Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 221 / Friday, November 15, 2024 / Notices 90261 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 

USDA provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you are 

a person requiring reasonable 

accommodation, please make requests 

in advance for sign language 

interpretation, assistive listening 

devices, or other reasonable 

accommodation to the person listed 

under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section or contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 

(voice and TTY) or USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, 

national origin, religion, sex, gender 

identity (including gender expression), 

sexual orientation, disability, age, 

marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance 

program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 

retaliation for prior civil rights activity, 

in any program or activity conducted or 

funded by USDA (not all bases apply to 

all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or 

incident. 

Equal opportunity practices in 

accordance with USDA’s policies will 

be followed in all appointments to the 

Committee. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the Committee 

have taken in account the needs of the 

diverse groups served by USDA, 

membership shall include to the extent 

possible, individuals with demonstrated 

ability to represent minorities, women, 

and persons with disabilities. USDA is 

an equal opportunity provider, 

employer, and lender. 

JoLynn Anderson, 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26608 Filed 11–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Hood-Willamette Resource Advisory 

Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Hood-Willamette 

Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) 

will hold a public meeting according to 

the details shown below. The committee 

is authorized under the Secure Rural 

Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act (the Act) and 

operates in compliance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act. The purpose 

of the committee is to improve 

collaborative relationships and to 

provide advice and recommendations to 

the Forest Service concerning projects 

and funding consistent with Title II of 

the Act, as well as make 

recommendations on recreation fee 

proposals for sites on the Mt. Hood and 

Willamette National Forests within 

Clackamas, Douglas, Hood River, 

Jefferson, Lane, Linn, Marion, 

Multnomah, and Wasco Counties, 

consistent with the Federal Lands 

Recreation Enhancement Act. 

DATES: An in-person and virtual meeting 

will be held on December 2, 2024, 9 

a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. 

Written and Oral Comments: Anyone 

wishing to provide in-person or virtual 

oral comments must pre-register by 

11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on 

November 25, 2024. Written public 

comments will be accepted by 11:59 

p.m. Pacific Standard Time on 

November 25, 2024. Comments 

submitted after this date will be 

provided by the Forest Service to the 

committee, but the committee may not 

have adequate time to consider those 

comments prior to the meeting. 

All committee meetings are subject to 

cancellation. For status of the meeting 

prior to attendance, please contact the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held in 

person at the Keizer Civic Center, 

located at 930 Chemawa Road 

Northeast, Keizer, Oregon 97303. The 

public may also join the meeting 

virtually via teleconference or 

videoconference online at https://

www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/ 

workingtogether/advisorycommittees/ 

?cid=stelprdb5048434. RAC information 

and meeting details can be found at the 

website link provided above or by 

contacting the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Written Comments: Written comments 

must be sent by email to 

eileen.kitayama@usda.gov or via mail 

(postmarked) to Eileen Kitayama, 3106 

Pierce Pkwy., Suite D, Springfield, 

Oregon 97477. The Forest Service 

strongly prefers comments be submitted 

electronically. 

Oral Comments: Persons or 

organizations wishing to make oral 

comments must pre-register by 11:59 

p.m. Pacific Standard Time on 

November 25, 2024, and speakers can 

only register for one speaking slot. Oral 

comments must be sent by email to 

eileen.kitayama@usda.gov or via mail 

(postmarked) to Eileen Kitayama, 3106 

Pierce Pkwy., Suite D, Springfield, 

Oregon 97477. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Meta Loftsgaarden, Designated Federal 

Officer, by phone at (971) 378–9704 or 

email at meta.loftsgaarden@usda.gov; or 

Eileen Kitayama, RAC Coordinator, by 

phone at (458) 245–0170 or email at 

eileen.kitayama@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meeting is to: 

1. Elect a Chairperson; 

2. Hear from Title II project 

proponents and discuss Title II project 

proposals; 

3. Make funding recommendations on 

Title II projects; 

4. Approve meeting minutes; and 

5. Schedule the next meeting 

The agenda will include time for 

individuals to make oral statements of 

three minutes or less. Individuals 

wishing to make an oral statement 

should make a request in writing at least 

three days prior to the meeting date to 

be scheduled on the agenda. Written 

comments may be submitted to the 

Forest Service up to 14 days after the 

meeting date listed under DATES. 

Please contact the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, by 

or before the deadline, for all questions 

related to the meeting. All comments, 

including names and addresses when 

provided, are placed in the record and 

are available for public inspection and 

copying. The public may inspect 

comments received upon request. 

Meeting Accommodations: The 

meeting location is compliant with the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 

USDA provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you are 

a person requiring reasonable 

accommodation, please make requests 

in advance for sign language 

interpretation, assistive listening 

devices, or other reasonable 

accommodation to the person listed 

under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section, or contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 

(voice and TTY) or USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Additionally, program information may 

be made available in languages other 

than English. 

USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, 

national origin, religion, sex, gender 

identity (including gender expression), 

sexual orientation, disability, age, 

marital status, family/parental status, 

income derived from a public assistance 

program, political beliefs, or reprisal or 

retaliation for prior civil rights activity, 

in any program or activity conducted or 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
90262 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 221 / Friday, November 15, 2024 / Notices 

funded by USDA (not all bases apply to 

all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or 

incident. 

Equal opportunity practices in 

accordance with USDA’s policies will 

be followed in all appointments to the 

committee. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the committee have 

taken into account the needs of the 

diverse groups served by the USDA, 

membership shall include, to the extent 

practicable, individuals with 

demonstrated ability to represent the 

many communities, identities, races, 

ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, 

cultures, and beliefs of the American 

people, including underserved 

communities. USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider, employer, and 

lender. 

Dated: October 16, 2024. 

Cikena Reid, 

USDA Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24265 Filed 11–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service 

West Fork Kickapoo Watershed; 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement 

AGENCY: Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability; record of 

decision. 

SUMMARY: This notice of availability 

presents the Record of Decision (ROD) 

on a Watershed Project Plan— 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (Plan-PEIS) for the West Fork 

Kickapoo (WFK) Watershed prepared in 

partnership with Monroe and Vernon 

Counties, Wisconsin (Sponsors). This 

notice announces the plan to proceed 

with the implementation of Alternative 

7—Proposed Action—Decommission 

All Dams and Replace Jersey Valley 

County Park Dam (WFK–1) with a high 

hazard, multi-purpose dam, identified 

in the Plan-PEIS. Alternative 7 proposes 

to decommission dams by excavating a 

notch to pass the 100-year flood without 

impounding water. It also proposes to 

replace WFK–1 with a high hazard, 

multi-purpose dam approximately 1,000 

feet downstream of the existing dam. 

This action will avoid environmental 

impacts to the extent possible and 

mitigate impacts that are unavoidable. 

ADDRESSES: You may request a copy of 

the ROD from: Steve Becker, NRCS State 

Conservation Engineer, 8030 Excelsior 

Drive, Suite 200, Madison, WI 53717. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Becker; telephone: (608) 400– 

6176; or email: steve.becker@usda.gov. 

Individuals who require alternative 

means for communication should 

contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 

720–2600 (voice and text telephone 

(TTY)) or dial 711 for 

Telecommunications Relay service (both 

voice and text telephone users can 

initiate this call from any telephone). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Decision 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) has prepared a ROD 

following completion of the Plan-PEIS. 

The Plan-PEIS provides a retrospective 

analysis of the existing flood control 

project and then evaluates alternatives 

for the final disposition of 9 flood 

control dams constructed between 1956 

and 1971. The purpose of the Plan-PEIS 

is to ensure agencies consider the 

environmental impacts of their action in 

decision making. NRCS involvement is 

through Public Law 83–566, Watershed 

Protection and Flood Prevention Act, as 

amended. The ROD is available for 

viewing at the following link: https://

www.wfkandccwatersheds.com/2023. 

NRCS has decided to assist the Sponsors 

with implementing Alternative 7 which 

proposes to decommission all 9 dams in 

the watershed and replace WFK–1 about 

1,000 feet downstream of the existing 

dam. 

Background 

The WFK Watershed has an area of 

75,387 acres (117.8 square miles) to the 

confluence with the Kickapoo River. 

The focused planning area for the PlanPEIS is 63,761 acres (99.6 square miles). 

The Plan-PEIS follows an original 

Watershed Work Plan developed in 

1961 to reduce flood damages in the 

WFK valley under the Watershed 

Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 

1954. 

The major problems in the watershed 

between 1956 and 1961 were floodwater 

damages to: crops and pasture, fences, 

farmsteads, machinery, buildings, 

livestock, county, township roads and 

bridges, and the village of Liberty. 

Project measures implemented under 

the 1961 Watershed Work Plan include 

a multitude of land treatment practices 

to reduce erosion and sedimentation 

behind the dams and 7 flood control 

dams with a total capacity of 3,652 acrefeet to regulate flood flows from 30.73 

square miles, or 31 percent of the 

watershed above the village of Liberty. 

With the addition of two dams built 

under the Pilot Watershed Program in 

1956, the runoff from 34.6 square miles 

or 35 percent of the watershed above the 

village of Liberty is controlled. The 

dams have now completed their Federal 

interest or original economic evaluation 

period of 50 years. 

On the night of August 27, 2018, two 

watershed dams over-topped and two 

dams failed, including the WFK–1 and 

Mlsna Dams. Rainfall amounts up to 11 

inches were reported on the night of 

August 27 and early morning of August 

28. Additional rainfall amounts up to 7 

inches were reported in the afternoon of 

August 28 after the dam failures. 

The dams failed (breached) along the 

interface between the earthfill and 

highly jointed sandstone abutments. 

Each breach extended full depth to the 

valley floor. No one was injured or 

killed. Large debris fields were observed 

downstream of the dams for about 1/4 

mile. Agricultural lands and road 

crossings were damaged. Engineering 

investigations concluded that flow 

through the fractured sandstone during 

high pool stage caused internal erosion 

and piping of the earthfill dam and 

contributed to the failures. The 

Sponsors and NRCS are concerned that 

a similar vulnerability exists in the 

remaining 7 dams. 

Environmental Review 

The ROD summarizes the findings of 

the Plan-PEIS and provides the basis for 

a decision to decommission 9 flood 

control dams in the WFK watershed and 

replace WFK–1 with a high hazard, 

multi-purpose dam. The watershed 

project plan and the environmental 

document were combined in the single 

Plan-PEIS document. NRCS is the lead 

Federal agency responsible for the 

content and quality of the Plan-EIS for 

the purposes of National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), Principles, 

Requirements, and Guidelines (PR&G) 

for Federal Investments in Water 

Resources and National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance. 

The ROD is issued as specified by the 

NEPA process (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347) 

which follows the NRCS NEPA 

regulations in 7 CFR part 650, subpart 

A, and 7 CFR part 622. The NRCS NEPA 

regulations adopt the Council of 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA 

regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508) in 

total. 

Alternatives 

Considered alternatives included: no 

action, repair, rehabilitation, relocation, 

replacement, removal, and construction 

of additional dams. Considered 

alternatives also include the 

substitution of large watershed dams 


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