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Ray's Valley Road Realignment, Uinta National Forest, Utah County, UT

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 [Federal Register: May 30, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 104)]
[Notices]
[Page 34436-34437]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30my00-20]

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Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

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.

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[[Page 34436]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Ray's Valley Road Realignment, Uinta National Forest, Utah
County, UT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Uinta National Forest will prepare an environmental impact
statement on a proposal to realign the existing Ray's Valley Road
(Forest Development Road 051). Ray's Valley Road is an arterial road on
the Spanish Fork Ranger District, Uinta National Forest.

DATES: Comments should be received in writing by May 14, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to Ken Gould, Ray's Valley EIS
Team Leader, Uinta National Forest, 88W 100N, PO Box 1428, Provo, Utah
84601 or sent by e-mail to kgouldfs.fed.us

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Ray's Valley Road is a heavily used
travel route that connects with the Diamond Fork Road (Forest
Development Road 029), and the Right Fork Hobble Creek Road (Forest
Development Road 058) at Springville Crossing. These arterial travel
routes provide access for the Wasatch Front to Spanish Fork Canyon, and
Utah State Highway 6 via the Diamond Fork and Ray's Valley Roads. They
also provide access to and from Utah State Highway 6 and the Strawberry
Reservoir Recreation Complex via the Ray's Valley Road.
    The surface of the Diamond Fork Road and most of the Ray's Valley
Road are asphalt pavement or gravel. However, a portion of the Ray's
Valley Road is narrow, winding, and native-surfaced. During inclement
weather conditions, the road surface becomes extremely hazardous to
travel, and/or impassable.
    Some of the existing road lies directly adjacent to tributaries of
Diamond Fork Creek. Approximately 1.8 miles of this route are located
on soils subject to severe slumping and/or erosion. Due to the
proximity of the road to the streams, eroding soil is easily
transported into Diamond Fork and Sixth Water Creeks. Diamond Fork
Creek provides habitat for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, a sensitive
species. Operation and maintenance costs on this section of road are
high. Existing road conditions do not meet Road Management Objectives
for an arterial system road. The Forest Service has long planned to
realign this road to address these concerns; however, funding has never
been available.
    The proposed action is to construct the Ray's Valley Road on a new
alignment and to obliterate the road on its existing alignment. The
purpose and need of the proposed action is to reduce or eliminate these
adverse watershed and fisheries impacts, and to provide safer driving
conditions, while maintaining a key arterial component of the Forest's
travel system.

Preliminary Issues

    Issues identified at this time include: Health and safety; travel
management; soils; fisheries; threatened, endangered, and sensitive
plant and animal species; and roadless areas.

Possible Alternatives

    Three possible alternatives have been identified: (1) No
ActionLeave the road in its current condition; (2) Reconstruct Using
the Existing AlignmentReconstruct on the existing alignment and surface
the road with crushed aggregate; and (3) Construct on a New Alignment
(Proposed Action)Reconstruct, realign, and obliterate portions of the
Ray's Valley Road.
    The No Action Alternative would leave the road in current
condition. Maintenance would be limited to actions required for passage
of high clearance vehicles. The road would remain unsafe during periods
of precipitation. Arterial system road standards for capacity and
safety would not be addressed by this alternative. Road induced
sediment in nearby streams would remain at current levels, or increase
as erosion of the roadway continues.
    The Reconstruct Existing Alignment Alternative would reconstruct
the road on its existing alignment and add a crushed aggregate surface.
Reconstruction would provide better control of drainage from roadway
runoff, provide safer and more comfortable vehicle travel during
precipitation, and support a greater range of vehicle types. Road
induced sediment in nearby streams would slightly decrease due to
better drainage and aggregate surfacing. Road Management Objectives for
an arterial system road will not be fully accomplished by this
alternative due to the location.
    The Proposed Action is the Construct New Alignment Alternative.
Under this alternative a small portion of the existing Ray's Valley
Road would be reconstructed on its existing alignment. Other portions
of the Rays Valley Road would be constructed on a new alignment on more
stable soils, and away from streams and riparian areas. This proposal
would result in approximately 3.6 miles of a double lane road with a
crushed aggregate surface. The existing road would be abandoned,
closed, and rehabilitated. Access to Forest Development Road 715 from
the new alignment would be maintained by reconstructing a portion of
Forest Development Road 387. This would ensure continued access to the
west portal of the Strawberry Tunnel.

Proposed Scoping Process

    This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping process. As part of the
scoping period, the Forest Service solicits public comment on the
nature and scope of the environmental, social, and economic issues
related to the proposed action that should be analyzed in depth in the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Comments on this proposal should
be sent to the address shown earlier in this notice.
    Public participation will be solicited by notifying affected
interests through personal contacts and by mail. This project has been
listed in the Uinta National Forest's Schedule of Proposed Actions
(i.e. NEPA Quarterly). News releases will also be utilized to give the
public general notice. Comments concerning the Proposed Action and EIS
should address environmental issues to be considered, feasible
alternatives to examine, possible mitigation, and information relevant
to or bearing on the Proposed Action.

[[Page 34437]]

    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers
notice at this early stage 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 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 statement stage, but 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 the proposed action
participate by the close of the 45day comment period so that
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest
Service at a time when it can be 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 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.
    Tentative Project Schedule:
    Begin Comment PeriodApril, 2000; Comment Period EndsMay 26, 2000;
Draft EISSeptember 30, 2000; Final EISJanuary, 2001; Record of
DecisionMarch 2001.
    Responsible Official: Jack A. Blackwell, USDA Forest Service
Intermountain Regional Supervisor, 324 25th Street, Ogden, Utah 84401.
    For Further Information Contact: Ken Gould, (801) 3425100 or at the
address listed previously.

    Dated: April 6, 2000.
Peter W. Karp,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 0013394 Filed 52600; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 341011M

 
 

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