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

19606

Vol. 61, No. 86

Thursday, May 2, 1996

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

GRIFFON Project; Humboldt-Toiyabe

National Forests, White Pine County,

Nevada

AGENCY: Forest Service.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service will be

directing the preparation of an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for the proposed development of an

open pit gold mining project in the

White Pine Range northwest of Ellison

Guard Station in White Pine County,

Nevada (T14N, R58N, sec 24 & 25). This

EIS will be prepared by contract and

funded by the proponent, Alta Gold

Company. (Alta).

DATES: Written comments concerning

the scope of the analysis should be

received by May 31, 1996 to ensure

timely consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to:

David Valenzuela, Project Team Leader,

Ely Ranger District, Humboldt-Toiyabe

National Forests, PO Box 539, Ely,

Nevada 89301.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions about the proposed

project and preparation of the EIS to

David Valenzuela, Project Team Leader,

at the same address, Telephone: 702–

289–3031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Alta has

submitted to the Humboldt-Toiyabe

National Forests, a Proposed Plan of

Operations (POO) for a new mine in

White Pine County, Nevada. The POO

describes the proposed mining

development activities and operational

and reclamation procedures for the

GRIFFON Project. The proposal

includes developing two open pits.

Waste rock dumps, soil stockpiles, ore

stockpile, haul roads and support

facilities would also be developed. Ore

would be processed at a proposed millsite located on the project site.

The proposal would affect

approximately 161 acres of public lands.

Preliminary internal scoping has

identified several issues which would

be addressed in the analysis process.

The following list of issues is not

intended to be all inclusive. They are:

impacts to ground and surface water

resources; impacts to grazing resources;

impacts to Waters of the United States

including wetlands; mine economics;

threatened, endangered, and sensitive

plant and wildlife species; and visual

resources. These issues and any others

identified during the scoping process

may be used to develop alternatives to

the proposed action. In addition, the No

Action alternative will be considered in

the analysis.

Public participation is important

during the EIS scoping process. As part

of the scoping process, the Forest

Service will be seeking information and

comments from Federal, State, County

and local agencies and other individuals

or organizations who may be interested

in or affected by the proposed actions.

This input will be used in the

preparation of the draft EIS and Final

EIS.

Several government agencies will be

invited to participate in this project as

cooperating or participating agencies.

These agencies include, but are not

limited to, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Nevada Division of

Environmental Protection, Nevada

Division of Wildlife, and White Pine

County Board of Commissioners. In

addition to the Plan of Operations,

various Federal, State, and local permits

and licenses may be required to

implement the proposed action. These

may include, but are not limited to, a

Section 404 permit, Water Pollution

Control Permit, Reclamation Permit for

Mining Operations, and a General

Discharge Permit for Stormwater.

The Forest Service is the lead agency

for this project and Monica J.

Schwalbach, Assistant Forest

Supervisor for the Central Nevada

Ecosystem of the Humboldt-Toiyabe

National Forests is the responsible

official. She will make a decision to

approve the proposed Plan of

Operations or one of the alternatives

analyzed. Alta’s rights under the 1872

Mining Law as amended, applicable

Forest Service regulations and the

Humboldt National Forest Land and

Resource Management Plant (1986) will

be taken into account throughout the

analysis.

The Draft EIS is expected to be filed

with the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and be available for

review in November 1996. At that time,

EPA will publish a Notice of

Availability of the Draft EIS in the

Federal Register.

The comment period on the Draft EIS

will be at least 45 days from the date the

EPA’s notice of availability appears in

the Federal Register.

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

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 or discussed in

the statement. Reviewers may wish to

refer to the Council on Environmental
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 86 / Thursday, May 2, 1996 / Notices 19607

Quality Regulations for implementing

the procedural provisions of the

National Environmental Policy Act at 40

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.

Pursuant to 7 CFR, Part 1, Subpart B,

Section 1.27, all written submissions in

response to this notice shall be made

available for public inspection

including the submitter’s name, unless

the submitter specifically requests

confidentiality. Anonymous comments

will be not accepted. All written

submissions from business entities and

organizations, submitted on official

letterhead, in response to this notice

shall be made available for public

inspection in their entirety.

Dated: April 22, 1996.

Monica J. Schwalbach

Assistant Forest Supervisor, Central Nevada

Ecosystem, Humboldt-Toiyabe National

Forests.

[FR Doc. 96–10847 Filed 5–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Klamath Provincial Advisory

Committee (PAC)

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Klamath Provincial

Advisory Committee will meet on May

6 and May 7, 1996 at the Best Western

Miner’s Inn Conference Room, 122 East

Miner Street, Yreka, California. The

meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on May 6

and adjourn at 4:30 p.m. The meeting

will reconvene at 8 a.m. on May 7 and

continue until 4:00 p.m. Agenda items

to be covered include: (1) Monitoring

(both President’s Forest Plan and Forest

Plan); (2) salvage timber sale

monitoring; (3) Trinity County proposed

special legislation; (4) land management

services contracting and existing timber

contract authorities; (5) standing

committee reports; and (6) public

comment periods. All PAC meetings are

open to the public. Interested citizens

are encouraged to attend.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Connie Hendryx, USDA, Klamath

National Forest, 1312 Fairlane Road,

Yreka, California 96097; telephone 916–

842–6131, (FTS) 700–467–1309.

Dated April 26, 1996.

Barbara Holder,

Designated Federal Official.

[FR Doc. 96–10883 Filed 5–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Southwest Washington Provincial

Advisory Committee Meeting Notice

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Southwest Washington

Provincial Advisory Committee will

meet on May 21, 1996, at the Visiting

Nursing Bingo Hall (near the SW

Washington Fairgrounds), in Chehalis,

Washington. The purpose of the meeting

is to review the Advisory Committee

vision, role and function. The meeting

will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until

4:30 p.m. Agenda items to be covered

include: (1) Determine actions on

Advisory Committee recommendations,

(2) Develop ‘‘Vision’’ for the Southwest

Washington Province, (3) Reassess

Watershed Restoration Priorities, (4)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

presentation on watershed restoration

activities on non-Federal lands, (5)

Presentation on Forest Plan Allocations

and their relationship to timber harvest

levels, and (6) Public Open Forum.

All Southwest Washington Provincial

Advisory Committee meetings are open

to the public. Interested citizens are

encouraged to attend. The ‘‘open forum’’

provides opportunity for the public to

bring issues, concerns, and discussion

topics to the Advisory Committee. The

open forum is scheduled as part of

agenda item (1) for this meeting.

Interested speakers will need to register

prior to the open forum period. The

committee welcomes the public’s

written comments on committee

business at any time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this meeting

to Sue Lampe, Public Affairs, at (360)

750–5091, or write Forest Headquarters

Office, Gifford Pinchot National Forest,

P.O. Box 8944, Vancouver, WA 98668–

8944.

Dated: April 25, 1996.

Robert L. Yoder,

Designated Federal Official.

[FR Doc. 96–10912 Filed 5–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

Rural Telephone Bank

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY: Rural Telephone Bank, USDA.

ACTION: Staff briefing for the Board of

Directors.

TIME AND DATE: 2 p.m., Wednesday, May

8, 1996.

PLACE: Room 5066, South Building,

Department of Agriculture, 14th and

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED: General

discussion involving privatization

planning; update on legislative issues

affecting the Bank and RUS

telecommunications loan programs;

retirement of Class A stock; draft

Annual Report of the Board for FY 1995;

status of State Telecommunications

Modernization Plans; and schedule of

events for upcoming election of Board

Directors.

ACTION: Regular meeting of the Board of

Directors.

TIME AND DATE: 9 a.m., Thursday, May 9,

1996.

PLACE: Williamsburg Room, Jamie L.

Whitten Building, Department of

Agriculture, 14th and Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The

following matters have been placed on

the agenda for the Board of Directors

meeting:

1. Call to Order.

2. Action on Minutes of February 2, 1996,

Board meeting.

3. Report on loans approved second quarter

FY 1996.

4. Summary of financial activity for second

quarter FY 1996.

5. Report of ad hoc committee on

privatization of the Bank.

6. Board direction to the RUS staff as to

future actions the staff should be taking

regarding privatization planning.

7. Consideration of resolution to adopt

schedule for various actions in connection

with the November 1996 Board of Directors

election.

8. Consideration of resolution to appoint

Tellers for the November 1996 Board of

Directors election.

9. Action on the Bank’s Annual Report for

FY 1995.

10. Establish date and location of next

regular Board meeting.

11. Adjournment.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Barbara L. Eddy, Deputy Assistant

Governor, Rural Telephone Bank, (202)

720–9554.

Dated: April 29, 1996.

Wally Beyer,

Governor, Rural Telephone Bank.

[FR Doc. 96–11098 Filed 4–30–96; 2:21 pm]

BILLING CODE 3410–15–M

ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW

BOARD

Sunshine Act Meeting

DATES: May 13–14, 1996.

PLACE: ARRB, 600 E Street, NW,

Washington, DC.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: