest Supervisor, Plumas National Forest, P.O. Box
11500, Quincy, CA 95971.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
Based on the supplement, the responsible official will decide
whether to implement the project based on an alternative in the FEIS or
not implement the project at this time.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
A draft supplemental environmental impact statement will be
prepared for comment. The comment period on the draft supplemental
environmental impact statement will be 45 days from the date the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in
the Federal Register.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft supplemental environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the
draft supplemental environmental impact statement stage but that are
not raised until after completion of the final supplemental
environmental impact statement may be waived or dismissed by the
courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986)
and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D.
Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings, it is very important that
those interested in this proposed action participate by the close of
the 45-day comment period so that substantive comments and objections
are made available to the Forest Service at a time when it can
meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final
supplemental environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft supplemental
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages of the draft
supplement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
supplemental environmental impact statement or the merits of the
alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may
wish to refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for
implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental
Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: December 20, 2005.
James M. Pena,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-24517 Filed 12-27-05; 8:45 am]
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