Notice of Availability, Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment, 65932-65933 [05-21692]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 210 / Tuesday, November 1, 2005 / Notices
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service is preparing a Comprehensive
Conservation Plan (CCP) and
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the
Rappahannock River Valley National
Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This notice
advises the public that the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) intends to
gather information necessary for
preparing the CCP and EA pursuant to
the National Wildlife Refuge System
Administration Act of 1966, as amended
by the National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act of 1997, and the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969. The Service is furnishing this
notice in compliance with Service
planning policy, to (1) advise other
Federal and State agencies and the
public of our intention to conduct
detailed planning on this refuge; and,
(2) obtain suggestions and information
on the scope of issues to include in the
environmental document.
The Service will involve the public
through open houses, informational and
technical meetings, and written
comments. Special mailings, newspaper
articles, and announcements will
provide information about opportunities
for public involvement in the planning
process.
DATES: We are now planning public
scoping meetings for December 2005 in
Warsaw, Port Royal and Richmond,
Virginia. We will announce their
locations, dates and times at least 2
weeks in advance, in special mailings
and newspaper notices and through
personal contacts.
ADDRESSES: Rappahannock River Valley
NWR, 336 Wilna Road, P.O. Box 1030,
Warsaw, Virginia 22572–1030, at 804–
333–1470 (telephone); 804–333–3396
(FAX), Web site https://www.fws.gov/
northeast/va/rap.htm.
To Obtain Further Information, Ask
Questions, or Comment Contact: Nancy
McGarigal, Refuge Planner, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate
Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts
01035; 413–253–8562 (telephone); 413–
253–8468 (FAX);
northeastplanning@fws.gov (electronic
mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
National Wildlife Refuge System
Administration Act of 1966, as amended
by the National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C.
668dd–668ee), the Service is to manage
all lands in the National Wildlife Refuge
System in accordance with an approved
comprehensive conservation plan. The
plan guides management decisions and
identifies refuge goals, long-range
objectives, and strategies for achieving
refuge purposes over a 15-year period.
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15:39 Oct 31, 2005
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The planning process will cover many
elements, including wildlife and habitat
management, visitor and recreational
activities, cultural resource protection,
and facilities and infrastructure.
Compatibility determinations will be
completed for all applicable refuge uses.
We will also conduct a wilderness
review and a wild and scenic rivers
evaluation to determine whether any
areas on the refuge qualify for those
Federal designations.
Public input into the planning process
is essential. The comments we receive
will help identify key issues and
develop refuge goals and objectives for
managing refuge resources and visitors.
Additional opportunities for public
participation will arise throughout the
planning process, which we expect to
complete in 2007. Data collection has
already begun to compile up-to-date
information on refuge resources and
serve as a foundation for science-based
resource decisions. We will prepare the
environmental assessment in
accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality procedures for
implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321–4370d).
The 7,379-acre Rappahannock River
Valley NWR was established in 1996 to
conserve and protect fish and wildlife
resources, including endangered and
threatened species and wetlands. Its
approved acquisition boundary includes
parts of Lancaster, Middlesex,
Richmond, Essex, Caroline,
Westmoreland, and King George
counties in Virginia. The Rappahannock
River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay,
bisects that boundary. Refuge habitats
include freshwater tidal marsh, forested
swamp, upland deciduous forest, mixed
pine forest, and managed grassland.
Refuge visitors engage in wildlife
observation and photography,
environmental education, hunting, and
fishing. The refuge headquarters is
located in Warsaw, Virginia.
Dated: October 5, 2005.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts.
[FR Doc. 05–21693 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Endangered and Threatened Species
Permit Applications
AGENCY:
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
PO 00000
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Sfmt 4703
ACTION:
Notice of receipt of application.
SUMMARY: The following applicant has
applied for a permit to conduct certain
activities with endangered species. This
notice is provided pursuant to section
10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et
seq.).
Written data or comments must
be received on or before December 1,
2005.
DATES:
Send written data or
comments to the Regional Director
(Attention: Peter Fasbender), U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Ecological
Services, 1 Federal Drive, Fort Snelling,
Minnesota 55111–4056.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Peter Fasbender, (612) 713–5343.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Permit Number: TE113009.
Applicant: Steven Ahlstedt, Norris,
Tennessee.
The applicant requests a permit
amendment to take the white catspaw
(Epioblasma obliquata perobliqua) and
purple catspaw (E. o. obliquata)
throughout Indiana and Ohio. The
scientific research is aimed at
enhancement of survival of the species
in the wild.
ADDRESSES:
Dated: October 12, 2005.
Wendi Weber,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
[FR Doc. 05–21694 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability, Draft
Programmatic Environmental
Assessment
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, on behalf of the Department of
the Interior, and the Massachusetts
Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs, as Natural Resource Trustees,
announces the release for public review
of the Draft Programmatic
Environmental Assessment (PEA) for
the Massachusetts Housatonic River
Watershed Restoration Program. The
Draft PEA presents a restoration
program featuring a mix of restoration
approaches, including aquatic
restoration, wildlife/terrestrial
restoration, enhancement of recreational
opportunities, and education/outreach
E:\FR\FM\01NON1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 210 / Tuesday, November 1, 2005 / Notices
initiatives. A mix of restoration
approaches will allow the greatest
degree of flexibility in the project
selection process and will ensure the
greatest environmental and
socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA
compares the preferred, blended
restoration alternative with alternatives
that focus on a single restoration
approach, as well as with a no-action
alternative in which no restoration is
implemented with natural resource
damages (NRD) funds. This Draft PEA is
part of the restoration planning and
implementation phase of the General
Electric/Housatonic River Natural
Resource Damage Assessment and
Restoration (NRDAR) case.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before December 1,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the
Draft PEA may be made to: U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Attention:
Veronica Varela, New England Field
Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300,
Concord, New Hampshire 03301.
Written comments or materials
regarding the Draft PEA should be sent
to the same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Veronica Varela, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, New England Field Office, 70
Commercial Street, Suite 300, Concord,
New Hampshire 03301. Interested
parties may also call 603–223–2541 or email Veronica_Varela@fws.gov for
further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the
period between the late 1930s and the
late 1970s, the General Electric
Company (GE) facility in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts released polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), via the wastewater
and storm systems associated with the
facility, to the Housatonic River and
Silver Lake in Pittsfield. In addition, a
number of former oxbows were
straightened and filled to alleviate
flooding, and subsequently have been
found to contain PCB-contaminated
soils and fill. The release of PCBs
adversely affected natural resources
including fish, birds, amphibians,
reptiles and their habitats, and impacted
natural resource-based recreational uses.
On October 7, 1999, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; the
U.S. Department of Justice; the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Environmental
Protection, the Office of the Attorney
General, and the Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs; the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection
and the Office of the Attorney General;
the U.S. Department of the Interior; the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:39 Oct 31, 2005
Jkt 208001
Administration; the City of Pittsfield,
Massachusetts; the Pittsfield Economic
Development Authority; and GE reached
a comprehensive agreement concerning
the cleanup of GE’s Pittsfield facility,
certain off-site properties, and the
Housatonic River, and concerning
compensation for NRD. The
comprehensive agreement was lodged
with the U.S. District Court of
Massachusetts, Springfield,
Massachusetts, and approved on
October 27, 2000. Under this agreement,
GE provided $15.5 million for
compensatory restoration activities. Of
this amount, $7.75 million (plus
interest) will be managed to restore,
rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the
equivalent of injured natural resources
and/or the services they provide to
compensate for natural resources
adversely affected by PCBs in the
Massachusetts watershed of the
Housatonic River. The other $7.75
million will be managed under a
separate program for compensatory
restoration in the Connecticut
watershed of the Housatonic River. This
Draft PEA examines alternatives for
implementing a compensatory
restoration program in the
Massachusetts portion of the Housatonic
River watershed; implementation
alternatives in the Connecticut portion
will be examined in a later document.
The proposed Preferred Alternative in
the Draft PEA is a restoration program
featuring a mix of restoration
approaches, including aquatic
restoration, wildlife/terrestrial
restoration, enhancement of recreational
opportunities, and education/outreach
initiatives. A mix of restoration
approaches will allow the greatest
degree of flexibility in the project
selection process and will ensure the
greatest environmental and
socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA
compares the preferred, blended
restoration alternative with alternatives
that focus on a single restoration
approach, as well as with a no-action
alternative in which no restoration is
implemented with NRD funds.
Interested members of the public are
invited to review and comment on the
Draft PEA. Copies of the Draft PEA are
available for review at public libraries in
the towns of Great Barrington, Lee,
Lenox, Pittsfield, Sheffield, and
Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Additionally, the Draft PEA will be
available for review at the following
Web site: https://www.mahousatonicrestoration.org. Written
comments will be considered and
addressed in the Final PEA as part of
the restoration planning process.
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65933
Author: The primary author of this
notice is Veronica Varela, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, New England Field
Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300,
Concord, New Hampshire 03301.
Authority: The authorities for this action are
the NRDAR provisions under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et
seq.) and the Clean Water Act (CWA, 33
U.S.C. 1251–1376), which allow natural
resource trustees to bring claims against
responsible parties to recover monies and
take action to restore, replace, or acquire the
equivalent of natural resources that have
been injured by hazardous substances; the
CERCLA NRDA regulations (43 CFR Part 11)
that guide the allocation and expenditure of
NRD recoveries for restoration activities; and
the National Environmental Policy Act (42
U.S.C. 4321–4347).
Dated: October 18, 2005.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the
Interior, DOI Authorized Official.
[FR Doc. 05–21692 Filed 10–31–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WO–310–06–1310–GEOT]
Implementation of the Geothermal
Sections of the Energy Policy Act of
2005; Public Meeting
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: A public meeting is being
held by the Bureau of Land Management
and the U.S. Forest Service to solicit
suggestions from the public and
industry on how to best implement the
geothermal provisions of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005.
DATES: The meeting date is scheduled as
follows: November 17, 2005; 1–4 p.m.,
local time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the following location: Reno Hilton
Hotel, 2500 East 2nd Street, Reno,
Nevada 89595.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John
Bebout, National Geothermal Program
Lead for the BLM at (202) 557–3375 or
Bob Fujimoto, Geothermal Lead for the
U.S. Forest Service at (503) 808–2430.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
meeting will begin with an overview of
the geothermal provisions of the Energy
Policy Act. Participants who request to
speak will be given a set amount of time
to provide suggestions that address
E:\FR\FM\01NON1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 210 (Tuesday, November 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65932-65933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21692]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability, Draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on behalf of the
Department of the Interior, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs, as Natural Resource Trustees, announces the
release for public review of the Draft Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA) for the Massachusetts Housatonic River Watershed
Restoration Program. The Draft PEA presents a restoration program
featuring a mix of restoration approaches, including aquatic
restoration, wildlife/terrestrial restoration, enhancement of
recreational opportunities, and education/outreach
[[Page 65933]]
initiatives. A mix of restoration approaches will allow the greatest
degree of flexibility in the project selection process and will ensure
the greatest environmental and socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA
compares the preferred, blended restoration alternative with
alternatives that focus on a single restoration approach, as well as
with a no-action alternative in which no restoration is implemented
with natural resource damages (NRD) funds. This Draft PEA is part of
the restoration planning and implementation phase of the General
Electric/Housatonic River Natural Resource Damage Assessment and
Restoration (NRDAR) case.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before December 1,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft PEA may be made to: U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Attention: Veronica Varela, New England
Field Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300, Concord, New Hampshire
03301.
Written comments or materials regarding the Draft PEA should be
sent to the same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Veronica Varela, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, New England Field Office, 70 Commercial Street, Suite
300, Concord, New Hampshire 03301. Interested parties may also call
603-223-2541 or e-mail Veronica--Varela@fws.gov for further
information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the period between the late 1930s and
the late 1970s, the General Electric Company (GE) facility in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts released polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
via the wastewater and storm systems associated with the facility, to
the Housatonic River and Silver Lake in Pittsfield. In addition, a
number of former oxbows were straightened and filled to alleviate
flooding, and subsequently have been found to contain PCB-contaminated
soils and fill. The release of PCBs adversely affected natural
resources including fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and their
habitats, and impacted natural resource-based recreational uses.
On October 7, 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the
U.S. Department of Justice; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of the Attorney
General, and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs; the
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of
the Attorney General; the U.S. Department of the Interior; the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the City of Pittsfield,
Massachusetts; the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority; and GE
reached a comprehensive agreement concerning the cleanup of GE's
Pittsfield facility, certain off-site properties, and the Housatonic
River, and concerning compensation for NRD. The comprehensive agreement
was lodged with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, Springfield,
Massachusetts, and approved on October 27, 2000. Under this agreement,
GE provided $15.5 million for compensatory restoration activities. Of
this amount, $7.75 million (plus interest) will be managed to restore,
rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of injured natural
resources and/or the services they provide to compensate for natural
resources adversely affected by PCBs in the Massachusetts watershed of
the Housatonic River. The other $7.75 million will be managed under a
separate program for compensatory restoration in the Connecticut
watershed of the Housatonic River. This Draft PEA examines alternatives
for implementing a compensatory restoration program in the
Massachusetts portion of the Housatonic River watershed; implementation
alternatives in the Connecticut portion will be examined in a later
document.
The proposed Preferred Alternative in the Draft PEA is a
restoration program featuring a mix of restoration approaches,
including aquatic restoration, wildlife/terrestrial restoration,
enhancement of recreational opportunities, and education/outreach
initiatives. A mix of restoration approaches will allow the greatest
degree of flexibility in the project selection process and will ensure
the greatest environmental and socioeconomic benefits. This Draft PEA
compares the preferred, blended restoration alternative with
alternatives that focus on a single restoration approach, as well as
with a no-action alternative in which no restoration is implemented
with NRD funds.
Interested members of the public are invited to review and comment
on the Draft PEA. Copies of the Draft PEA are available for review at
public libraries in the towns of Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox,
Pittsfield, Sheffield, and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Additionally,
the Draft PEA will be available for review at the following Web site:
https://www.ma-housatonicrestoration.org. Written comments will be
considered and addressed in the Final PEA as part of the restoration
planning process.
Author: The primary author of this notice is Veronica Varela, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, New England Field Office, 70 Commercial
Street, Suite 300, Concord, New Hampshire 03301.
Authority: The authorities for this action are the NRDAR provisions
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.)
and the Clean Water Act (CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1251-1376), which allow
natural resource trustees to bring claims against responsible
parties to recover monies and take action to restore, replace, or
acquire the equivalent of natural resources that have been injured
by hazardous substances; the CERCLA NRDA regulations (43 CFR Part
11) that guide the allocation and expenditure of NRD recoveries for
restoration activities; and the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321-4347).
Dated: October 18, 2005.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
U.S. Department of the Interior, DOI Authorized Official.
[FR Doc. 05-21692 Filed 10-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
