Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 219 / Monday, November 15, 2004 / Notices 65579

Preliminary Issues 

The Forest Service has identified the 

following potential issues. Your input is 

especially valuable here. It will help us 

determine which of these merit detailed 

analysis. It will also help identify 

additional issues related to the proposed 

action that may not be listed here. 

• Effects of grazing on soil erosion 

and productivity. 

• Effects of grazing on watershed 

condition and function. 

• Effects of grazing on the life cycle 

of the Bonneville and Snake River 

cutthroat trout. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review: A draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

prepared for comment. 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, 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 contention. 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp v. 

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 533 (1978). Also, 

environmental objections that could be 

raised at the draft environmental impact 

statement stage but that are not raised 

until after completion of the final 

environmental impact statement may be 

waived or dismissed by the courts. City 

of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 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 meaningully consider them 

and respond to them in the final 

environmental impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

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, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposal and will 

be available for public inspection.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21.)

Dated: November 4, 2004. 

Fred Fouse, 

Acting District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 04–25249 Filed 11–12–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service 

Notice of Proposed Change to the 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service’s National Handbook of 

Conservation Practices

AGENCY: Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Maine State 

Office.

ACTION: Notice of availability of 

proposed changes in the NRCS National 

Handbook of Conservation Practices, 

Section IV of the Maine State NRCS 

Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) 

located at http://www.me.nrcs.usda.gov

under ‘‘Draft Standards for Comments’’

for review and comment. 

SUMMARY: It is the intention of NRCS to 

issue revised conservation practice 

standards in its National Handbook of 

Conservation Practices. These revised 

standards are the following: 

314 Brush Management; 329 Residue 

Management, Ridge-Till; 340 Cover 

Crop; 342 Critical Area Planting; 344 

Residue Management, Seasonal; 386 

Field Border; 511 Forage Harvest 

Management; 512 Pasture and Hay 

Planting; 528 Animal Trails and 

Walkways; 590 Nutrient Management; 

557 Row Arrangement.

DATES: Comments will be received for a 

30-day period commencing with this 

date of publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Inquire in writing to Christopher R. 

Jones, State Resource Conservationist, 

Natural Resources Conservation Service 

(NRCS), 967 Illinois Avenue, Suite #3, 

Bangor, Maine 04401. 

A copy of these standards are 

available from the above individual.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

343 of the Federal Agricultural 

Improvement and Reform Act of 1966 

states that revisions made after 

enactment of the law to NRCS State 

Technical Guides used to carry out 

highly erodible land and wetland 

provisions of the law shall be made 

available for public review and 

comment. For the next 30 days the 

NRCS will receive comments relative to 

the proposed changes. Following that 

period a determination will be made by 

the NRCS regarding disposition of those 

comments and a final determination of 

change will be made.

Dated: November 4, 2004. 

Christopher R. Jones, 

State Resource Conservationist.

[FR Doc. 04–25246 Filed 11–12–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–16–P

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting 

of the Vermont Advisory Committee 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the rules and 

regulations of the U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights that a conference call of the 

Vermont Advisory Committee will 

convene at 10:30 a.m. and adjourn at 11 

a.m., Tuesday, November, 16, 2004. The 

purpose of the conference call is to 

discuss juvenile justice issues in 

Vermont. 

This conference call is available to the 

public through the following call-in 

number: 1–800–659–8294, access code: 

30141003. Any interested member of the 

public may call this number and listen 

to the meeting. Callers can expect to 

incur charges for calls not initiated 

using the supplied call-in number or 

over wireless lines, and the Commission 

will not refund any incurred charges. 

Callers will incur no charge for calls 

using the call-in number over land-line 

connections. Persons with hearing 

impairments may also follow the 

proceedings by first calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–977–8339 and 

providing the Service with the 

conference call number and access code. 

To ensure that the Commission 

secures an appropriate number of lines 

for the public, persons are asked to 

register by contacting Barbara de La