Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Comprehensive Management Plan Amendment #1

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Comprehensive Management

Plan Amendment #1

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare supplemental environmental impact

statement.

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

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a supplemental environmental

impact statement for a proposal to revise management direction for the

Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area, Mono Lake Ranger District, Inyo

National Forest, Mono County, California.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received

by July 15, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions concerning the scope

of the analysis to Dennis W. Martin, Forest Supervisor, Inyo National

Forest, 873, N. Main Street, Bishop, California, 93514-2494.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about the proposed action and environmental impact statement

should be sent to John Schuyler, Forest Planner, phone 619-873-2400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area

Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) was completed in March 1990. The

CMP which is a component of the 1988 Inyo Land and Resource Management

Plan, provides direction and recommendations for the management of Mono

Lake and the surrounding Scenic Area. The CMP places an overall

emphasis on protecting geologic, ecological, and cultural resources,

and recommends a lake level that ranges from 6,377 to 6,390 feet in

elevation. Furthermore, the CMP recognizes the relationship between

lake levels and the impacts on the natural resources of this unique

ecosystem. For instance, lower lake levels expose dust-producing

relicted lands, while the CMP provides specific direction to work

closely with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Great

Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District to bring the Mono Basin

airshed into compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

Since approval of the CMP, new scientific information relevant to

the impacts of various lake levels on resource values, including

compliance with air quality requirements, has come to the attention of

the Forest Service.The EPA has recently classified the Mono Basin as a

non-attainment area in respect to PM-10 emissions, with violations

occurring primarily as a result of wind-blown dust from the relicted

lands. Review of this new information has revealed the need to amend

the CMP so that it can fully and adequately guide the protection and

management of the Mono Basin ecosystem. An amendment is also necessary

to ensure compliance with the legal mandates of the Clean Air Act.

The Forest Service will consider a reasonable range of

alternatives. One alternative will be no change in management

direction. Other alternatives will examine various lake level ranges

and prose direction or make recommendations that will address Mono

Basin resource concerns, including air quality requirements. These

other alternatives will be based on the new information, in addition to

the range of alternatives previously considered in the environmental

impact statement that supports the CMP.

The responsible official is Dennis W. Martin, Forest Supervisor,

Inyo National Forest, 873 North Main Street, Bishop, CA 93514-2494.

Public participation will be especially important at several points

during this analysis. The first point is during the scoping process (40

CFR 1501.7). The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments,

and assistance from Federal, State, and local agencies and other

individuals or organizations interested in or affected by the proposed

action. Information obtained during scoping will be used to prepare the

draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS). The most

useful information in preparing a DSEIS will be that pertaining to

significant issues, reasonable alternatives, potential environmental

effects, and identification of other agencies whose cooperation may be

needed.

Workshops and open houses, if held, will be announced locally.

Federal, State, and local agencies, user groups, and other

organizations known to be interested in this action are being invited

to participate in the scoping process.

The DSEIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) and is expected to be available for public review by January

1996. At that time the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the

DSEIS in the Federal Register.

The comment period on the DSEIS will be 45 days from the date the

EPA publishes the notice of availability in 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 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, 533 (1978). Also,

environmental objections that could be raised at the draft

environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised until

after completion of the final 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 statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the DSEIS 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 DSEIS 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.

After the comment period ends on the DSEIS, written comments will

be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the final

supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS). The FSEIS is

scheduled to be completed by September 1996. The Forest Service is

required to respond in the FSEIS to the comments received (40 CFR

1503.4). The Forest Supervisor will consider the comments, responses,

and environmental consequences discussed in the FSEIS, and applicable

laws, regulations, and policies in making his decision regarding

amendment of the CMP. The responsible official will document the

decision and rationale in the Record of Decision. That decision will be

subject to appeal under 36 CFR 217.

Dated: March 22, 1994.

Joellen J. Keil,

Acting Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 94-7191 Filed 3-25-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M