Upper Carroll Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Upper Carroll Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to provide timber for the

Ketchikan Pulp Company 50-year Timber Sale Contract or the Ketchikan

Area Independent Timber Sale Program. The Record of Decision will

disclose how the Forest Service has decided to provide harvest units,

roads, and associated timber harvesting facilities. The proposed action

is to harvest an estimated 70 million board feet (mmbf) of timber on an

estimated 2,200 acres. A range of alternatives will be developed to

achieve this estimated volume and include a no-action alternative. The

proposed timber harvest is located within Tongass Forest Plan

Management Area K32, VCU's 737, 744, and 746, on Revillagigedo

(Revilla) Island, Alaska, on the Ketchikan Ranger District of the

Ketchikan Area of the Tongass National Forest.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be received

by October 28, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and suggestions concerning the

scope of this project to: Forest Supervisor, Tongass National Forest,

Ketchikan Area, Attn: Upper Carroll EIS, Federal Building, Ketchikan,

AK 99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Questions about one proposal and EIS

should be directed to David Arrasmith, Planning Staff Officer, Tongass

National Forest, Ketchikan Area, Federal Building, Ketchikan, Alaska

99901, telephone (907) 225-3101, or to Linn Shipley, District Ranger,

Ketchikan Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, 3031 Tongass Ave.,

Ketchikan, AK 99901, telephone (907) 225-2148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

(1) Public Participation

Public participation will be an integral component of the study

process and will be especially important at several points during the

analysis. The first is during the scoping process. The Forest Service

will be seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal,

State, and local agencies and individuals and organizations that may be

interested in, or affected by, the proposed activities. The scoping

process will include (1) Identification of potential issues; (2)

identification of issues to be analyzed in depth; and, (3) eliminating

of insignificant issues or these which have been covered by a previous

environmental review. Public scoping meetings are scheduled in Alaska

at Ketchikan, October 4, 1994, and Saxman, October 5, 1994. Written

scoping comments are being solicited through a scoping package that

will be sent to the project mailing list. For the Forest Service to

best use the scoping input, comments should be received by October 28,

1994.

Tentative issues identified for analysis in the EIS include the

potential effects of the project on and the relationship of the project

to: subsistence resources, old-growth ecosystem management and the

maintenance of habitat for viable populations of wildlife and plant

species, timber sale economics, timber supply, visual and recreational

resources, anadromous fish habitat, potential road connections on

Revilla Island, the Neets Bay Fish Hatchery, soil and water resources,

cultural resources, Misty Fiords National Monument wilderness values,

and others.

Based on results of scoping and the resources capabilities within

the project area, alternatives including a ``no action'' alternative

will be developed for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft

EIS). The Draft EIS is projected to be filed in the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) in August 1995. Public comment on the Draft EIS

will be solicited for a minimum of 45 days from the date the

Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in

the Federal Register. Subsistence hearing, as provided for in Section 8

of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Acg (ANICLA), are

planned during this 45-day comment period. The Final EIS is anticipated

by April 1996.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments during scoping and

comments on the Draft EIS should be as specific as possible. It is also

helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the draft

statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the Draft EIS 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 Act at 40 CFR 1503.8 in addressing these points.

In addition, Federal court decisions have established that

reviewers of Draft EIS statements must structure their participation in

the environmental review of the proposal os that it is meaningful and

alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and concerns. Vermont

Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978).

Environmental objections that could have been raised at the draft stage

may be waived if not raised until after completion of the Final EIS.

City of Angoon v. Hodel, Harris, (9th Circuit, 1986), and Wisconsin

Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980).

The reason for this is to ensure 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 EIS.

(2) Permits

Permits required for implementation include the following:

1. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

--Approval of the discharge of dredged or fill materials into waters of

the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

--Approval of the construction of structures or work in navigable

waters of the United States under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors

Act of 1899

2. Environmental Protection Agency

--National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (402) Permit

--Review Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan

3. State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources

--Tideland Permit and Lease or Easement

4. State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation

--Solid Waste Disposal Permit

--Certification of Compliance with Alaska Water Quality Standards (401

Certification)

Responsible Official

David D. Rittenhouse, Forest Supervisor, Ketchikan Area, Tongass

National Forest, Federal Building, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901, is the

responsible official. The responsible official will consider the

comments, responses, disclosure of environmental consequences, and

applicable laws, regulations, and policies in making the decision and

stating the rationale in the Record of Decision.

Dated: August 23, 1994.

David D. Rittenhouse,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 94-21457 Filed 8-30-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M