Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 200 / Tuesday, October 18, 2005 / Notices 60487 

Avenue, SW., Room 1661 South 

Building, STOP 0240, Washington, DC 

20250–0240, Fax (202) 720–8871 or call 

(202) 720–2185; E-mail 

Cheri.Emery@usda.gov. The revised 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Sweet Peppers will be available either 

through the address cited above or by 

accessing the Fresh Products Branch 

website at http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

standards/stanfrfv.htm. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act 

of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627), as 

amended, directs and authorizes the 

Secretary of Agriculture ‘‘To develop 

and improve standards of quality, 

condition, quantity, grade and 

packaging and recommend and 

demonstrate such standards in order to 

encourage uniformity and consistency 

in commercial practices.’’ The 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is 

committed to carrying out this authority 

in a manner that facilitates the 

marketing of agricultural commodities 

and makes copies of official standards 

available upon request. The United 

States Standards for Grades of Fruits 

and Vegetables not connected with 

Federal Marketing Orders or U.S. Import 

Requirements, no longer appear in the 

Code of Federal Regulations, but are 

maintained by USDA/AMS/Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs. 

AMS is revising the voluntary U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Sweet Peppers 

using procedures that appear in Part 36 

Title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (7 CFR part 36). These 

standards were last revised in 1989. 

Background 

On June 15, 2004, AMS published a 

notice in the Federal Register (69 FR 

33345) soliciting comments on the 

possible revision to the United States 

Standards for Grades of Sweet Peppers. 

AMS received three comments in 

response to the notice. Two comments 

were in favor of revising the decay 

tolerance. The decay tolerance will be 

revised to include only those sweet 

peppers which are affected by decay on 

the wall and/or calyx. Decay affecting 

only stems will no longer fall under the 

restricted two percent decay tolerance, 

it will be scored against the five percent 

serious damage tolerance for U.S. Fancy 

and U.S. No 1 grades and against the 

five percent restrictive tolerance for the 

U.S. No. 2 grade. The third comment 

was not in favor of changing the decay 

tolerance. In addition, this commenter 

requested changes for sizing and color 

issues within the standard. 

A second notice was published in the 

March 11, 2005, Federal Register (70 FR 

12176–7) based on three comments 

received from the first notice. AMS 

received two comments in response to 

the second notice. One comment was in 

favor of the proposed revision to the 

standards changing the scoring of decay 

by separating stem decay from decay 

affecting the walls and/or calyxes. The 

other comment was opposed to those 

changes. The comments are available by 

accessing AMS’s Home Page on the 

Internet at http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/ 

fpbdocketlist.htm. 

One comment from an industry 

association which represents growers, 

packers and shippers, is in favor of the 

revision to the decay tolerance. The 

commenter stated the change will have 

a positive impact on the marketing of 

sweet peppers. 

One comment opposing the revision 

to the decay tolerance stated that all 

decay has a serious negative impact on 

the appearance and marketability of the 

product and requested not to change the 

decay scoring and reporting. The 

commenter also stated that decay 

affecting the stems, walls, and calyxes 

should be scored against any grade 

(requirements and tolerances). AMS has 

reviewed stem decay affecting various 

commodities and believes the proposed 

changes would bring sweet peppers in 

line with other grade standards with 

respect to stem decay. Decay affecting 

the stem only does not affect the edible 

portion of the sweet pepper, and does 

not affect the marketability to the same 

degree as decay affecting the wall and/ 

or calyx. AMS believes a revision to the 

decay tolerance is warranted to best 

serve the industry. 

Current marketing practices for 

specialty packs which include mixed 

varieties and/or colors of sweet peppers 

would not meet the similar varietal 

characteristic requirements for all 

grades in the standards. Accordingly, 

AMS is revising the similar varietal 

requirement to allow mixed varieties 

and/or colors of sweet peppers when 

containers are marked with more than 

one variety and/or color. 

AMS will also eliminate the 

unclassified category. This section is not 

a grade and only serves to show that no 

grade has been applied to the lot. This 

section will be removed from all fresh 

fruit and vegetable standards. It is no 

longer considered necessary. 

AMS requested comments on industry 

terms for size based on 11⁄9 bushel 

containers. AMS received a comment in 

favor of developing size requirements. 

The commenter also requested size 

definitions (small, medium, large, extra 

large and jumbo) for peppers packed in 

11⁄9 bushel containers which are based 

on a count per container, as well as 

minimum diameters and lengths for 

each category. Further, the commenter 

requested marking requirements which 

would require cartons to be marked by 

count and/or size. AMS is not changing 

the current size requirements. The 

commenter’s study submitted was based 

on only twenty-two cartons that 

contained five size categories. A greater 

number of statistical samples of each 

size would need to be submitted for 

consideration. Further, AMS believes it 

would be impractical to apply such 

requirements due to the various varietal 

characteristics of sweet peppers 

regarding shape and size, and the lack 

of a standardized container within the 

industry. 

The official grade of a lot of sweet 

peppers covered by these standards are 

determined by the procedures set forth 

in the Regulations Governing 

Inspection, Certification, and Standards 

of Fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Other 

Products (Sec. 51.1 to 51.61). 

The U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Sweet Peppers will become effective 30 

days after publication of this notice in 

the Federal Register. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

Dated: October 13, 2005. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20860 Filed 10–17–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Foreign Agricultural Service 

Trade Adjustment Assistance for 

Farmers 

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

The Administrator, Foreign 

Agricultural Service (FAS), today 

terminated the certification of petitions 

for trade adjustment assistance (TAA) 

that was filed by salmon producers in 

Alaska and Washington. Salmon 

producers in these states are no longer 

eligible for TAA benefits in fiscal year 

2006. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Upon 

investigation, the Administrator 

determined that the average salmon 

prices during the 2004 marketing year 

was $0.343/pound, which is 85 percent 

of the base 5-year average price. During 

that same marketing year, imports 

declined by 1.4 percent. Therefore, the 

average price for the most recent 

marketing year was not less than 80 

percent of the average price for the base 

period and imports were no longer 

60488 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 200 / Tuesday, October 18, 2005 / Notices 

contributing factors for program 

eligibility. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jean-Louis Pajot, Coordinator, Trade 

Adjustment Assistance for Farmers, 

FAS, USDA, (202) 720–2916, e-mail: 

trade.adjustment@fas.usda.gov. 

Dated: October 6, 2005. 

A. Ellen Terpstra, 

Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20836 Filed 10–17–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Fuel Reduction Activities Within the 

City of Bozeman’s Municipal 

Watershed on the Gallatin National 

Forest and City of Bozeman Lands, 

Montana; Gallatin National Forest; 

Gallatin County, MT 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, 

will prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to disclose the 

environmental effects of a proposed 

fuels reduction project that will help 

maintain the water supply to the City of 

Bozeman. The project’s purpose and 

need is to begin reducing the potential 

severity and extent and future wildland 

fires in the Bozeman and Hyalite 

Municipal Watersheds, begin creating 

vegetation and fuel conditions that will 

reduce the risk of excess sediment and 

ash reaching the municipal water 

treatment plant in the event of a sever 

wildland fire, begin creating vegetation 

and fuel conditions that will provide for 

firefighter and public safety by 

modifying potential fire behavior, and 

reduce fuel conditions in the wildland/ 

urban interface (WUI). A range of 3 to 

5 alternatives are targeted for 

consideration in this planning process. 

DATES: Initial comments on this 

proposal should be received by 

November 11, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be sent to Jim Devitt, Gallatin National 

Forest Supervisors Office, P.O. Box 130, 

Bozeman, Montana 59771–0130. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Devitt, Bozeman Municipal Watershed 

Project Interdisciplinary Team Leader, 

Gallatin National Forest Supervisors 

Office, (406) 587–6749. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of this project, as identified by 

the Gallatin National Forest and the City 

of Bozeman, is to maintain a highquality, long term, and predictable 

water supply for Bozeman area 

residents. The Bozeman Municipal 

Watershed analysis area is a landscape 

dominated by steep canyons and 

timbered slopes. The two drainages are 

very popular and receive heavy use for 

outdoor recreation activities such as 

pleasure driving, hiking, biking, 

camping, picnicking, fishing, and 

hunting, to name a few. The Bozeman 

Municipal Water project will apply to 

portions of National Forest System 

Lands and City of Bozeman land within 

the Bozeman and Hyalite Watersheds. 

There are several homes and subdivisions within one half mile of the 

forest boundary or within the WUI. Fire 

simulation models showed that a large 

fire started in either Bozeman Creek or 

Hyalite Creek could easily burn into the 

adjacent drainage, resulting in a 

situation where both major sources of 

city water supply are simultaneously 

impacted. The Forest Service and City 

of Bozeman believe it is timely to begin 

addressing this project’s purpose. The 

purpose and need for this project would 

be achieved by (1) Maintaining low fire 

severity conditions through prescribed 

burning. (2) Maintaining the 

effectiveness of the riparian filtration 

zone by removing or cutting conifers to 

invigorate shrub communities. (3) 

Treating invasive weed species to 

maintain native communities and allow 

the riparian area to function as 

efficiently as possible. 

The Forest Service is looking for ways 

to do innovative treatments to address 

this project’s purpose and need. 

Potential fuel activities being 

considered include treating up to 6,000 

total acres, including a small portion of 

the Gallatin Divide Inventoried Roadless 

Area in the Bozeman Creek watershed, 

and treating up to 3,000 acres in the 

Hyalite Creek watershed with a 

combination of prescribed burning, 

thinning, brush cutting, and commercial 

tree harvest. 

To facilitate public comment, the 

Forest Service has prepared a scoping 

document. This document identifies a 

one possible set of treatment options 

and can be viewed on the Gallatin 

National Forest Web site at http:// 

www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin. A copy can be 

also be obtained by calling or writing 

the contact person identified above. The 

scooping comment period will end 

November 11, 2005. 

Comments on the scoping document 

from the public and other agencies will 

be used in preparation of a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). 

More specifically, comments will be 

used to modify and refine the 

alternatives and identify potential 

resources issues (environmental effects) 

that should be considered in analysis. 

The Draft EIS is expected to be filed 

with the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) and available for public 

review in June of 2006. 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 is estimated to be 45 

days from the date the EPA’s notice of 

availability appears in the Federal 

Register. The Final EIS is scheduled for 

completion in the spring of 2007. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues, 

comments should be specific to 

concerns associated with the fuel 

reduction activities within a municipal 

watershed. 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 structuring comments. 

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 an agency to the 

reviewer’s position and contentions. 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp v. 

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 533 (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 during comment 

periods provided so that substantive 

comments and objections are made 

available to the Forest Service at a time 

when they can meaningfully consider 

them. To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues, 

comments should be specific to 

concerns associated with the 

management of roads and trails on the 

Gallatin National Forest. 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 structuring 

comments. 

I am the responsible official for this 

Environmental Impact Statement and