[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2481-2482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1383]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area, Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County,
Oregon
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to supplement a final environmental impact
statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare a supplement to the
final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski
Area on the Hood River Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest.
The final EIS and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski
Area were released in May 1991. The ROD was reversed by the Regional
Forester in November 1991, based on inadequate cultural analysis. In
May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort submitted a revised application
for a new Master Plan. The revised application proposes to expand the
existing day use ski area to a full season ski/recreaction area with
increased capacity and permit area. It also withdraws their previous
proposal to establish the ski area as a year-round destination resort
with overnight housing. The alternatives will be revised based on the
new proposed action and additional analysis that is conducted. The
environmental analysis will be documented as a supplement to the
existing analysis. The decision on a new master plan will be a
conceptual decision that amends the Mt. Hood
[[Page 2482]]
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1991). The
construction of any improvements or new facilities authorized in the
new master plan will be dependent upon future site specific
environmental analysis and decisions.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the Forest
Service analyze the improvements to the Mt. Hood Meadows access road
through the ski area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental
document. As a cooperating agency, FHWA will review the supplemental
EIS and sign a ROD for its approval and funding actions related to the
access road. The decision on the road improvements will be site-
specific, not conceptual, and would authorize construction of any
improvements. FHWA decisions would be implemented in accordance with 23
CFR Part 771.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Roberta Moltzen, Forest
Supervisor, Mt. Hood National Forest, 2955 NW Division Street, Gresham,
Oregon 97030.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ken Davis, Hood River Ranger District, Mt. Hood National Forest, 6780
Hwy. 35, Mt. Hood-Parkdale, Oregon 97041, Telephone: (541) 352-6002.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The original proposed action was to
establish Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area as a full-season destination resort
with: a capacity of 15,000 persons; 1,500 units of overnight housing on
National Forest System lands; 12 lifts and 1,166 developed acres of
skiing; 46.3 acres of parking; and miscellaneous winter and summer
uses. An expansion of the existing permit area by 855 acres was also
proposed.
The May 1995 Record of Decision would have authorized expansion of
Mt. Hood Meadows from a day-use ski area to a full-season regional
resort with: a maximum capacity of 15,000 persons; 500 units of
overnight housing on National Forest System lands; 14 lifts and 1,165
developed acres of skiing; parking based upon an average car occupancy
and transit ridership formula; and miscellaneous winter and summer
uses. An expansion of the permit area by 796 acres would have been
authorized.
Since the reversal of the May 1991 decision, additional cultural
resource analysis has been conducted; the Northwest Forest Plan has
designated portions of the proposed permit expansion area as Late
Successional Reserve and Tier II Watershed; and additional facilities
authorized under the ski area's 1978 Master plan (Gulch chairlift and
Hood River Meadows base area expansion) have been approved and
constructed. In May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows resort submitted a revised
application for a new Master Plan. FHWA has also requested that
improvement of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road be analyzed in the ski
area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental document.
The new proposed action would expand the existing day-use ski area
to a full-season ski/recreation area with: a capacity of 15,210
persons; 15 chairlifts, an unspecified number of surface lifts and
associated ski terrain; 36.9 acres of parking; overnight use of skier
service facilities for ski/snowboard camps; miscellaneous winter uses;
and summer recreation facilities and uses. An expansion of the existing
permit area by 796 acres is proposed. The new proposed action includes
amending the Mt. Hood National Forest Land and resource Management Plan
to permit ski area expansion and adoption of a new master plan.
FHWA proposes to improve 0.7 mile of Oregon Highway 35 and 0.6 mile
of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road (Forest Road 3555) to improve
safety and to accommodate projected growth in traffic levels and
expansion of the ski area. These improvements will be analyzed through
the supplemental EIS. The FHWA will make a separate ROD for the road
improvements.
The supplement will be prepared and circulated in the same manner
as the draft and final EIS (40 CFR 1502.9). Comments received on the
draft supplemental EIS will be considered in the preparation of the
final supplement. The draft supplement is expected to be available for
public review and comment in April 1996. The comment period on the
draft supplement will be 45 days from the date the Environmental
Protection Agency's notice of availability appears in the Federal
Register.
The Forest Service believes it is important at this early stage to
give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
the draft supplement to the EIS must structure their participation in
the environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and
alerts an agency to the reviewer position and contentions. Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519.533 (1978). Also
environmental objections that could be raised at the draft supplemental
stage but that are not raised until after completion of the final
Supplemental EIS 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, 490f. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980).
Comments on the draft supplement should be as specific as possible.
It is also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of
the draft supplement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the
supplement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed
in the supplement. 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.
At the end of the comment period on the draft supplement, comments
will be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the
final Supplemental EIS. The final supplement is scheduled to be
completed by July 1996.
The Responsible Official, Forest Supervisor Roberta Moltzen will
consider the comments, responses, environmental consequences discussed
in the final Supplemental EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and
policies. The responsible official will document the decision and
rationale for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area in the Record of Decision.
The Forest Service decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal
Regulations (36 CFR Part 217).
Dated: January 19, 1996.
Roberta Moltzen,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 96-1383 Filed 1-25-96; 8:45 am]
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