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

43983

Vol. 62, No. 159

Monday, August 18, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service

Foreign Market Development

Cooperator Program—FY 1998

Program Announcement Extension

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice extends the

application deadline for participation in

the Foreign Market Development

Cooperator (Cooperator) Program for

Fiscal Year 1998 and permits facsimile

applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Foreign

Agricultural Service, Marketing

Operations Staff, STOP 1042, 1400

Independence Avenue, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20250–1042.

A Federal Register notice published

July 14, 1997 (62 FR 37539) announced

the Cooperator Program for Fiscal Year

1998 and set forth an application

deadline of August 13, 1997. The

deadline for submission of applications

for the 1998 Cooperator Program is

hereby extended to August 25, 1997 due

to the disruption of parcel delivery

services. Applications may be submitted

by facsimile, hand delivered, or sent by

postal delivery and must now be

received by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight

Savings Time, August 25, 1997 at the

following:

Facsimile: Director, Marketing

Operations Staff on (202) 720–9361;

Hand Delivery (including Federal

Express, DHL, etc.): U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural

Service, Marketing Operations Staff,

Room 4932–S, 14th and Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–

1042;

U.S. Postal Delivery: U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Marketing Operations

Staff, STOP 1042, 1400 Independence

Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–

1042.

For more detailed information

regarding the application process or

other terms and requirements of the

Cooperator Program, contact the

Marketing Operations Staff, FAS, USDA

at the address above or telephone (202)

720–4327. Comments regarding the

conduct of the Cooperator Program may

be directed to either address as

applicable.

All applications submitted by hand

delivery or U.S. Postal Delivery should

be submitted in triplicate (an original

and two copies). Applicants submitting

facsimile applications are requested to

promptly submit an original and two

copies by hand delivery or U.S. Postal

Delivery.

Signed at Washington, DC, on August 12,

1997.

Timothy J. Galvin,

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural

Service.

[FR Doc. 97–21798 Filed 8–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Plum Creek Access Requests Within

the Green River Drainage, Mt. BakerSnoqualmie National Forest, King

County, Washington

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service, USDA,

will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) on Plum Creek Timber

Company’s (Plum Creek) application to

acquire easements which allow the

construction and maintenance of roads

across portions of the Mt. BakerSnoqualmie National Forest in King

County in the State of Washington. The

easements will access to Plum Creek

parcels that are intermingled with

National Forest System lands and that

are not currently served by roads. The

EIS will address Plum Creek proposals

to build roads to eight separate parcels

of company lands.

Requirements of the access authorized

in the Record of Decision will be

consistent with the Mt. BakerSnoqualmie National Forest Land and

Resource Management Plan (LRPM) (as

amended in April 1994), which

provides guidance for all land

management activities on the Mt. BakerSnoqualmie National Forest

The Forest Service invites written

comments and suggestions on the issues

for the proposed project.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of this analysis should be received in

writing by September 19, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to

Dennis Bschor, Forest Supervisor, 21905

64th Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace,

Washington 98043, Attention: Plum

Creek Access Requests.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lloyd Johnson, Realty Specialist, North

Bend Ranger District, 42404 Southeast

North Bend Way, North Bend,

Washington 98045. Phone: 425–888–

1421.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Plum

Creek owns lands which are

intermingled with National Forest

System lands in the Green River

Watershed, North Bend District, Mt.

Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Some of the parcels that Plum Creek

owns and wishes to manage for timber

are not served by existing roads. Access

to these parcels via roads necessitates

crossing National Forest System lands.

Because Plum Creek’s purpose for

requesting access is to harvest timber

and to conduct forest management

activities, consistent with a 50-year

Habitat Conservation Plan for Plum

Creek lands, the company has

specifically requested permanent

easements from the Forest Service to

construct and maintain permanent roads

for access to Plum Creek lands. Under

Section 1323 of the Alaska National

Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980

(Pub. L. 96–487, 94 Stat. 2371; 16 U.S.C.

3210), the United States shall provide

access to nonfederal lands within

national forest boundaries, as deemed

adequate to secure to the owner the

reasonable use and enjoyment of those

lands, subject to the rules and

regulations applicable to ingress and

egress to or from the National Forest

System.

Depending on specific road location

alternatives, the road projects are likely

to range from about 0.25 to 2.5 miles in

length. For this analysis, it is assumed

that a 66-foot-wide right-of-way (ROW)

would be established for each road

corridor and that vegetation clearing

would only occur within this ROW.
43984 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 159 / Monday, August 18, 1997 / Notices

Vegetation removal would occur on

approximately 24 to 32 feet of the ROW;

the road surface proper would be

approximately 14 feet wide. Because

road grade and terrain would vary, the

amount of the 66-foot ROW affected and

the exact amount utilized per mile is

unknown. Plum Creek would construct

and maintain the roads according to

Forest Service road construction

standards and guidelines.

The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP (as

amended) provides guidance for access

across National Forest System lands

through its goals, objectives, standards,

guidelines, and management direction.

An environmental document will be

produced which will display

alternatives considered, including no

action and the proposed action, and an

estimation of the effects of the

alternatives. The EIS will analyze the

direct, indirect, and cumulative effects

of the alternatives. Past, present, and

projected activities on both private and

National Forest System lands will be

considered. The EIS will disclose the

effects of site-specific mitigation.

Comments from the public will be

used to:

• Identify potential issues.

• Identify major issues to be analyzed

in depth.

• Eliminate minor issues or those that

have been covered by a previous

environmental analysis, such as the Mt.

Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP.

• Identify alternatives to the proposed

action.

• Identify potential environmental

effects of the proposed action and

alternatives.

• Determine potential cooperating

agencies and task assignments.

Issues identified as the result of

internal scoping include:

• How will wildlife and wildlife

habitat be affected by the project;

• Will unique plant communities be

affected;

• Will fish habitat be affected

downstream, especially in Sawmill

Creek which has a distinct population of

trout as well as coho and steelhead that

are being planted by the State and the

Muckleshoot Tribe;

• Will water quality be affected by

sedimentation from mass wasting and

surface erosion;

• Will large woody material be

affected;

• Will water temperature be affected;

• The conversion of areas without

roads to roaded areas; and

• Will cultural properties or heritage

sites be impacted.

An initial scoping letter was mailed

on August 8, 1997. One public scoping

meeting will be held on September 9,

1997, at the North Bend Ranger District

from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The

responses and information provided

during scoping will be compiled and

will be incorporated into the analysis.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed

in December 1997. The comment period

on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the

date the Environmental Protection

Agency publishes the notice of

availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes that it is

important to give reviewers notice at

this early stage of several court rulings

related to public participation in the

environmental review process. First,

reviewers of the draft EIS 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 EIS stage but that are

not raised until after completion of the

final EIS 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 meaningfully

consider them and respond to them in

the final EIS. To assist the Forest

Service in identifying and considering

issues and concerns on the proposed

action, comments on the draft EIS

should be as specific as possible. It is

also helpful if comments refer to

specific pages or chapters of the draft

EIS. Comments may also address the

adequacy of the draft EIS or the merits

of the alternatives formulated and

discussed in the EIS. (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.)

The final EIS is scheduled to be

completed in June 1998. In the final EIS,

the Forest Service is required to respond

to comments and responses received

during the comment period that pertain

to the environmental consequences

discussed in the draft EIS and

applicable laws, regulations, and

policies considered in making the

decision regarding this proposal. The

lead agency is the Forest Service.

Dennis E. Bschor, Supervisor of the Mt.

Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, is

the responsible official. As the

responsible official, he will document

the decision and the reasons for the

decision in the Record of Decision. That

decision will be subject to Forest

Service appeal regulations (CFR Part

215).

Dated: August 7, 1997.

Terry L. Degrow,

Acting Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 97–21786 Filed 8–15–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C–489–502]

Certain Welded Carbon Steel Pipes

and Tubes and Welded Carbon Steel

Line Pipe From Turkey; Final Results

of Countervailing Duty Administrative

Reviews

AGENCY: Import Administration,

International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of final results of

countervailing duty administrative

reviews.

SUMMARY: On April 8, 1997, the

Department of Commerce (the

Department) published in the Federal

Register its preliminary results of

administrative reviews of the

countervailing duty orders on certain

welded carbon steel pipes and tubes and

welded carbon steel line pipe from

Turkey for the period January 1, 1995

through December 31, 1995. The

Department has now completed these

administrative reviews in accordance

with section 751(a) of the Tariff Act of

1930, as amended. For information on

the net subsidy for each reviewed

company, and for all non-reviewed

companies, please see the Final Results

of Reviews section of this notice. We

will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to

assess countervailing duties as detailed

in the Final Results of Reviews section

of this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 18, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephanie Moore or Kelly Parkhill,

Office of CVD/AD Enforcement VI,

Import Administration, International

Trade Administration, U.S. Department

of Commerce, 14th Street and

Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone:

(202) 482–3692 or (202) 482–2786.