Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 61783 

Permits or Licenses Required 

Department of the Army Permit (404 

permit) for dam fill. Obtained by the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

Special Use Permit from the U.S. 

Forest Service. 

Comments Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process that guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft environmental impact 

statement will be prepared for comment. 

The comment period on the draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

45 days from the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. 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. 

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, 553 (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, 409 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 by the close of the 45 

day comment period so that substantive 

comments and objections are made 

available to the Forest Service at the 

time when it can meaningfully consider 

them and respond to them in the final 

environmental impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement 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 environmental 

impact statement 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. 

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21) 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

Charles S. Richmond, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–21335 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Umatilla National Forest, Columbia and 

Garfield Counties, WA School Fire 

Salvage Recovery Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to disclose 

environmental effects on a proposed 

action to recover the economic value of 

dead and dying trees damaged in the 

School Fire, and remove potential 

hazard trees from open forest travel 

routes, developed recreation sites, and 

administrative sites within North Patit 

Creek, Little Tucannon River, 

Cummings Creek, Tumalum Creek, 

Headwaters of Tucannon River, and 

Pataha Creek subwatersheds. School 

Fire, located 12 miles south of Pomeroy, 

Washington, burned approximately 

52,000 acres across mixed ownership in 

August 2005, of that approximately 

27,000 acres were on National Forest 

System Lands administered by Pomeroy 

Ranger District, Umatilla National 

Forest. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

November 28, 2005. The Draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and be available to the public for review 

by April 2006. The Final EIS is 

scheduled to be completed by July 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

the Responsible Official, Kevin D. 

Martin, Forest Supervisor, Umatilla 

National Forest, 2517 S.W. Hailey 

Avenue, Pendleton, OR 97801. Send 

electronic comments to: commentspacificnorthwest-umatilla@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dean Millett, Project Team Leader, 

Pomeroy Ranger District, 71 West Main 

Street, Pomeroy, WA 99347, phone 

(509) 843–1891. e-mail: 

dmillett@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need. The purpose and 

need of the School Fires Salvage 

Recovery Project includes: (1) Recovery 

of the economic value of a portion of 

dead and dying trees consistent with 

protection of other resource values; and 

(2) Improving public safety within the 

fire area by removing potential hazard 

trees along open forest travel routes, 

developed recreation sites, and 

administrative sites. 

Proposed Action. This action includes 

salvage of dead and dying trees from 

approximately 10,000 acres and removal 

of potential hazard trees for public 

safety along open forest travel routes, 

developed recreation sites, and 

administrative sites. Salvage harvest 

methods would include ground based, 

skyline, and helicopter yarding systems. 

Ground based systems would not be 

used on sustained slopes greater than 30 

percent. To facilitate haul some existing 

classified roads would be reconstructed 

and about 15 miles of temporary roads 

would be constructed. No new classified 

road construction is proposed and all 

temporary roads would be closed or 

decommissioned after project activities 

are completed. No commercial harvest 

or road construction is proposed within 

the Willow Spring Inventoried Roadless 

Area. Tree planting is proposed in 

salvage harvest areas where there is 

insufficient seed source to ensure 

natural regeneration in a timely manner. 

Some areas would have submerchantable trees felled prior to 

planting, and these areas would be 

broadcast burned to reduce excessive 

fuel loading before planting. Forest Plan 

amendments would be included as 

needed. 

Possible Alternatives. Alternatives 

will include the proposed action, no 

action, and additional alternatives that 

respond to issues generated during the 

scoping process. The agency will give 

notice of the full environmental analysis 

and decision-making process so 

interested and affected people may 

participate and contribute to the final 

decision. 

Scoping. Public participation will be 

especially important at several points 

during the analysis, beginning with the 

scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7). Initial 

scoping began with the project listed in 

the 2005 Fall Edition of the Umatilla 

61784 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 206 / Wednesday, October 26, 2005 / Notices 

National Forest’s Schedule of Proposed 

Actions. Two informational field trips 

were conducted on October 18 and 

October 25, 2005. A public meeting will 

be scheduled for November 2005, to 

discuss the project. Other meetings will 

be scheduled as needed. Also, 

correspondence with tribes, government 

agencies, organizations, and individuals 

who have indicated their interest will be 

conducted. 

Preliminary Issues. Preliminary issues 

identified include the potential effect of 

the proposed action on: soils, water 

quality and fish habitat, snags and down 

wood, disturbance to cultural resources, 

potential for noxious weed expansion, 

threatened, endangered and sensitive 

aquatic, terrestrial and plant species, 

potential loss of economic value of trees 

damaged by the wildfire, and the safety 

and use of the area by public and land 

managers. 

Comment. Public comments about 

this proposal are requested to identify 

issues and alternatives to the proposed 

action and to focus the scope of the 

analysis. 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 action, 

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 

decisions under 36 CFR Parts 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. Persons 

requesting such confidentiality should 

be aware that under the FOIA, 

confidentiality may be granted in only 

very limited circumstances such as to 

protect 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 a 

specified number of days. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review. A draft EIS will 

be filed with the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) and made 

available for public review by April 

2006. The EPA will publish a Notice of 

Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in 

the Federal Register. The final EIS is 

scheduled to be available July 2006. 

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 impact statements 

must structure their participation in the 

environmental review of the proposal so 

that it is meaningful and alerts the 

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 

environmental impact 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 by the close 

of the 45-day 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 environmental impact 

statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement 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 environmental 

impact statement 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. 

In the final EIS, the Forest Service is 

required to respond to substantive 

comments received during the comment 

period for the draft EIS. The Forest 

Service is the lead agency and the 

responsible official is the Forest 

Supervisor, Umatilla National Forest. 

The responsible official will decide 

where, and whether or not to salvage 

timber, and remove potential hazard 

trees. The responsible official will also 

decide how to mitigate effects of these 

actions and will determine when and 

how monitoring of effects will take 

place. The School Fire Salvage Recovery 

Project decision and reasons for the 

decision will be documented in a record 

of decision. That decision will be 

subject to Forest Service Appeal 

Regulations (36 CFR part 215). 

Dated: October 20, 2005. 

Edwin V. Pugh, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–21339 Filed 10–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

Advisory Committee Meeting 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of advisory committee 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, this 

constitutes notice of the upcoming 

meeting of the Grain Inspection 

Advisory Committee (‘‘the Committee’’). 

DATES: November 1, 2005, 7:30 a.m. to 

5 p.m.; and November 2, 2005, 7:30 a.m. 

to Noon. 

ADDRESSES: The Advisory Committee 

meeting will take place at the Omni 

Corpus Christi Hotel Bayfront and 

Marina, 900 North Shoreline Boulevard, 

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401. 

Requests to address the Committee at 

the meeting or written comments may 

be sent to: Deputy Administrator, 

GIPSA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 

3604, Washington, DC 20250–3614. 

Requests and comments may also be 

faxed to (202) 690–2755. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Terri Henry, (202) 205–8281 

(telephone); (202) 690–2755 (facsimile). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the Committee is to provide 

advice to the Administrator of the Grain 

Inspection, Packers and Stockyards 

Administration with respect to the 

implementation of the U.S. Grain 

Standards Act (7 U.S.C. 71 et seq.). 

The agenda will include a status 

report on the reauthorization of the U.S. 

Grain Standards Act, financial update of 

grain inspection user fee programs, 

progress report on re-engineering of 

domestic operations, overview of 

standards and future plans, and other 

general Agency issues. 

For a copy of the agenda please 

contact Terri Henry, (202) 205–8281 

(telephone); (202) 690–2755 (facsimile) 

or by e-mail Terri.L.Henry@usda.gov. 

Public participation will be limited to 

written statements, unless permission is 

received from the Committee Chairman 

to orally address the Committee. The 

meeting will be open to the public.