Emerald Bay Timber Sale Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Emerald Bay Timber Sale 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 Area timber sale program. The Record of Decision will

disclose how the Forest Service has decided to provide harvest units

and associated timber harvesting facilities. The proposed action is to

harvest an estimated 15 million board feet (mmbf) of timber on

approximately 900 acres in a single timber sale. A range of

alternatives responsive to significant issues will be developed,

including a no action alternative. The proposed timber harvest is

located within Tongass Forest Plan Value Comparison Unit 721 on

Cleveland Peninsula, Alaska, on the Ketchikan Ranger District,

Ketchikan Area, Tongass National Forest.

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

by September 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to: Forest Supervisor's Office,

Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan Area, Attn.: Emerald Bay EIS,

Federal Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Pete Griffin, Acting District Ranger, Ketchikan Ranger District,

Tongass National Forest, 3031 Tongass Ave., Ketchikan, AK 99901,

telephone (907) 228-4100 or Craig Trulock, Planning Silviculturist,

Ketchikan Ranger District, 3031 Tongass Ave., Ketchikan, AK 99901,

telephone (907) 228-4125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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, 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

will be solicited through a scoping package that will be sent to the

project mailing list and to the local newspaper. For the Forest Service

to best use the scoping input, comments should be received by September

15, 1998. Preliminary issues identified for analysis in the EIS include

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

project to: subsistence resources, timber supply and economics, and

others.

Based on the results of scoping and the resource capabilities

within the Project Area, alternatives, including a no action

alternative, will be developed for the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS is

projected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in

January 1999. Subsistence hearings, as provided for in Title VIII,

Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

(ANILCA), will be held during the comment period on the Draft EIS if

needed. The Final EIS is anticipated by May 1999.

The comment period on the Draft EIS will be a minimum of 45 days

from the date the EPA 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 EISs 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)). Environmental

objections that could have been raised at the Draft EIS stage may be

waived or dismissed by the courts (City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2nd

1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490

F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980)). Because of these courts 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 they can be meaningfully considered and

responded to in the Final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns of the Proposed Action, comments during scoping and on the

Draft EIS should be as specific as possible and refer to specific pages

or chapters. Comments may address the adequacy of the Draft EIS or the

merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed. In addressing

these points reviewers may wish to refer to the Council on

Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural

provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act in 40 CFR 1503.3.

Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and

addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public

record on this Proposed Action and will be available for public

inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and

considered. Pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the

agency to withhold a submission, from the public record, by showing how

the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality.

Requesters should be aware that, under FOIA, confidentiality may be

granted in only very limited circumstances, such as to protect trade

secrets. The Forest Service will inform the requester of the agency's

decision regarding the request for confidentiality. If the request is

denied, the agency will return the submission and notify the requester

that the comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address

within seven days.

Permits: required for implementation include the following:

1. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

--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

[[Page 43904]]

--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. In making the decision, the

responsible official will consider the comments, responses, disclosure

of environmental consequences, and applicable laws, regulations, and

policies. The responsible official will state the rationale for the

chosen alternative in the Record of Decision.

Dated: August 6, 1998.

Bradley E. Powell,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98-21977 Filed 8-14-98; 8:45 am]

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