[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR215.5]

[Page 32-33]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
          CHAPTER II--FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 215_NOTICE, COMMENT, AND APPEAL PROCEDURES FOR NATIONAL FOREST 
SYSTEM PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  215.5  Legal notice of proposed actions.

    (a) Responsible Official. The Responsible Official shall:
    (1) Provide notice of the opportunity to comment on a proposed 
action implementing the land and resource management plan.
    (2) Determine the most effective timing for publishing the legal 
notice of the proposed action and opportunity to comment.
    (3) Promptly mail notice about the proposed action to any individual 
or organization who has requested it and to those who have participated 
in project planning.
    (4) Publish a legal notice of the opportunity to comment on a 
proposed action as provided for in paragraph (b)(2).
    (5) Accept all written and oral comments on the proposed action as 
provided for in Sec.  215.6(a)(4).
    (6) Identify all substantive comments.
    (b) Legal notice of proposed action--(1) Content of legal notice. 
All legal notices shall include the following:
    (i) The title and brief description of the proposed action.
    (ii) A general description of the proposed action's location with 
sufficient information to allow the interested public to identify the 
location.
    (iii) A statement that the Responsible Official is requesting an 
emergency situation determination or it has been determined that an 
emergency situation exists for the project or activity as provided for 
in Sec.  215.10, when applicable.
    (iv) For a proposed action to be analyzed and documented in an 
environmental assessment (EA), a statement that the opportunity to 
comment ends 30 days following the date of publication of the legal 
notice in the newspaper of record (Sec.  215.6(a)(2)); legal notices 
shall not contain the specific date since newspaper publication dates 
may vary.
    (v) For a proposed action that is analyzed and documented in a draft 
environmental impact statement (EIS), a statement that the opportunity 
to comment ends 45 days following the date of publication of the notice 
of availability (NOA) in the Federal Register (Sec.  215.6(a)(2)). The 
legal notice must be published after the NOA and contain the NOA 
publication date.
    (vi) A statement that only those who submit timely and substantive 
comments will be accepted as appellants.
    (vii) The Responsible Official's name, title, telephone number, and 
addresses (street, postal, facsimile, and e-mail) to whom comments are 
to be submitted and the Responsible Official's office business hours for 
those submitting

[[Page 33]]

hand-delivered comments (Sec.  215.6(a)(4)(ii)).
    (viii) A statement indicating that for appeal eligibility each 
individual or representative from each organization submitting 
substantive comments must either sign the comments or verify identity 
upon request.
    (ix) The acceptable format(s) for electronic comments.
    (x) Instructions on how to obtain additional information on the 
proposed action.
    (2) Publication. (i) Through notice published annually in the 
Federal Register, each Regional Forester shall advise the public of the 
newspaper(s) of record utilized for publishing legal notices required by 
this part.
    (ii) Legal notice of the opportunity to comment on a proposed action 
shall be published in the applicable newspaper of record identified in 
paragraph (b)(2)(i) for each National Forest System unit. When the Chief 
is the Responsible Official, notice shall also be published in the 
Federal Register. The publication date of the legal notice in the 
newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to 
submit comments on a proposed action to be analyzed and documented in an 
EA. The publication date of the NOA in the Federal Register is the 
exclusive means for calculating the time to submit comments on a 
proposed action that is analyzed and documented in a draft EIS.