This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

17772

Vol. 60, No. 67

Friday, April 7, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

White Pine Creek EIS, Vegetation

Management Analysis; Clearwater

National Forest, Benewah and Latah

Counties, Idaho

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; Intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Clearwater

National Forest, will prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) to

disclose effects of alternative decisions

it may make to manage vegetation,

restore watersheds, and analyze access

management in the vicinity of White

Pine, Blakes Fork and Meadow Creek

drainages. The area is located

approximately 25 miles northeast of the

town of Potlatch Idaho, near NorthSouth Ski Bowl. The purpose of the

project is to implement the Clearwater

Forest Plan within the context of

ecosystem management principles;

conserve biological diversity and

integrity; restore fire’s role within fire

dependent communities; reduce the

chance of spread of large fires; and,

provide timber from suitable lands in

response to human demands for wood

products.

This project will tier to the Clearwater

National Forest Environmental Impact

Statement Land and Resource

Management Plan and Forest Plan

(1987), which provides overall guidance

of land management activities on the

Clearwater National Forest. Analysis

will also be conducted in compliance

with the Stipulation of Dismissal agreed

to in the settlement of the lawsuit

between the Forest Service and the

Sierra Club, et. al. (Signed September

13, 1993).

The agency invites written comments

and suggestions on the issues and

management opportunities for the area

being analyzed.

DATES: Written comments concerning

the scope of the analysis should be

received on or before May 22, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to

Carmine Lockwood, District Ranger,

Palouse Ranger District, Route 2, Box 4,

Potlatch, Idaho 83855.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Suzanne Lay, Team Leader, at the same

address, (208) 875–1131.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed action is designed to restore

terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem health

and to provide benefits to people within

the capabilities of ecosystems. A

significant factor in the decline of the

health of the White Pine Creek project

area ecosystem is the reduction of

western white pine abundance caused

by white pine blister rust. The blister

rust has created large areas with heavy

concentrations of standing dead and

down fuels. Vegetation treatments

designed to reintroduce western white

pine in the forest cover type will be

analyzed. Regeneration and

intermediate harvest treatments

intended to improve the structure

composition and function of the forest

matrix will be analyzed, along with the

use of prescribed fire and mechanical

methods to treat excessive fuel loadings.

Intermediate treatments will be

designed to improve forest health

conditions by treating overstocked

stressed sites while maintaining

desirable seral species such as western

white pine, ponderosa pine and western

larch. These overstocked stands are

highly susceptible to root rot pathogens,

bark beetles, defoliators, and dwarf

mistletoe. Restoration of the aquatic

component will focus on eliminating

sediment delivery sources to aquatic

and riparian habitats, as well as

improving the structural components in

riparian areas by installing large woody

debris where it is lacking. Other fish

habitat improvement projects are also

included in this analysis.

The Clearwater National Forest Plan

provides guidance to management

activities within the potentially affected

area through its goals, objectives,

standards and guidelines, and

management direction. The areas of

proposed timber harvest and

reforestation would occur only on

suitable timber land, Management Areas

E1, A4, A5 and M2. Below is a brief

description of applicable management

direction.

Management Area E1—Timber

Management—Provide optimum

sustained production of timber products

in a cost effective manner while

protecting soil and water quality.

Management Area A4—Visual Travel

Corridor—Maintain or enhance an

aesthetically pleasing, natural appearing

Forest setting surrounding designated

roads, trails, and other areas considered

important for recreational travel use.

Management Area M5—Developed

Recreation Sites—Manage developed

recreation sites to meet public demands

for facilities for camping and

picnicking.

Management Area M2—Riparian

Areas—Manage as areas of special

consideration with distinctive values,

and integrate with adjacent management

areas to the extent that water and other

riparian resources are protected.

The White Pine Creek study area lies

along the divide between the Palouse

River drainage and the Spokane River

drainage. It is a roaded area with

intermingled ownership on the interface

between forest and farmland in the

panhandle of Idaho. The planning area

consists of approximately 8,000 acres

located in T.42N., R.3W, T.43N., R3W.,

and T.44N., R.3W. The decision to be

made is what, if anything, should be

done in the White Pine Creek project

area to (1) Restore terrestrial and aquatic

ecosystem components, (2) provide

multiple benefits to people within the

capabilities of ecosystems. An

environmental assessment for the White

Pine Creek project area was prepared in

1994, and a Decision Notice and

Finding of No Significant Impact was

signed in July of 1994. This Decision

was appealed and reversed back to the

District in October of 1994 with

instructions to prepare an EIS if the

project were to proceed. The

recommendations included in the

reversal related to: (a) cumulative effects

for water and wildlife, (b) old growth,

and (c) range of alternatives considered.

All of these issues will be analyzed in

the proposed EIS with an ecosystem

management approach.

Public participation will be fully

incorporated into preparation of the EIS.

The first step is the scoping process,

during which the Forest Service will be

seeking information, comments, and

assistance from Federal, State, and local
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 67 / Friday, April 7, 1995 / Notices 17773

agencies, the Nez Perce and Coeur

D’Alene Tribes,and other individuals or

groups who may be interested or

affected by the proposed action. This

information will be used in preparing

the EIS. Interested individuals and

organizations should contact the

Palouse Ranger District and request to

be placed on the project mailing list.

Those doing so will receive future

newsletters related to this project and

notification of public meetings. Scoping

will include: inviting participation,

determining the project’s scope and

potential issues, eliminating from

detailed study those issues which are

not significant, and determining

potential cooperating agencies and task

assignments. The public will also be

invited to participate in developing

alternatives, and identifying and/or

reviewing the potential environmental

effects of the proposed action and its

alternatives.

Public meetings will be held in the

Potlatch Idaho area in the spring of

1995. Field trips will also be available

if the public requests them. The exact

dates and locations of these meetings

will be published in local newspapers at

least two weeks in advance.

Preliminary issues highlight the need

to maintain biodiversity and biological

integrity by providing habitat for a

broad range of terrestrial and aquatic

species. Management activities,

primarily logging and road building and

the introduction of white pine blister

rust, have changed some of the natural

disturbance processes such as insect

and disease outbreaks and have altered

the ecosystem composition, structure,

and resiliency in the White Pine Creek

project area. Management activities have

affected the function and productivity of

some riparian systems in the Meadow

Creek area.

Aquatic ecosystem issues include

sediment, temperature and peak flows.

Human needs and desires and their

effects on the ecosystem will also be a

driving factor in the formulation of

issues. The need for shelter,

employment, aesthetics recreation,

cultural, and spiritual revitalization all

play a major role in the forest

ecosystem. The direct, indirect,

cumulative, short-term, and long-term,

aspects of impacts on national forest

lands and resources, and those of

connected or related effects off-site, will

be fully disclosed.

Preliminary alternatives will likely

include a range from a more passive

approach of managing non-consumptive

uses to a more active consumptive use

approach to meet social demands. All

alternatives will focus on maintaining or

restoring ecological functions. This will

involve proposals with and without

roads, different intensities and types of

timber harvest, and various approaches

to access management including

motorized and non-motorized

recreation. Most action alternatives will

analyze riparian and aquatic habitat

improvement.

Permits and licenses required to

implement the proposed action may

include the following: consultation with

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for

compliance with Section 7 of the

Threatened & Endangered Species Act;

a permit from the Idaho Department of

Water Resources for water removal for

dust abatement; and clearance from the

Idaho State Historic Preservation Office.

The Forest Service predicts the Draft

EIS will be filed in August of 1995 and

the Final EIS in December of 1995.

The Forest Service will seek

comments on the Draft EIS for a period

of 45 days after its publication.

Comments will then be summarized and

responded to in the Final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in

identifying and considering issues and

concerns on the proposed action or the

effects disclosure, comments on the

DEIS 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 DEIS 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.)

The Forest Service believes it is

important to give reviewers notice at

this early stage of several court rulings

related to public participation in the

environmental review process. First,

reviewers of DEIS’s 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 DEIS stage but that are not

raised until after completion of the final

EIS may be waived or dismissed by the

courts. 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 EIS.

As Forest Supervisor, I am the

Responsible Official for this project. My

address is Clearwater National Forest,

12730 U.S. Highway 12, Orofino, ID

83544 (208–476–4541).

Dated: March 28, 1995.

James L. Caswell,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 95–8530 Filed 4–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

ARCHITECTURAL AND

TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS

COMPLIANCE BOARD

ADAAG Review Advisory Committee;

Meeting

AGENCY: Architectural and

Transportation Barriers Compliance

Board.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Architectural and

Transportation Barriers Compliance

Board (Access Board) gives notice, as

required by the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2), of the

dates and location of the meetings of its

ADAAG Review Advisory Committee.

DATES: The ADAAG Review Advisory

Committee will meet on April 26, 27,

28, and 29, 1995. The schedule of events

is as follows:

Wednesday, April 26, 1995

9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.—Communications

Subcommittee

4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.—Editorial

Subcommittee

Thursday, April 27, 1995

9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.—Plumbing

Subcommittee

4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.—Accessible Routes

Subcommittee

Friday, April 28, 1995

9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.—Accessible

Routes Subcommittee

12 Noon–6:00 p.m.—Special

Occupancies Subcommittee

Saturday, April 29, 1995

9:00 a.m.–12 Noon—Full Committee

ADDRESSES: The meetings on April 26,

27, and 28, 1995 will be held at the

Paralyzed Veterans of America, 801 18th

Street, NW., Washington, DC. The

meeting on April 29, 1995 will be held

at the Washington Vista Hotel, 1400 M

Street, NW., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information regarding the

meetings, please contact Marsha Mazz,