Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Notices 52855 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement To Evaluate Wind Energy 

Development in Iowa, Minnesota, 

Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and 

South Dakota; Including the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service’s Landscape-Level 

Easement Program in North Dakota, 

South Dakota, and Eastern Montana; 

and To Conduct Public Scoping 

Meetings 

AGENCIES: Western Area Power 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Energy, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement, and to Conduct Public 

Scoping Meetings. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended; and the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(CEQ) regulations; the U.S. Department 

of Energy, Western Area Power 

Administration (Western), and the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), will, as joint 

lead agencies, prepare a Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(Programmatic EIS) to evaluate issues 

associated with wind energy 

development within Western’s Upper 

Great Plains Customer Service Region 

(UGP Region), which encompasses all or 

parts of the States of Iowa, Minnesota, 

Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and 

South Dakota; and upon the Service’s 

landscape-level grassland and wetland 

easements in North Dakota, South 

Dakota, and eastern Montana. The U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Rural Utility 

Services (RUS) plans to participate as a 

cooperating agency. Public scoping 

meetings will be held during the 

Programmatic EIS scoping period. 

DATES: The public scoping meetings will 

be held September 30, October 1 and 2, 

2008. The public scoping period starts 

with the publication of this notice in the 

Federal Register and will continue until 

November 10, 2008. Western and the 

Service will consider all electronic and 

written comments on the scope of the 

Programmatic EIS received on the 

project Web site (http:// 

plainswindeis.anl.gov), or postmarked 

by November 10, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Western and the Service 

will hold public scoping meetings to 

obtain comments on the Programmatic 

EIS at 6 p.m., at the following locations: 

1. September 30, 2008, Holiday Inn 

City Centre, 100 West 8th St., Sioux 

Falls, SD. 

2. October 1, 2008, Radisson Hotel, 

605 East Broadway Avenue, Bismarck, 

ND. 

3. October 2, 2008, Quality Inn 

Homestead Park, 2036 Overland 

Avenue, Billings, MT. 

The agencies will also announce the 

exact locations and times of the public 

meetings through the local media, the 

project Web site (http:// 

plainswindeis.anl.gov), and an 

interested party mailing list. You may 

submit comments electronically, using 

the online comment form available on 

the project Web site (http:// 

plainswindeis.anl.gov), or by letter to 

WAPA/FWS Wind Energy 

Programmatic EIS Scoping, Argonne 

National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass 

Avenue–EVS/900, Argonne, IL 60439. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on Western’s proposed 

Comprehensive Management Program 

for Wind Energy Project 

Interconnections, and general 

information about interconnections with 

Western’s transmission system, contact 

Nicholas Stas, Regional Environmental 

Manager, Upper Great Plains Customer 

Service Region, Western Area Power 

Administration, P.O. Box 35800, 

Billings, MT 59107–5800, telephone 

(406) 247–7404, facsimile (406) 247–

7408, e-mail stas@wapa.gov. For 

information on the Programmatic EIS 

process, or to receive a copy of the Draft 

Programmatic EIS when it is issued, 

contact Mark Wieringa, NEPA 

Document Manager, Western Area 

Power Administration, P.O. Box 281213, 

Lakewood, CO 80228–8213, telephone 

(800) 336–7288, facsimile (720) 962–

7263, e-mail wieringa@wapa.gov. 

For information on the Service’s 

participation in the Programmatic EIS, 

contact Michael Spratt, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, 134 Union Boulevard, 

Lakewood, CO 80228–1807, telephone 

(303) 236–4366, facsimile (303) 236–

4792, e-mail Michael_Spratt@fws.gov. 

For information on RUS’s 

participation in the Programmatic EIS, 

contact Barbara R. Britton, 

Environmental Protection Specialist, 

Engineering and Environmental Staff, 

Water and Environmental Programs, 

Rural Development-Utilities Programs, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 

1571, Washington, DC 20250; telephone 

(202) 720–1414; facsimile (202) 720–

0820; e-mail 

Barbara.Britton@wdc.usda.gov. 

For general information on the DOE’s 

NEPA review process, contact Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 

Policy and Compliance, GC–20, U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0119, telephone 

(202) 586–4600 or (800) 472–2756, 

facsimile (202) 586–7031. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western’s 

UGP Region proposes to develop and 

implement a comprehensive regionwide management program for windenergy project interconnections in 

response to an increasing number of 

wind-energy project interconnection 

requests. The UGP Region includes all 

or parts of the States of Iowa, 

Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North 

Dakota, and South Dakota. The requests 

are primarily from independent wind 

project developers who wish to 

interconnect their projects to the UGP 

Region’s transmission system, in order 

to move their generation to market. 

Currently, Western addresses each 

request for interconnection separately, 

in the order that they are received. 

The objective of Western’s proposed 

program would be to support the 

processing of these interconnection 

requests, including NEPA analyses, by 

having already addressed generic 

environmental interconnection concerns 

and issues in a Programmatic EIS. The 

Programmatic EIS would analyze, to the 

extent practicable, the impacts resulting 

from development of wind energy 

projects and the effectiveness of 

mitigation measures, standard 

construction practices, and best 

management practices in reducing 

potential impacts. Impacts and 

mitigation would be analyzed for each 

environmental resource, and all aspects 

of wind energy projects would be 

addressed, including turbine, 

transformer, collector line, access road, 

and substation installations, and 

operational and maintenance activities. 

The program would be structured to 

complement Western’s Open Access 

Transmission Service Tariff (Tariff), 

which includes procedures for 

addressing wind-energy project 

interconnection requests. 

Many of the impacts resulting from 

wind energy infrastructure 

development, including siting wind 

turbines, access roads, underground 

collector lines, overhead lines, and 

substations, are well known. Similarly, 

effective mitigation measures and best 

management practices have been 

developed to reduce the environmental 

impacts of constructing and operating 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES
52856 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Notices 

wind-energy developments. The 

Programmatic EIS will collect and 

analyze this information as it applies to 

wind-energy development in the six 

states included in the UGP Region. 

Specifically, the EIS and program 

would: 

1. Define areas with a high potential 

for wind-energy development near UGP 

Region’s transmission system in 

anticipation of future wind-generation 

interconnection requests. 

2. Define natural and human 

environment resources in areas with 

high wind-energy development 

potential, including Native American 

lands, to support analyses of the 

environmental impacts and 

development of wind-energy resources. 

3. Develop and present mitigation 

measures for reducing wind-energy 

development impacts on the natural and 

human environment for use by 

interconnection applicants in 

addressing the environmental impacts 

of their projects. 

4. Complete a programmatic 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 

consultation for listed and proposed 

threatened and endangered species 

within the study area boundaries 

established for the Programmatic EIS. 

5. Implement an adaptive 

management approach that requires 

mitigation implementation monitoring 

and reporting to ensure that the best 

mitigation measures are identified and 

employed to reduce environmental 

impacts. The monitoring reports would 

be used by Western and the Service to 

periodically update mitigation practices. 

6. Define thresholds for significant 

direct, indirect, and cumulative 

environmental impacts from windenergy developments and associated 

transmission system enhancements to 

support the impact analysis in the 

Programmatic EIS. 

7. Define circumstances tied to laws, 

regulations, and policies that have 

potential to affect wind-energy resource 

development. 

8. Define possible transmission 

system enhancements to support wind 

development and the general level of 

impacts expected from these 

transmission enhancements. 

9. Provide a guide for interconnection 

applicants that includes information 

about natural resources within areas 

with a high potential for wind 

development, requirements for 

subsequent site-specific environmental 

reviews, transmission capacity needs 

and availability, and appropriate 

mitigation measures to minimize 

adverse environmental impacts related 

to wind projects and associated 

transmission system enhancements. 

The Service maintains a grassland and 

wetland easement program to support 

and enhance waterfowl populations in 

the Prairie Pothole Region. The 

Service’s Region 6 has developed a plan 

that will allow partial release of an 

easement for wind generation purposes, 

only with defined conditions and on a 

specified area, in exchange for 

additional easement acreage being 

conveyed to the Service. As the Service 

moves forward with this plan, 

understanding the individual and 

cumulative impacts to wildlife habitat 

(primarily grasslands easements) and 

wildlife is critical. It is important to 

understand which habitats should be 

avoided. A streamlined approach for 

compliance (NEPA, National Historic 

Properties Act [NHPA], and ESA) for 

subsequent site-specific wind 

development projects in the future 

would result from this Programmatic 

EIS. 

In accordance with the NEPA (42 

U.S.C. 4321), and the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508), 

1501.5(b), Western and the Service will 

be joint lead agencies in the preparation 

of the Programmatic EIS. Western and 

the Service will consult under section 7 

of the ESA in support of the 

Programmatic EIS process. The Service 

intends to prepare a programmatic 

Biological Opinion as a result of this 

consultation. 

Western and the Service invite any 

Federal, State, or local agency or tribal 

government with jurisdiction by law or 

special expertise in wind energy 

development and/or electricity 

transmission operation to be a 

cooperating agency. RUS has already 

indicated that it plans to participate as 

a cooperating agency. Other agencies or 

state or tribal governments may become 

cooperating agencies at a later date. 

Meetings 

Scoping meetings will include 

introductory presentations on the 

proposed action by Western and the 

Service; an overview of wind-energy 

technologies, interconnections, and 

power transmission; the Service’s 

landscape-level easement and avian 

protection programs; and the public 

participation process. Oral comments 

from the public will commence 

immediately after the presentations. 

Equal consideration will be given to 

electronic, oral, and written comments. 

Western and the Service encourage 

electronic submissions if possible. All 

meeting locations will be handicappedaccessible. Anyone needing special 

accommodations should contact 

Western or the Service to make 

arrangements. 

Public Involvement and Comments 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in the scoping process, both 

to refine preliminary alternatives and 

environmental issues to be analyzed in 

depth and to eliminate from detailed 

study those alternatives and 

environmental issues that are not 

feasible or pertinent. The scoping 

process is intended to involve all 

interested agencies (Federal, State, 

county, and local), public interest 

groups, businesses, and members of the 

public. 

The outcome of this Programmatic EIS 

may affect or apply to tribal resources. 

Therefore, Western and the Service will 

meet their Federal requirements to 

consult with affected tribes throughout 

the development of the Programmatic 

EIS to jointly evaluate and address the 

potential effects, if any, of the proposed 

action. These consultations would be 

conducted in accordance with Executive 

Order 13175 ‘‘Consultation and 

Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments’’ (65 FR 67249), the 

President’s memorandum of April 29, 

1994, ‘‘Government-to-Government 

Relations with Native American Tribal 

Governments’’ (59 FR 22961), agencyspecific guidance on tribal interactions, 

and applicable natural and cultural 

resource laws and regulations (e.g., 

NEPA, ESA, NHPA, and Migratory Bird 

Treaty Act). 

Public scoping meetings will be held 

at the locations listed under ADDRESSES

above. A presiding officer will establish 

only those procedures needed to ensure 

that everyone who wishes to speak has 

a chance to do so and that the agencies 

understand all issues and comments. 

Speakers will be asked to provide brief 

comments to allow adequate time to 

hear all comments. Depending upon the 

number of persons wishing to speak, the 

presiding officer may allow longer 

speaking times. Persons wishing to 

speak on behalf of an organization 

should identify that organization in 

their request to speak. Meetings will 

begin at the times specified and will 

continue until all those present who 

wish to participate have had an 

opportunity to do so. Should any 

speaker desire to provide further 

information for the record that cannot 

be presented within the designated 

time, such additional information may 

be submitted electronically or by letter 

by November 10, 2008. A transcript of 

the comments offered during the 

scoping meetings will be prepared and 

made available. 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Notices 52857 

The public is encouraged to 

communicate information and 

comments on issues it believes Western 

and the Service should address in the 

Programmatic EIS. The agencies request 

information and comments on resources 

in the UGP Region that development of 

wind energy may impact. Comments 

may be in terms of broad areas or 

restricted to specific areas of concern. 

Individual respondents may request 

confidentiality. For written comments 

or comments received through the Web 

site, respondents may request to 

withhold names or street addresses, 

except for the city or town, from public 

view or from disclosure under the 

Freedom of Information Act. Such a 

request must be stated prominently at 

the beginning of the comment. We will 

honor requests to the extent allowed by 

law. All submissions from organizations 

or businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. 

After gathering public comments on 

what issues should be addressed in the 

Programmatic EIS, Western and the 

Service will identify and provide 

rationale in the EIS on those issues 

addressed and those issues beyond the 

scope of the EIS. In addition to the 

major issues, Western and the Service 

will address a number of management 

questions and concerns in the 

Programmatic EIS. The public is 

encouraged to help identify these 

questions and concerns during the 

public scoping period. A scoping 

summary report will be available for 

public review approximately 45 days 

following closure of the scoping period. 

The report will be posted on the project 

Web site (http://plainswindeis.anl.gov), 

or may be requested from the contacts 

noted in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

Background Information 

The Western’s UGP Region sells more 

than 12 billion kilowatt-hours of firm 

power per year, generated from eight 

dams and powerplants of the Pick-Sloan 

Missouri Basin Program-Eastern 

Division. This power is enough to serve 

more than 3 million households. The 

UGP Region delivers this hydropower 

through nearly 100 substations and 

across nearly 7,800 miles of Federal 

transmission lines in Iowa, Minnesota, 

Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and 

South Dakota, which are connected with 

other regional transmission systems and 

groups. 

Western offers transmission capacity 

in excess of the capacity it requires for 

the delivery of long-term, firm capacity 

and energy to current contractual 

electrical service customers of the 

Federal government in accordance with 

its Tariff. The Tariff was developed in 

response to Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission Orders implementing key 

provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 

2005. Section 211 of the Federal Power 

Act requires that transmission service be 

provided upon request if transmission 

capacity is available. Under the Tariff, 

Western is required to provide firm and 

non-firm, point-to-point transmission 

service and network integration 

transmission service to applicants to the 

extent that Western has transmission 

capability available. 

Western must respond to a wind 

developer’s request for interconnection 

to the Federal transmission system. To 

each request, Western applies the terms 

and conditions of its Tariff, including its 

Large Generator Interconnection (LGI) 

and Small Generator Interconnection 

(SGI) procedures for providing 

nondiscriminatory transmission access. 

Interconnection requests to UGP 

Region’s system require Federal action; 

therefore, Western has the need to 

respond to an applicant’s request for 

interconnection to the Federal power 

system by approving or denying the 

request. In 2008, Western’s UGP Region 

has received to date eight requests for 

interconnection for about 1,500 

megawatts (MW) of wind generation. 

If Western determines that existing 

transmission capacity is available for a 

proposed wind development, Western 

must ensure that existing transmission 

system reliability and service to existing 

customers is not degraded. The LGI and 

SGI procedures provide for transmission 

and system studies to ensure that 

capacity is available and system 

reliability and service to existing 

customers are not adversely affected. 

These studies also identify any system 

upgrades or additions necessary to 

accommodate a proposed wind 

development and ensure that they are 

included in the project’s scope. 

Wind generation looks promising to 

Western’s customers, other utilities, and 

wind energy developers in the UGP 

Region as a solution to increasing 

energy needs. To date, Western’s 

process for addressing wind-energy 

interconnection requests has been on an 

individual basis and in the order of 

preference defined by interconnection 

procedures in its Tariff. With the 

passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

and other policy initiatives, Western 

supports development of wind-energy 

resources in the UGP Region. In 

response to increasing wind-energy 

development, UGP Region needs to 

establish a more proactive program to 

support wind-energy resources in the 

UGP Region. 

In the Service’s Region 6, commercial 

wind energy development has grown 

from almost nothing in the early 1980s 

to over 11.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2006. 

Much of this growth has occurred in the 

past five years, and some predict the 

industry’s installed generating capacity 

will continue to grow exponentially. 

Much of this potential development is 

occurring in areas having some of the 

largest intact tracts of native prairie and 

highest wetland densities, making it 

some of the most productive waterfowl 

habitat in North America. The scope 

and geographic extent of the Service’s 

landscape level easement program in 

North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern 

Montana make it difficult for wind 

companies to avoid impacting Service 

easements when developing windenergy resources in the UGP Region. 

Under the Service’s grassland and 

wetlands easement program, the owners 

of land subject to grassland and wetland 

easements cannot engage in or allow 

any activity that would destroy 

vegetation. The intent of the program is 

to prevent conversion of grassland and 

wetlands and to protect these habitats at 

a landscape level while complementing 

existing agricultural practices and allow 

for other compatible uses where 

feasible. Cooperation with the 

agricultural community has resulted in 

the overwhelming success of this 

program, with over three million acres 

of grassland and wetlands protected to 

date. However, where wind-energy 

development is proposed for lands 

subject to the Service’s easements, there 

must be a mechanism for reconciling 

these otherwise conflicting interests. It 

is essential that the Service consider the 

effects of the expansion of wind 

generation on the wildlife that uses 

these easement lands. 

Draft EIS Schedule and Availability 

Western and the Service anticipate 

the Programmatic EIS process will take 

about 22 months and will include the 

public scoping meetings; consultation 

and involvement with appropriate 

Federal, State, and local agencies, and 

tribal governments; public review and 

hearing(s) on the published Draft EIS; a 

published Final EIS; and publication of 

Records of Decision (ROD). 

The public will be provided an 

opportunity to review the Draft EIS, and 

hearings on the published Draft EIS are 

expected to be conducted in the 

calendar year 2009. A notice of the 

location of these public hearings will be 

provided at a later date. A published 

final EIS, a waiting period, and 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES
52858 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 177 / Thursday, September 11, 2008 / Notices 

publications of ROD are anticipated in 

calendar year 2010. 

Dated: July 23, 2008. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator, Western Area Power 

Administration. 

Dated: September 2, 2008. 

Stephen D. Guertin, 

Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21149 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[Docket # EPA–RO4–SFUND–2008–0631, 

FRL–8713–4] 

19th Avenue Drum Superfund Site, 

Opa Locka, Dade County, FL; Notice of 

Settlement 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice of settlement. 

SUMMARY: Under Section 122(h)(1) of the 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act (CERCLA), the United States 

Environmental Protection Agency has 

entered into a settlement for 

reimbursement of past response costs 

concerning the 19th Avenue Drum 

Superfund Site located in Opa Locka, 

Dade County, Florida for publication. 

DATES: The Agency will consider public 

comments on the settlement until 

October 14, 2008. The Agency will 

consider all comments received and 

may modify or withdraw its consent to 

the settlement if comments received 

disclose facts or considerations which 

indicate that the settlement is 

inappropriate, improper, or inadequate. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the settlement are 

available from Ms. Paula V. Painter. 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–RO4–SFUND–2008–

0631 or Site name 19th Avenue Drum 

Superfund Site by one of the following 

methods: 

• http://www.regulations.gov: Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: Painter.Paula@epa.gov. 

• Fax: 404/562–8842/Attn Paula V. 

Painter. 

Mail: Ms. Paula V. Painter, U.S. EPA 

Region 4, SD–SEIMB, 61 Forsyth Street, 

SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. ‘‘In 

addition, please mail a copy of your 

comments on the information collection 

provisions to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), Attn: 

Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St., NW., 

Washington, DC 20503.’’

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–RO4–SFUND–2008–

0631. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through http:// 

www.regulations.gov your e-mail 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center home page at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the U.S. EPA Region 4 office located at 

61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 

30303. Regional office is open from 7 

a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday through 

Friday, excluding legal holidays. 

Written comments may be submitted to 

Ms. Painter within 30 calendar days of 

the date of this publication. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Paula V. Painter at 404/562–8887. 

Dated: August 12, 2008. 

Anita L. Davis, 

Chief, Superfund Enforcement & Information 

Management Branch, Superfund Division. 

[FR Doc. E8–21203 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Change in Bank Control Notices; 

Acquisition of Shares of Bank or Bank 

Holding Companies 

The notificants listed below have 

applied under the Change in Bank 

Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and 

§ 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12 

CFR 225.41) to acquire a bank or bank 

holding company. The factors that are 

considered in acting on the notices are 

set forth in paragraph 7 of the Act (12 

U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)). 

The notices are available for 

immediate inspection at the Federal 

Reserve Bank indicated. The notices 

also will be available for inspection at 

the office of the Board of Governors. 

Interested persons may express their 

views in writing to the Reserve Bank 

indicated for that notice or to the offices 

of the Board of Governors. Comments 

must be received not later than 

September 26, 2008. 

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas 

City (Todd Offenbacker, Assistant Vice 

President) 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas 

City, Missouri 64198–0001: 

1. The Schifferdecker Limited 

Partnership, Girard, Kansas; Mark W. 

Schifferdecker, Girard, Kansas, in an 

individual capacity and as managing 

general partner; Susan B. Friesen, 

Omaha, Nebraska, Joy L. Shoop, 

Hiawatha, Kansas, in an individual 

capacity and as general partners; and 

John and Carole Schifferdecker, Girard, 

Kansas, Nancy Schifferdecker, Girard, 

Kansas, and Nancy George, Hepler, 

Kansas, to become part of the family 

group acting in concert, to acquire 

control of GN Bankshares, Inc., and 

thereby indirectly acquire control of The 

Girard National Bank, both in Girard, 

Kansas. In addition, the Neihart Limited 

Partnership, Kansas City, Missouri; and 

David Neihart, Prairie Village, Kansas, 

and Robert Neihart, Overland Park, 

Kansas, in an individual capacity and as 

general partners; and Wendy Neihart, 

Prairie Village, Kansas, to become part 

of the family group acting in concert to 

acquire control of GN Bankshares, Inc., 

and thereby indirectly acquire control of 

The Girard National Bank, Girard, 

Kansas. 


rmajette on PRODPC74 with NOTICES