Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 101 / Thursday, May 25, 1995 / Notices 27717

prescribed fire would be used

throughout the wilderness. Reservation

and permit fees (if legal) would be

collected.

Maximum Wilderness Preservation.

The wilderness would be managed for

very primitive to pristine conditions.

Stock and human use levels would be

reduced. Dogs, shooting, and campfires

would be prohibited. Signing,

streamflow maintenance dams, some

campsites, and many trails would be

removed. Fish stocking would cease.

Reservation and permit fees (if legal)

would be collected.

John Phipps, Forest Supervisor,

Eldorado National Forest, and Robert E.

Harris, Forest Supervisor, Lake Tahoe

Basin Management Unit, are the

responsible officials.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed

with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and to be available for

public review by August 1995. At that

time the EPA will publish a notice of

availability of the draft EIS in the

Federal Register.

The comment period on the draft EIS

will be 45 days from the date EPA’s

notice of availability appears in the

Federal Register. It is very important

that reviewers participate at that time.

To be the most helpful, comments on

the draft EIS should be as specific as

possible and may address the adequacy

of the statement or the merits of the

alternatives discussed (see The Council

on Environmental Quality Regulations

for implementing the procedural

provisions of the National

Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR

1503.3). In addition, Federal court

decisions have established that

reviewers of draft EIS’s must structure

their participation in the environmental

review of the proposal so that it is

meaningful and alerts an agency to the

reviewers’ position and contentions,

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v.

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

that environmental objections that could

have been raised at the draft stage may

be waived if not raised until after

completion of the final EIS. Wisconsin

Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp.

1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). The reason

for this is to ensure that substantive

comments and objectives are made

available to the Forest Service at a time

when it can meaningfully consider them

and respond to them in the final EIS.

After the comment period ends on the

draft EIS, the comments will be

analyzed and considered by the Forest

Service in preparing the final EIS. The

final EIS is scheduled to be completed

by January 1996. The Forest Service is

required to respond in the final EIS to

the comments received (40 CFR 1503.4).

The responsible officials will consider

the comments, responses, disclosure of

environmental consequences, and

applicable laws, regulations, and

policies in making a decision regarding

this proposal. The responsible officials

will document the decision and

rationale in the Record of Decision. That

decision will be subject to appeal.

Dated: May 15, 1995.

Robert E. Harris,

Forest Supervisor, Lake Tahoe Basin

Management Unit.

Dated: May 15, 1995.

John Phipps,

Forest Supervisor, Eldorado National Forest.

[FR Doc. 95–12857 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Inland Native Fish Strategy;

Environmental Assessment for Public

Review

ACTION: Notice of publication of the

Inland Native Fish Strategy

Environmental Assessment for public

review.

SUMMARY: In the March 14, 1995,

Federal Register (Vol. 60, No. 49, pp.

13697–13698), notice was given that the

Forest Service, in cooperation with the

Bureau of Land Management and US

Fish and Wildlife Service, is gathering

information in order to prepare an

Environmental Assessment (EA) for a

proposal to protect habitat and

populations of native inland fish.

This EA will address National Forest

System lands on the Bitterroot, Boise,

Caribou, Challis, Clearwater, Colville,

Deerlodge, Deschutes, Flathead,

Fremont, Helena, Humboldt, Idaho

Panhandle, Kootenai, Lolo, Malheur,

Ochoco, Payette, Sawtooth, WallowaWhitman, and Winema National Forests

in the Northern, Intermountain, and

Pacific Northwest Regions.

The public scoping period began

March 14 and ended April 26, 1995. As

of May 1, approximately 235 letters

have been received from the public.

Many people commented that they

should have an opportunity to review

the alternatives and effects analysis that

will be documented in the

Environmental Assessment. The agency

agrees that the public should have this

opportunity. The Environmental

Assessment will be completed on or

about May 31, and will be sent to the

public for a 30-day review and comment

period. These comments will be

considered in reaching a decision.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about the environmental

assessment should be directed to David

Wright, Team Leader, USDA Forest

Service, 3815 Schrieber Way, Coeur

d’Alene, Idaho, 83814. Phone: (208)

765–7223.

The responsible officials for this

Environmental Assessment are the

Regional Foresters for the

Intermountain, Northern, and Pacific

Northwest Regions. They will make a

decision regarding this proposal

considering the comments and

responses, environmental consequences

discussed in the Environmental

Assessment, and applicable laws,

regulations, and policies. The decision

and reasons for the decision will be

documented in a Decision Notice. The

Decision Notice is expected to be

available in late July, 1995.

Dated: May 16, 1995.

David J. Wright,

Inland Native Fish Team Leader, USDA,

Forest Service.

[FR Doc. 95–12858 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Willamette Provincial Interagency

Executive Committee (PIEC), Advisory

Committee

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Willamette PIEC

Advisory Committee will meet on

Thursday, June 15, 1995, at the Salem

District Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) Office, 1717 Fabry Road SE,

Salem, Oregon. The meeting will being

at 9:00 a.m. and continue until

approximately 3:00 p.m. Agenda items

to be covered include: (1) Followup on

procedural issues, (2) Information on

watershed analysis and schedule for FY

95–97, (3) Key issues, concerns, and

opportunities of Federal Agencies for

implementing the Northwest Forest

Plan, (4) Identifying Advisory

Committee tasks, (5) Open public forum.

All Willamette PIEC meetings are open

to the public, and interested citizens are

encouraged to attend. Written comments

concerning the Advisory Committee’s

affairs can be submitted at the meeting.

Oral comment can also be made during

the public forum. Length of oral

comments will be limited to the time

allotted on the agenda.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Neal Forrester, Designated Federal

Official, Willamette National Forest, 211

East Seventh Avenue, Eugene, Oregon;

503–465–6924.
27718 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 101 / Thursday, May 25, 1995 / Notices

Dated: May 19, 1995.

Darrel L. Kenops,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 95–12824 Filed 5–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Rural Utilities Service

Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc.;

Draft Supplemental Environmental

Impact Statement

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft

supplemental environmental impact

statement.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) are issuing a Draft Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement

(DSEIS) related to Seminole Electric

Cooperative, Inc.’s, (Seminole) proposed

Hardee Unit 3. The DSEIS is a

supplement to the Final Environmental

Impact Statement issued in January

1991 by the Rural Electrification

Administration (predecessor of RUS),

with EPA, and the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission as cooperating

agencies, for their actions related to the

Hardee Power Station. Hardee Unit 3

would increase the originally proposed

ultimate output of the Hardee Power

Station from 660 megawatts (MW) to

880 MW.

RUS’s federal action related to Hardee

Unit 3 would be providing a loan

guarantee to Seminole to cover the cost

of project construction. EPA’s federal

action related to Hardee Unit 3 has, to

date, been the preparation of the draft

National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System (NPDES) permit

needed to operate the new unit.

However, on May 1, 1995, EPA

authorized the State of Florida to

administer the NPDES Permit Program

(with EPA program oversight retained).

As such, EPA’s role as an NPDES

permitting agency has changed and EPA

no longer has a direct federal action

related to the proposed Hardee Unit 3.

With program authorization, the NPDES

permitting decision now is a state action

as opposed to an EPA federal action.

The notice for the Draft NPDES permit

will be issued by the State of Florida.

Despite program authorization, EPA

nevertheless remains a cooperating

agency to RUS for the DSEIS and will

also have a role in the RUS National

Environmental Policy Act process for

Hardee Unit 3 by providing review and

comment on the DSEIS and Final

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement for Hardee Unit 3 via its

responsibilities pursuant to Section 309

of the Clean Air Act. The draft NPDES

permit is Appendix A to the DSEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Lawrence R. Wolfe, Chief,

Environmental Compliance Branch,

Electric Staff Division, Rural Utilities

Service, Ag. Box 1569, Washington, DC

20250, Telephone (202) 720–1784, Fax

(202) 720–7491.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DSEIS

for Hardee Unit 3 covers the

construction and operation of 440 MW

of additional generating capacity to be

installed at the existing 1,300-acre

Hardee Power Station site. The Hardee

Power Station site is located in Hardee

and Polk counties approximately 9

miles northwest of Wauchula, 16 miles

south-southwest of Bartow, and 40

miles east of Tampa Bay. The site is

bordered on the east by Hardee County

Road 663, a CSX Railroad right-of-way,

and CF Industries’ Hardee Complex.

IMC-Agrico properties surround the

remaining portions of the site. Payne

Creek flows along the southern and

western boundary of the Hardee Power

Station site. The proposed Hardee Unit

3 would occupy approximately 50 acres

of this site.

As proposed in the Final

Environmental Impact Statement for the

Hardee Power Station, Hardee Power

Partners has constructed and operates

295 MW of generation capacity at the

Hardee Power Station and proposes an

additional 145 MW of generation

capacity there by the year 2003 for use

by Seminole. Seminole originally

proposed to construct and operate an

additional 220 MW at the Hardee Power

Station at a future date to be

determined. That addition, along with

Hardee Power Partners’ 145 MW

addition, would have increased the

existing 295 MW Hardee Power Station

capacity to 660 MW. Seminole now

proposes in the DSEIS to construct 440

MW of additional capacity at the Hardee

Power Station at a specified date, 1999,

instead of the originally proposed 220

MW addition at an unspecified date. As

now proposed, the Hardee Power

Station Site would be made up of a total

of 880 MW of capacity when completed.

The proposed Hardee Unit 3 would

consist of natural gas fired combustion

turbines utilizing heat recovery steam

generators that will operate efficiently

by recovering heat from the combustion

turbines. Fuel oil would be used as a

backup source of fuel. These are the

same type of generators already

installed at the Hardee Power Station

(295 MW) and the same type proposed

for future installation (145 MW) at the

site by Hardee Power Partners. The

natural gas would be transported via an

existing 18 inch diameter, underground

gas pipeline connected to the Florida

Gas Transmission System to the Hardee

Power Station. Three existing 230

kilovolt transmission lines would be

utilized to connect Hardee Unit 3 into

the Florida transmission grid.

Alternatives to the project as

proposed included no action, design

alternatives, alternative fuels, and

conservation.

Seminole has provided RUS with a

Site Certification Application/

Environmental Analysis for Hardee Unit

3 which is the primary support

document used by RUS to develop its

DSEIS. RUS has concluded that the Site

Certification Application/

Environmental Analysis for Hardee Unit

3 represents an accurate assessment of

the potential environmental impacts

related to the proposed project. The

Hardee Unit 3 Site Certification

Application/Environmental Analysis

has been incorporated by reference into

the DSEIS and is available for

inspection by interested parties at RUS

or Seminole at the addresses provided

in this notice. That document, along

with the DSEIS, will also be available

for review at the following libraries:

Bartow Public Library, 315 E. Parker

Street, Bartow, Florida 33830

Hardee County Library, 315 N. 6th

Avenue, Suite 114, Wauchula, Florida

33837.

Anyone wishing to comment on the

DSEIS should do so in writing within

the 45-day comment period to RUS at

the appropriate address provided in this

notice. All comments received during

the comment period will be given

consideration in the formulation of the

Final Supplemental Environmental

Impact Statement for Hardee Unit 3.

(Oral responses submitted by telephone

will be considered, but it is

recommended that comments be

submitted in writing.) A copy of each

written comment and a summary of

each oral comment received will be

included in the Final Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement.

Notice of availability of the DSEIS and

the 45-day comment period is being

published in the Federal Register by

RUS and EPA. Seminole will have a

notice similar to this one published in

newspapers of general circulation in the

proposed project area. As it is possible

that RUS, EPA, and Seminole’s notices

will not appear on the same date, the

45-day comment period will begin on

the date the latest notice (RUS, EPA or

Seminole’s) is published. Questions

concerning the closing date of the 45-

day comment period should be referred