Gravina Island Timber Sales Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Gravina Island Timber Sales Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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

SUMMARY: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to provide timber for the Tongass

National Forest timber sale program. The Record of Decision will

disclose how the Forest Service decides to provide harvest units,

roads, and associated timber harvesting facilities. The proposed action

is to harvest up to an estimated 40 million board feet (mmnbf) of

timber on an estimated 1800 acres in several timber sales. The project

area is located within Gravina roadless area (#522) as inventoried in

the Tongas Land and Resource Management Plan. 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

Tongass Forest Plan Value Comparison Units 7610, 7630, 7640, 7650 on

Gravina Island, Alaska, on the Ketchikan Ranger District/Misty Fiords

National Monument of the Tongass National Forest.

DATES: Opportunities for comment will be made available throughout the

process and are identified below. In order to take full advantage of

scheduled comment periods, individuals interested in receiving a

scoping package should contact us by December 1, 1999. Further

opportunities for comment will be provided following development of a

specific agency proposed action, during alternative development and

following release of the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to District/Monument Ranger,

Ketchikan Ranger District/Misty Fiords National Monument, 3031 Tongass

Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposal and EIS

should be directed to Jerry Ingersoll, District/Monument Ranger,

Ketchikan Ranger District/Misty Fiords National Monument, Tongass

National Forest, 3031 Tongass Ave., Ketchikan, AK 99901 telephone (907)

228-4100 or Susan Marthaller, NEPA Coordinator, Ketchikan Ranger

District/Misty Fiords National Monument, 3031 Tongass Ave., Ketchikan,

AK 99901 telephone (907) 228-4124.

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 and tribal 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 and (4)

suggestions for possible alternatives.

Opportunities to provide both written and verbal comment and to

provide feedback on the process will be made available. A series of

public meetings will be scheduled and a scoping package sent to the

project mailing list. This active scoping will begin with the

publication of the NOI and continue through preparation of a draft

Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS).

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 late March 2000 or early April 2000.

Subsistence hearings, as provided for in Title VIII, Section 810 of the

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), will be

planned, if needed, during the comment period on the Draft EIS. The

Final EIS is anticipated by October 2000.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be a minimum of 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection

Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

[[Page 63008]]

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 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 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 may 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)

Responsible Official

Thomas Puchlerz, Forest Supervisor, Tongass National Forest,

Federal Building, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901, 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: November 3, 1999.

Thomas Puchlerz,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 99-30076 Filed 11-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M