64660 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 210 / Monday, October 30, 2000 / Notices

would be pruned and cut vegetation

would be hand piled and burned. A

portion of this stand would need

reforestation. In the other stand, a

natural stand (56 acres), merchantable

trees would be retained and nonmerchantable trees and brush would be

cut, hand piled and burned.

Reforestation would be accomplished

through retention of pockets of natural

regeneration and by hand planting of

nursery stock. Stand tending would

occur over the long term.

Five non-merchantable stands (69

acres), all plantations, would be treated

within the Lone Pine Ridge area to

reduce fuel loading. In two plantations

(16 acres), fire killed vegetation would

be cut, live trees would be pruned and

cut vegetation would be hand piled and

burned. In three plantations (53 acres),

dead trees would be felled, live trees

would be thinned and pruned. In all

five plantations, no reforestation would

occur.

This proposal is Phase 1 in the overall

strategy to protect communities from

wildfires and extended exposure to

smoke and to restore affected

watersheds. Phase II would continue the

work that is proposed in Phase I, by

reducing fuels in unburned and

moderately burned areas within the

strategic fuelbreaks. Connecting the high

severity and less severely burned fuel

treatment areas would create a more

continuous and effective fuelbreak. The

unburned and moderately burned areas

are suitable habitat for survey and

manage species. Surveys for these

species will be initiated during the fall

of 2000 and spring of 2001. Results of

these surveys would be utilized in the

development of Phase II proposed

actions, which would be analyzed under

separate environmental analysis. The

potential foreseeable future actions

under Phase II would be considered in

the cumulative effects analysis

completed for Phase I.

Public participation will be an

integral component of the analysis

process and will be especially important

at several points during the analysis.

During the scoping process, the Forest

Service will seek information,

comments and assistance from Federal,

State, County and local agencies, tribes,

individuals and organizations that may

be interested in or affected by the

proposed activities. The scoping process

will determine the scope of the issues to

be addressed, determine the significant

issues related to the proposed action,

identify and eliminate other issues,

assign tasks and determine disciplines,

determine the existence of related

environmental documents and identify

schedules for analysis and decision

making. Written scoping comments will

be solicited through a scoping package

that will be sent to the project mailing

list and the local newspaper. Public

open houses to present the proposed

action and answer questions will be

held from 7 PM to 9 PM, PST at the

following locations:

• November 8, 2000 at the Trinity

Valley Elementary School, Highway 96,

Willow Creek, CA, 95513

• November 9, 2000 at Redwood

Acres Turf Club, 3750 Harris Street,

Eureka, CA 95501

For the Forest Service to best use the

scoping input, comments should be

received by December 1, 2000. The

scoping package is available by

contacting Dave Webb at the address or

phone number listed above. Tentative

issues that may be analyzed in the EIS

include the potential effects to water

quality and downstream cumulative

watershed impacts to beneficial uses; to

air quality; to threatened, endangered

and sensitive wildlife, plant and fish

species and associated habitat; and to

soil productivity.

Based on the results of scoping and

the resource conditions within the

project area, alternatives (including a

no-action alternative) will be developed

for the draft EIS. The draft EIS is

projected to be filed with the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

in February 2001. The final EIS is

anticipated in April 2001.

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.

To assist the Forest Service in

identifying and considering issues and

concerns on the proposed action,

comments should be as specific as

possible. 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 the 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. 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

designated 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.

No Permits or special authorizations

would be required. The Six Rivers

National Forest is the lead agency for

preparation of this document. There are

no cooperating agencies on this project.

Consultation will occur with local

tribes, National Marine Fisheries

Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service. S.E. ‘‘Lou’’ Woltering, Forest

Supervisor, Six Ribers National Forest,

is the responsible official. In making the

decision, the Responsible Official will

consider the comments; responses;

disclosure of environmental

consequences; and applicable laws,

regulations and policies. The

Responsible Official will state the

rationale for the chosen alternative in

the Record of Decision.

Dated: October 23, 2000.

S.E. ‘‘Lou’’ Woltering,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 00–27728 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation

Service

Notice of Proposed Change to Section

IV of the Virginia Field Office Technical

Guide

AGENCY: Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S.

Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of

proposed changes in the Virginia NRCS

Field Office Technical Guide for review

and comment.

SUMMARY: It has been determined by the

NRCS State Conservationist for Virginia

that changes must be made in the NRCS

Field Office Technical Guide

specifically in practice standards:

#7021, Agrichemical Handling Facility;

#314, Brush Management; #327,

Conservation Cover; #328, Conservation

Crop Rotation; #330, Contour Farming;

#329B, Residue Management, Mulch

Till; and #329C, Residue Management,

Ridge Till to account for improved

technology. These practices will be used

to plan and install conservation

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 210 / Monday, October 30, 2000 / Notices 64661

practices on cropland, pastureland,

woodland, and wildlife land.

DATES: Comments will be received on or

before November 29, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Inquire in writing to M. Denise Doetzer,

State Conservationist, Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS), 1606

Santa Rosa Road, Suite 209, Richmond,

Virginia 23229–5014; Telephone

number (804) 287–1665; Fax number

(804) 287–1738. Copies of the practice

standards will be made available upon

written request to the address shown

above or on the Virginia NRCS web site.

http://www.va.nrcs.gov/Data Tech Refs/

Standards&Specs/EDITStds/

EditStandards.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

343 of the Federal Agriculture

Improvement and Reform Act of 1996

states that revisions made after

enactment of the law to NRCS Field

Office 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 in Virginia will receive comments

relative to the proposed changes.

Following that period, a determination

will be made by the NRCS in Virginia

regarding disposition of those comments

and a final determination of change will

be made to the subject standards.

Dated: October 19, 2000.

M. Denise Doetzer,

State Conservationist, Natural Resources

Conservation Service, Richmond, Virginia.

[FR Doc. 00–27558 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–16–M

CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD

INVESTIGATION BOARD

Sunshine Act Meeting

The United States Chemical Safety

and Hazard Investigation Board

announces that it will convene a Public

Meeting beginning at 9:30 a.m. local

time on November 8, 2000, at 2175 K

Street, Second floor (Conference rooms

of the Medical Society of the District of

Columbia) Washington, DC.

Topics will include:

1. Presentation of recommendations

for the CSB investigation into the March

4, 1998, incident at a Sonat Incorporated

crude oil and natural gas production

and separation facility near Pitkin,

Louisiana.

2. Update on the recommendations

resulting from the Board investigation

into an incident at the Morton

International, Inc. Plant in Paterson,

New Jersey on April 8, 1998.

3. Update on the CSB investigation

into the February 23, 1999, fire that

occurred at the fractionator tower in the

50 crude oil processing unit at the Tosco

‘‘Avon’’ refinery in Martinez, California.

4. Update on review of open

investigation files (Independent

Fireworks, Sonat II, Equilon, Concept

Sciences, and Condea Vista).

5. Update on the CSB Hiring Plan

Initiative.

6. Board Initiatives with other Federal

agencies;

7. Discussion of Board documents

(Sonat Investigation Report, CSB fiveyear Strategic Plan, Memoranda of

Understanding with the Agency for

Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,

and GAO Report—Coordination

between various Federal Agencies).

8. CSB budget for FY 2001.

9. CSB Notation memorandums.

10. Update on Board Member

activities.

11. Tentative date for next Board

meeting.

The meeting will be open to the

public. For more information, please

contact the Chemical Safety and Hazard

Investigation Board’s Office of External

Relations, (202) 261–7600, or visit our

website at: www.csb.gov.

Christopher W. Warner,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 00–27847 Filed 10–25–00; 4:28 pm]

BILLING CODE 6350–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Export Administration

Information Systems Technical

Advisory Committee; Notice of

Partially Closed Meeting

The Information Systems Technical

Advisory Committee (ISTAC) will meet

on November 15 & 16, 2000, 9 a.m., in

the Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room

3884, 14th Street between Pennsylvania

Avenue and Constitution Avenue NW.,

Washington, DC. The ISTAC advises the

Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Export Administration on technical

questions that affect the level of export

controls applicable to information

systems equipment and technology.

November 15

Public Session

1. Update on low-power

microprocessors and industry trends

2. Discussion on Bureau of Export

Administration initiatives

3. Committee planning for 2001

4. Comments or presentations from

the public

November 15 & 16

Closed Session

5. Discussion of matters properly

classified under Executive Order 12958,

dealing with U.S. export control

programs and strategic criteria related

thereto.

A limited number of seats will be

available for the public session.

Reservations are not accepted. To the

extent time permits, members of the

public may present oral statements to

the ISTAC. The public may submit

written statements at any time before or

after the meeting. However, to facilitate

distribution of public presentation

materials to Committee members, the

ISTAC suggests that public presentation

materials or comments be forwarded

before the meeting to the address listed

below: Ms. Lee Ann Carpenter, OSIES/

EA/BXA MS: 3876, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th St. & Constitution Ave.,

NW., Washington, DC 20230.

The Assistant Secretary for

Administration, with the concurrence of

the delegate of the General Counsel,

formally determined on September 10,

1999, pursuant to section 10(d) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended, that the series of meetings or

portions of meetings of this Committee

and of any Subcommittees thereof

dealing with the classified materials

listed in 5 U.S.C. 552(c)(1) shall be

exempt from the provisions relating to

public meetings found in section

10(a)(1) and (a)(3), of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act. The remaining

series of meetings or portions thereof

will be open to the public.

A copy of the Notice of Determination

to close meetings or portions of

meetings of this Committee is available

for public inspection and copying in the

Central Reference and Records

Inspection Facility, Room 6020, U.S.

Department of Commerce, Washington,

DC. For more information or copies of

the minutes call Lee Ann Carpenter,

202–484–2583.

Dated: October 24, 2000.

Lee Ann Carpenter,

Committee Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–27707 Filed 10–27–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–JT–M