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Notice of Intent (•NoI•) which was published in the Federal Register on
October 13, 1989, in accordance with NEPA. The Forest Service held a public
scoping meeting on November 13. 1989.

The Forest Service issued the draft EIS on January 7, 1991 and published a
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Public notice of the
availability of the Draft EIS was given at the same time by notifying all
organizations and individuals who had previously requested such notice. The
60-day public review period ended on March 12, 1991. Copies of the Draft EIS
were made available to public libraries in the general area. In addition, the
Draft EIS was made available at no cost to all interested individuals,
community groups and local agencies. A Public meeting was held in Canyon
Country on February 22, 1991, during which comments on the Draft EIS were
received. Additional written comments from interested public agencies and
individuals were received throughout the public review period. The Forest
Service evaluated all oral and written comments received during the noticed
comment period and prepared written responses. The responses are contained in
Chapter 8.0 of the Final EIS.

The public participation process was very helpful in making my decision. It
identified areas of confusion. The comments suggested corrections that could
be made to the document, concerns that needed better explanation, and issues
to be further addressed. Some issues were repeatedly raised, but the most
important one was air quality. As a result, the air quality section has been
rewritten, and the project revised to assure that the project would stay
within the limits of the existing permits issued to the proponent by the South
Coast Air Quality Management District.

III. ALTERNATIVES

A. Selected Alternative• Alternative 1 • Alternative 1 will be authorized by
the approval of the plan of operation, as revised in Appendix C, for the
conduct of mining operations in the Soledad Canyon area of the Angeles
National Forest and to haul the ore by road to the adjacent plant site near
Lang Station, California. The proponent plans to mine ilmenite, the titanium
feedstock; apatite, a phosphate mineral; zircon, an industrial sand;
magnetite, an iron -bearing mineral; and miscellaneous construction aggregate
materials including sand and gravel. The claim area covers about 13,500 acres
of National Forest land; however, project activities will be confined to
three claim groups, (each bounded by a project boundary) and the access roads
leading to these claim groups. The project boundaries surrounding the three
claim groups and the access roads encompass 810 acres. Planned activities
consist of (l) road building; (2) open-pit mining, stockpiling, and waste
disposal; and (3) reclamation. The activity areas in total occupy less than
300 acres of forest environment.

B. OTHER ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED:

Alternative 2 - Conveyor Transport - Claim Group II to Plant Location

Alternative 2 requires the construction of a conveyor belt system to transport
ore from Claim Group II to the plant site. Substitution of a conveyor system
would eliminate construction of 2.8 miles of 48-foot-wide haul road. However,
a two-mile construction and maintenance road along the conveyor system will be
required. The total land disturbance from the conveyor and road rights-of-way
would be approximately half the disturbed area attributed to Road Section B.

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