[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3533-3534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-1603]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[ID918-1610-00-UCRB]
Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, States of
Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada and the
Northern, Intermountain, and Pacific Northwest Regions
AGENCIES: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, USDI.
ACTION: Notice of extension of comment period for draft environmental
impact statements (EISs).
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SUMMARY: On June 12, 1997, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land
Management published a notice of availability of two draft EISs in the
Federal Register (62 FR 32076). That notice stated that a 120-day
comment period was provided for the Eastside Draft EIS and for the
Upper Columbia River Basin Draft EIS. On September 5, 1997, a second
notice (62 FR 46941) extended the comment period to February 6, 1998.
This notice is to inform interested parties that the comment period has
been extended again to provide for public review of, and comment on, an
economic and social report prepared in response to a requirement of the
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of
1998.
DATES: Comments on the two draft EISs and on the economic and social
report must now be submitted or postmarked no later than April 6, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the economic and social report will be mailed in
mid-February to everyone on the mailing list for the Eastside and Upper
Columbia River Basin Draft EISs. Interested parties not on the mailing
list can obtain a copy from ICBEMP, 112 E. Poplar Street, Walla Walla,
WA 99362 or by calling (509) 522-4030 or from ICBEMP, 304 N. 8th
Street, Room 250, Boise, ID 83702 or by calling (208) 334-1770, ext.
120. The economic and social report will also be available via the
internet (http://www.icbemp.gov).
Comments on the Eastside draft EIS, including the economic and
social report, should be submitted in writing to ICBEMP, 112 East
Poplar Street, P.O. Box 2076, Walla Walla, WA 99362. Comments on the
Upper Columbia River Basin draft EIS, including the economic and social
report, should be submitted in writing to ICBEMP, 304 N. 8th Street,
Room 250, Boise, ID 83702. If your comments are in regard to both draft
EISs, they may be sent to either office. Comments may also be made
electronically by accessing the Project home page (http://
www.icbemp.gov), where a comment form is available. If you have already
submitted your comments, you may now submit more comments on the draft
EISs, including your comments regarding the economic and social report.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
EIS Team Leader Jeff Walter, 304 N. 8th Street, Room 250, Boise, ID
83702, telephone (208) 334-1770 or EIS Deputy Team Leader Cathy
Humphrey, 112 East Poplar Street, P.O. Box 2076, Walla Walla, WA 99362,
telephone (509) 522-4030.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Section 323 of the Department of the
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998 Pub. L. 105-
83), the United States Congress directed the following: ``Using all
research information
[[Page 3534]]
available from the area encompassed by the Project, the Secretaries [of
Agriculture and the Interior], to the extent practicable, shall analyze
the economic and social conditions, and culture and customs, of the
communities at the sub-basin level within the Project area and the
impacts the alternatives in the draft EISs will have on those
communities. This analysis shall be published on a schedule that will
allow a reasonable period of time for public comment thereon prior to
the close of the comment periods on the draft EISs. The analysis,
together with the response * * * to the public comment, shall be
incorporated in the final EISs and * * * subsequent decisions related
thereto.''
The required analysis has been prepared. It is a report on the
existing economic and social conditions at the community level within
the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project area and, to
the extent practicable, an analysis of the effects of the alternatives
described in the draft EISs upon communities. This report will be
distributed to the public by mid-February, providing approximately
seven weeks for review and comment before the comment period closes
April 6, 1998.
Dated: January 16, 1998.
Martha Hahn,
Director, Bureau of Land Management.
Dated: January 16, 1998.
Jack Blackwell,
Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 98-1603 Filed 1-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-11-M, 4310-GG-M