Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2011 / Notices 19741 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

Draft Environmental Assessment; 

Giant Miscanthus in Arkansas, 

Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania 

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation 

and Farm Service Agency, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

availability of a draft environmental 

assessment (EA) for the proposed 

establishment and production of giant 

miscanthus (Miscanthus X giganteus) as 

a dedicated energy crop to be grown in 

the Aloterra Energy and MFA Oil 

Biomass Company (project sponsors) 

proposed project areas in Arkansas, 

Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as 

part of the Biomass Crop Assistance 

Program (BCAP). This notice provides a 

means for the public to submit 

comments to voice concerns about the 

proposed BCAP project areas. 

DATES: We will consider comments that 

we receive by May 7, 2011. The Farm 

Service Agency (FSA) will consider 

comments received after that date to the 

extent possible. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on the draft EA. In your 

comment, include the volume, date, and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-Mail: GiantMiscanthusEA

Comments@intenvsol.com. 

• Fax: 972–562–7673 ATTN: Giant 

Miscanthus EA Comments. 

• Mail: Giant Miscanthus EA 

Comments, Integrated Environmental 

Solutions, LLC, 2150 S Central Expy Ste 

110, McKinney, TX 75070. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver 

comments to the above address. 

Comments may be inspected in the 

Office of the Director, CEPD, FSA, 

USDA, Room 4709 South Building, 

Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 

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

except holidays. 

You may request copies of the draft 

EA for Giant Miscanthus by writing to: 

Giant Miscanthus EA Copies, Integrated 

Environmental Solutions, LLC, 2150 S 

Central Expy, Ste 110, McKinney, TX 

75070, or by e-mail to: rschneider@

intenvsol.com, with the subject: 

‘‘Request for copy draft Giant 

Miscanthus EA.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Matthew Ponish, (202) 720–6853. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

(braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) 

should contact the USDA Target Center 

at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Aloterra Energy and MFA Oil Biomass 

Company submitted a proposal to FSA 

to establish BCAP project areas in 

Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, and 

Pennsylvania. The proposal is to 

establish and produce giant miscanthus 

as a dedicated energy crop. The draft EA 

analyzes the environmental impacts of 

growing giant miscanthus in those areas. 

FSA will review comments submitted 

on the draft EA in response to this 

notice and use the additional input in 

developing the final EA and decision 

document about whether to approve the 

project or not. This notice announces 

the availability of the draft EA and the 

opening of the comment period; it does 

not discuss the contents of the draft EA. 

The draft EA for the proposed BCAP 

project areas supporting the 

establishment and production of Giant 

Miscanthus (Miscanthus X giganteus) in 

Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, and 

Pennsylvania sponsored by Aloterra 

Energy LLC and MFA Oil Biomass LLC 

is now available to review for the 

environmental impact. 

The draft EA was prepared in 

accordance with the provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321–4347); the 

regulations of the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) (40 CFR 

parts 1500–1508); and FSA regulations 

for compliance with NEPA (7 CFR 799). 

As specified in the CEQ regulation, an 

EA is ‘‘ * * * a concise document for 

which a Federal agency is responsible 

that serves to (1) briefly provide 

sufficient evidence and analysis for 

determining whether to prepare an 

environmental impact statement [EIS] or 

(2) a finding of no significant impact’’ 

(40 CFR 1508.9). Additionally, since 

this document falls under the guidance 

of the BCAP final programmatic EIS 

(PEIS), which was a broad national-level 

program document, CEQ guidance 

allows for ‘‘tiering.’’ The CEQ regulation 

states that tiering ‘‘refers to the coverage 

of general matters in broader 

environmental impact statements with 

subsequent narrower statements or 

environmental analyses incorporating 

by reference the general discussions and 

concentrating solely on the issues 

specific to the statement subsequently 

prepared’’ (40 CFR 1508.28). 

Section 9001 of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(Pub. L. 110–246, commonly referred to 

as the 2008 Farm Bill) authorizes BCAP. 

BCAP is administered by the FSA 

Deputy Administrator for Farm 

Programs, on behalf of the Commodity 

Credit Corporation (CCC), with the 

support of other Federal and local 

agencies. BCAP is intended to assist 

agricultural and forest land owners and 

operators with the establishment and 

production of eligible crops in selected 

project areas for conversion to 

bioenergy, and the collection, harvest, 

storage, and transportation of eligible 

material for use in a biomass conversion 

facility. 

On October 27, 2010, CCC published 

the Record of Decision (ROD) for the 

BCAP final PEIS (75 FR 65995–66007) 

and BCAP final rule (76 FR 66202– 

66243) in the Federal Register. As part 

of the mitigation measures detailed in 

the ROD, each project proposal is 

subject to a NEPA analysis prior to 

approval of the project area proposal. 

The initial environmental evaluation of 

a project area proposal is based on 

information contained in specific forms: 

BCAP–19, BCAP–20, BCAP–21, and 

BCAP–22, with supporting information. 

After this initial evaluation FSA can 

conclude either that: 

(1) No additional environmental 

analyses are applicable due to no 

potential for the proposed BCAP activity 

to significantly impact the environment, 

or 

(2) Additional environmental analyses 

in the form of an EA or EIS are 

necessary, depending upon the potential 

level of significance. 

Due to inconclusive results in the 

initial environmental evaluation, FSA is 

required to do an EA to make a 

determination whether there could be 

significant environmental impacts. 

The draft EA can be reviewed online 

at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/

webapp?area=home&subject=ecrc

&topic=nep-cd. 

Signed in Washington, DC on April 5, 

2011. 

Carolyn B. Cooksie, 

Acting Executive Vice President, Commodity 

Credit Corporation, and Acting 

Administrator, Farm Service Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8421 Filed 4–7–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. 2011–0004] 

Exemption for Retail Store Operations 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 


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