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Show 467 E. Salt 3ri 3. Lako City i vj L, . ' 1 1 Two ajsimcas act fto do mentor IBILM pe rain ft Two protests followed swiftly on the heels of an announcement last week by the Bureau of Land (BLM) that they Management would authorize a proposal by the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct exploratory activities in the Gibson Dome area of San Juan County in a siting study for a high level nuclear waste repository. memorandum from Governor Scott Matheson directA July 15 ing all state agencies to decline to issue state permits for activities related to the siting study was followed by a July 20 appeal from five conservation organizations to the U.S, Department of Interior Board of Land Appeals for a stay of action on the BLM permit. Commenting on the governors action, Willim J. Madia, site exploration manager for the office of nuclear waste isolation of Battelle, contractor to DOE, said that the governors action came as a surprise. Madia indicated traditional part of the Pioneer Days celebration in Monticello is the Blue Mountain Roundup where one can see action, such as that, Murphy Little , Whitehorse High School cowboy, is shown pictured coming out' of the chute on Lost River in the 1982 Utah High School Rodeo competition in Heber City . Murphy , who took the state title in saddle bronc riding, is competing next week in the Rational Rodeo competition in Douglas, Wyoming A that - No. 26. y . 20 cents . stages and that Battelle had felt issuance was imminent. Madia said the governors order was effective in its intent. Stating that it is the policy of the state of Utah to protect the interests of the people of this state in the development and use of its resources and facilities, and to further ensure the proper federal recognition of the July22Jl982 . County adopto employee pay increaoeo schedule by Carl Eisemann County commissioners to adopt a voted increase 10 for all salaries and fringe benefits paid have percent pay non-elect- ed county employees for the coming fiscal year. The vote came after considerable discussion of the present salary schedule and actions in the past which have resulted in a compression of the salary differ- -, ential between those at the top of the schedule and those at the lower end. An give a now and a earlier proposal to smaller increment merit increase in January was shelved pending additional study of an evaluation system. Elected officials were granted a $2,000 per year increase. matter of concern to the A com- mission was the apparent higher will be Motorcyclists allowed to ride in the July 24 parade in Monticello. However, they will be expected to drive slowly and with caution. No wheelies, trick maneuvers or speeding will be allowed. weekends and after 5 p.m., Dr. James D, Redd, can be reached by calling the San 1. Juan Nursing Home, On 678-225- There will be no garbage Monticello on in pickup 23. Regular Friday, July schedule will resume Monday, July 26. by the county to nursing and Commishospital employees. Low was asked to dicuss sioner in which these differences ways could be adjusted with the Health Board. County Attorney Bruce Halliday and County Auditor William Francom met with the commissioners to continue exploration of options open to the county in response to a .49 county school mill levy increase imposed by the State Tax Commission. Black exCommissioner pressed dissatisfaction with what he called arbitrary action by the State Tax Commission. According to Black, the county has not received formal notice from the Tax Commission, which places the county in an untenable position since it must send out tax notices soon. Black believes that the county has grounds for action against the Tax Commission. After considerable discussion and advice from Halliday and Francom, the commissionagreed to levy the additional millage under protest and take appropriate steps to rectify the situation if the Tax Commission has acted improperly. Halliday reported that the Association of Governments was denied access to tax information on state assessed properties. As a result, the county commission, which is authorized to receive this data, passed a resolution requesting information on several utilities, mills, mines and oil The commission companies. feels the information is necessary to prepare for impending tax suits against the county. John Baker, district firewarden, reported that in the past two weeks there have been four trash barrel fires and a number fires in the of other man-macounty. Baker asked that people refrain from trash barrel burning and exercise extreme caution during this extremely dry season. Commissioner Low reported that Continental Telephone attributed difficulties with courthouse de out-of-do- ors phones to power surges. The county and the telephone company agreed to share the cost of installation of a power surge regulator. reported that the Health estimates that $150,000 will be needed for repairs to Low Board bring the hospital up to standard. Commissioner Bailey stated that the county was receiving requests from such agencies as cemetery districts for road repairs on a quasi-gov-ernme- cost-sha- re basis. The ntal commis- sion took the position that the county could not legally conto the cost of such tribute services. Bailey reported that the county would need to secure land fill from private land owners for the Ucolo road and that the Navajo Tribe had waived an Environmental Assessment for the Bluff (Please turn to page 20.) negotiations for ng state permits were in the final HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH 'Vol. 65, on-goi- appropriate state role in federal activities involving and impacting those resources and facilities, Governor Matheson directed All state departments, department heads, boards, divisions and division directors to decline to issue any permits, licenses, rights-of-wa- y, authorizations or any other form of permission or authority which DOE, BLM would permit or any persons or companies authorized by those agencies, to use any state facilities or resources in conducting any of the proposed studies or related activities until or after full compliance with both the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)and Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLMPA). The governor indicated that it was his conclusion that the DOE and BLM have not fully complied with procedures outlined in NEPA and FLPMA which allow for involvement of the public and the state in the site selection process, and ultimately provide the basis of our the protection for resources. Until such time as the legal obligations of the DOE and BLM are met, it would be inappropriate and improper for the state of Utah to authorize the use of any state facilities or resources for any of the location and base- line studies or related activities in the Gibson Dome area of the Paradox Basin, as proposed by the DOE and described in BLMs Environmental Assessfinal ment July 1982, the governor said. Citing a similar rationale, Friends of Earth, the National Parks Conservation Association, Tie Wilderness Society, the Utah Wilderness Association and the Club Utah Chapter requested in an appeal to the Board of Land Appeals that the proposed letter of authorization not be approved until deposition of their appeal. The appeal by the conservation groups challenges the validity of the decision on five counts, the first being on general government policy relating to land use. The appeal contends that the selection of the Gibson Dome site was accomplished in violation of FLPMA and NEPA regulations. The third point cited in the appeal states that the Gibson Dome site was selected for detailed location studies in violation of NEPA in that no Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documenting the desirablitiy of that site over other known available sites was prepared or submitted for public comment. The appeal contends that under FLPMA, the BLM may grant use of federal lands to other federal agencies only by rights-of-wa- y, or cooperative withdrawals agreement and that the BLM letter of authorization purports to authorize issuance for uses described in the EA and does not purport to grant rights-of-wnor to effect a withdrawal. The fifth and final contention in the appeal describes the EA as defective in at least two re- Sierra ay spects: Demonstrates that the proposed activities will have significant effects on the environment but claims that mitigation and rehabilitation activities will, over to reduce impacts time, insignificance. The appeal claims that NEPA requires a full EIS. 2) The EA fails to analyze factors crucial to the decision, such as impact on quality of visitor use of areas surrounding the site, effects of noise on nocturnal wildlife and human visitors, likelihood of revegetation in an arid or semi-ar- id climate, the full impact of exuse and the effect panded on parks and wilderness values in the area surrounding Canyon-lan1) off-ro- ad ds National Park. The appeal also claims that the EA fails to catalogue archaeological sites in the area of impact. The appellants contend that these defects make the EA inadequate to support a finding of no significant impact or to support the decision approving a letter of authorization and render the decision arbitrary and capricious. Pioneer Days Schedule on Page 3 |