This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

18713 

Vol. 76, No. 65 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 

ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

Committees on Rulemaking, 

Regulation, and Adjudication 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of 

public meetings of three committees of 

the Assembly of the Administrative 

Conference of the United States (ACUS). 

Each committee will meet to discuss 

recommendations for consideration by 

the full Conference. Complete details 

regarding each committee’s meeting, 

related research reports, how to attend 

(including information about remote 

access and obtaining special 

accommodations for persons with 

disabilities), and how to submit 

comments to the committee can be 

found in the ‘‘Research’’ section of the 

ACUS Web site, at http://www.acus.gov. 

Comments may be submitted by email to Comments@acus.gov, with the 

name of the relevant committee in the 

subject line, or by postal mail to ‘‘[Name 

of Committee] Comments’’ at the address 

given below. 

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at 

1120 20th Street, NW., Suite 706 South, 

Washington, DC 20036. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Designated Federal Officer for the 

individual committee, ACUS, 1120 20th 

Street, NW., Suite 706 South, 

Washington, DC 20036; Telephone 202– 

480–2080. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Committee on Rulemaking 

The Committee on Rulemaking will 

meet to consider a draft 

recommendation concerning legal issues 

agencies face in conducting eRulemaking. 

Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 

from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Designated Federal Officer: Emily F. 

Schleicher. 

Committee on Regulation 

The Committee on Regulation will 

meet to consider a draft 

recommendation addressing various 

issues associated with the timing, 

availability, confidentiality, and impact 

of comments submitted during agency 

rulemakings. 

Date: Monday, April 25, 2011, from 2 

p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Designated Federal Officer: Reeve T. 

Bull. 

Committee on Adjudication 

The Committee on Adjudication will 

meet to consider a draft 

recommendation on the use of video 

hearings by Federal agencies, examining 

the costs and benefits of video hearings 

as they are currently being used and the 

possibilities for expanding their use by 

agencies. The Committee on 

Adjudication will also hear from Lenni 

B. Benson and Russell Wheeler, 

consultants for the ACUS study on 

Immigration Adjudication, who will 

provide information about the plan for 

the study and receive comments from 

the committee. 

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 

from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

Designated Federal Officer: Funmi E. 

Olorunnipa. 

Dated: March 31, 2011. 

Jonathan R. Siegel, 

Director of Research & Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8031 Filed 4–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6110–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Malheur National Forest; Oregon; 

Malheur National Forest Site-Specific 

Invasive Plants Treatment Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Correction—Notice of intent to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement. 

SUMMARY: On March 31, 2006 the 

Malheur National Forest published a 

Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for a similar project (Federal Register 

Vol. 72, No. 62, page 16281–1628). 

There has been a delay in filing the 2006 

draft EIS and the invasive plant 

inventory and proposed action have 

been updated since then resulting in 

this correction. The following 

information is the updated Proposed 

Action. The Forest Service proposes to 

eradicate, control, or contain invasive 

plants within the Malheur National 

Forest. The Proposed Action is to treat 

invasive plants using integrated 

methods including chemical (herbicides 

and adjuvants), physical treatments 

(mechanical and manual treatment), and 

biological controls. These treatments 

will be used on existing infestations 

(approximately 2,287 acres) or new 

infestations, including new plant 

species that currently are not found on 

the Forest. Treatment could be 

anywhere on Forest Service system 

lands including rangelands, wilderness, 

timber harvest areas, along roads and 

road rights-of-way (including 

decommissioned roads), along trail 

routes, at dispersed and developed 

recreation sites, and on other disturbed 

sites (i.e. fires, flood events, and rock 

sources) where invasive plants are 

located. Mulching, seeding and planting 

of competitive, desirable vegetation may 

occur to restore treated sites. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by May 

5, 2011. The draft environmental impact 

statement is expected March 2012 and 

the final environmental impact 

statement is expected March 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Teresa Raaf, Forest Supervisor, Malheur 

National Forest, P.O. Box 909, John Day, 

OR 97845. Comments may also be sent 

via facsimile to 541–575–3002. 

Electronic comments in acceptable plain 

text (.txt), rich text (.rtf), or Word (.doc) 

may be submitted to: commentspacificnorthwest-malheur@fs.fed.us. 

Please put ‘‘Malheur NF Invasive Plants 

Treatment Project’’ occurs in the subject 

line. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carole Holly, Project Leader, Phone 

541–575–3026 or e-mail: 

cholly@fs.fed.us. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action (Updated) 

Invasive plants displace or alter 

native plant communities and cause 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
18714 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Notices 

long-lasting economic and ecological 

problems within and outside the 

National Forest. They can increase fire 

hazards, degrade fish and wildlife 

habitat, out-compete native plants, 

impair water quality and watershed 

health, and adversely affect a wide 

variety of other resource values such as 

scenic beauty and recreational 

opportunities. Invasive plants can 

spread rapidly across the landscape to 

all land ownerships. Field inventories 

have identified about 30 different 

invasive plant species within the 

boundaries of the Forest. Species of 

greatest concern include Canada thistle, 

houndstongue, diffuse knapweed, 

Dalmatian toadflax, whitetop, and sulfur 

cinquefoil, among others. Our ability to 

prevent or minimize the adverse 

impacts of these and other invasive 

plants is greatest if populations can be 

treated while they are small and in the 

early stages of invasion. Additional 

benefits of early stage treatments 

include reduced treatment costs, less 

chemical use, and less ground and 

habitat disturbance. The purpose of 

treating invasive plant infestations is to 

maintain or improve the diversity, 

function, and sustainability of desired 

native plant communities and other 

natural resources that can be adversely 

impacted by invasive plant species. 

Without action, invasive plant 

populations will become increasingly 

difficult and costly to control and will 

further degrade forest and grassland 

ecosystems. Invasive plants will 

continue to expand and spread every 

year without effective treatment (the R6 

2005 FEIS estimated a rate of 8–12 

percent per year; this rate may be 

reduced due to adherence to prevention 

standards in the R6 2005 ROD). 

The Malheur National Forest has been 

treating invasive plants without the 

authorization to rapidly respond to new 

infestations or the use of herbicides (an 

exception is that herbicides have been 

used in spot treatments totaling 10–20 

acres/year along roads on the former 

Snow Mountain Ranger District— 

Ochoco National Forest). However, 

many invasive target species require 

herbicides for effective treatment. 

Monitoring has shown physical 

treatments alone cannot control invasive 

species. A previous attempt to authorize 

the use herbicides was made, but the 

project was litigated and enjoined. In 

December 2002, the U.S. District Court 

(Blue Mountain Biodiversity Project v. 

US Forest Service, CV 01–703–HA) 

concluded that the Malheur National 

Forest Environmental Assessment for 

invasive plant control was insufficient 

because it failed to address new 

information regarding herbicides and 

the causes of the spread of invasive 

plants. 

The Pacific Northwest Region 

Invasive Plant Program Preventing and 

Managing Invasive Plants FEIS (referred 

to as the R6 2005 FEIS) (USDA Forest 

Service, 2005a) and Record of Decision 

for Invasive Plant Program Management 

(referred to as the R6 2005 ROD) (USDA 

Forest Service 2005b). Vectors and 

causes of invasive plant spread were 

explored in detail and new standards for 

prevention, site treatment and 

restoration, and an updated list of 

herbicides for effectively responding to 

invasive plant threats were added. 

The prevention standards have been 

applied to land use decisions made 

since the R6 2005 ROD was adopted. 

However, the treatment and restoration 

part of the Malheur invasive plant 

control program is not consistent with 

the 2005 standards and needs to be 

updated. New and existing invasive 

plant populations on the Malheur 

National Forest require more timely, 

effective and cost-efficient treatment 

actions to comply with the intent of the 

R6 2005 ROD (which was incorporated 

into the Malheur Forest Plan). 

In addition, after the R6 2005 ROD 

signed, a new herbicide (aminopyralid) 

became available. Aminopyralid (also 

known as Milestone TM) is specifically 

labeled for treatment of invasive plants 

in forested settings. This herbicide is 

effective on hard to control invasive 

plant species such as hawkweed, 

knapweed, and Canada thistle. It is 

preferred by invasive plant specialists at 

the state and county level. 

Previous Public Outreach 

The MNF scoped on this project 

previously (a (NOI) to prepare an EIS 

requesting public input was published 

in the Federal Register Volume 71, No. 

62/March 31, 2006 on pages 16281– 

16282). Regional and local workload 

prevented us from being able to 

complete an EIS during the intervening 

years. The new Proposed Action is 

based on an updated inventory of 

invasive plants that was recently 

completed (February 2011). 

Proposed Action 

The Proposed Action is to treat 

invasive plants using integrated 

methods including chemical (herbicides 

and adjuvants), physical treatments 

(mechanical and manual treatment), and 

biological controls. Treatment could be 

anywhere on Forest Service system 

lands including rangelands, wilderness, 

timber harvest areas, along roads and 

road rights-of-way (including 

decommissioned roads), along trail 

routes, at dispersed and developed 

recreation sites, and on other disturbed 

sites (i.e. fires, flood events, and rock 

sources) where invasive plants are 

located. Mulching, seeding and planting 

of competitive, desirable vegetation may 

occur to restore treated sites. A map of 

invasive plant locations can be found on 

the Malheur National Forest Web site at 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur/ 

land&resourcesmanagement/projects/. 

Based on surveys, inventories and 

anecdotal reports accumulated over the 

last several years, target invasive species 

occupy approximately 2,287 acres on 

the Forest. The infestations are broadly 

distributed, often occurring in areas of 

high spread potential (e.g., along roads). 

There are likely additional invasive 

plant sites that have not yet been 

identified. 

The Proposed Action would treat 

existing infestations according to Forest 

Plan standards. Specific project design 

features would be implemented to 

minimize unintended, adverse effects to 

non-target plants, animals, water, and 

people. New invasive plants detected on 

the Forest (beyond the current 

inventory) would also be treated using 

an ‘‘Early Detection and Rapid Response 

(EDRR)’’ process. 

Ground based herbicide application 

methods would be used based on 

accessibility, topography, and the size of 

treatment areas. No aerial treatment is 

proposed. Spot and selective spraying 

where individual and groups of plants 

are targeted would be the primary 

method of application; however some 

herbicide broadcasting may occur from 

ATV or trucks. Broadcast treatments 

would occur when necessary based on 

the size, density or distribution of target 

species. ATVs may be used to facilitate 

broadcast in otherwise inaccessible 

areas. Ongoing monitoring of each site 

would dictate the treatment method, 

whether herbicides are needed, and the 

type of continued or follow-up 

treatments needed. Acreage treated 

would average up to 2,300 acres per 

year, with a total of 23,000 acres treated 

over the life of the project (about 10 

years). Herbicide treatments would be 

done in accordance with label 

advisories, USDA Forest Service 

policies, and Forest Plan management 

direction. Specific design features 

would be applied to minimize or 

eliminate the potential for invasive 

plant treatments to adversely affect nontarget plants, animals, human health, 

water quality, and aquatic organisms. 

The R6 2005 ROD (now part of the 

Malheur Forest Plan) authorized the use 

of ten herbicide active ingredients. Each 

of the ten herbicides is known to be 

effective on the target species found on 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 5, 2011 / Notices 18715 

the Forest. A given herbicide may be 

effective on many target species but 

each site would usually be treated with 

only one of the ten approved herbicides 

(some tank mixes may be used); 

however, a different herbicide might be 

used in a follow-up treatment. The more 

herbicides choices in the toolbox, the 

better the effect expected over time (R6 

2005 FEIS page 4–18, 4–26). 

A site-specific, non-significant 

amendment to the Malheur Forest Plan 

is also proposed to add an 11th 

herbicide, aminopyralid, to the list of 

authorized herbicides for use on the 

Forest to treat invasive plants. 

Aminopyralid was not labeled for 

wildland use in 2005; however, the R6 

2005 ROD Standard 16 acknowledges 

that new herbicides may be added given 

proper analysis. Aminopyralid has 

undergone extensive risk assessment 

since 2005. It is proposed for use 

because it would increase the 

effectiveness of treatment for some 

broadleaf target species, and reduce 

potential adverse impacts, compared to 

herbicides authorized in the R6 2005 

ROD. Aminopyralid is likely to be 

effective on a large proportion of the 

current target species acreage. 

Possible Alternatives 

The Forest Service is considering an 

alternative of treating without the use of 

aminopyralid and only using the 10 

herbicides approved in the R6 2005 

ROD. The No Action alternative will 

also be considered, which would 

continue the current non-herbicide 

program on the Malheur National 

Forest. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official is the 

Malheur National Forest Supervisor. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Forest Supervisor will make the 

following decisions based on the 

interdisciplinary analysis: (1) Whether 

or not to authorize site-specific invasive 

plant treatments using herbicides and 

other methods; (2) whether or not to 

implement an Early Detection and 

Rapid Response process for infestations 

that are detected over the next 5 to 15 

years; (3) what mitigation measures 

(design features) are required and (4) 

what monitoring and adaptive 

management will occur. 

Preliminary Issues 

The following issues were identified 

in scoping that occurred in 2006: 

Human Health: The health of forestry 

workers and the public may be at risk 

from exposure to herbicides. Chemical 

spray drift or contact by walking 

through recently sprayed areas may 

increase the risk, particularly to people 

who have heightened sensitivity to 

chemicals. In addition, health 

consequences could result from well 

water and other drinking water 

contaminated by herbicides. 

Treatment Effectiveness: Existing 

invasive species populations may 

continue to expand and new 

populations could become established 

without using all methods aggressively. 

Wildlife: Herbicides, particularly 

when applied through broadcast 

spraying, may harm terrestrial wildlife 

species. 

Non-target Plants: Herbicides, 

particularly when applied through 

broadcast spraying, may harm nontarget plants. 

Soil Biology: Herbicide use may harm 

soil organisms or soil biology. 

Fish and Water: Herbicide treatments 

on riparian areas have the potential to 

adversely affect water quality and 

aquatic ecosystems. 

Permits or Licenses Required 

Pesticide application licenses will be 

required for those implementing this 

project. Pesticide Use Proposals for 

wilderness herbicide applications need 

to be signed by the Regional Forester; 

otherwise Pesticide Use Proposals are 

signed by the Forest Supervisor. This 

project may involve riparian herbicide 

application subject to a Department of 

Environmental Quality water quality 

permit. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates a new 

scoping process to guide the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. Scoping comments 

from 2006 are part of the record and will 

be used to generate issues and 

alternatives for detailed study in the 

EIS. Scoping comments sent previously 

need not be re-sent; new comments are 

also welcome. No public meetings are 

planned. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such manner that they are useful to the 

agency’s preparation of the 

environmental impact statement. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewer’s concerns and 

contentions. 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered; however, those who only 

submit anonymous comments will not 

have standing to appeal the subsequent 

decision under 36 CFR 215. 

Dated: March 28, 2011. 

Teresa Raaf, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7727 Filed 4–4–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Prince William Sound Resource 

Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Prince William Sound 

Resource Advisory Committee will meet 

in Whittier, Alaska. The committee is 

meeting as authorized under the Secure 

Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act (Pub. L. 110–343) 

and in compliance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act. The purpose 

of the meeting is to review, discuss and 

select projects to be funded thru the 

Secure Rural Schools Act. 

DATES: The meeting will be held April 

22nd and April 23rd, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held on 

the 15th floor of the Begich Towers Inc. 

building located at 100 Kenai Street, 

Whitter, AK. Written comments should 

be sent to Teresa Benson P.O. Box 280, 

Cordova, AK 99574. Comments may 

also be sent via e-mail to 

tbenson@fs.fed.us, or via facsimile to 

(907) 424–7214. 

All comments, including names and 

addresses when provided, are placed in 

the record and are available for public 

inspection and copying. The public may 

inspect comments received at the 

Cordova Ranger District (612 2nd Street, 

Cordova, AK) or the Glacier Ranger 

District (145 Forest Station Road, 

Girdwood, AK). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Teresa Benson, Designated Federal 

Official, c/o USDA Forest Service, P.O. 

Box 280, Cordova, Alaska 99574, 

telephone (907) 424–4742. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting is open to the public. The 

following business will be conducted: 

The Prince William Sound Resource 

Advisory Committee (RAC) will be 

discussing and voting on proposals that 

have been received from communities of 

the Prince William Sound. The 

proposals that may receive funding 

would enhance forest ecosystems or 

restore and improve land health and 

water quality on the Chugach National 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES