65932 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 210 / Tuesday, November 1, 2005 / Notices 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service is preparing a Comprehensive 

Conservation Plan (CCP) and 

Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 

Rappahannock River Valley National 

Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This notice 

advises the public that the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service) intends to 

gather information necessary for 

preparing the CCP and EA pursuant to 

the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966, as amended 

by the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997, and the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969. The Service is furnishing this 

notice in compliance with Service 

planning policy, to (1) advise other 

Federal and State agencies and the 

public of our intention to conduct 

detailed planning on this refuge; and, 

(2) obtain suggestions and information 

on the scope of issues to include in the 

environmental document. 

The Service will involve the public 

through open houses, informational and 

technical meetings, and written 

comments. Special mailings, newspaper 

articles, and announcements will 

provide information about opportunities 

for public involvement in the planning 

process. 

DATES: We are now planning public 

scoping meetings for December 2005 in 

Warsaw, Port Royal and Richmond, 

Virginia. We will announce their 

locations, dates and times at least 2 

weeks in advance, in special mailings 

and newspaper notices and through 

personal contacts. 

ADDRESSES: Rappahannock River Valley 

NWR, 336 Wilna Road, P.O. Box 1030, 

Warsaw, Virginia 22572–1030, at 804–

333–1470 (telephone); 804–333–3396 

(FAX), Web site http://www.fws.gov/ 

northeast/va/rap.htm. 

To Obtain Further Information, Ask 

Questions, or Comment Contact: Nancy 

McGarigal, Refuge Planner, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate 

Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 

01035; 413–253–8562 (telephone); 413–

253–8468 (FAX); 

northeastplanning@fws.gov (electronic 

mail). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966, as amended 

by the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 

668dd–668ee), the Service is to manage 

all lands in the National Wildlife Refuge 

System in accordance with an approved 

comprehensive conservation plan. The 

plan guides management decisions and 

identifies refuge goals, long-range 

objectives, and strategies for achieving 

refuge purposes over a 15-year period. 

The planning process will cover many 

elements, including wildlife and habitat 

management, visitor and recreational 

activities, cultural resource protection, 

and facilities and infrastructure. 

Compatibility determinations will be 

completed for all applicable refuge uses. 

We will also conduct a wilderness 

review and a wild and scenic rivers 

evaluation to determine whether any 

areas on the refuge qualify for those 

Federal designations. 

Public input into the planning process 

is essential. The comments we receive 

will help identify key issues and 

develop refuge goals and objectives for 

managing refuge resources and visitors. 

Additional opportunities for public 

participation will arise throughout the 

planning process, which we expect to 

complete in 2007. Data collection has 

already begun to compile up-to-date 

information on refuge resources and 

serve as a foundation for science-based 

resource decisions. We will prepare the 

environmental assessment in 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality procedures for 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4370d). 

The 7,379-acre Rappahannock River 

Valley NWR was established in 1996 to 

conserve and protect fish and wildlife 

resources, including endangered and 

threatened species and wetlands. Its 

approved acquisition boundary includes 

parts of Lancaster, Middlesex, 

Richmond, Essex, Caroline, 

Westmoreland, and King George 

counties in Virginia. The Rappahannock 

River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, 

bisects that boundary. Refuge habitats 

include freshwater tidal marsh, forested 

swamp, upland deciduous forest, mixed 

pine forest, and managed grassland. 

Refuge visitors engage in wildlife 

observation and photography, 

environmental education, hunting, and 

fishing. The refuge headquarters is 

located in Warsaw, Virginia. 

Dated: October 5, 2005. 

Richard O. Bennett, 

Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts. 

[FR Doc. 05–21693 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Endangered and Threatened Species 

Permit Applications 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: The following applicant has 

applied for a permit to conduct certain 

activities with endangered species. This 

notice is provided pursuant to section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et 

seq.). 

DATES: Written data or comments must 

be received on or before December 1, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: Send written data or 

comments to the Regional Director 

(Attention: Peter Fasbender), U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Ecological 

Services, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, 

Minnesota 55111–4056. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Peter Fasbender, (612) 713–5343. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Permit Number: TE113009. 

Applicant: Steven Ahlstedt, Norris, 

Tennessee. 

The applicant requests a permit 

amendment to take the white catspaw 

(Epioblasma obliquata perobliqua) and 

purple catspaw (E. o. obliquata) 

throughout Indiana and Ohio. The 

scientific research is aimed at 

enhancement of survival of the species 

in the wild. 

Dated: October 12, 2005. 

Wendi Weber, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 

[FR Doc. 05–21694 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Notice of Availability, Draft 

Programmatic Environmental 

Assessment 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, on behalf of the Department of 

the Interior, and the Massachusetts 

Executive Office of Environmental 

Affairs, as Natural Resource Trustees, 

announces the release for public review 

of the Draft Programmatic 

Environmental Assessment (PEA) for 

the Massachusetts Housatonic River 

Watershed Restoration Program. The 

Draft PEA presents a restoration 

program featuring a mix of restoration 

approaches, including aquatic 

restoration, wildlife/terrestrial 

restoration, enhancement of recreational 

opportunities, and education/outreach 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 210 / Tuesday, November 1, 2005 / Notices 65933 

initiatives. A mix of restoration 

approaches will allow the greatest 

degree of flexibility in the project 

selection process and will ensure the 

greatest environmental and 

socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA 

compares the preferred, blended 

restoration alternative with alternatives 

that focus on a single restoration 

approach, as well as with a no-action 

alternative in which no restoration is 

implemented with natural resource 

damages (NRD) funds. This Draft PEA is 

part of the restoration planning and 

implementation phase of the General 

Electric/Housatonic River Natural 

Resource Damage Assessment and 

Restoration (NRDAR) case. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before December 1, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the 

Draft PEA may be made to: U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Attention: 

Veronica Varela, New England Field 

Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300, 

Concord, New Hampshire 03301. 

Written comments or materials 

regarding the Draft PEA should be sent 

to the same address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Veronica Varela, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, New England Field Office, 70 

Commercial Street, Suite 300, Concord, 

New Hampshire 03301. Interested 

parties may also call 603–223–2541 or email Veronica_Varela@fws.gov for 

further information. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the 

period between the late 1930s and the 

late 1970s, the General Electric 

Company (GE) facility in Pittsfield, 

Massachusetts released polychlorinated 

biphenyls (PCBs), via the wastewater 

and storm systems associated with the 

facility, to the Housatonic River and 

Silver Lake in Pittsfield. In addition, a 

number of former oxbows were 

straightened and filled to alleviate 

flooding, and subsequently have been 

found to contain PCB-contaminated 

soils and fill. The release of PCBs 

adversely affected natural resources 

including fish, birds, amphibians, 

reptiles and their habitats, and impacted 

natural resource-based recreational uses. 

On October 7, 1999, the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency; the 

U.S. Department of Justice; the 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

Department of Environmental 

Protection, the Office of the Attorney 

General, and the Executive Office of 

Environmental Affairs; the Connecticut 

Department of Environmental Protection 

and the Office of the Attorney General; 

the U.S. Department of the Interior; the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration; the City of Pittsfield, 

Massachusetts; the Pittsfield Economic 

Development Authority; and GE reached 

a comprehensive agreement concerning 

the cleanup of GE’s Pittsfield facility, 

certain off-site properties, and the 

Housatonic River, and concerning 

compensation for NRD. The 

comprehensive agreement was lodged 

with the U.S. District Court of 

Massachusetts, Springfield, 

Massachusetts, and approved on 

October 27, 2000. Under this agreement, 

GE provided $15.5 million for 

compensatory restoration activities. Of 

this amount, $7.75 million (plus 

interest) will be managed to restore, 

rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the 

equivalent of injured natural resources 

and/or the services they provide to 

compensate for natural resources 

adversely affected by PCBs in the 

Massachusetts watershed of the 

Housatonic River. The other $7.75 

million will be managed under a 

separate program for compensatory 

restoration in the Connecticut 

watershed of the Housatonic River. This 

Draft PEA examines alternatives for 

implementing a compensatory 

restoration program in the 

Massachusetts portion of the Housatonic 

River watershed; implementation 

alternatives in the Connecticut portion 

will be examined in a later document. 

The proposed Preferred Alternative in 

the Draft PEA is a restoration program 

featuring a mix of restoration 

approaches, including aquatic 

restoration, wildlife/terrestrial 

restoration, enhancement of recreational 

opportunities, and education/outreach 

initiatives. A mix of restoration 

approaches will allow the greatest 

degree of flexibility in the project 

selection process and will ensure the 

greatest environmental and 

socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA 

compares the preferred, blended 

restoration alternative with alternatives 

that focus on a single restoration 

approach, as well as with a no-action 

alternative in which no restoration is 

implemented with NRD funds. 

Interested members of the public are 

invited to review and comment on the 

Draft PEA. Copies of the Draft PEA are 

available for review at public libraries in 

the towns of Great Barrington, Lee, 

Lenox, Pittsfield, Sheffield, and 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 

Additionally, the Draft PEA will be 

available for review at the following 

Web site: http://www.mahousatonicrestoration.org. Written 

comments will be considered and 

addressed in the Final PEA as part of 

the restoration planning process. 

Author: The primary author of this 

notice is Veronica Varela, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, New England Field 

Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300, 

Concord, New Hampshire 03301. 

Authority: The authorities for this action are 

the NRDAR provisions under the 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 

(CERCLA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

seq.) and the Clean Water Act (CWA, 33 

U.S.C. 1251–1376), which allow natural 

resource trustees to bring claims against 

responsible parties to recover monies and 

take action to restore, replace, or acquire the 

equivalent of natural resources that have 

been injured by hazardous substances; the 

CERCLA NRDA regulations (43 CFR Part 11) 

that guide the allocation and expenditure of 

NRD recoveries for restoration activities; and 

the National Environmental Policy Act (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4347). 

Dated: October 18, 2005. 

Richard O. Bennett, 

Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the 

Interior, DOI Authorized Official. 

[FR Doc. 05–21692 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[WO–310–06–1310–GEOT] 

Implementation of the Geothermal 

Sections of the Energy Policy Act of 

2005; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting. 

SUMMARY: A public meeting is being 

held by the Bureau of Land Management 

and the U.S. Forest Service to solicit 

suggestions from the public and 

industry on how to best implement the 

geothermal provisions of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005. 

DATES: The meeting date is scheduled as 

follows: November 17, 2005; 1–4 p.m., 

local time. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the following location: Reno Hilton 

Hotel, 2500 East 2nd Street, Reno, 

Nevada 89595. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Bebout, National Geothermal Program 

Lead for the BLM at (202) 557–3375 or 

Bob Fujimoto, Geothermal Lead for the 

U.S. Forest Service at (503) 808–2430. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting will begin with an overview of 

the geothermal provisions of the Energy 

Policy Act. Participants who request to 

speak will be given a set amount of time 

to provide suggestions that address