Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 39 / Friday, February 27, 2015 / Notices 10663 

ajwages@fs.fed.us or 928–402–6222. 

Individuals who use telecommunication 

devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Service at 

(800) 877–8339 between 8:00 a.m. and 

8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, 

Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Selecting 

to do an EIS upfront was a shortcut for 

doing an EA and then not being able to 

certify proposed action did not have a 

significant impact in a FONSI. However, 

through discussions with term-grazing 

permittees, it was determined that if 

livestock were allowed to graze along 

river that neither Forest Service nor 

term-grazing permittees had time or 

money to conduct monitoring necessary 

to determine appropriateness of this 

proposed action along river corridor. By 

withdrawing complexity inherent in 

proposed action to graze along river, 

need for an EIS evaporated. Therefore, 

project planning will continue through 

an EA process. Environmental Impact 

Statement will be retracted on February 

18, 2015. 

Dated: February 17, 2015. 

Richard Reitz, 

Globe Ranger District, Tonto National Forest. 

Dated: February 18, 2015. 

Kelly Jardine, 

Tonto Basin Ranger District, Tonto National 

Forest. 

[FR Doc. 2015–04073 Filed 2–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Stanislaus National Forest, CA; Notice 

of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement for Rim Fire 

Reforestation 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Stanislaus National 

Forest proposes about 42,000 acres of 

reforestation, plantation thinning, 

additional deer habitat and noxious 

weed treatments on National Forest 

System (NFS) lands within the 2013 

Rim Fire in order to: Return mixed 

conifer forest to the landscape; restore 

old forest for wildlife; reduce fuels; 

enhance deer habitat; and, eradicate 

noxious weeds. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

action should be submitted within 45 

days of the date of publication of this 

Notice of Intent. Completion of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

is expected in November 2015 followed 

by the Final EIS and Draft Record of 

Decision (ROD) in May 2016. A final 

decision is expected in August 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be: mailed 

to the Stanislaus National Forest; Attn: 

Rim Reforestation; 19777 Greenley 

Road; Sonora, CA 95370; delivered to 

the address shown during business 

hours (M–F 8:00 am to 4:30 pm); or, 

submitted by FAX (209) 533–1890. 

Submit electronic comments, in 

common (.doc, .pdf, .rtf, .txt) formats, to: 

comments-pacificsouthwest-stanislaus@

fs.fed.us with Subject: Rim 

Reforestation. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maria Benech, Stanislaus National 

Forest; 19777 Greenley Road; Sonora, 

CA 95370; phone (209) 532–3671; or 

email: mbenech@fs.fed.us. A scoping 

package, maps and other information 

are online at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/

project/?project=45612. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background 

The Rim Fire started on August 17, 

2013 in a remote area of the Stanislaus 

National Forest near the confluence of 

the Clavey and Tuolumne Rivers about 

20 miles east of Sonora, California. Over 

the next several weeks it burned 

257,314 acres, including 154,430 acres 

of NFS lands, becoming the third largest 

wildfire in California history. The Rim 

Fire Reforestation project is located 

within the Rim Fire perimeter in the 

Stanislaus National Forest on portions 

of the Mi-Wok and Groveland Ranger 

Districts. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The primary purposes of the project 

are to: (1) Return Mixed Conifer Forest 

to the Landscape; (2) Restore Old Forest 

for Wildlife Habitat and Connectivity; 

(3) Reduce Fuels for Future Fire 

Resiliency; (4) Enhance Deer Habitat; 

and, (5) Eradicate Noxious Weeds. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Service proposed action 

includes about 42,000 acres of 

reforestation, plantation thinning, 

additional deer habitat and noxious 

weed eradication treatments on NFS 

lands within the 2013 Rim Fire. 

Reforestation treatments (30,065 

acres) include: Hand, mechanical and 

manual herbicide site preparation 

(Glyphosate); prescribed burning; 

planting a diversity of conifer tree 

species using various patterns and 

densities (trees per acre) across the 

landscape (up and down slopes with 

fewer on ridges and more in drainage 

bottoms) to develop resilient mixed 

conifer forest and enhance wildlife 

(including deer) habitat; manual 

herbicide release (Glyphosate) when 

vegetation competition begins to inhibit 

survival and growth; and, noxious weed 

eradication as described below. The 

reforestation treatment (30,065 acres) 

includes thinning and planting on 7,307 

acres of existing plantations currently 

under-stocked due to high burn severity 

from the 2013 Rim Fire. 

Plantation Thinning treatments 

(11,359 acres) include: Hand and 

mechanical site preparation; prescribed 

burning and thinning to achieve an 

Individual, Clumpy, Open (ICO) pattern 

to maximize heterogeneity and wildlife 

(including deer) habitat while creating 

more fire resilient stands; and, noxious 

weed eradication as described below. 

Additional Deer Habitat treatments 

(407 acres) include: Prescribed burning; 

and, noxious weed eradication as 

described below. 

Noxious Weed Eradication treatments 

(4,160 acres) include: Weed treatments 

with a variety of EPA approved 

herbicides (such as Glyphosate, 

Clopyralid, Aminopyralid, Clethodim 

and Fluazifop-P-butyl). These noxious 

weed treatments overlap (within and up 

to 100 feet adjacent to) the reforestation, 

plantation thinning and additional deer 

habitat treaments described above. 

No treatments are proposed within 

Wilderness, Inventoried Roadless Areas, 

or the wild classification segments of 

Wild and Scenic Rivers or Proposed 

Wild and Scenic Rivers. Project design 

will incorporate Best Management 

Practices (BMPs) according to regional 

and national guidance. Implementation 

is expected to begin in fall 2016 and 

continue for up to 10 years. 

Possible Alternatives 

In addition to the Proposed Action, 

the EIS will evaluate the required No 

Action alternative and likely consider 

other alternatives identified through the 

inderdisciplinary process and public 

participation. 

Responsible Official 

Jeanne M. Higgins, Forest Supervisor; 

Stanislaus National Forest; 19777 

Greenley Road; Sonora, CA 95370. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The responsible official will decide 

whether to adopt and implement the 

proposed action, an alternative to the 

proposed action, or take no action with 

respect to the Rim Fire Reforestation 

project. 

Scoping Process 

Public participation is important at 

numerous points during the analysis. 

The Forest Service seeks information, 

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10664 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 39 / Friday, February 27, 2015 / Notices 

comments and assistance from federal, 

state, and local agencies and individuals 

or organizations that may be interested 

in or affected by the proposed action. 

The Forest Service conducts scoping 

according to the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations (40 CFR 1501.7). In addition 

to other public involvment, this Notice 

of Intent initiates an early and open 

process for determining the scope of 

issues to be addressed in the EIS and for 

identifying the significant issues related 

to a proposed action. This scoping 

process allows the Forest Service to not 

only identify significant environmental 

issues deserving of study, but also to 

deemphasize insignificant issues, 

narrowing the scope of the EIS process 

accordingly (40 CFR 1500.4(g)). 

Comment Requested 

This Notice of Intent initiates the 

scoping proces which guides the 

development of the EIS. Comments on 

the proposed action should be 

submitted within 45 days of the date of 

publication of this Notice of Intent. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft EIS will be available for 

comment when the Environmental 

Protection Agency publishes the notice 

of availability in the Federal Register. 

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 a 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 during 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 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 statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft EIS 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. 

Comments received, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposal and will 

be available for public inspection. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21. 

Dated: February 20, 2015. 

Jeanne M. Higgins, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2015–04109 Filed 2–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

Request for Extension and Revision of 

a Currently Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice 

announces our intention to request a 3- 

year extension and revision of a 

currently approved information 

collection for ‘‘Export Inspection and 

Weighing Waiver for High Quality 

Specialty Grain Transported in 

Containers.’’ 

DATES: We will consider comments that 

we receive by April 28, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this notice by any of the 

following methods: 

• Internet: Go to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail, hand deliver, or courier to 

Irene Omade, GIPSA, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., Room 

2530–S, Washington, DC 20250–3604. 

• Fax to (202) 690–2173. 

Instructions: All comments should be 

identified as ‘‘High Quality Specialty 

Grain Exported in Containers 

Information Collection,’’ and should 

reference to the date and page number 

of this issue of the Federal Register. The 

information collection package, public 

comments, and other documents 

relating to this action will be available 

for public inspection in the above office 

during regular business hours (7 CFR 

1.27(b)). Please call GIPSA’s 

Management and Budget Services at 

(202) 720–7486 to arrange a viewing of 

these documents. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information regarding the collection of 

information activities and the use of the 

information, contact Candace Hildreth 

at (202) 720–0203. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Congress 

enacted The United States Grain 

Standards Act (USGSA) (7 U.S.C. 71– 

87k) to facilitate the marketing of grain 

in interstate and foreign commerce. The 

USGSA, with few exceptions, requires 

that all grain shipped from the United 

States must be officially inspected and 

officially weighed. The USGSA 

authorizes the Department of 

Agriculture to waive the mandatory 

inspection and weighing requirements 

of the USGSA in circumstances when 

the objectives of the USGSA would not 

be impaired. 

The Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

amended section 7 CFR 800.18 of the 

regulations to waive the mandatory 

inspection and weighing requirements 

of the USGSA for high quality specialty 

grain exported in containers. GIPSA 

established this waiver to facilitate the 

marketing of high quality specialty grain 

exported in containers. GIPSA 

determined that this action was 

consistent with the objectives of the 

USGSA and would promote the 

continuing development of the high 

quality specialty grain export market. 

To ensure that exporters of high 

quality specialty grain complied with 

this waiver, GIPSA required exporters to 

maintain records generated during the 

normal course of business that pertain 

to these shipments and make these 

documents available to GIPSA upon 

request for review or copying purposes 

(76 FR 45397). These records shall be 

maintained for a period of 3 years. This 

information collection requirement is 

essential to ensure that exporters who 

ship high quality specialty grain in 

containers comply with the waiver 

provisions. GIPSA does not require 

exporters of high quality specialty grain 

to complete and submit new Federal 

government record(s), form(s), or 

report(s). 

Title: Export Inspection and Weighing 

Waiver for High Quality Specialty Grain 

Transported in Containers. 

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