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Carson National Forest, New Mexico, Agua/Caballos Proposed Projects
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: April 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 75)]
[Notices]
[Page 19184-19185]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap03-27]
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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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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Carson National Forest, New Mexico, Agua/Caballos Proposed Projects
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplement to a Final
Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Carson National Forest, El Rito Ranger District is
preparing a supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) to disclose new information relevant to the analysis of proposed
projects in the Agua/Caballos analysis area. Proposed projects include
the allocation of old growth, harvesting of trees for sawtimber and
forest products, prescribed burning, thinning, construction of new
roads and reconstruction or closure of existing roads.
A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact
statement was published in the Federal Register on April 22, 1997 (62
FR 195342). A Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) was published in the Federal Register on
February 19, 1999 (64 FR 8356). An NOI to prepare a supplement to the
DEIS was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 1999 (64 FR
771101). An NOA for the supplement to the DEIS was published in the
Federal Register on August 18, 2000 (65 FR 50522).
A Record of Decision was signed on May 9, 2002 and an NOA was
subsequently published in the Federal Register on July 19, 2002 (67 FR
47538).
The decision was appealed before the Regional Forester of the
Southwestern Region on August 20, 2002. The appeal was reviewed in
accordance with 36 CFR 215.7. The appeal decision issued on October 1,
2002 reversed the Responsible Official's decision on the Agua/Caballos
Proposed Projects, with the following instructions:
(1) Complete the analysis of effects on MIS, considering population
and habitat information collected at the forest plan level or at an
appropriate geographical scale for a particular species.
(2) Upon completion of this analysis, circulate a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement for public comment and issue a new
decision under 36 CFR 215.
The supplement will disclose additional forest-wide information on
management indicator species (MIS) identified in the Forest Plan and
relate this supplemental information to the effects analysis of MIS
that have potential habitat in the Agua/Caballos analysis area.
DATES: It is estimated that the supplement will be completed and
distributed by the end of May 2003. A 45-day comment period will
follow. The Final Environmental Impact Statement and record of decision
is estimated to be released in August 2003.
ADDRESSES: The supplement will be available upon request from the
Carson Forest Supervisor's Office, 208 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87571,
Attn: Planning. Comments related to the supplement can be sent to the
same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Audrey Kuykendall, Forest NEPA
Coordinator, Carson Forest Supervisor's Office, 208 Cruz Alta Road,
Taos, NM 87571, (505) 758-6200.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action: The supplement is needed to complete
the analysis of effects on MIS, considering population and habitat
information collected at the forest plan level or at an appropriate
geographical scale for a particular species.
Proposed Action: The supplement to the Final Environmental Impact
Statement will disclose new information relevant to the analysis of
proposed projects in the Agua/Caballos analysis area. Proposed projects
include the allocation of old growth, harvesting of trees for sawtimber
and forest products, prescribed burning, thinning, construction of new
roads and reconstruction or closure of existing roads.
Responsible Official: The Forest Supervisor, Carson National
Forest, is the responsible official and will decide whether projects
will be implemented by the Forest Service in the Agua/Caballos analysis
area. If so, the Forest Supervisor will decide what projects and where,
how and when they will be implemented.
Scoping Process: The supplement will be circulated for public
comment to those who were on the mailing list for the Record of
Decision. Circulation is expected at the end of May, 2003.
Comment Requested: This notice of intent initiates the scoping
process which guides the development of the supplemental environmental
impact statement.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be
prepared for comment. 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, 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 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 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 court rulings,
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the 45-day comment period 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 Environmental Impact Statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action,
[[Page 19185]]
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.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21).
Dated: April 11, 2003.
Martin D. Chavez, Jr.,
Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest.
[FR Doc. 03-9607 Filed 4-17-03; 8:45 am]
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