[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 237 (Thursday, December 10, 1998)] [Notices] [Pages 68245-68246] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-32860] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Revised Land and Resource Management Plans for Some National Forest System Lands in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming AGENCY: USDA Forest Service. ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in conjunction with the revision of land and resource management plans and modifications to existing oil and gas leasing decisions for several National Grasslands (NG) and Forests (NF) on the Northern Great Plains. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The planning area includes these National Forest System lands: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Administering unit National Grassland/Forest State County ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dakota Prairie Grasslands Little Missouri NG.............. ND Billings, Dunn, Golden (formerly known as Custer NF). Valley, McHenry, McKenzie, Slope. Cedar River NG.................. ND Grant, Sioux. Sheyenne NG..................... ND Ransom, Richland. Grand River NG.................. SD Corson, Perkins. Nebraska NF..................... Oglala NG....................... NE Dawes, Sioux. Nebraska NF..................... NE Blaine, Dawes, Sioux, Thomas. Samuel R. McKelvie NF........... NE Cherry. Buffalo Gap NG.................. SD Custer, Fall River, Jackson, Pennington. Fort Pierre NG.................. SD Jones, Lyman, Stanley. Medicine Bowe-Routt NF.......... Thunder Basin NG................ WY Campbell, Converse, Crook, Niobrara, Weston. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This planning effort is called the ``Northern Great Plains Management Plans Revision.'' Land and Resource Management Plans (hereafter referred to as Management Plan or Plans) will be prepared for each participating administrative unit, while one environmental impact statement for all affected units will be issued. In conjunction with the Plan revisions, existing oil and gas leasing decisions will be modified based on the analysis in the environmental impact statement. DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis were requested to be received in writing by July 31, 1997. The agency expects to file a draft environmental impact statement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and make it available for public comment in February 1999. The agency expects to file the final environmental impact statement in May 2000. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Dave Cawrse, Team Leader, Northern Great Plains Planning Team, USDA Forest Service, 125 North Main, Chadron NE 69337. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Cawrse, Planning Team Leader, (308) 432-0300. RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS: Dale Bosworth, Northern Regional Forester at 200 East Broadway, Missoula, MT 59807; and Lyle Laverty, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester at P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127. COOPERATING AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a revised Notice of Intent for the prior notice promulgated in the Federal Register, Vol. 62, No. 38, on Wednesday, February 25, 1997. The Notice of Intent is being revised for the following reasons: (1) The draft EIS has been delayed more than six months. The original expected release date was June 1998; the new expected date is February 1999. The final EIS is expected to be published May 2000. (2) Two cooperating agencies have been added. Bureau of Land Management (State offices in Montana and Wyoming) will cooperate on the preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding mineral leasing, and the National Park Service (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) will cooperate on the preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers (specifically the Little Missouri River). (3) The Custer National Forest Management Plan will now be referred [[Page 68246]] to as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Management Plan. Pursuant to Part 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 219.10(g), the Regional Foresters for the Northern and Rocky Mountain Regions give notice of the agency's intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the revision effort described above. According to 36 CFR 219.10(g), land and resource management plans are ordinarily revised on a 10- to 15-year cycle. The existing Management Plans were approved as follows: Custer National Forest--June 10, 1987; Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest--November 20, 1985; Nebraska National Forest--December 14, 1984. The Regional Foresters give notice that they are completing an environmental analysis and decision-making process for this proposed action so that interested or affected people can participate in the analyses and contribute to the final decisions. One environmental impact statement will be prepared. Separate decisions, documented in Records of Decision, will be issued for each administrative unit. The combined revision effort makes sense because of common issues and concerns, and similar ecological landscapes. This effort will enable the administrative units to share assessments, plan-related analyses, and resource expertise, and will reduce costs. Management plans describe the intended management of National Grasslands and Forests. Agency decisions in these plans will do the following things:Establish multiple-use goals and objectives (36 CFR 219.11); Establish grasslandwide and forestwide management requirements (standards and guidelines) to fulfill the requirements of 16 U.S.C. 1604 applying to future activities (resource integration requirements, 36 CFR 219.13 to 219.27); Establish management areas and management area direction (management area prescriptions) applying to future activities in that management area (resource integration and minimum specific management requirements) 36 CFR 219.11(c); Establish monitoring and evaluation requirements (36 CFR 219.11(d)); Determine suitability and potential capability of lands for producing forage for grazing animals and for providing habitat for management indicator species (36 CFR 219.20), designate lands not suited for timber production, and, where applicable, establish allowable timber sale quantity (36 CFR 219.14, 219.15, and 219.21); Where applicable to oil and gas resources, determine the planning area leasing decision (lands administratively available for leasing) and the leasing decision for specific lands [36 CFR 228.102(4)(d) & (e)]. Where applicable, BLM will issue a decision document on leasing for federal minerals, both under Forest Service administered surface and under private surface. Where applicable, recommend Wild and Scenic River designations, in cooperating with the National Park Service, in accordance with 16 U.S.C. 1274; and Where applicable, recommend non-Wilderness allocations or Wilderness recommendations for roadless areas (36 CFR 219.17). The authorization of project level activities within the planning area occurs through project decision-making, the second stage of forest and grassland planning. Project-level decisions must comply with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures and must include a determination that the project is consistent with the Management Plan. RELEASE AND REVIEW OF THE EIS: The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public comment by February 1999. At that time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability for the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the DEIS will be 90 days from the date the EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. Reviewers of the DEIS 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 Com. v. NRDC. 435 U.S. 519,553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the DEIS stage but are not raised until after completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 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 three-month comment period so that substantive comments and objects are made available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the FEIS. To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the DIES 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 DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed in the statements. 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. After the comment period ends on the DIES, comments will be analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in preparing the Final EIS. The FEIS is scheduled to be completed in May 2000. The responsible officials will consider the comments, responses, environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and applicable laws, regulations and policies in making decisions regarding these revisions. The responsible officials will document their decisions and reasons for their decisions in the separate Record of Decision for each Management Plan. Each decision will be subject to appeal in accordance with 36 CFR 217. The responsible official for each of the Management Plans is the appropriate Regional Forester. Dated: November 19, 1998. Dale Bosworth, Regional Forester, Northern Region. Dated: November 9, 1998. Lyle Laverty, Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region. [FR Doc. 98-32860 Filed 12-9-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M