# Upper Carroll Environmental Impact Statement > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-21457 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Uncategorized Document - **Published:** August 31, 1994 ## Text 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 --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-21457. Public record. Not legal advice.