[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 199 (Monday, October 16, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53581-53582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-25486]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Sequoia National Forest
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) on a proposed Amendment to the Land and Resource
Management Plan (LRMP) to clarify the standards and guidelines under
which commercial livestock grazing may be managed on the Sequoia
National Forest, Tulare County, California.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions to the responsible
official Del A. Pengilly, Acting Forest Supervisor, Sequoia National
Forest, 900 W. Grand Avenue, Porterville, California 93257-2035.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Direct questions about the proposed Amendment to Julie Allen, Land
Management Planning Officer, Sequoia National Forest, 900 W. Grand
Avenue, Porterville, California 93257-2035, telephone (209) 784-1500.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Sequoia National Forest proposes to
amend the standards and guidelines in its LRMP in regards to commercial
livestock grazing and to evaluate this proposal in an EIS. A range of
alternatives for this proposed amendment will be considered and
documented in the EIS. One of these will be a no action/no change
alternative, essentially leaving the current Land and Resource
Management Plan in place. Other alternatives will propose to adopt
standards and guidelines regarding commercial livestock grazing
including the grazing related portions of the 1990 Mediated Settlement
Agreement as is or with modifications.
[[Page 53582]]
Intensive scoping for this proposed Forest Plan amendment was done
in March and April of 1995. At that time it was thought that this
amendment would be analyzed in documented as an environmental
assessment. Given the scope of the proposal, and a desire to provide
additional procedural opportunities for comment, the Forest Supervisor
has decided to document this analysis in an environmental impact
statement. By this notice, further scoping comments are invited from
any who might not have commented before. Those who have, need not do so
again. All input from the public will be considered in preparation of
the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
The draft EIS (DEIS) is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by
November 1995. At that time EPA will publish a notice of availability
of the DEIS in the Federal Register.
The comment period on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date that
EPA's Notice of Availability appears in the Federal Register. It is
very important that those interested in the management of the Sequoia
National Forest participate at that time. To be the most helpful,
comments on the DEIS should be as specific as possible and may address
the adequacy of the statement or the merits of the alternatives
discussed (see The Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for
implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental
Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3). Comments should refer to specific pages
or chapters of the DEIS.
Federal court decisions have established that 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
reviewers' 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,
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
comment period on the DEIS 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.
After the comment period for the draft EIS ends, the comments
received will be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in the
preparation of the Final EIS.
Dated: October 6, 1995.
Juliet B. Allen,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 95-25486 Filed 10-13-95; 8:45 am]
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