22668 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 78 / Friday, April 22, 2011 / Notices 

1According to the Pathogen Reduction; Hazard 

Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems final 

rule, a very small establishment is one that has 

fewer than 10 employees or less than $2.5 million 

in annual sales; a small establishment is one that 

has 10 or more but fewer than 500 employees 

(61 FR 38819). 

DATES: Submit written comments by 

June 21, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on this 

notice and the compliance guidelines. 

Comments may be submitted by either 

of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web 

site provides the ability to type short 

comments directly into the comment 

field on this Web page or attach a file 

for lengthier comments. Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions at that site for submitting 

comments. 

Mail, including floppy disks or CD– 

ROMs, and hand- or courier-delivered 

items: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA), 

FSIS, Room 2–2127, George Washington 

Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, 

Mailstop 5272, Beltsville MD 20705– 

5272. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2010–0026. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 

personal information, to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to background 

documents or to comments received, go 

to the FSIS Docket Room at the address 

listed above between 8:30 a.m. and 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristina Barlow, USDA, FSIS, 

telephone: (202) 690–7739, e-mail: 

kristina.barlow@fsis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This document provides small and 

very small meat and poultry 

establishments 1 that manufacture RTE 

meat and poultry products information 

on regulatory requirements associated 

with safe production of these products 

with respect to Salmonella and other 

pathogens. This document also provides 

information about processing and safe 

handling of RTE products after the 

lethality step, so they are not 

contaminated with pathogens such as 

Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes 

(Lm). Though Agency guidance 

documents are recommendations rather 

than regulatory requirements and are 

revised as new information becomes 

available, FSIS encourages meat and 

poultry establishments to follow this 

guidance. 

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all 

its programs and activities on the basis 

of race, color, national origin, gender, 

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, 

sexual orientation, and marital or family 

status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to 

all programs.) Persons with disabilities 

who require alternative means for 

communication of program information 

(Braille, large print, or audiotape.) 

should contact USDA’s Target Center at 

202–720–2600 (voice and TTY). 

To file a written complaint of 

discrimination, write USDA, Office of 

the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–9410 or call 

202–720–5964 (voice and TTY). USDA 

is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, in an effort to 

ensure that minorities, women, and 

persons with disabilities are aware of 

this notice, FSIS will announce it online 

through the FSIS Web page located at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_

policies/Federal_Register_Notices/

index.asp. 

FSIS will also make copies of this 

Federal Register publication available 

through the FSIS Constituent Update, 

which is used to provide information 

regarding FSIS policies, procedures, 

regulations, Federal Register notices, 

FSIS public meetings, and other types of 

information that could affect or would 

be of interest to constituents and 

stakeholders. The Update is 

communicated via Listserv, a free 

electronic mail subscription service for 

industry, trade groups, consumer 

interest groups, health professionals, 

and other individuals who have asked 

to be included. The Update is also 

available on the FSIS Web page. 

Through the Listserv and Web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader and more diverse 

audience. In addition, FSIS offers an 

electronic mail subscription service 

which provides automatic and 

customized access to selected food 

safety news and information. This 

service is available at http://www.fsis.

usda.gov/news_and_events/email_

subscription/. Options range from 

recalls to export information to 

regulations, directives and notices. 

Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves, and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

Alfred V. Almanza, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2011–9856 Filed 4–21–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Shasta-Trinity National Forest; 

California; I–5 Corridor Fuels 

Reduction Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Shasta Unit of the ShastaTrinity National Forest is proposing a 

hazardous fuels treatment project to 

reduce the risk of life, property and 

resource values from a high severity 

wildland fire event and improve fire 

suppression abilities and firefighter 

safety by modifying predicted fire 

behavior along Interstate Highway 5 

(I–5) corridor north of the Pit River 

Bridge; south of the community of 

Pollock; east of Backbone Ridge 

peninsula; and west of the McCloud 

River Arm of Shasta Lake 

(approximately 15 miles north of 

Redding, Califronia). The project is 

located in Shasta County, California. 

The project area covers approximately 

33,700 acres, 15,600 acres are within the 

wildland urban interface (WUI), 11,900 

acres of the WUI are on National Forest 

System lands. Approximately 20,025 

acres of the project area is proposed for 

treatment. Treatment methods include 

prescribe fire (i.e., broadcast, 

underburn, pile burn), mastication, thin 

and brush cut, prune, chip and pile. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by May 

25, 2011. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected December 

2011 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected October 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Marian Kadota, Project Manager, 1072 

Casitas Pass Road, #288, Carpinteria, CA 

93013. Comments may also be sent via 

e-mail to comments-pacificsouthwestshasta-trinity@fs.fed.us with ‘‘I–5 

Corridor’’ as the subject, or via facsimile 

to (530) 275–1512. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marian Kadota, Project Manager, 1072 

Casitas Pass Road, #288, Carpinteria, CA 

93013. Phone: (805) 220–6388; e-mail 

address: mkadota@fs.fed.us. Individuals 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 78 / Friday, April 22, 2011 / Notices 22669 

who use telecommunication devices for 

the deaf (TDD) may call (530) 242–5526. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The needs for the I–5 Corridor Fuels 

Reduction (I–5 Corridor) Project are to 

reduce the risk to life, property and 

resource values from a high severity 

wildland fire event uncharacteristic of 

the historical fire regime, and improve 

fire suppression abilities and firefighter 

safety by modifying fire predicted 

behavior through fuels treatment within 

the project area. This would be achieved 

by reducing the uncharacteristic 

buildup of fuels on the landscape on 

National Forest System lands. This 

proposal will compliment other existing 

and planned firewise treatments on nonnational forest lands. Vegetation 

treatment on non-national forest lands 

for reducing the risk to individual 

homes is the responsibility of private 

landowners. The project is designed to 

respond to goals and objectives 

identified in the Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan, the 

Northwest Forest Plan, and the 

Lakehead Area Strategic Fuel Reduction 

Plan. 

The purposes (objectives) for the I–5 

Corridor Project are to: restore fire to its 

natural role in the ecosystem (Forest 

Plan, p. 4–4); manage the chaparral 

ecosystem to enhance wildlife habitat 

and watershed condition (Forest Plan, 

p. 4–4); manage vegetation to a level 

that results in healthy forest stands, 

maintenance of wildlife habitat, good 

scenic quality and public health and 

safety (Forest Plan, Management Area 8 

[Shasta Unit], p. 4–112); and within 

bald eagle nest territories, manage 

vegetation to enhance or retain critical 

habitat elements over the long-term 

(Forest Plan, Management Area 8 

[Shasta Unit], p. 4–112). 

Proposed Action 

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is 

proposing approximately 20,025 acres of 

vegetation treatment on National Forest 

System lands in portions of T33N, R5W; 

T34N, R4W; T34N, R5W; T35N, R3W; 

T25N, R4W; T35N, R5W; T36N, R3W, 

MDM. The project does not involve any 

commercial timber harvest. The 

treatment methods include: Broadcast 

and underburn prescribe fire 

(approximately 12,815 acres); 

mastication followed by broadcast or 

underburn prescribe fire (approximately 

1,675 acres); thin, pile, pile burn 

followed by broadcast or underburn 

prescribe fire (approximately 1,590 

acres); thin, pile, pile and burn or chip 

(approximately 2,820 acres); and 

masticate (approximately 1,125 acres). 

Within all treatment areas, trees that 

pose a hazard to firefighter or public 

safety would be cut. If the tree is greater 

than 19 inches diameter at breast height 

(dbh), the downed tree would be left on 

site unless this conflicts with fuels 

management objectives or poses a safety 

hazard for that specific site. 

No new forest system or temporary 

roads are proposed for construction. The 

majority of roads within the project area 

are hard surfaced (e.g. paved) and 

would need no additional maintenance 

work through the implementation of 

this project. The native forest system 

surfaced roads (i.e., unpaved) may 

receive reconstruction and maintenance 

activities. 

The project is proposed for 

implementation over a ten year period. 

The proposed average annual treatment 

is approximately 2,000 acres. 

Treatments can occur any time of the 

year so long as Best Management 

Practices are implemented and the 

treatments comply with the design 

features included in the project design. 

Design features (protection measures) 

were developed and incorporated into 

the proposed action to reduce potential 

resource impacts from this project. In 

addition, monitoring measures are 

proposed to determine the effectiveness 

of the project’s design and associated 

design features. 

The proposed action requires nonsignificant project level Forest Plan 

amendments. Two Forest Plan 

Management Prescription standards 

require higher levels of unburned dead 

and down material per acre be retained 

than what is proposed after treatment. 

The Limited Roaded Motorized 

Recreation management prescription 

requires an average of 20 tons of 

unburned dead and down material per 

acre (Forest Plan, p. 4–47); Roaded 

Recreation requires an average of ten 

tons of unburned dead and down 

material per acre on slopes less than 40 

percent and where feasible, maintain 

the same amount on slopes over 40 

percent (Forest Plan, pp. 4–65–66). The 

Forest Plan amendment would reduce 

the dead and down material from ten to 

20 tons per acre to generally five to ten 

tons per acre in Limited Roaded 

Motorized Recreation and Roaded 

Recreation Management Prescription 

areas. This would entail approximately 

1,255 acres of Limited Roaded 

Motorized Recreation and 8,475 acres of 

Roaded Recreation. Another nonsignificant Forest Plan amendment 

would include designating a Forest 

Service acquired parcel located in Sec 9, 

T34N, R4W, MDM, totaling 117 acres, as 

Roaded Recreation for the management 

prescription. The National Forest 

System lands surrounding this parcel 

are designated Roaded Recreation. This 

117-acre parcel is located in one of the 

proposed treatment areas. 

A more detailed project description 

can be found on the Forest Web site at 

http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/project_

content.php?project=30238. 

Possible Alternatives 

Based on the initial scoping of the 

project, another action alternative will 

be considered in the environmental 

analysis that only involves treatments 

within the wildland urban interface. 

The preliminary alternatives currently 

under consideration (besides the 

proposed action) are: the No Action 

Alternative and the Wildland Urban 

Interface Alternative. The final 

alternatives analyzed in detail will 

depend on the issues raised during 

public scoping. 

Responsible Official 

The Forest Service responsible official 

for the preparation of the EIS is the 

Shasta-Trinity Forest Supervisor J. 

Sharon Heywood, 3644 Avtech 

Parkway, Redding, CA 96002. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Forest Supervisor will decide 

whether to implement the proposed 

action, approve an alternative to the 

proposed action, or take no action on 

treating the vegetation related to this 

project at this time. 

Preliminary Issues 

Issues identified during initial 

scoping include potential cumulative, 

visual quality, water quality, special 

status species, and invasive plants 

impacts. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent reinitiates the 

scoping process, which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. 

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, anonymous 

comments will not provide the Agency 

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22670 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 78 / Friday, April 22, 2011 / Notices 

with the ability to provide the 

respondent with subsequent 

environmental documents. 

Dated: April 18, 2011. 

Alan D. Olson, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2011–9871 Filed 4–21–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Black Hills National Forest, Hell 

Canyon Ranger District, South Dakota, 

Vestal Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement on a proposal to use multiple 

vegetation treatments focused on 

reducing the threat to ecosystem 

components including forest resources 

from an existing insect epidemic 

(mountain pine beetle), creating a 

landscape condition that reduces the 

potential for high severity wildfire 

adjacent to the at-risk community of 

Custer, SD. The proposal is being 

planned for the 43,516 acre Vestal 

Project that includes about 25,726 acres 

of National Forest System land and 

about 17,790 acres of interspersed 

private land. The project area is located 

surrounding the city of Custer, SD. This 

project will be conducted as an 

authorized project under Section 102 of 

the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 

2003 (HFRA). Actions proposed for the 

Vestal Project would occur on National 

Forest System lands only. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis would be most useful if 

received by 30 days following the date 

of this notice. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected to be 

available for public review by November 

2011 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected to be 

completed by March 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Lynn D. Kolund, District Ranger, Black 

Hills National Forest, Hell Canyon 

Ranger District, 330 Mount Rushmore 

Road, Custer, South Dakota 57730. 

Telephone Number: (605) 673–4853. Email: comments-rocky-mountain-blackhills-hell-canyon@fs.fed.us. Electronic 

comments must be readable in Word, 

Rich Text or PDF formats. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have any questions or need 

additional information, please contact 

Kelly Honors, Team Leader or Lynn D. 

Kolund, District Ranger, at the Hell 

Canyon Ranger District office in Custer, 

SD at (605) 673–4853. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

actions proposed are in direct response 

to management direction provided by 

the Black Hills National Forest Land 

and Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan). The site specific actions are 

designed, based on Forest Plan 

Standards and Guidelines, to move 

existing resource conditions in the 

Vestal Project toward meeting Forest 

Plan Goals and Objectives. The project 

area is located surrounding the at-risk 

community of Custer, SD. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The primary purpose for action in the 

Vestal project is to reduce the threat to 

forest resources from the existing 

mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic. 

This action is needed because there is 

a rapidly increasing MPB outbreak 

occurring within the project area which 

is resulting in substantial levels of pine 

mortality. Existing stand conditions 

across the project area are largely at 

medium to high risk for MPB caused 

mortality. 

A secondary purpose of this project is 

to protect local communities and 

watersheds from large-scale wildfire. 

This action is needed because the 

project area is located within and 

surrounding the town of Custer, SD and 

overall fire hazard in the area is high 

due to dense stand conditions and dead, 

dry fuels resulting from MPB caused 

mortality. Approximately 40 percent of 

lands in the project area are privately 

owned, with an estimated 3,194 private 

structures. 

Proposed Action 

• Thin and harvest approximately 

19,779 acres of pine stands using a 

variety of methods to treat mountain 

pine beetle (MPB) infested stands, 

reduce the overall density of pine trees 

and create a mosaic of structural stages 

across the landscape. Both commercial 

harvest and non-commercial thinning 

will be used to reduce the stand density, 

and associated fuel hazard conditions 

and susceptibility to mountain pine 

beetle infestations. 

• Reduce the amount of fuels that 

currently exist and that are modified by 

mountain pine beetle caused mortality 

by creation of fuelbreaks on 180 acres 

and deadfall treatment on 24,110 acres. 

Deadfall treatments could include 

lopping, chipping, crushing, piling and 

burning, and mastication of fuels. 

Prescribed broadcast burning on 

approximately 1,761 acres is also 

planned to disrupt the continuity of 

surface and canopy fuels. The deadfall 

treatment and prescribed burning would 

occur on sites also proposed for other 

mechanical treatments. 

• Remove conifers from hardwood 

stands and meadows on approximately 

1,889 acres and convert pine stands to 

aspen on 126 acres to provide additional 

wildfire protection by enhancing natural 

fuel breaks. 

• Removal of live pine trees which 

have mountain pine beetle larva in them 

across the entire project area and as a 

stand alone treatment on approximately 

3,655 acres. This is a suppression 

method for mountain pine beetle 

infestations. 

• Conversion of 0.6 miles of 

unauthorized road to system road to 

facilitate treatments, and closure of 

approximately 0.9 miles of system road 

to protect resources. 

Responsible Official 

Lynn D. Kolund, District Ranger, Hell 

Canyon Ranger District, Black Hills 

National Forest, 330 Mount Rushmore 

Road, Custer, South Dakota 57730. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The decision to be made is whether or 

not to implement the proposed action or 

possible alternative at this time. 

Scoping Process 

The Hell Canyon Ranger District has 

mailed letters with comprehensive 

scoping documents to local and tribal 

government representatives, permittees, 

organizations and others. A public 

notice will also be published in local 

newspapers. The scoping document 

with attached maps will also be posted 

on the Black Hills National Forest Web 

site. A public meeting is scheduled for 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 from 5–7 

p.m. at the Custer High School, Custer, 

South Dakota. Scoping comments 

submitted based on this NOI will be 

most useful if received within 30 days 

from the date of this notice. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent is part of the 

scoping process which will guide the 

development of the EIS. Comments 

received will assist the planning team to 

identify key issues and opportunities 

used to refine the proposal or develop 

possible alternatives. Comments on the 

DEIS will be requested during the 45 

day comment period following 

publication of the Notice of Availability 

in the Federal Register, expected in 

November, 2011. 

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