Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices 36873

and able to contribute resources to a

joint project. FAS will also consider the

likelihood of these activities influencing

conditions affecting the level of U.S.

exports; the size, in both budget and

scope, of the proposed project; and, the

likelihood of the market becoming a

commercial market for U.S. agricultural

commodities and products. FAS

considers evaluation critical to the

success of a market development

project. In determining whether to

approve a market development or

technical assistance project, FAS will

place great emphasis on the

performance measures in the proposal

and upon the plan for reporting progress

to FAS.

Upon approval of a proposal, FAS

will enter into an agreement with the

entity submitting the proposal pursuant

to which FAS will provide local

currencies for carrying out the market

development or technical assistance

project. Agreements will incorporate, by

reference, the proposal as approved by

FAS.

General administrative requirements

for implementation of any resultant

agreement with non-profit institutions

are found at 7 CFR part 3019, ‘‘Uniform

Administrative Requirements for Grants

and Cooperative Agreements with

Institutions of Higher Education,

Hospitals, and other Non-profit

Organizations’’ except as may be

necessitated by the use of foreign

currencies or host country laws.

Interested parties should familiarize

themselves with these regulations.

FAS may announce in the future the

availability of other local currencies in

other countries for market development

and technical assistance.

Signed at Washington D.C. on June 26,

1998.

Timothy J. Galvin,

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural

Service and Vice President, Commodity Credit

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–18000 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service

Assessment of Fees for Dairy Import

Licenses

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice of the fee for dairy

import licenses for the 1999 quota year.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the fee to be charged for the 1999 tariffrate quota year for each license issued

to a person or firm by the Department

of Agriculture authorizing the

importation of certain dairy articles

which are subject to tariff-rate quotas set

forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

of the United States (HTS) will be

$158.00 per license.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard P. Warsack, Dairy Import Quota

Manager, Import Policies and Programs

Division, STOP 1021, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, 1400 Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–

1021 or telephone at (202) 720–9439.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Dairy

Tariff-Rate Import Licensing Regulation

promulgated by the Department of

Agriculture and codified at 7 CFR 6.20–

6.36 provides for the issuance of

licenses to import certain dairy articles

which are subject to tariff-rate quotas

(TRQs) set forth in the HTS. Those dairy

articles may only be entered into the

United States at the in-quota TRQ tariff

rates by or for the account of a person

or firm to whom such licenses have

been issued and only in accordance

with the terms and conditions of the

regulation.

Licenses are issued on a calendar year

basis, and each license authorizes the

license holder to import a specified

quantity and type of dairy article from

a specified country of origin. The use of

licenses by the license holder to import

dairy articles is monitored by the Dairy

Import Quota Manager, Import

Licensing Group, Import Policies and

Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

and the U.S. Customs Service.

The Regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a)

provides that a fee will be charged for

each license issued to a person or firm

by the Licensing Authority in order to

reimburse the Department of

Agriculture for the costs of

administering the licensing system

under this Regulation.

The Regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a) also

provides that the Licensing Authority

will announce the annual fee for each

license and that such fee will be set out

in a notice to be published in the

Federal Register. Accordingly, this

notice sets out the fee for the licenses to

be issued for the 1999 calendar year.

Notice

The total cost to the Department of

Agriculture of administering the

licensing system during 1998 has been

determined to be $404,318 and the

estimated number of licenses expected

to be issued is 2,563. Of the total cost,

$243,748 represent staff and supervisory

costs directly to administering the

licensing system during 1998; $50,320

represents the total computer costs to

monitor and issue import licenses

during 1998; and $110,250 represents

other miscellaneous costs, including

travel, postage, publications, forms, and

an ADP system contractor.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given

that the fee for each license issued to a

person or firm for the 1999 calendar

year, in accordance with 7 CFR 6.33,

will be $158.00 per license.

Issued at Washington, D.C., June 23, 1998.

David J. Williams,

Licensing Authority.

[FR Doc. 98–18001 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–10–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Skipping Cow Environmental Impact

Statement

AGENCY: Forset Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement.

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will

prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) for the proposed

Skipping Cow Timber Sale. The timber

sale is located in the Tongass National

Forest, Stikine Area, Wrangell Ranger

District, on Zarembo Island, within

Value Comparison Units (VCU’s) 458

and 459. The Tongass Land and

Resource Management Plan (1997)

provides the overall guidance (land use

designations, goals, objectives,

management prescriptions, standards

and guidelines) to achieve the desired

future condition for the area in which

this project is proposed. This Forest

Plan allocates portions of the project

area into three management

prescriptions: Timber Production,

Modified Landscape, and Scenic

Viewshed.

The purpose and need for the project

is to respond to the goals and objectives

identified by the Forest Plan for the

timber and move Skipping Cow Project

Area toward the desired future

condition. The Forest Plan identified

the following goals and objectives: (1)

manage the timber resource for

production of saw timber and other

wood products from suitable timber

lands made available for timber harvest,

on an even-flow, long-term sustained

yield basis and in an economically

efficient manner (Forest Plan page 2–4);

(2) seek to provide a timber supply

sufficient to meet the annual market

demand for Tongass National Forest

timber, and the demand for the planning

cycle (page 2–4); and (3) maintain and
36874 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices

promote industrial wood production

from suitable timber lands, providing a

continuous supply of wood to meet

society’s needs (page 3–144). The

Skipping Cow Timber Sale will be

designed to produce desired resource

values, products, and conditions in

ways that also sustain the diversity and

productivity of ecosystems (page 2–1).

The Skipping Cow Timber Sale is

expected to provide a range of volume

to the timber industry from 20 to 30

million board feet. The range of

alternatives to be considered in the EIS

will be determined during analysis and

reflect issues raised during scoping.

The Proposed Action provides for: (1)

construction of approximately 15.5

miles of specified road and additional

temporary road; and (2) harvest between

900–1300 acres. The existing log

transfer facility at Deep Bay Harbor will

be used to transfer volume to the water.

A variety of systems would be used for

yarding, including helicopter, cable,

skyline and shovel yarding systems.

A number of public comments have

been received on this project. Based on

comments from the public and other

agencies during the preliminary scoping

effort, the following issues have been

identified. How will the design of the

sale affect: harvest economics, access

road management, Wind ecology (large

scale blowdown), and winter deer

habitat? These issues and other issues

discovered during further scoping will

be used to design alternatives to the

proposed action and to identify the

potential environmental effects of the

proposed action and alternatives.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of this project should be received by

August 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning the

scope of this project should be sent to

Jerry Jordan, ID Team Leader, Wrangell

Ranger District, Tongass National

Forest, Stikine Area; Attn: Skipping

Cow EIS; P.O. Box 51, Wrangell, Alaska,

99929, phone (907) 874–2323.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation

Public participation will be an

integral component of the study process

and will be especially important at

several points during the analysis. The

first is during the scoping process. The

Forest Service will be seeking

information, comments, and assistance

from Federal, State, local agencies,

individuals and organizations that may

be interested in, or affected by, the

proposed activities. The scoping process

will include: (1) identification of

significant issues: (2) identification of

issues to be analyzed in depth; and (3)

elimination of insignificant issues or

those which have been covered by a

previous environmental review. For the

Forest Service to best use the scoping

input, comments should be received by

August 24, 1998.

Based on results of scoping and the

resource capabilities within the project

areas, alternatives including a ‘‘no

action’’ alternative will be developed for

the Draft Environmental Impact

Statement (Draft EIS). The Draft EIS is

projected to be filed with the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

in January 1999. Public comment on the

Draft EIS will be solicited for a

minimum of 45 days from the date the

EPA publishes the Notice of Availability

in the Federal Register. The Final EIS

is anticipated by June 1999.

To assist the Forest Service in

identifying and considering issues and

concerns of the proposed action,

comments during scoping and

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

alternatives formulated and discussed in

the document. Reviewers may wish to

refer to the Council on Environmental

Quality (CEQ) Regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions

of the National Environmental Policy

Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing

these points.

In addition, Federal Court decisions

have established that reviewers of Draft

EIS 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 concerns.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v.

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553, (1978).

Environmental objections that could be

raised at the draft environmental impact

stage may be waived if not raised until

after completion of the Final

Environmental Impact Statement. 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). The reason

for this is to ensure that comments and

objections are made available to the

Forest Service at a time when it can

meaningfully consider and respond to

them in the Draft EIS.

Comments received in response to

this solicitation, including names and

addresses of those who comment, will

be considered part of the public record

on this proposed project and will be

available for public inspection.

Comments submitted anonymously will

be accepted and considered; however,

those who submit anonymous

comments will not have standing to

appeal the subsequent decision under

36 CFR 215 or 217. Additionally,

pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d) any person

may request the agency to withhold a

submission from the public record by

showing how the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) permits such

confidentiality. Requesters should be

aware that, under FOIA, confidentiality

may be granted in only very limited

circumstances, such as protected trade

secrets. The Forest Service will inform

the requester of the agency’s decision

regarding the request for confidentiality,

and where the request is denied, the

agency will return the submission and

notify the requester that the comments

may be resubmitted with or without

name and address within 7 days.

Responsible Official

Carol J. Jorgensen, Assistant Forest

Supervisor, Stikine Area, Tongass

National Forest, P.O. Box 309,

Petersburg, Alaska 99833, is the

responsible official. The responsible

official will consider comments,

responses, disclosure of environmental

consequences, and applicable laws,

regulations, and policies in making a

decision and stating the rationale in the

Record of Decision.

Dated: June 24, 1998.

Carol J. Jorgensen,

Assistant Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98–17986 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD

INVESTIGATION BOARD

Sunshine Act Meeting

In connection with its investigation

into the cause of the explosion at the

Sierra Chemical Company in Sparks,

Nevada, on January 7, 1998, the U.S.

Chemical Safety and Hazard

Investigation Board announces,

pursuant to the Government in the

Sunshine Act, that it will convene a

Board Meeting beginning at 10:00 a.m.

local time on Wednesday, July 29, 1998,

at the George Washington University

Marvin Center, 800 21st Street, N.W.,

Washington, DC. This meeting will be

open to the public. For more

information, please contact the

Chemical Safety and Hazard

Investigation Board’s Office of External

Relations, telephone number (202) 261–