Chasina Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Chasina Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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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 40 million board feet (mmbf) of timber on an

estimated 1,500 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 Areas K24 and K25, VCU's 674, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682,

and 686, on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, on the Craig Ranger

District of the Ketchikan Area of the Tongass National Forest.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be

received by November 30, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and suggestions concerning the

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

Ketchikan Area, Attn: Chasina EIS, Federal Building, Ketchikan, AK

99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposal and EIS

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

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

99901, telephone (907) 228-6304, or to Dale Kanen, District Ranger,

Craig Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, 900 Main Street, Craig,

Alaska 99921, telephone (907) 826-3272.

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) elimination of insignificant

issues or those which have been covered by a previous environmental

review. 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

November 30, 1995.

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, soil and water resources, cultural

resources, cave and karst resources, and others.

Based on results of scoping and the resource 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 with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) in May 1996. 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 hearings, as provided for in Section

810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA),

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

anticipated by April 1997.

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.

[[Page 55697]]

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 Policy 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 so 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 state

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

City of Angoon v. Hodel, Harris, (9th Circuit, 1986), 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 in 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 (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: Bradley E. Powell, 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: October 20, 1995.

Bradley E. Powell,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 95-27244 Filed 11-1-95; 8:45 am]

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