[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 244 (Thursday, December 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60578-60579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27490]
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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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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2017 /
Notices
[[Page 60578]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Sante Fe National Forest; New Mexico; Amendment of the Land
Management Plan for the Santa Fe National Forest
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Santa Fe National Forest, located in New Mexico, prepared a
nonsignificant, programmatic forest plan amendment to allow the use of
herbicides in municipal watersheds and on soils with low revegetation
potential to accompany its Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
(SEIS) and a Draft Record of Decision (ROD) for Invasive Plant Control.
This notice is to inform the public that a 60-day period is being
initiated where individuals or entities with specific concerns on Santa
Fe's Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive Plant Control may file an
objection for Forest Service review prior to the approval of the Record
of Decision for Invasive Plant Control.
DATES: Santa Fe's Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive Plant Control,
SEIS, Draft ROD, and other supporting information, will be available
for review at http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/santafe/landmanagement/projects starting December 21, 2017.
A legal notice of the initiation of the 60-day objection period is
also being published in Santa Fe National Forest's newspaper of record,
which is the Albuquerque Journal. The date of publication of the legal
notice in the Albuquerque Journal will determine the actual date of
initiation of the 60-day objection period. A copy of the legal notice
that is published in the Albuquerque Journal will be posted on the
website listed above.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Santa Fe's Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive
Plant Control on Santa Fe National Forest, the SEIS, and the Draft ROD
can be obtained online at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/santafe/landmanagement/projects; or by visiting or mailing a request to the
Forest Supervisor's Office at the following location:
11 Forest Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87508 (Telephone: 505-438-
5443);
Objections must be submitted to the Reviewing Officer:
Regional Forester, USDA-Forest Service, ATTN: Objection
Reviewing Officer, 333 Broadway Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102 (Fax:
505-842-3173).
Objections may be submitted electronically at [email protected].
Note that the office hours for submitting a hand-delivered
objection are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding
Federal holidays. Electronic objections must be submitted in a commonly
used format such as an email message, plain text (.txt), rich text
format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word[supreg] (.doc or .docx).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Imler-Jacquez, Environmental
Coordinator, Santa Fe National Forest at 505-438-5443. Individuals who
use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m.
and 8:00 p.m. (Eastern time), Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service, Southwestern Region,
Santa Fe National Forest, prepared a Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive
Plant Control. This notice is to inform the public that a 60-day period
is being initiated where individuals or entities with specific concerns
on Santa Fe's Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive Plant Control may file
an objection for Forest Service review prior to the approval of the ROD
for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Invasive
Plant Control Project.
The publication date of the legal notice in Santa Fe National
Forest's newspaper of record, the Albuquerque Journal, will initiate
the 60-day objection period and is the exclusive means for calculating
the time to file an objection (36 CFR 219.16 and 219.52). An electronic
scan of the notice with the publication date will be posted on Santa Fe
National Forest's website at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/santafe/landmanagement/projects.
The objection process under 36 CFR 219 subpart B, provides an
opportunity for members of the public who have participated in the
planning process for the Forest Plan Amendment for Invasive Plant
Control on Santa Fe National Forest to have any unresolved concerns
reviewed by the Forest Service prior to a final decision by the
Responsible Official. Only those who provided substantive formal
comments during the public comment period during the planning process
are eligible to file an objection. Regulations at 36 CFR 219.62 define
substantive formal comments as:
Written comments submitted to, or oral comments recorded by, the
responsible official or his designee during an opportunity for
public participation provided during the planning process, and
attributed to the individual or entity providing them. Comments are
considered substantive when they are within the scope of the
proposal, are specific to the proposal, have a direct relationship
to the proposal, and include supporting reasons for the responsible
official to consider.
How To File an Objection
The Forest Service will accept mailed, emailed, faxed, and hand-
delivered objections concerning Santa Fe's Forest Plan Amendment for
Invasive Plant Control for 60 calendar days following the date of the
publication of the legal notice of this objection period in the
newspaper of record, the Albuquerque Journal. It is the responsibility
of the objector to ensure that the Reviewing Officer receives the
objection in a timely manner. The regulations prohibit extending the
length of the objection filing period.
Objections must be submitted to the Reviewing Officer, who will be
the Regional Forester for the Southwestern Region, at the address shown
in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
An objection must include the following (36 CFR 219.54(c)):
(1) The objector's name and address along with a telephone number
or email address if available--in cases where no identifiable name is
attached to an objection, the Forest Service will attempt to verify the
identity of the objector to confirm objection eligibility;
(2) Signature or other verification of authorship upon request (a
scanned signature for electronic mail may be filed with the objection);
(3) Identification of the lead objector, when multiple names are
listed on an
[[Page 60579]]
objection. The Forest Service will communicate to all parties to an
objection through the lead objector. Verification of the identity of
the lead objector must also be provided if requested;
(4) The name of the forest plan amendment being objected to, and
the name and title of the Responsible Official;
(5) A statement of the issues and/or parts of the forest plan
amendment to which the objection applies;
(6) A concise statement explaining the objection and suggesting how
the proposed plan decision may be improved. If the objector believes
that the forest plan amendment is inconsistent with law, regulation, or
policy, an explanation should be included;
(7) A statement that demonstrates the link between the objector's
prior substantive formal comments and the content of the objection,
unless the objection concerns an issue that arose after the
opportunities for formal comment; and
(8) All documents referenced in the objection (a bibliography is
not sufficient), except that the following need not be provided:
a. All or any part of a Federal law or regulation,
b. Forest Service Directive System documents and land management
plans or other published Forest Service documents,
c. Documents referenced by the Forest Service in the planning
documentation related to the proposal subject to objection, and
d. Formal comments previously provided to the Forest Service by the
objector during the plan amendment comment period.
Responsible Official
The responsible official for the Santa Fe's Forest Plan Amendment
for Invasive Plant Control on Santa Fe National Forest is James
Melonas, Forest Supervisor, Santa Fe National Forest, 11 Forest Lane,
Santa Fe, NM 87508.
Dated: November 7, 2017.
Glenn P. Casamassa,
Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2017-27490 Filed 12-20-17; 8:45 am]
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