Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau of Land Management Lands, Oregon, 50986-50987 [E9-23678]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 190 / Friday, October 2, 2009 / Notices
eucalyptus trees) than would have been
disturbed by UII–NI. The increased
development acreage in UII–NII would
occur in the eucalyptus grove and areas
previously proposed as revegetated
areas.
Notice is hereby given that on May 20,
2009, the Proposed Action (Alternative
1) was selected and a FONSI
determination was made for the action
as described in the final EA for the San
Bruno Mountain HCP Amendment. As
authorized by the provisions of the Act
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we issued an
amended permit (TE–215574–5) to the
Cities of Brisbane, South San Francisco,
and Daly City, and the County of San
Mateo, subject to certain conditions set
forth in the permit. The permit
amendment was granted only after we
determined it was applied for in good
faith, that granting the permit
amendment would not be to the
disadvantage of the listed species, and
that granting the permit amendment was
consistent with the purposes and policy
set forth in the Act.
John Enbring,
Acting Deputy Regional Director, Pacific
Southwest Region, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. E9–23763 Filed 10–1–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLOR932000–L16100000–DF0000–
LXSS062H0000; HAG 9–0209]
Notice of Availability of Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for
Vegetation Treatments Using
Herbicides on Bureau of Land
Management Lands, Oregon
pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
for Vegetation Treatments Using
Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon
(Vegetation Treatments DEIS) and by
this Notice is announcing the opening of
the comment period.
DATES: To ensure comments will be
considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Vegetation
Treatments DEIS within 60 days
following the date the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes its Notice
of Availability in the Federal Register.
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:40 Oct 01, 2009
Jkt 220001
You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Web site: https://www.blm.gov/or/
plans/vegtreatmentseis/
• E-mail: orvegtreatments@blm.gov.
• Mail: Vegetation Treatments EIS
Team, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR
97208–2965.
Copies of the Vegetation Treatments
DEIS are available on the Internet at:
https://www.blm.gov/or/plans/
vegtreatmentseis/. Requests to receive
printed or CD copies of the DEIS should
be sent to one of the addresses listed
above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Thompson, EIS Project Manager,
by mail at Bureau of Land
Management—OR932, P.O. Box 2965,
Portland, OR 97208; by telephone at
(503) 808–6326; or by email to the EIS
Team at the address listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1984,
the BLM was prohibited from using
herbicides in Oregon by a U.S. District
Court injunction issued in Northwest
Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides,
et al. v. Block, et al. (Civ. No. 82–6273–
E). Following completion of an EIS
examining the use of four herbicides
just on noxious weeds, the injunction
was modified by the court in November
1987 (Civ. No. 82–6272–BU). For the
subsequent 22 years, the BLM in Oregon
has limited its herbicide use to the four
herbicides analyzed and limited use of
those four herbicides to the control and
eradication of Federal-, state-, or countylisted noxious weeds. In that time, new
herbicides have become available that
can be used in smaller doses, are more
target-specific, and are less likely to
adversely affect people and other nontarget organisms. These new herbicides
are being used by adjacent cooperating
agencies and landowners to achieve
better invasive weed control. Further,
there are limited additional native
vegetation treatment needs that would
be more feasibly met, and more
efficiently accomplished with selected
herbicides.
In 2007, the BLM Washington Office
(WO220) completed the Vegetation
Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau
of Land Management Lands in 17
Western States Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)
and related Record of Decision making
18 herbicides available for a full range
of non-commodity vegetation treatments
in 17 western states including Oregon.
Oregon cannot implement that decision,
however, until and unless the District
Court injunction is lifted. The DEIS
being released today, Vegetation
Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM
Lands in Oregon, tiers to the PEIS,
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00041
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
incorporates additional detailed
analysis regarding the potential for
human and environmental risks specific
to Oregon and addresses the issues in
the 1984 District Court decision and
other information specific to Oregon.
The additional analysis is similar to that
presented in a similar EIS completed by
the Forest Service in Oregon in 2005.
The DEIS is programmatic, addressing
all 15.7 million acres in Oregon and
addressing all 18 herbicides approved
for use by the 2007 Record of Decision
for the PEIS and being used in the other
16 western states. The DEIS analyzes
one ‘‘no action’’ alternative, one ‘‘no
herbicide’’ alternative, and 3 action
alternatives which were shaped in part
by the comments received during 12
public scoping meetings held
throughout Oregon in July 2008. No
projects will be authorized; site-specific
projects will be subject to additional
National Environmental Policy Act
analysis.
The analysis indicates that by using
BLM manual section and policy
standard operating procedures, along
with PEIS-adopted mitigation measures,
human and environmental risk from the
use of herbicides is both minimized and
reduced from current levels. The
proposed action would also slow the
spread of noxious weeds on BLM lands
by about 50 percent and result in 2.2
million fewer infested acres in 15 years
than under current program capabilities.
Following the public comment
period, the BLM will prepare a Final
Environmental Impact Statement and
Record of Decision. These are planned
for release in mid-summer 2010.
The responsible official for the EIS is
the BLM Oregon and Washington State
Director. No public hearings or meetings
are planned during the public comment
period for the DEIS. Please note that
public comments and information
submitted; including the names, street
addresses, and email addresses of
respondents; will be available for public
review and disclosure during regular
business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except
holidays, at the following address: 333
SW. 1st Avenue, Portland, OR 97204.
Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
E:\FR\FM\02OCN1.SGM
02OCN1
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 190 / Friday, October 2, 2009 / Notices
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Edward W. Shepard,
State Director, Oregon/Washington BLM.
[FR Doc. E9–23678 Filed 10–1–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–33–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
National Mall and Memorial Parks,
Washington, DC; Notice of Availability
of a Finding of No Significant Impact
for the Proposed West Potomac Park
Levee Project
pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: Department of the Interior,
National Park Service.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a
Finding of No Significant Impact.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
National Park Service (NPS) NEPA
guidelines, NPS prepared and, from
January 30 to March 2, 2009, made
available for a 30-day public review an
Environmental Assessment (EA)
evaluating the potential impacts of
proposed improvements to the existing
West Potomac Park Levee System which
extends from 23rd Street, NW., to the
grounds of the Washington Monument
in Washington, DC. The goal of this
project is to improve the reliability of
the existing levee in order to meet the
current post-Hurricane Katrina
standards for flood protection as
required by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA). The existing levee protects
much of the monumental core and large
portions of downtown Washington, DC.
After the end of the 30-day public
review period, the NPS selected for
implementation, the preferred
alternative as described in the EA, and
determined it will not have a significant
impact on the quality of the human
environment and that an Environmental
Impact Statement is not required. In
making that selection and
determination, the NPS considered the
information and analysis contained in
the EA and the comments received
during the public review period. The
NPS has accordingly prepared a Finding
of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
proposed West Potomac Park Levee
Project. The FONSI is also accompanied
by an errata sheet that corrected some
minor inaccuracies and updated some
information. The errata did not result in
any changes in the overall findings of
the EA and had no bearing on its
determination of no significant impact.
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:40 Oct 01, 2009
Jkt 220001
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Doug Jacobs, Deputy Associate Regional
Director for Lands, Resources and
Planning, National Capital Region,
National Park Service, 1100 Ohio Drive,
SW., Washington, DC 20242, by
telephone at (202) 619–7025 or by email at doug_jacobs@nps.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since the
Potomac Park levee was constructed in
the late 1930’s, the levee system has
relied upon a temporary earthen closure
being built across 17th Street in the
event of a flood emergency. Based on
new policies since Hurricane Katrina
(33 CFR 208.10), the USACE has
deemed the temporary 17th Street
closure unreliable and consequently
gave the levee an unacceptable
inspection rating. For this reason,
FEMA’s most recently proposed 100year floodplain map for this area reflects
a 100-year flood event as if the
currently-designed 17th Street closure
did not exist (44 CFR part 67, 72 FR
54631–54635). This new mapping
would place portions of southeast and
downtown Washington, DC, including
the monumental core, within the 100year flood insurance rate zone. The
placement would require additional
flood insurance and/or costly upgrades
to comply with building standards for
those facilities that would fall within
the new 100-year floodplain. In
addition, a number of projects that are
currently in development on the
National Mall would need to be revised
and could be delayed in order to comply
with these building codes. At the
District of Columbia’s request, FEMA
agreed to delay issuance of the new
floodplain map until November, 2009,
in order to allow the District and the
NPS time to design and implement a
solution that will reliably stop a 100year flood at 17th Street, NW., and
therefore make re-mapping unnecessary.
In addition, the USACE requested that
the solution be designed in such a
manner as to allow for easy
modification to meet the higher level of
protection authorized by Congress in
1936 but never funded. The
congressionally authorized level of
protection is roughly equivalent to a
187-year storm. The District and NPS
agreed that any improvements to the
levee should be consistent with the
current authorization so that the
congressionally authorized level of
protection can ultimately be achieved
once funding is appropriated.
The EA evaluated five alternatives, all
of which incorporate a permanent
structure from Overlook Terrace in
Constitution Gardens to the west side of
17th Street and another permanent
PO 00000
Frm 00042
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
50987
structure on the east side of 17th Street
which extends into the natural rise of
the Washington Monument Grounds.
The intervening space across 17th Street
will have footings designed to receive a
temporary post and panel closure
system that would be deployed only
during a major flood event. The
permanent structures on either side of
17th Street will be a combination of
earthen berms and concrete walls/
embankments which will be clad in
stone during a subsequent phase of the
project. Since full funding for the entire
project was not certain, all of the
alternatives in this EA are presented in
a phased approach.
The NPS identified Alternative 1B as
its Preferred Alternative and has
selected it for implementation. During
the completion of this EA, it became
apparent that considerable costs and
time of construction and, therefore, time
of disturbance to the National Mall and
visitors, could be avoided if the levee at
17th Street was constructed to the
higher level of protection initially, if
funding would be available. Under
Phase 1 of the alternative, a levee
closure structure will be constructed at
17th Street, approximately 253 feet
south of the centerline of Constitution
Avenue, NW. The closure structure will
consist of two symmetrical curved
concrete flood walls built to the height
of the Congressionally-authorized
solution and set back approximately 23
feet to the east and west of 17th Street.
The flood walls will require the regrading of both the northwest corner of
the Monument Grounds as well as the
eastern edge of Constitution Gardens
between the Overlook Terrace and 17th
Street. Tree planting and final
landscaping will also be completed as
the first phase of the project. In the
second phase of implementation, the
remaining visible sections of the levee
wall at 17th Street will be clad in stone
to match the historic character of the
adjacent cultural landscapes and
historic resources. The cladding will
enhance the aesthetic quality and
character of the landscape to mitigate
against adverse effects associated with
concrete walls.
Phase Two includes a pedestrian path
and additional landscaping.
Improvements to the other parts of the
Potomac Levee will also occur as part of
the second phase of implementation
since the existing conditions at 23rd
Street, NW. and the Reflecting Pool do
not meet the Congressionally-authorized
level of protection. At the southwest
corner of 23rd Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., portions of the site will
be re-graded and raised by
approximately one to two feet. Along
E:\FR\FM\02OCN1.SGM
02OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 190 (Friday, October 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50986-50987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23678]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLOR932000-L16100000-DF0000-LXSS062H0000; HAG 9-0209]
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau of Land Management
Lands, Oregon
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Vegetation Treatments Using
Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon (Vegetation Treatments DEIS) and by
this Notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.
DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Vegetation Treatments DEIS within 60 days
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Web site: https://www.blm.gov/or/plans/vegtreatmentseis/
E-mail: orvegtreatments@blm.gov.
Mail: Vegetation Treatments EIS Team, P.O. Box 2965,
Portland, OR 97208-2965.
Copies of the Vegetation Treatments DEIS are available on the
Internet at: https://www.blm.gov/or/plans/vegtreatmentseis/. Requests to
receive printed or CD copies of the DEIS should be sent to one of the
addresses listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Thompson, EIS Project Manager, by
mail at Bureau of Land Management--OR932, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR
97208; by telephone at (503) 808-6326; or by email to the EIS Team at
the address listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1984, the BLM was prohibited from using
herbicides in Oregon by a U.S. District Court injunction issued in
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, et al. v. Block, et
al. (Civ. No. 82-6273-E). Following completion of an EIS examining the
use of four herbicides just on noxious weeds, the injunction was
modified by the court in November 1987 (Civ. No. 82-6272-BU). For the
subsequent 22 years, the BLM in Oregon has limited its herbicide use to
the four herbicides analyzed and limited use of those four herbicides
to the control and eradication of Federal-, state-, or county-listed
noxious weeds. In that time, new herbicides have become available that
can be used in smaller doses, are more target-specific, and are less
likely to adversely affect people and other non-target organisms. These
new herbicides are being used by adjacent cooperating agencies and
landowners to achieve better invasive weed control. Further, there are
limited additional native vegetation treatment needs that would be more
feasibly met, and more efficiently accomplished with selected
herbicides.
In 2007, the BLM Washington Office (WO220) completed the Vegetation
Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau of Land Management Lands in 17
Western States Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and
related Record of Decision making 18 herbicides available for a full
range of non-commodity vegetation treatments in 17 western states
including Oregon. Oregon cannot implement that decision, however, until
and unless the District Court injunction is lifted. The DEIS being
released today, Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in
Oregon, tiers to the PEIS, incorporates additional detailed analysis
regarding the potential for human and environmental risks specific to
Oregon and addresses the issues in the 1984 District Court decision and
other information specific to Oregon. The additional analysis is
similar to that presented in a similar EIS completed by the Forest
Service in Oregon in 2005. The DEIS is programmatic, addressing all
15.7 million acres in Oregon and addressing all 18 herbicides approved
for use by the 2007 Record of Decision for the PEIS and being used in
the other 16 western states. The DEIS analyzes one ``no action''
alternative, one ``no herbicide'' alternative, and 3 action
alternatives which were shaped in part by the comments received during
12 public scoping meetings held throughout Oregon in July 2008. No
projects will be authorized; site-specific projects will be subject to
additional National Environmental Policy Act analysis.
The analysis indicates that by using BLM manual section and policy
standard operating procedures, along with PEIS-adopted mitigation
measures, human and environmental risk from the use of herbicides is
both minimized and reduced from current levels. The proposed action
would also slow the spread of noxious weeds on BLM lands by about 50
percent and result in 2.2 million fewer infested acres in 15 years than
under current program capabilities.
Following the public comment period, the BLM will prepare a Final
Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. These are
planned for release in mid-summer 2010.
The responsible official for the EIS is the BLM Oregon and
Washington State Director. No public hearings or meetings are planned
during the public comment period for the DEIS. Please note that public
comments and information submitted; including the names, street
addresses, and email addresses of respondents; will be available for
public review and disclosure during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4
p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays, at the following
address: 333 SW. 1st Avenue, Portland, OR 97204.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
[[Page 50987]]
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Edward W. Shepard,
State Director, Oregon/Washington BLM.
[FR Doc. E9-23678 Filed 10-1-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P
