[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR219.32]

[Page 55]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
          CHAPTER II--FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 219--PLANNING--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart A--National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning
 
Sec. 219.32  Objections to amendments or revisions.

    (a) Any person may object to a proposed amendment or revision 
prepared under the provisions of this subpart, except for an amendment 
or revision proposed by the Chief. The objection must be filed within 30 
calendar days from the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes the notice of availability of a final environmental impact 
statement regarding a proposed amendment or revision in the Federal 
Register, or within 30 calendar days of the publication of a public 
notice of a proposed amendment not requiring preparation of an 
environmental impact statement. Within ten days after the close of the 
objection period, the Responsible Official shall publish notice of all 
objections in the local newspaper of record. An objection must be filed 
with the reviewing officer identified in the notice and contain:
    (1) The name, mailing address, and telephone number of the person 
filing the objection;
    (2) A specific statement of the basis for each objection; and
    (3) A description of the objector's participation in the planning 
process for the proposed amendment or revision, including a copy of any 
relevant documents submitted during the planning process.
    (b) Objectors may request meetings with the reviewing officer and 
the responsible official to discuss the objection, to narrow the issues, 
agree on facts, and explore opportunities for resolution. The reviewing 
officer must allow other interested persons to participate in such 
meetings. An interested person must file a request to participate in an 
objection within ten days after publication of the notice of objection 
as described in paragraph (a) of this section.
    (c) The reviewing officer must respond, in writing, to an objection 
within a reasonable period of time and may respond to all objections in 
one response. The reviewing officer's response regarding an objection is 
the final decision of the Department of Agriculture.
    (d) The responsible official may not approve a proposed amendment or 
revision until the reviewing officer has responded to all objections. A 
decision by the responsible official approving an amendment or revision 
must be consistent with the reviewing officer's response to objections 
to the proposed amendment or revision.
    (e) Where the Forest Service is a participant in a multi-agency 
decision subject to objection under this subpart, the responsible 
official and reviewing officer may waive the objection procedures of 
this subpart to adopt the administrative review procedure of another 
participating federal agency, if the responsible official and the 
responsible official of the other agencies agree to provide a joint 
response to those who have filed for administrative review of the multi-
agency decision.
    (f) The information collection requirements of this section have 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and assigned 
control number 0596-0158.