Thanks to Susan and Ted for mentioning Final Agency action review guidance 02012021 v2 FEB 01 (1) and sending it along..
The Forest Service shall submit for NRE’s review all projects and activities that fall within the categories set out below by February 12, 2021. Consistent with applicable law, and subject to any exception expressly authorized by NRE, the Forest Service will defer making any final decision regarding the actions listed below until NRE has reviewed the decision and authorized the agency to proceed with decision-making.
These instructions are applicable to the classes of plans, projects and activities listed below for which the Forest Service expects or intends to make a decision prior to March 31, 2021:
• Activities in designated wilderness areas taken pursuant to Sections 4(c) and 4(d) of the Wilderness Act.
• Road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvesting activities on lands originally designated pursuant to 36 CFR 294, subpart B (2001) as well as any roadless lands designated in a subsequent roadless rulemaking.
• Special Use Authorizations (and any Forest Plan amendments) involving new construction or expansion of infrastructure for conventional energy production, including pipelines or transmission lines.
• New, modified, or expanded locatable or leasable minerals activities involving ground disturbance on greater than 500 acres.
• Activities involving cutting or removal of more than 3,000 acres of vegetation that will be categorically excluded from documentation in an Environmental Assessment or Environmental
Impact Statement.
• Final decisions for revisions or significant amendments of Land Management Plans.Agency actions should be submitted for review in summary form with a brief description of the purpose and need, the intended selected action, significant effects to natural or social resources, and public involvement including with State, local and Tribal governments, and status of any objection process underway. The summary should include any legal or administrative timelines, including those associated with permit renewal.
The roadless one seems to be about Roadless Areas including those acres included in the Colorado and Idaho Roadless Rules. These all seem to fill the bill of “projects our friends are interested in” and “no PR surprises.” The good thing about having experienced politicals on board is that they have a good sense of what they need to look for.
The only one I thought was unusual was the cutting and removal of more than 3000 acres of vegetation in a CE. Since we know that legislative CEs HFRA Sections 603 and 605 are up to 3000 acres, they are apparently not watching those, so what can it be?
My guess is that it might be projects that use the wildlife habitat and thinning category, which has no acreage limit. Here’s an example of one from the Salmon-Challis. In that case, the project is designed to improve sagebrush habitat by removing conifers.
Here’s the category from the NEPA Handbook:
(6) Timber stand and/or wildlife habitat improvement activities that do not include the use of herbicides or do not require more than 1 mile of low standard road construction. Examples include but are not limited to:
(i) Girdling trees to create snags;
(ii) Thinning or brush control to improve growth or to reduce fire hazard including the opening of an existing road to a dense timber stand;
(iii) Prescribed burning to control understory hardwoods in stands of southern pine; and
(iv) Prescribed burning to reduce natural fuel build-up and improve plant vigor.
It’s easy to imagine large projects fitting this one as written, but the practice as I recall was generally not to use it for large projects.
But I don’t know. Other ideas?
I’d also note that there’s no hiring check, as with the BLM. Again, perhaps experience indicates to the politicals that this wouldn’t be a useful, and might be a demoralizing, exercise.