43692 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 1997 / Notices

System, the National Forest

Management Act, and the National

Forest planning process. Nominations to

the Committee should describe and

document the proposed member’s

qualifications for membership on the

Committee of Scientists.

Appointments to the Committee will

be made by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Equal opportunity practices will be

followed in all appointments to the

Committee of Scientists. To ensure that

the recommendations of the Committee

have taken into account the needs of the

diverse groups served by the

Department, membership will include,

to the extent practicable, individuals

with demonstrated ability to represent

minorities, women, and persons with

disabilities.

Dated: July 18, 1997.

Christine Pytel,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Administration.

[FR Doc. 97–21725 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 97–048N]

Technical Meeting to Solicit Input for a

Survey on Browning in Hamburger

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection

Service.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS) is holding a

public technical meeting on August 20,

1997. The purpose of the meeting is to

solicit scientific information, including

data, on a proposed survey to determine

the frequency with which hamburger,

sold at retail and cooked at home, turns

brown before reaching 160 degrees F.

The results of this survey will be used

to determine the contribution of this

factor to a risk assessment for E. coli

O157:H7. Persons with an interest in the

study, particularly in details such as

sampling, preparation, cooking, and

evaluation procedures to be used in this

survey, are especially encouraged to

attend.

DATES: The meeting will be held on

August 20, 1997, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00

p.m. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m.,

and materials will be available at that

time.

ADDRESSES: The half-day meeting will

be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel,

10 Thomas Circle, at Massachusetts

Avenue and 14th Street, Washington,

DC 20008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To

register for the meeting, contact Ms.

Traci Phebus at (202) 501–7138 or FAX

(202) 501–7642. To arrange for

presentation of technical materials,

contact Mr. David Soderberg at (202)

501–7358 or FAX (202) 501–7639.

Presenters are asked to submit one

original and two copies of written

comments to the FSIS Docket Clerk,

Docket #97–048N, Department of

Agriculture, FSIS, 102 Cotton Annex,

300 12th Street, Washington, DC 20250–

3700. Persons wishing to present

technical data are asked to bring 100

copies of their data for distribution to

participants in the meeting. Participants

who require a sign language or other

special accommodations should contact

Ms. Phebus at the above numbers by

August 13, 1997.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A pilot

study to prepare for this survey was

undertaken. Preliminary results from

the pilot study may be available for this

meeting, but the primary purpose of the

pilot study was to try out laboratory

techniques (for example, cooking and

color evaluation) and to test logistics

before initiating the main survey. Actual

results from the pilot study may require

more confirmation before they can be

determined to be scientifically accurate.

It is expected that discussions in the

August 20 meeting will focus on

technical details of the proposed survey.

Sampling may be a major topic of

discussion. The purpose of this meeting

is to solicit advice on the survey design

from consumers, public health officials

and others.

Persons with expert knowledge about

consumer behavior in the purchasing,

preparing, and cooking of hamburger are

especially encouraged to attend. Persons

unable to attend the meeting may

submit comments to the above

addresses.

Transcripts of this meeting will be

available in the FSIS Docket Room.

Done at Washington, DC, on: August 7,

1997.

Thomas J. Billy,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–21673 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Supplement to the Draft Environmental

Impact Statement for ASARCO’s Rock

Creek Project, Copper/Silver Mine,

Kootenai National Forest, Sanders

County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a

supplement to the draft environmental

impact statement.

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service,

Kootenai National Forest (KNF) in

conjunction with Montana Department

of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will

prepare a Supplement to the Draft

Environmental Impact Statement

(SDEIS) for ASARCO’s proposal to

develop the Rock Creek copper/silver

mine project approximately 5 miles

northeast of Noxon, Montana.

The original notice of intent was

published in the Federal Register,

Volume 53, No. 9, January 14, 1988. A

number of items including lead agency,

mine water disposal, release date of the

SDEIS have changed since 1988. This

revised notice describes the current

situation.

The KNF and DEQ are joint lead

agencies in this effort. Joint lead status

will allow both agencies to fulfill their

interrelated responsibilities in managing

the process for preparation of the draft,

supplement and final EIS documents

under the guidelines of the National

Environmental Policy Act and the

Montana Environmental Policy Act,

respectively. The DEQ administers the

1971 Montana Metal Mine Reclamation

Act. The purposes of the act are, first,

to recognize and protect the usefulness,

productivity, and scenic values of the

lands and waters within the state and

second, to reclaim to beneficial use the

lands used for metal mines. The Forest

Service has the responsibility for

managing the uses of the Federal surface

land and resources.

This SDEIS is being prepared because

there is new information relevant to

environmental concerns abut the

proposed action (40 CFR part

1502.9(c)(1) (i & ii). The revised notice

of intent to prepare the draft

environmental impact statement (DEIS)

was published in the May 27, 1993,

Federal Register (Vol. 58, No. 101). The

notice of availability for the ASARCO

Rock Creek Copper and Silver Mining

Project DEIS was published in the

October 6, 1995, Federal Register (Vol.

60, No. 194).

The public comment received on the

DEIS has lead the Agencies to take a

look at revising some proposed portions

of the operation. A new alternative (Alt.

V) has been developed which includes

the surface deposition of tailings as a

paste, and a water treatment system

using a semi-passive bioreactor and a

reverse osmosis process. The

concentrate from the mill would be

pumped to an enclosed rail loadout

facility. There are also changes in

mitigations for the project which
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 158 / Friday, August 15, 1997 / Notices 43693

include change in: the type of diesel

engines used, the type of pipe used to

transport materials and the depth

buried, the use of seepage collection

features, the design intensity for storm

diversions and ponds, the busing of

employees, the closing of roads and

additional monitoring.

The public will be informed of the

availability of the SDEIS by a notice of

availability in the Federal Register,

news releases and mailings of those on

the mailing list. The anticipated date of

release of the SDEIS for comment is

Fall, 1997.

DATES: Specific comments concerning

the scope of the analysis should be

submitted by September 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is

Robert Schrenk, Forest Supervisor,

Kootenai National Forest. Written

comments and suggestions concerning

the re-analysis and the proposed SDEIS

should be sent to the responsible official

at 506 U.S. Highway 2 West, Libby, MT

59923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Paul Kaiser, Project Coordinator,

Kootenai National Forest. Phone: (406)

293–6211.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A new

alternative (V) was developed to address

the new information received and

concerns raised since release of the

DEIS on October 6, 1995.

Original Proposed Action

ASARCO’s proposal, which was

submitted in 1987, includes

constructing a 10,000 ton per day mine

and mill complex to develop their

stratiform copper/silver ore deposit

which is located under the Cabinet

Mountains Wilderness. The ore would

be accessed via tunnels starting outside

and downslope from the wilderness

boundary. ASARCO estimates an ore

reserve of 136 million tons and mine

recovery rate of 65 percent. ASARCO

projects the estimated mine life (from

beginning through reclamation) to be 32

years. The mine is estimated to employ

305–355 people. Parts of the project

would be on National Forest System

land with the remainder on private

land. Facilities would include a tailings

impoundment approximately 250′ high

and 324 acres in size, a new access road,

utility corridor, water lines, wells, mill

site, water treatment site, and rail

loadout facility. An exploration adit is

proposed to further define the ore body.

Two parallel adits (horizontal access

passages) would be drilled, one would

be used for the ore conveyor and the

other for mine access. Two ventilation

adits are proposed, one to have its

surface opening within the wilderness

and the other would use the proposed

exploration adit outside the wilderness.

Excess mine water is proposed to be

discharged to the Clark Fork River after

being treated to State water quality

standards.

New Alternative

The new alternative (Alt. V) proposal

includes activities on approximately

483 acres. Alternative V has been

developed which includes the surface

deposition of tailings as a paste, and a

water treatment system using a semipassive bioreact0r and a reverse osmosis

process. The concentrate from the mill

would be pumped to an enclosed rail

loadout facility. There are also changes

in mitigations for the project which

include change in: the type of diesel

engines used, the type of pipe used to

transport materials and the depth

buried, the use of seepage collection

features, the design intensity for storm

diversions and ponds, the busing of

employees, the closing of roads and

additional monitoring.

Reviewer Obligations

The Forest Service believes it is

important to give reviewers notice at

this early stage because 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 contentions.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v.

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (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.

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 meaningfully

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 supplement to 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

supplemental statement.

Comments may also address the

adequacy of the supplemental to 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.).

Dated: July 31, 1997.

Robert L. Schrenk,

Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest.

[FR Doc. 97–20897 Filed 8–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Cholmondeley 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 provide timber for the

Ketchikan Area timber sale program.

The Record of Decision will disclose

how the Forest Service has decided to

provide harvest units, roads, and

associated timber harvesting facilities.

The proposed action is to harvest up to

an estimated 37 million board feet

(mmbf) of timber on an estimated 1,700

acres. A range of alternatives will be

developed and will include a no-action

alternative. The proposed timber harvest

is located within Tongass Forest Plan

Management Areas K18 and K19, Value

Comparison Units 614, 615, 616, 617,

674, 675 and 676 on Prince of Wales

Island, Alaska, on the Craig Ranger

District of the Ketchikan Area of the

Tongass National Forest.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of this project should be received by

September 30, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send written

comments to Forest Supervisor’s Office;

Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan

Area; Attn: Cholmondeley EIS; Federal

Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about the proposal and EIS

should be directed to Dale Kanen,

District Ranger, Craig Ranger District,

Tongass National Forest, P.O. Box 500,

Craig, AK 99921 telephone (907) 826–

3271 or Norm Matson, Planning

Biologist, Federal Building, Ketchikan,

AK 99901 telephone (907) 228–6273.