Madan Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Madan 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 Stikine

Area 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 up to an estimated 20-25 million board feet (mmbf) of timber on

an estimated 1,600-2,500 acres in one or more timber sales. A range of

alternatives responsive to significant issues will be developed and

will include a no-action alternative. The proposed timber harvest is

located within the Tongass Forest Plan Value Comparison Units 502 and

504 on the Southeast Alaska mainland, Wrangell Ranger District, Stikine

Area of the Tongass National Forest.

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

by November 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Wrangell Ranger District;

Attn: Madan EIS: P.O. Box 51, Wrangell, AK 99929.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about the proposal and EIS should be directed to Steve Brady,

District Ranger, or Dick Cozby, TMA, Wrangell Ranger District, Tongass

National Forest, P.O. Box 51, Wrangell, AK 99929, telephone (907) 874-

2323.

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, 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

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 20, 1998. Tentative

issues identified for analysis in the EIS include the potential effects

of the project on and the relationship of the project to: Old-growth

ecosystem management and the maintenance of habitat for viable

populations of wildlife species, timber supply and sale economics,

scenery, road construction/access management, and karst topography.

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 April 1999. The final EIS is anticipated by

December 1999.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes

the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers

notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the

environmental review process. First, reviewers of draft environmental

impact 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, 553, (1978).

Environmental objections that could have been raised at the draft

environmental impact statement 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 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

environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns of the proposed action, comments during scoping and

comments on the draft environmental impact statement 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 environmental impact statement or the merits of

the

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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. 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; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have

standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Parts 215 or

217. Additionally, 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, and where 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 7 days.

Permits: Permits required for implementation include the following:

1. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

--Approval of discharge of dredged or fill material into the 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)

Responsibile Official: Carol J. Jorgensen, Assistant Forest

Supervisor, Stikine Area, Tongass National Forest, P.O. box 309.

Petersburg, Alaska 99833, is the responsible official. The responsible

official will consider the comments, response, 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 10, 1998.

Carol J. Jorgensen,

Assistant Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98-28292 Filed 10-21-98; 8:45 am]

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