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

65578

Vol. 69, No. 219

Monday, November 15, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Bridger-Teton National ForestWyoming—Kemmerer and Greys River 

Ranger Districts; Lincoln County, WY 

Salt Pass Grazing Allotments 

Environmental Impact Statement.

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare 

An Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) to analyze the effects of domestic 

livestock grazing in the Salt Pass area. 

The Salt Pass Grazing Allotments 

(composed of Giraffe, Lower Salt, 

Porcupine, Smiths Fork, Buckskin 

Knoll, Lake Alice, North Salt River, 

South Salt River domestic sheep 

allotments and Trespass domestic cattle 

allotment) are located in Township 28, 

29, 30 North, and Range 116, 117, 118, 

119 West; Sixth Principal Meridian. The 

allotments are located entirely within 

Lincoln County. The allotments are 

located on two ranger districts, 

Kemmerer and Greys River. The 

Kemmerer Ranger District administers 

all the allotments except North Salt 

River and South Salt River, which are 

administered by the Greys River Ranger 

District.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

December 17, 2005. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in April 2005 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected by July 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: 

Russ Bacon, District Ranger, Kemmerer 

Ranger District, P.O. Box 31, Kemmerer, 

Wyoming 83101. For further 

information, mail correspondence to 

mailroom_r4_bridger_teton@fs.fed.us

and on the subject line put only ‘‘Salt 

Pass Allotments’’.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russ 

Bacon, Kemmerer District Ranger, 

Kemmerer Ranger District, P.O. Box 31, 

Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101 or phone 

(307) 877-4415.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

This proposal, in part, is to comply 

with Public Law 104–19, section 504(a): 

establish and adhere to a schedule for 

the completion of National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) analysis 

and decision on all grazing allotments 

within the National Forest System unit 

for which NEPA is needed (Pub. L. 104–

19, General Provision 1995). Upon 

completion of the NEPA analysis and 

decisions for the allotments, the terms 

and conditions of the existing grazing 

permits will be modified, as necessary, 

to conform to such NEPA analysis. In 

addition, the purpose of the proposed 

action is to improve range condition and 

trend and achieve desired conditions 

within the project area through livestock 

grazing. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action is to authorize 

continued livestock grazing, provide 

analysis and data to update allotment 

management plans (AMPs), and allow 

livestock grazing that meets or moves 

existing resources conditions toward 

desired conditions on National Forest 

grazing allotments while complying 

with applicable statutes. Adaptive 

management, which allows flexibility 

during the implementation of the 

grazing strategy, would allow managers 

to make adjustments and corrections to 

management based on monitoring. 

Possible Alternatives 

Grazing as Currently Permitted:

Although allotment management plans 

(AMP’s) would be prepared for each of 

the nine allotments, the grazing 

management practices specified for the 

allotments with existing AMP’s would 

not be changed. In addition, no new 

utilization standards would be initiated 

to move existing resource conditions in 

the project area toward the desired 

future conditions (DFC’s) specified in 

the Forest Plan. 

No Grazing by Domestic Livestock (No 

grazing alternative): This would 

eliminate livestock grazing in the 

project area. This alternative was 

developed to demonstrate the effects 

that eliminating livestock grazing would 

have on the environment and to more 

clearly illustrate the potential effects of 

implementing other alternatives. Under 

this alternative, domestic livestock 

grazing on all nine allotments within 

the project area would be phased out 

over several years as existing Term 

Grazing Permits expire. 

Responsible Official 

Russell Bacon, District Forest Ranger, 

Kemmerer Ranger District, P.O. Box 31, 

Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101 and 

Charlene Bucha-Gentry, District Forest 

Ranger, Greys River Ranger District, P.O. 

Box 339, Afton, Wyoming 83110.

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The decision, which is based on this 

analysis, will be to decide if livestock 

will be allowed to graze on the 

allotment complex, either through the 

implementation of the proposed action, 

or an alternative to the proposed action. 

The decision would include any 

mitigation measures needed in addition 

to those prescribed in the Forest Plan. 

Scoping Process 

Forest Service is seeking information, 

comments, and assistance from 

individuals, organizations, tribal 

governments, and federal, state, and 

local agencies interested in or affected 

by this project. This analysis is for nine 

grazing allotments. The decision will 

have limited environmental effects 

outside the allotment boundaries, and 

the economic impacts are localized. 

Public participation will be solicited by 

notifying in person and/or by mail 

known interested affected publics. News 

releases will be used to give the public 

general notice. Public participation 

activities would include requests for 

written comments. The first formal 

opportunity to comment is to respond to 

this notice of intent, which initiates the 

scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7). 

Scoping includes: (1) Identifying 

potential issues, (2) narrowing the 

potential issues and identifying 

significant issues of those that have 

been covered by prior environmental 

review, (3) exploring alternatives in 

addition to No Action, and (4) 

identifying potential environmental 

effects of the proposed action and 

alternatives.

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