[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 209 (Monday, October 31, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26849]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 31, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement Relevant to an
Application for a Section 404 Permit, Federal Land Exchange and Ski
Area Development; Adam's Rib Recreation Area Development Eagle County,
Colorado
LEAD AGENCY: Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Sacramento District. Responsible Official: Larry Vinzant.
COOPERATING AGENCIES: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest
Service, White River National Forest, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.
Responsible Official: Veto J. LaSalle, Forest Supervisor.
U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Junction
Field Office, 529 25\1/2\ Road, Suite B-113, Grand Junction, CO 81505.
Responsible Official: Keith Rose.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII, One Denver Place, Suite
13, Denver, CO 80202. Responsible Official: William Yellowtail.
Colorado Department of Natural Resources, 1313 Sherman Street, Room
718, Denver, CO 80203. Responsible Official: Jim Lockhead.
County of Eagle, 551 Broadway, Eagle, CO 81631. Responsible Official:
County Commissioners.
ACTION: Supplemental Notice Of Intent. Prior Notice of Intent, Federal
Register June 17, 1993, Volume 58, No. 115, pages 33436-33437.
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SUMMARY: The Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register, on
June 17, 1993, its intent to prepare a supplemental draft Environmental
Impact Statement (sdEIS) relevant to an application for a Section 404
permit to place fill material into wetlands adjacent to East Brush
Creek, Eagle County, Colorado, for the construction of commercial/
residential development attendant to a four-season resort. This sdEIS
is a prelude for preparing a Final EIS prior to a permit decision on
the proposed development. The applicant, Kummer Development Corporation
dba Adam's Rib Recreation Area, has applied for a permit to fill
approximately 25 acres of montane wetlands pursuant to the development
which would include 250,000 square feet of commercial space, 4,281
residential units, and 1,440 lodging rooms, employee housing, golfing
and skiing for 9,000 skiers-at-one-time on Adam Mountain and Mount Eve.
The USDA-Forest Service, as a Cooperating Agency, through this
Notice, intends to directly participate with the Corps of Engineers to
include analyses for impacts to wetlands and waters of the U.S. for the
ski mountain and a potential Federal land exchange with the applicant
for NEPA compliance. Any additional analyses shall tier into this
sdEIS. Also, the sdEIS will disclose environmental effects to public
lands regarding development of the ski area portion of the Adam's Rib
Recreation Area. Kummer Development Corporation dba Adam's Rib
Recreation Area was issued a special use permit by the Forest
Supervisor, White River National Forest, December 15, 1983 to occupy
approximately 2,920 acres of National Forest System lands. The special
use permit authorities construction of the ski area portion of the
Adam's Rib Recreation Area upon acceptance of a detailed development
plan. The impacts of the detailed development plan will be disclosed in
the sdEIS. The existing special use permit is still in effect and will
not be available in the sdEIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and sdEIS should be directed to either, Larry Vinzant at U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Section-Room 1444, 1325 J Street,
Sacramento, California 95814-2972, telephone (916) 557-5263 or Kit
Buell, Project Coordinator, U.S. Forest Service, White River National
Forest, P.O. Box 948, Glenwood Springs, Colorado 81601, telephone (303)
945-2521.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant proposes to fill approximately
25 acres of montane wetlands dominated by various species of willow,
sledge and rush. Nearly all wetland fill would be located on private
land in Vassar Meadow; additional development would occur in Joe Goode
Meadow, Woodrun, No Name drainage, adjacent to Brush Creek (i.e., golf
course and residences) and on the ski mountain. The U.S. Forest Service
issued a special use permit for the ski mountain in 1983. On March 3,
1987, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a Notice of Intent in
the Federal Register to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS). A draft titled ``Adam's Rib Recreation Area, Eagle, Colorado''
was published in October 1989. A Notice of Availability for this
document was published in the Federal Register on November 3, 1989. The
applicant's preferred alternative resulted in a request for a permit to
fill approximately 70 acres of wetlands in the project area. This
acreage of wetland fill was later reduced to approximately 46 acres.
This permit was denied in February 1993.
The applicant has since modified the proposal to fill approximately
25 acres of wetland. To avoid wetlands, the applicant's preferred
alternative has resulted in a relocation of the base area to the west.
A lateral moraine known as Adam's Rib would be excavated, with the
excavated material placed in the adjacent No Name drainage and portions
of Vassar meadow. The reduced Adam's Rib and the No Name drainage would
be the location of the base area. Part of the applicant's preferred
alternative includes a land exchange with the Forest Service. This
sdEIS will supplement and supplant information currently available in
the draft EIS.
Alternatives (Section 404 Permit and Federal Land Exchange)
Alternatives that will be considered for detailed evaluation will
include:
(1) Base area development on Adam's Rib and No Name drainage with a
land exchange with the Forest Service (applicant's preferred
alternative).
(2) Same as alternative 1, but no land exchange.
(3) Base area development in Vassar Meadow.
(4) Reasonable variations to the applicant's preferred alternative
that would reduce adverse impacts, for example, to wetlands.
(5) No Action.
Alternatives (Ski Mountain Development)
(1) Ski Area Master Development Plan as proposed to the Forest
Service, December, 1993.
(2) Reasonable variations to the applicant's proposal that would
reduce adverse impacts to natural resources on National Forest System
lands.
Scoping (Section 404 permitting)
The Corps issued a scoping notice in conjunction with the Notice of
Intent to prepare the draft EIS in 1987. Additionally, the Corps
accepted comments on the draft EIS, conducted a Public Hearing in
February, 1990 in Gypsum, Colorado, and has coordinated closely with
resource agencies and the interested public. The Corps believes that
additional scoping concerning wetlands is unnecessary at this time.
However, any additional substantive information and new issues arising
from comments to the sdEIS shall be thoroughly addressed in the Final
EIS.
The Army Corps of Engineers' decisions to be made will include
WHETHER OR NOT a Section 404 permit will be issued to the applicant.
Scoping (Land Exchange and Ski Mountain Development)
The Forest Service, in cooperation with the Corps, will conduct
scoping in conjunction with, and subsequent to, this Notice of Intent.
The Forest Service previously scoped for ski area development issues as
a part of the ``Adam's Rib Recreation Area Final Environmental Impact
Statement'' in 1982. It is believed that additional scoping is needed
to gather information regarding a potential Federal land exchange
associated with the permittee's current base development proposal, and
the specific development proposal (detailed development plan) on the
ski mountains. The existing special use permit is still in effect and
will not be revisited in the sdEIS.
Public participation will be fully incorporated into preparation of
the supplemental draft EIS through public notices in local papers and
brief information packets to known interested people, groups, local
government, and resource agencies. Public meetings will be held in the
Eagle and Denver, Colorado areas throughout the public involvement
process. The exact dates and locations of these meetings will be
published two weeks in advance in local newspapers.
Forest Service decisions to be made will include HOW the ski
mountains will be developed within applicable laws and guidelines, and
WHETHER OR NOT a Federal Land Exchange will occur.
Preliminary Issues
(1) Impacts to wetlands,
(2) Impacts to water quality,
(3) Impacts to fish and wildlife resources,
(4) Socio-economic effects,
(5) Cumulative impacts of developing a new ski area,
(6) Impacts on outdoor recreation,
(7) Visual impacts,
(8) Exchange of Federal lands,
(9) Installation of power transmission lines.
DATES FOR FILING THE sdEIS AND FINAL EIS: The sdEIS is scheduled to be
published in June 1995, with the Final EIS estimated in December, 1995.
The comment period on the supplemental draft environmental impact
statement will be 60-days from the date the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes the Notice of Availability 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 the 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 statement 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 rulings, it is
very important that those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the comment period so that substantive
comments and objectives are made available to the Forest Service and
Army Corps 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 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 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.
Other Environmental Review and Consultation
Required review and consultation which will be conducted during
this National Environmental Policy Act process include sections 401 and
404 of the Clean Water Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordinating Act,
National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act, Federal
Land Exchange Facilitation Act, and Executive Orders 11988 (Flood Plain
Management) and 11990 (Wetlands)
Veto J. LaSalle,
Forest Supervisor, White River National Forest.
[FR Doc. 94-26849 Filed 10-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
