[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 208 (Friday, October 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 54274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24943]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AZ030-2800-ER-00; AZA-28734]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Diamond Bar Road Improvement Project

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Diamond Bar Road Improvement Project.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management, Kingman Field Office, Arizona, 
has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze 
the effect of a proposal to realign and improve 11 miles of the Diamond 
Bar Road across public lands to access the Hualapai Indian Reservation.

DATES: The comment period for the draft EIS will end 60 days from the 
date of the notice of filing in the Federal Register by the 
Environmental Protection Agency. Public meetings will be held in 
Meadview, Arizona, and in Dolan Springs, Arizona. The letter 
accompanying the draft EIS will give the date, time, and location of 
these meetings. BLM's Kingman Field Office can also provide this 
information.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EIS may be obtained from the Bureau of Land 
Management, Kingman Field Office, 2475 Beverly Avenue, Kingman, Arizona 
86401. If you wish to comment, please mail or hand deliver comments to 
the Kingman Field Office, 2475 Beverly Avenue, Kingman, Arizona 86401. 
The public may review the comments, including names and street 
addresses of respondents, at the above address from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. The comments may be published 
as part of the final EIS or other related documents. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or street address from public review or disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act, you must state this request prominently at 
the beginning of your written comment. BLM will honor such requests to 
the extent allowed by law. The public may inspect in its entirety any 
submission from organizations or businesses or from representatives or 
officials of organizations or businesses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don McClure, phone: (520) 692-4400; e-
mail, [email protected].; address, BLM, Kingman Field Office, 2475 
Beverly Ave., Kingman, Arizona 86401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Diamond Bar Road provides access to Grand 
Canyon West, mainly for commercial and private vehicles originating 
from Las Vegas. Grand Canyon West is a development on the Hualapai 
Indian Reservation near the rim of the Grand Canyon. This development 
now consists of an airport and terminal building, a food service 
facility, restrooms, and a permits office. Implementing the 1994 Master 
Plan for Grand Canyon West is expected to increase the number of 
visitors up to sixfold over a 10-year period. This increase would 
greatly increase the number of vehicles on Diamond Bar Road. The 
proposed road improvement would accommodate this increased volume by 
providing a roadway designed for up to 2,400 vehicles per day.
    Management concerns that have been addressed in the draft EIS 
include impacts on vegetation, visual quality, recreation, cultural 
resources, socioeconomic conditions, public safety, and the Joshua Tree 
Forest Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Studies conducted 
include a native plant inventory, biological evaluation, cultural 
resource survey, traffic study, and visual impact analysis. Tribal 
consultation is ongoing under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The EIS has been prepared by an 
interdisciplinary team of resource specialists in vegetation (including 
salvage), wildlife, visual quality, archaeological and traditional 
cultural resources, soils, range management, realty, and roadway 
design.

    Dated: September 19, 2001.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental, Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 01-24943 Filed 10-25-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P