66594 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 1997 / Notices

Arbitration and Good Cause: 3830

hours.

Dated: December 15, 1997.

Yvette S. Jackson,

Administrator, Food and Consumer Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33190 Filed 12–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Fatty-Piper Access Requests Project,

Flathead National Forest, Swan Lake

Ranger District, Lake County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Flathead National Forest,

Swan Lake Ranger District, will prepare

an environmental impact statement on a

proposal to grant easements and

authorize construction of roads across

National Forest System lands in the

Cedar Creek, Fatty Creek, and Piper

Creek watersheds. The action is

proposed in response to an applicant

seeking permanent, roaded access to

approximately 1,760 acres of nonfederal land located within the Flathead

National Forest boundary. The

requested easements are located roughly

20 miles south of Swan Lake, Montana.

The non-federal land to be accessed is

located in sections 9, 15, and 23,

Township 22 North, Range 18 West and

section 35, Township 23 North, Range

18 West, Lake County, Montana. The

easements are requested on National

Forest System lands in sections 4, 10,

and 14, Township 22 North, Range 18

West and section 34, Township 23

North, Range 18 West. The proposed

project will be in compliance with the

direction in the Flathead National

Forest Land and Resource Management

Plan (December, 1985), which provides

the overall guidance for management of

the area. The agency gives written

notice of this analysis so that interested

and affected people are aware of how

they may participate and contribute to

the final decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of the analysis should be received in

writing at the address shown below by

January 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to Charles E. Harris, District Ranger,

Swan Lake Ranger District, 200 Ranger

Station Road, Bigfork, Montana 59911.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about this environmental

impact statement should be directed to

Dennis McCarthy, Planning Team

Leader, Swan Lake Ranger District, 200

Ranger Station Road, Bigfork, Montana

59911; phone (406) 837–7500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Swan

Lake Ranger District is initiating this

action in response to four applications

filed by Plum Creek Timber Company,

L.P. (Plum Creek). Plum Creek requested

rights-of-way across Forest Service

lands for the purpose of establishing

permanent, roaded access to

approximately 1,760 acres in four

sections of Plum Creek land. The

applications involve requests for five

segments of road totaling approximately

three miles across Forest Service land.

Plum Creek has stated that it intends to

manage these sections of land for longterm timber production using

conventional ground-based logging

systems and build roads on the

permitted rights-of-way, sufficient to

support timber production.

Plum Creek has no roaded access to

two of the sections of land, which are

surrounded by National Forest System

lands. Plum Creek has limited access to

the other two sections and has requested

additional roaded access to them. Plum

Creek seeks permanent, roaded access

pursuant to federal regulations at 36

CFR part 251 (subpart D—Access to

Non-Federal Lands), 36 CFR part 212

(Ingress and Egress) and the Alaska

National Interest Lands Conservation

Act (ANILCA) and its implementing

regulations.

Swan Lake Ranger District personnel

invited comments on the environmental

analysis for this project in September,

1996, by sending a scoping notice to

people on the District’s mailing list.

Subsequently, District personnel

determined that they should prepare an

environmental impact statement. The

comments received in response to the

September, 1996 scoping will be taken

into consideration along with comments

received on the draft environmental

impact statement. Some of the issues

identified include impacts to: Water

quality; soils and slope stability; air

quality; proximity to the Mission

Mountains Wilderness; threatened,

endangered, and sensitive animal, plant,

and fish species and habitat (i.e., grizzly

bear, bull trout, water howellia); oldgrowth forests; roadless area; and

recreational experiences.

Swan Lake Ranger District personnel

will be seeking information, comments,

and assistance from Federal, State, and

local agencies and other individuals or

organizations who may be interested in

or affected by the proposed actions. The

scoping period for the draft

environmental impact statement will

extend to January 23, 1998. This

information will be used in preparation

of the draft environmental impact

statement.

The draft environmental impact

statement will be filed with the

Environmental Protection Agency and

will be made available for public review

in February, 1998. At that time, copies

of the draft environmental impact

statement will be distributed to

interested and affected agencies,

organizations, and members of the

public for their review and comment.

The Environmental Protection Agency

will publish a notice of availability of

the draft environmental impact

statement in the Federal Register. The

comment period will be no less than 45

days from the date that appears in the

Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes 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 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

Corporation 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. City of Angoon

v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (8th

Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages,

Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338

(E.D. Wisconsin, 1980). Because of these

court rulings, it is very important that

those interested in this proposed action

participate by the close of the 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 environmental impact

statement should be as specific as

possible. It is also helpful if comments

refer to specific pages of chapters 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.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 1997 / Notices 66595

The final environmental impact

statement is scheduled to be completed

by May, 1998. In the final

environmental impact statement, the

Swan Lake Ranger District is required to

respond to comments and responses

received during the comment period

that pertain to the environmental

consequences discussed in the draft

environmental impact statement and

applicable laws, regulations and

policies considered in making the

decision regarding this proposal.

Charles E. Harris, District Ranger, Swan

Lake Ranger District, is the responsible

official and his decision and reasons for

this decision will be documented in the

Record of Decision. The decision will be

subject to Forest Service appeal

regulations (36 CFR 215).

Dated: December 8, 1997.

Charles E. Harris,

District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 97–33062 Filed 12–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation

Service

Notice of Intent To Request a Revision

of a Currently Approved Information

Collection

AGENCY: Natural Resources

Conservation Service, United States

Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. 104–13) and the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

regulations at 5 CFR Part 1320 (60 FR

44978, August 29, 1995), this notice

announces the Natural Resources

Conservation Service’s (NRCS) intention

to request a revision to a currently

approved information collection, the

Rural Abandoned Mine Program.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by February 17, 1998 to be

assured of consideration.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Contact Marcella Graham, Agency OMB

Clearance Officer, Natural Resources

Conservation Service, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Natural Resources

Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890,

Washington, D.C. 20013–2890, (202)

720–5699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Rural Abandoned Mine

Program.

OMB Number: 0578–0019.

Expiration Date of Approval: May 31,

1998.

Type of Request: To reinstate, with

change, a previously approved

collection for which approval has

expired.

Abstract: The primary objective of the

Natural Resources Conservation Service

is to work in partnership with the

American people to conserve and

sustain our natural resources. The Rural

Abandoned Mine Program authorizes

Federal technical and financial longterm cost-sharing assistance for

conservation treatment and reclamation

of abandoned coal mined land with

eligible land users. The financial

assistance is based on a conservation

plan for reclamation which is made a

part of an agreement or contract for a 5

or 10-year period of time. Under the

terms of the agreement, the participant

agrees to apply, or arrange to apply, the

conservation treatment specified in the

conservation plan. In return for this

agreement, Federal cost-share payments

are made to the land users, or third

party, upon successful application of

the conservation treatment.

Information collected is used by the

NRCS to ensure proper utilization of

program funds. The NRCS–LTP–013 is

used to record progress in applying the

conservation/reclamation plan (7 CFR

632.24), such as the verification,

revision or modification of the

conservation plan, as well as recording

the need for any follow up technical

assistance. The NRCS–LTP–150 is for

the land user to enter into a contract

with NRCS to receive Federal cost-share

assistance (7 CFR 632.22). The NRCS–

LTP–151 is used to notify the

participant, with an active agreement or

contract, that information has been

received which indicates a violation of

the contract (7 CFR 632.42 (b)(1)(2)).

The NRCS–LTP–152 is used during the

contract period when the land user loses

control of all or part of the right and

interest in the land (7 CFR 632.22(f)).

The NRCS–LTP–153 is used is used

when non-compliance of the contract is

indicated (7 CFR 632.41). The NRCS–

LTP–156 is the basic document used by

landowners to request assistance

through the local NRCS field office (7

CFR 632.20). The NRCS–FNM–140 is

used to authorize the vendor to furnish

the conservation materials and services

described in column (b) of the form (7

CFR 632.31(e)). This information

collection is being resubmitted to reflect

the elimination of two forms previously

authorized (NRCS–LTP–154 and NRCS–

LTP–155) and to reflect a scaled-down

program. NRCS will ask for 3-year OMB

approval within 60 days of submitting

the request.

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to average 0.50 hours per

response.

Respondents: Farms, individuals or

households, or State, local, or Tribal

governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

438.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on

Respondents: 223 hours.

Copies of this information collection

and related instructions can be obtained

without charge from Marcella Graham,

the Agency OMB Clearance Officer, at

(202) 720–5699.

Comments: Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of burden of the proposed collection of

information,including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, such as

through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technologic collection techniques

or other forms of information

technology. Comments may be sent to:

Marcella Graham, Agency OMB

Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Natural Resources

Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890,

Washington, D.C. 20013–2890.

All responses to this notice will be

summarized and included in the request

for OMB approval.

All comments will also become a

matter of public record.

Signed at Washington, D.C. on December

15, 1997.

Thomas A. Weber,

Acting Chief, Natural Resources Conservation

Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33126 Filed 12–18–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3610–16–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service

Municipal Interest Rates for the First

Quarter of 1998

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of municipal interest

rates on advances from insured electric

loans for the first quarter of 1998.

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service

hereby announces the interest rates for